University of Cambridge

Date: 22/04/05

Classroom guilt stops teachers updating subject knowledge

Guilt at being away from the classroom, a lack of information about course quality and funding shortages are stopping many teachers from updating their subject knowledge and skills in the job, according to a report just published.

The study also highlights a worrying shortage of ongoing training in core subjects such as English and maths, and big differences in the continuing professional development (CPD) funding available to teachers in rural and urban areas.

The report, 'An Enquiry into Continuing Professional Development for Teachers', has been produced by Dr Sandra Leaton Gray, a researcher at the University of Cambridge's Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET); it was funded by the Esme Fairbairn Foundation and the Villiers Park Educational Trust.

It recommends:

Changing DfES pay and conditions to give all teachers a personal and professional entitlement to CPD;

Altering the funding mechanism so that money is ringfenced for CPD and allocated equitably to different types of schools/colleges;

Introducing a national planning framework and quality assurance system for subject-based CPD, as well as investigating new modes of CPD (such as online learning) and boosting provision in under-served subjects including maths and English.

Dr Leaton Gray consulted a wide variety of teachers and headteachers/college principals for the report, asking about their experiences of, and attitudes to, subject-based CPD. She also consulted local education authorities, the Specialist Schools' Trust, the General Teaching Council, subject associations, an examination board and teaching unions.

She found that many teachers felt guilty about taking time out of the classroom for subject-based CPD, seeing it as personal career enhancement rather than an important part of their job. This was exacerbated by the lack of quality assurance because teachers found it difficult to tell which courses would be useful and which would be a waste of time and money.

The national focus on generic education issues, such as literacy and special educational needs, led teachers to prioritise generic CPD over subject-based CPD. They also felt generic training had clearer benefits for their school/college and students.

'Teachers know that high-quality, subject-based CPD will benefit them and their students,' Dr Leaton Gray explains. 'The problem is there's very little information to help them distinguish between high-quality CPD and things that are a waste of time.

'Funding shortages, problems arranging teaching cover and the numerous other demands on staff time make teachers feel guilty about being out of the classroom. There's also a feeling that subject-based CPD benefits their own careers more than their students, when compared with generic CPD, so if they are taking time out of the classroom they tend to focus on generic CPD.

'That's why the report recommends giving teachers an entitlement to CPD as part of their pay and employment conditions. They shouldn't feel guilty about improving their subject knowledge and teaching skills. It's an important part of the job and should be resourced and valued as such.'

Dr Leaton Gray's research involved 181 teachers and headteachers/principals, four local education authorities, the General Teaching Council, the Specialist Schools' Trust, two of the main teaching unions and a leading exam board.

She also had informal discussions with subject associations. The teachers and headteachers/principals came from secondary schools, FE colleges and, to a lesser extent, primary schools across the UK, from the maintained and independent sectors and from co-educational and single-sex establishments in rural, suburban and urban areas. The institutions ranged in size from fewer than 100 students to more than 2,000.

The research was funded by the Esme Fairbairn Foundation and the Villiers Park Educational Trust. Both sponsors had become concerned at the apparent decline in subject-based continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers.

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For more information, contact:

1. Dr Sandra Leaton Gray, Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET), University of Cambridge. Tel: 07973 856170 / 01223 765500; Email: shlg2@cam.ac.uk

2. Emer Scott, Press & Publications Office, University of Cambridge. Tel: 01223 332300; Email: es352@cam.ac.uk

Reproduced courtesy University of Cambridge Press Office

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Organisation: University of Cambridge

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