Teaching Standard 8: “Fulfil wider professional responsibilities”

The standard

make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school
develop effective professional relationships with colleagues, knowing how and when to draw on advice and specialist support
deploy support staff effectively
take responsibility for improving teaching through appropriate professional development, responding to advice and feedback from colleagues
communicate effectively with parents with regard to pupils’ achievements
and well-being.

Learn that…

Effective professional development is likely to be sustained over time, building knowledge, motivating staff, developing teaching techniques, and embedding practice.
Reflective practice, supported by feedback from and observation of experienced colleagues, professional debate, and learning from educational research, is also likely to support improvement.
Teachers can make valuable contributions to the wider life of the school in a broad range of ways, including by supporting and developing effective professional relationships with colleagues.
Building effective relationships with parents, carers and families can improve pupils’ motivation, behaviour and academic success.
Teaching assistants (TAs) can support pupils more effectively when they are prepared for lessons by teachers, and when TAs supplement rather than replace support from teachers.
SENCOs, pastoral leaders, careers advisors and leaders and other specialist colleagues also have valuable expertise and can ensure that appropriate support is in place for pupils.
Engaging in high-quality professional development can help teachers improve.
Teacher attitudes towards inclusion and SEND are a key determinant in the school experience of pupils with SEND.
Research evidence can vary in its level of reliability, which is determined by how the research was conducted and other factors that might introduce bias, such as the level of independence. High quality research communicates methods and limitations transparently.

Learn how to…

Develop as a professional, by:

Engaging in professional development focused on developing an area of practice with clear intentions for impact on pupil outcomes, sustained over time with built-in opportunities for practice.
Strengthening pedagogical and subject knowledge by participating in wider networks and as part of the lesson preparation process.
Seeking challenge, feedback and critique from mentors and other colleagues in an open and trusting working environment.
Engaging with research evidence by accessing reliable sources, seeking support for how findings can inform practice, and monitoring the impact of applications.
Reflecting on progress made, recognising strengths and weaknesses and identifying next steps for further improvement.

Build effective working relationships, by:

Contributing positively to the wider school culture and developing a feeling of shared responsibility for improving the lives of all pupils within the school.
Seeking ways to support individual colleagues and working as part of a team.
Communicating with parents and carers proactively and making effective use of parents’ evenings to engage parents and carers in their children’s schooling.
Working closely with the SENCO and other professionals supporting pupils with additional needs, making explicit links between interventions delivered outside of lessons with classroom teaching.
Drawing on expert guidance, sharing the intended lesson outcomes with teaching assistants ahead of lessons.
Ensuring that support provided by teaching assistants in lessons is additional to, rather than a replacement for, support from the teacher.
Knowing who to contact with any safeguarding, or any pupil mental health concerns.

Manage workload and wellbeing, by:

Using and personalising systems and routines to support efficient time and task management.
Understanding the right to support (e.g. to deal with misbehaviour, or support pupils with SEND).
Collaborating with colleagues to share the load of planning and preparation and making use of shared resources (e.g. textbooks).
Protecting time for rest and recovery and being aware of support available to support good mental wellbeing.

The text above is taken from the Teachers’ Standards and the ITTECF Combined Framework. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0 and v3.0.

Developing as a professional

Developing as a professional

Workload

Working with parents