RSS Feed for the unit An introduction to the wider professional role of the teacher in England

Introduction

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

The OU PGCE has been developed by The Open University and its partner schools to provide an innovative, student-teacher centred approach to initial teacher education. We aim to build on the skills, knowledge and experience that student teachers bring to the profession, and then to prepare them for a career in teaching. The course leads to the award of PGCE, and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) conferred by the appropriate statutory body. Working with a Partner Schools Network, the OU PGCE provides a rigorous and rewarding course that opens up individual routes into teaching.

Original Copyright © 2006 The Open University. Now made available within the Creative Commons framework under the CC Attribution – Non-commercial licence (see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/).

Learning outcomes

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

After studying this unit you will understand:

the nature of ‘professionalism’ and ‘being a professional’ in relation to teaching;
the importance of effective working relationships with pupils and with colleagues;
more about the form or group tutor’s role.
You will also have:
an overview of the ways in which adults within the wider workforce contribute to successful schools;
an understanding of the different ways in which a teacher-as-tutor can contribute to the corporate life of the school;
a working knowledge and understanding of teachers’ professional duties.

The teacher's professional role: introduction

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

In this unit you will begin to consider the nature and purposes of the teacher's professional role. You will be asked to consider specifically what ‘professionalism’ and ‘being a professional’ actually mean in everyday action in relation to pupils, colleagues, parents and other adults who impact upon the working life of a successful school. In this unit you will also be able to explore the teacher-as-tutor's contribution to the corporate life of a school.

Note 1 for students in Wales and Northern Ireland

Note that in this unit there are several references to documents or websites published by agencies which operate in England (or England and Wales) only, such as DfES (Department for Education and Skills), formerly DfEE (Department for Education and Employment) and the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE).

The closest Northern Ireland equivalent to the DfES is the Department of Education. However, in Northern Ireland DCAL (Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure) and DEL (Department for Employment and Learning) carry some of the educational responFisibilities held in England by DfES. A General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) has been established. The GTCW (General Teaching Council for Wales) operates in Wales.

The closest Northern Ireland equivalent to the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) is CCEA (Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment). In Wales ACCAC (Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority) has a similar function. CCEA is responsible for external assessment in Northern Ireland. QCA does not have this responsibility, which in England is that of the external examining agencies: AQA, Edexcel, OCR and so on.

There is no direct Nothern Ireland equivalent to the TDA (Training and Development Agency for Schools), but the GTCNI carries out some of its functions – for example drawing up a list of Competences for Eligibility to Teach (the equivalent of Standards for Qualified Teacher Status) – and the Northern Ireland branch of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) also makes decisions about certain aspects of teacher education. The closest equivalent in Wales is Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru/the National Assembly for Wales (NAfW). Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education) operates in England. The closest equivalent in Northern Ireland is ETI (the Education and Training Inspectorate). In Wales it is Estyn (Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales/Arolygiaeth Ei Mawrhydi Dros Addysg A Hyfforddiant yng Nghymru).

The extracts from documents and websites quoted in this unit generally refer to common principles and practices of teaching rather than being specific to England. They are as relevant to Northern Ireland and Wales as to England, and should therefore be studied as part of this unit.

1 The professional role: its nature and purposes

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

In the different nation states of the United Kingdom, great importance is placed upon teachers meeting a wide set of professional commitments and obligations. Teachers in the UK are required to have a more distinct pastoral role than many of their counterparts in greater Europe, for example. Here, at the beginning of the unit, the focus is upon those values and practices which comprise ‘professionalism’ and ‘being professional’. At the core of these terms is the belief that by putting into action what they imply, teachers can ‘make a difference’ – to pupils, their learning and their sense of self and the world.

Now let's look at this in more detail in two related activities.

Activity 1 Exploring the professional role

2 hours 0 minutes

This activity will give you an opportunity to think about the meaning of professionalism-in-action.

Task 1.1

Read the first three paragraphs, below, from the article ‘Beyond the rhetoric: building a teaching profession to support quality teaching’, by C. Adams, former Chief Executive of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE). Notice that Adams makes the point that ‘… at the heart of professionalism is the idea of working to a set of values and standards for the benefit of others’.

The name of our organisation says a lot. It is the General Teaching Council for England, not the General Teachers' Council. This is partly a reflection of its membership – some of the 64-strong council are not teachers but have other roles in education. But the name says something more fundamental – the primary purpose of the GTC is to serve the interests of young people by encouraging and maintaining the highest professional standards of teaching and learning among teachers. Professionalism is at the heart of what the GTC does and at the heart of professionalism is the idea of working to a set of values and standards for the benefit of others.
It is possible to define professionalism in terms of a number of characteristics:

specialist training, leading to a recognised qualification

a range of specialist skills and experience

a commitment to continuing professional development

the notion of ethical responsibility, with very high standards of integrity

a degree of autonomy

collegiality in working as part of partnerships or teams

contributing to the future of one's profession.

However, none of this is more important than the sense of accountability to clients, and to society at large. And the key accountability for us is the quality of teaching, which relies on the qualities, motivation and professional judgment of individual teachers.
(Adams, 2000)

Task 1.2

You will need the following resource:

Code of Conduct and Practice for Registered Teachers

Read this document by the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE, 2006). Make notes on any suggestion you find in the Statement that appears to take the role of the teacher-as-tutor far beyond the possession of an expertise in teaching a particular subject area and also beyond narrow definitions of competences. Note that the General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) produces a similar document.

You will probably have noticed in the Code the references to ‘beliefs, values and attitudes’ that are said to underlie teacher professionalism, ‘the strong sense of vocation’ many teachers have in their capacity to change their pupils’ life chances, and the responsibility they have to challenge stereotypical views and to strive for equality of opportunity.

Notice, too, that this is about professionalism-in-action, and in relation to many others: to pupils, colleagues, other professionals and interested parties, parents and carers; to the school itself in a particular context; and to the teachers themselves and their own capacity for learning and development. The use of language is telling: the words ‘aspire’, ‘enhance’, ‘assist’, ‘endeavour’, ‘respect’ and ‘sharing’ say a great deal here about expectations and about the complexity and challenge of the teacher's wider professional role.

This professional role of the teacher is, then, multifaceted. It incorporates professionalism-in-action, as indicated in the GTCE article. It also includes acting in a pastoral way towards pupils both as a tutor and as a teacher of a number of subject classes. It is important to stress the presence and interplay of the pastoral and academic dimensions of the form or group tutor's role and the academic and pastoral dimensions of the subject teacher role – and the interplay between these dimensions.

Note here that the term ‘form tutor’ is still commonly used to denote a teacher who has pastoral, administrative and other duties in relation to a class of pupils, in whatever way the class is arranged. This might be a year grouping or by any vertical grouping that includes pupils whose ages span a number of years. It might include some other arrangement: the range of responsibilities for the tutor will be similar. Be aware, then, that this term can be applied to a variety of tutorial situations.

Clearly, it would be a realistic expectation that in the first role the pastoral dimension would dominate and that in the second the academic or subject dimension would do so. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to note that the tutor will also, for example, seek to discuss, identify and track the progress of pupils’ academic targets in tutor time, and may indeed be asked to teach part of a personal, social, health and citizenship education (PSHCE in England; PSE in Wales) or study skills programme of work in scheduled lessons to these pupils. In Wales curriculum development is supported by the Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority (ACCAC) in Personal and Social Education Framework: key stages 1–4 (ACCAC, 2000).

The same tutor, teaching in a particular subject area, will be expected to exercise a pastoral dimension within it. This may show itself in seeking out the reasons behind the poor performance of a class or of an individual, planning to integrate isolated or shy pupils into group activities or seeking advice or information from a head of year or house about a particular pupil in the subject group.

In addition to these allocated roles, different teachers may also have an underlying tendency towards a preferred mode of response. This point is illustrated in Figure 1, below, which shows the locations of two teachers (T1 and T2) on a matrix, where the horizontal axis measures degrees of academic focus and the vertical axis shows degrees of pastoral focus.

Figure 1 Comparison of preferred modes of two teachers

Long description

Teacher 1 (T1) tends to emphasise the pastoral aspects of the teaching role, whereas Teacher 2 (T2), while mindful of the pastoral dimensions of teaching, tends to stress rather more its academic focus.

Of course, what may be an appropriate response in a tutorial context will depend on the activity involved (a formally structured PSHCE lesson or a more exploratory discussion, for example). The ability to be flexible and to adjust your own preferences to circumstances and requirements is an important skill to develop. It is a complex and subtle skill, however, and one which will continue to be developed after you have qualified as a teacher, throughout your early professional years.

Finally, your professional role as a teacher will also encompass your contributions to extra-curricular activities, to whole-school initiatives and to the corporate life of a school (see Section 5).

The idea of living out the ethos of a particular school, and helping to shape it, is at the heart of the rather special role of being a subject teacher in the UK, and particularly within the role of the form tutor. Taking on the responsibility of being a tutor to a group of pupils, in whatever way this group is composed, is generally seen as an important part of the professional role of a subject teacher. What is central to this distinctiveness is the sense of a system or code of professional values and practice.

Activity 2 Duties and concerns of the form or group tutor

2 hours 0 minutes

The purpose of this activity is to help you identify some of the key aspects of the form or group tutor's role.

Task 2.1

You will need the following resource:

‘Teachers for the comprehensive idea’, by T. Wragg. Click on the following link to open this file.

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Read pages 112–16 of this chapter, which set out the many roles required of a teacher-as-tutor in a secondary school by ‘society’ and by its official agencies such as Ofsted, the TDA and the GTC in England, Estyn, NAfW and GTCW in Wales and the GTC in Northern Ireland. Some of these role descriptions are clearly intended to provoke debate. Make notes.

Task 2.2

Make three columns a notebook, using the headings in Table 1. Next, make lists in the relevant columns of what you consider, at this point, to be the appropriate duties and concerns of a subject teacher and then those of a form or group tutor. Then, in the middle column, jot down which duties and concerns are shared. Look at the right-hand column again. Which duties and concerns seem to have a special importance for the form or group tutor?

Task 2.3

You will need the following resource:

Your notes from the previous activity's reading on the form or group tutor's role.

Clicking on the link below will open a printable version of the table for your own use.

View document

From your reading and your reflections about this area, make notes (for example in a table similar to Table 1) on the distinctions you might make between the notions of ‘duties’ and ‘concerns’.

Table 1 Key roles

Duties/concerns
Subject teacher	Shared	Form or group tutor

You should by now have formed a clearer view about the nature of a form or group tutor's key roles.

2 The role of the form or group tutor

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You will be expected to meet different sets of requirements in this tutor role. You will, for example, register pupils’ presence or absence twice a day, deal with administrative duties relating to them, convey messages to them from other members of staff, supervise a fire drill when one is scheduled, be aware of health and safety issues relevant to the school site and accompany pupils to assemblies and house or year meetings. Whilst these things are happening, you will also be expected to respond to pupils’ individual needs and characters, give a lead, set an example and help them to make choices wisely and well.

Activity 3 Exploring the roles of the form or group tutor

1 hour 30 minutes

This activity will allow you to understand more fully the complexity and challenge of the tutor's role.

You will need the following resource:

‘Teachers for the comprehensive idea’, by T. Wragg. Click on the following link to open this file.

View document

Look again at the roles identified by Wragg on pages 113–15 of this chapter:

teacher-as-annotator;
teacher-as-jailer;
teacher-as-social-worker;
teacher-as-parent;
teacher-as-hero;
teacher-as-team-player;
teacher-as-Viennese-orchestra-conductor.

Now consider the following questions and make notes on each.

From your experience, your reading, and your own views and reflections, do you think the roles characterised by Wragg have any validity?
Are there other roles not mentioned by Wragg which challenge or possibly worry you at this point?
Which of the roles enthuses and energises you most?
Which role do you think predominates in schools?

The very complexity and challenge of the many roles that are indicated by Wragg, and no doubt by your colleagues in school, provide the means by which teachers can make a difference for pupils.

‘Making a difference’ is what teachers who are professionals-in-action seek to do. The Department for Education and Skills White Paper ‘Schools Achieving Success’ (DfES, 2001) summarised progress in education since 1997, outlined future targets and detailed the support for teaching and learning planned in order to achieve them. More recent DfES publications have confirmed this view that teachers’ actions and attitudes impact significantly upon their pupils.

Note 2 for students in Wales and Northern Ireland

The National Assembly for Wales produced a similar document, Reaching Higher: higher education and the learning country (NAfW, 2002a), which outlined NAfW's vision of the future of education in Wales at all levels, and is available via their website.

The nearest Northern Ireland equivalent is Lifelong Learning: a new learning culture for all (DE(NI), 1999c), which identifies what needs to be provided in schools so that pupils will develop the capability of learning throughout life.

But levels and percentages of examination success are clearly not the total sum of what educating young people is about. In the Foreword to the 2001 White Paper, Estelle Morris, the then Secretary of State, also made this clear:

An education that teaches us the joy of learning and gives us the qualifications for employment, that builds confidence and self-esteem and gives us the skills and values to meet the demands of a fast-changing world: that is the education we are seeking for all of our children. That's why those who work in our schools, unlike just about any other profession, have the chance to shape and change lives.
(DfES, 2001, p. 3)

This is a statement about the responsibility and the challenge to teachers to make a difference to pupils. It is also about the multifaceted and processual nature of change that contributes to the personal growth of pupils. At the heart of this statement is the recognition that the results of such processes are potentially life-changing and that teachers, as a group and as individuals, can be at the centre of them. This is a privilege as well as a responsibility.

Activity 4 Professional values in practice

1 hour 30 minutes

The purpose of this activity is to extend your awareness of the ‘professional values’ dimension of your role – specifically here as a tutor, but also as a subject teacher – as someone who contributes successfully to the ethos of a school community operating within its own wider social community.

Task 4.1

You will need the following resource:

Qualifying to Teach: standards for the award of qualified teacher status.

Read the section ‘Professional values and practice’ from this document (DfES/TTA, 2002), focusing on 1.1–1.3 and 1.5.

Note 3 for students in Wales and Northern Ireland

In Wales, a new set of standards entitled Becoming a Qualified Teacher is expected to operate from September 2006, although there may be some slippage in this timing. Currently it is going through a consultation process. Until then, the standards set out in Welsh Office Circular 13/98 Requirements for Courses of Initial Teacher Training will pertain. In their present form, the standards outlined in Becoming a Qualified Teacher are closer to Qualifying to Teach (QtT) than to 13/98.

The new Northern Ireland ‘Competences’ proposed by GTCNI are similar to the QtT standards. In mid-2005 they were being considered by DE(NI) and are available at the GTCNI website by clicking the link to ‘Consultations’.

Activity 5 More about the roles of the form or group tutor

1 hour 0 minutes

This activity will allow you to explore further the range and complexity of the form or group tutor's role.

Task 5.1

You will need the following resources:

Audio Clips 1–13 and Video Clips 1–10, School A; Audio Clips 1–4 and Video Clips 1–4, School B. Clicking on the play button will start the audio and media clips..

Audio: School A.

Audio clip 01, School A

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Audio clip 02, School A

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Audio clip 03, School A

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Audio clip 04, School A

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Audio clip 05, School A

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Audio clip 06, School A

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Audio clip 07, School A

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Audio clip 08, School A

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Audio clip 09, School A

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Audio clip 10, School A

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Audio clip 11, School A

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Audio clip 12, School A

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Audio clip 13, School A

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Audio: School B.

Audio clip 01, School B

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Audio clip 02, School B

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Audio clip 03, School B

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Audio clip 04, School B

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Video: School A.

Video clip 01, School A

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Video clip 02, School A

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Video clip 05, School A

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Video clip 06, School A

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Video clip 07, School A

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Video clip 08, School A

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Video clip 09, School A

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Video clip 10, School A

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Video: School B

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Browse through these audio and video clips of the two tutors at work with their groups in their different schools. The ability of pupils in both schools covers a wide span. These clips indicate something about the range and complexity of a tutor's work with their pupils. They demonstrate that a tutor's work is a mix of one-off episodes and much more subtle knowledge-generating encounters, of vital importance both to teaching and learning in subject lessons and to wider learning.

Task 5.2

You will need the following resources:

Items 1, 2 and 8, School A; Items 1–4, School B (clicking on the following links will open these files);
The notes you made in relation to Section 1.

Item 1 from School A

Item 2 from School A

Item 8 from School A

Item 1 from School B

Item 2 from School B

Item 3 from School B

Item 4 from School B

After you have browsed through the collection of documents from the two schools (and the audio and video clips from Task 5.1) focusing on tutorial meeting times, consider your views about the work of a tutor and a subject teacher, their overlaps and differences. Then jot down any thoughts you have on this as a result of seeing and hearing the clips.

3.1 Professional relations with pupils

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

What is regarded as ‘professional’ must be linked with the in-action responsibilities of the teacher. So, for example, it's clear that the teacher-as-tutor must plan ahead and actually protect pupils from physical harm in school and outside it when accompanying them on any school activities to the degree that it would be reasonable to expect a parent or carer to do. The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) defines the requirements here. The same teacher-as tutor must teach and assess appropriately, report to parents and engage with the detail of this set of professional duties, outlined in Section 6.

Note 4 for students in Wales and Northern Ireland

Note that some Acts of Parliament applicable to England may not have a Northern Ireland equivalent. In some cases (between 1972 and 1999) there is a Northern Ireland Order corresponding to a UK Act; for example, the Northern Ireland version of the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) is the Health and Safety (Northern Ireland) Order (1978). More recently Northern Ireland Assembly legislation has provided local equivalents of relevant English legislation.

Teachers-as-tutors must be seen to treat pupils with respect, fairness and consistency, that is, from an unconditional positive stance. This requires you to operate with a working knowledge of pupils’ cultural and social backgrounds, their experience and their interests. This is no simple matter, of course, since the knowledge we possess of any pupil is inevitably partial and it may well be the next piece of information we receive about them that makes a difference to our interpretation of a situation – and how to tackle it.

Activity 6 The form or group tutor and inclusive education

3 hours 30 minutes

This activity will give you the opportunity to learn about and reflect upon key aspects of inclusive education and the form tutor's role in promoting these.

Task 6.1

You will need the following resources. Clicking on the links below will open these files.

Chapter 10, ‘Inclusive education: gender and ethnicity’.

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Chapter 11, ‘Inclusive education: special educational needs’.

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Chapter 12, ‘The teacher's wider role’.

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All of the above chapters are by H. Bourdillion and A. Storey.

These chapters cover a great deal of information relating to this set of requirements, for example in terms of questions of confidentiality, equal opportunities and race and sex discrimination acts. Browse through each chapter and note down the sections you will return to to help you develop your understanding of the issues further.

Task 6.2

You will need the following resources:

Audio Clips 2 and 3. Clicking on the links below will open these files.

Listen to what Natalie Wallace, the teacher-as-tutor at Ousedale School, has to say about the issue of confidentiality.

Video clip 02, School A

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Video clip 03, School A

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When you have completed the reading and listening activities, add to the first table you made for Activity 2.

Activity 7 Exploring the notion of professionalism

1 hour 0 minutes

This activity will enable you to link your understanding of the concept of ‘professionalism’ and the standards attached to this umbrella term to pupils and what they seek from teachers who are doing their job well. These expectations clearly go far beyond subject expertise to encompass relationships and personal attributes.

You will need the following resource:

Chapter 9, ‘He's such a nice man, but he's so boring …’, by M. Younger and M. Warrington. Click on the following link to open this file.

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Read the chapter and think about a school visit when you shadowed a teacher and later discussed the day. Then ask yourself the following questions:

What points in the conclusions to this chapter were confirmed for you on that day? Which surprised you?
What implications does this have for your own lesson planning?

This chapter presents valuable findings from the research described there. Different preferences of boys and girls in relation to teachers are outlined. Boys liked to chat with teachers about shared interests, enjoyed a joke and welcomed personal encouragement; girls liked being able to talk about work with fellow pupils and wanted effective class management. Described, too, are the actions and attitudes of teachers most preferred and disliked by both boys and girls alike. (Amongst the examples given, both liked to be treated with respect and disliked unpredictable mood changes in their teachers.)

What emerges clearly, here and elsewhere, is that subject expertise is never sufficient by itself. Such expertise is essential, since its absence will undercut teaching and learning at every turn. But other things are also vital: the imaginative mediation of content, varied activities, personable responses that indicate concern for all pupils and fairness. All of these are ranked universally highly in Chapter 9, ‘He's such a nice man, but he's so boring …’, by M. Younger and M. Warrington. What is not wanted by pupils is a staff member who attempts to be ‘one of them’. Indeed, ‘laddishness’ displayed by male teachers was particularly disliked by girls, for example.

The concept of ‘appropriate’ professional relations is certainly defined by all the things – actions and attitudes – it is not. In terms of what it is, for a teacher-as-tutor, a commitment to respect, listen and respond honestly and tactfully to pupils is at the heart of the role. The phrase in loco parentis here indicates the critical friend who is also an adult with a wider view of an issue, someone who is willing to explain, patiently listen and respond constructively to familiar arguments and faults of logic. There is also an enduring view that the best teachers-as-tutors, the ones who impact positively upon pupils’ lives and values, are those who have a passion for learning and for what individuals can achieve, an openness of spirit and a resistance to pre-judgement, and those who inspire others to be the same.

3.2 Professional relations with colleagues

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

The same issues and responses outlined above apply to all colleagues in your school experience.

Activity 8 Maintaining professional relations with colleagues

1 hour 0 minutes

This activity will enable you to look at the understandings you have gained of the issues raised above about appropriate professional relationships with pupils and relate them to your school colleagues. It often happens that each set of relationships impacts upon the other.

Task 8.1

Consider the following two scenarios.

Scenario 1

During a tutorial discussion session focusing on rights and responsibilities, a group of six pupils begin to complain vociferously and in detail about what they consider to be the unfriendly and unfair mode of behaviour of their teacher for history. You happen to know that this teacher, an experienced and well-regarded colleague, has complex family problems.

Scenario 2

You conscientiously tackle the break-time and other duties itemised on the school rota and you try to note opportunities both to strengthen relationships with pupils you know and teach and to encourage considerate behaviour. For these duties you are paired with a senior member of staff who hardly ever seems to turn up on time and who is not, in your view, sufficiently vigilant about pupils’ rule-breaking.

What are your first responses to these two scenarios? Jot them down now.
How would you try to tackle them? What resources do you have to help you? Take five minutes to make some notes.

Task 8.2

Remember that when in school you are not on your own: you are a member of different teams – subject, pastoral and whole-school.

The tutor to whom you are attached, your subject mentor, the head of your house or year and your school co-ordinator are your closest sources of help. Time is another resource. You are not obliged to fix complex issues in an instant. Information is another resource. Do you know everything you need to in order to form a sound judgement? Situations may appear odd or unsatisfying simply because you have only partial information.

In relation to Scenario 1 above, as a tutor you may find that pupils may criticise named colleagues and it is wise to be alert to pupils' need to get you to agree with their point of view. It is not appropriate, however, for you to reveal personal information about colleagues, nor to encourage classroom conversations about them.

In this instance a discussion with your attached tutor would identify possible ways forward, not least a discussion with the pupils themselves about appropriate ways to tackle an ailing relationship with any member of staff who teaches them, and particularly about how to deal with the one to whom they have referred.

Further information about the whereabouts of the senior colleague in Scenario 2, who appears to be failing to support you, may reveal a situation you simply did not expect and this may alter your view. Consider, too, how you yourself have felt when you have heard opinions about yourself based on an incomplete set of facts. There are other routes to dealing with a situation such as this one, as we've indicated above.

Above all, then, we want to emphasise that you are a member of a number of different teams within the school, and you will need to be regarded as a team player in all of them, whatever your assigned or self-designed role within them.

This is not to suggest that unfailing agreement is required of you. There will certainly be overlaps and conflicts of interest and intention because of these different groups and your membership of them. It does mean, though, that you should give a fair hearing to colleagues, present counter-views pleasantly and humanely and be willing to do your share of any work-tasks generated by your group, conscientiously and on time. This is professionalism-in-action.

4 Who else is involved with successful schools?

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

Activity 9 What makes a successful school?

0 hours 30 minutes

Task

What, in your opinion, makes a ‘successful school’? Jot down a list of factors that you consider to be essential ingredients of such a description.

What do we mean when we use the term ‘a successful school’? For an overwhelming majority of parents and carers, this would suggest a school in which there is evenly distributed progress in learning, a plentiful array of examination successes and a purposeful community in which their own children are happy and developing into socially aware, responsible young adults. Successful schools in England are termed ‘effective’ schools by Ofsted.

Such an educational environment requires at its core good working and interpersonal relationships between subject teachers and pupils and between teachers-as-tutors and pupils. Sammons et al. (1994) have identified eleven key factors which could be seen as characterising successful and thus effective schools. The factors identified centred to a large degree on core areas of pupil-teacher work in classrooms. Among those they cited as key factors or processes were:

maximising teaching and learning time;
focused, flexible teaching;
high expectations of pupils;
positive reinforcement and effective monitoring of pupil progress;
an orderly and attractive learning environment.

The enactment of pupil rights and responsibilities by staff was also identified as demonstrating success. The ‘staff’ of a school are not only those who are extensively qualified subject specialists in classrooms and fully employed at the school. The growing wider work-force in schools includes, amongst others, assistants, librarians, supply and office colleagues, site management staff, peripatetic staff, parent-helpers and staff who cover lunch-time activities or other duties

School governors, education welfare officers and careers officers are others who extend key aspects of a school's support and information structures, and contribute tangibly to the personal and educational dimensions of a school on a regular basis. The governing body of a school has a particular responsibility to oversee the provision of quality education, the proper use of monies in the school budget, inclusion aspects of school life, and health and safety issues, amongst others, across the school site. Careers officers provide information and advice about careers routes and further or higher education possibilities; this aspect is often part of a tutorial programme in schools which frequently begins during year 9. Teaching assistants are taking on extended professional development and in-class responsibilities. It is planned that their role will be transformed in the near future and you are advised to monitor changes through your partner schools.

Add to these inputs those made by representatives of multi-faith organisations, pastoral care and health agencies, global and other aid agencies, photographers, writers, artists, scientists, representatives of the armed services, and some sense of the multifaceted dimensions of support for the development of any school's extended set of endeavours starts to emerge. You need to appreciate at this early stage the high number of professionals and wider work force adults who have a role in pupils' lives and who contribute to the creation and development of a successful school.

5 The teacher's contribution to the corporate life of the school

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Only a few years ago, the catch-all term ‘extra-curricular activities’ would have been viewed as explaining adequately the extent of a teacher's contribution to the school beyond that of their subject-specific area. Someone who could ‘lend a hand’ with lunch-time athletics, the debating society or an after-school homework club would, in this context, be seen as making a contribution to the life of the school beyond the statutory timetable. These contributions are still regarded widely and accurately, by pupils, parents, schools and external agencies such as Ofsted in England, ETI in Northern Ireland and Estyn in Wales, as enormously important to the life of a school. They are viewed as indicators of a vibrant, inclusive school, generating gains for both skills and community.

The definition of ‘contribution’ to the corporate life of a school by a teacher-as-tutor has now widened somewhat to include, for example, making a contribution to efforts to enhance cross-curricular initiatives, participating in social and community projects off the school site, or helping to welcome into the physical territory of the school local people who might in the past have thought more than twice about entering.

The word ‘corporate’ refers to ‘body’ or ‘essence’, so a contribution to the distinctive essence of a school may also relate to less easily definable but essentially vital everyday attitudes of a teacher which will impact upon what the corporate life, or ethos, of your school actually is.

Activity 10 Making a contribution to support the ethos of your partner school

3 hours 0 minutes

This activity will enable you to explore the ethos of your own partner school in more detail. Record your responses to the following tasks.

Task 10.1

Spend five minutes adding to the examples of extra-curricular activities outlined above which you think could relate to a school you know.

Task 10.2

You will need the following resources:

A school's prospectus and other staff handbooks.

When visiting a school prior to a placement you will have been given your partner school's prospectus and other staff handbooks, outlining your school's policies and the ethos they underpin. Look through these (and, especially, at such issues as extra-curricular activities and staff involvement, equal opportunities, rewards and sanctions, special needs provision, health and safety). Then write a statement for yourself (of no more than a paragraph) that identifies this ethos. Base your description on what you have found out in the details of the documents you have read.

Task 10.3

Plan out the following:

What kind of contributions to the corporate life (of your partner school do you think you yourself will make? Refer in the first instance to the tutorial group and the tutor to whom you are attached.
Why have you identified these? What do you expect that you and the pupils will gain?
Draw a diagram indicating the specific contributions to corporate school life you could make (or plan to make) in the four weeks of your Level 1 school experience.
Provide a rationale (in a paragraph) for what you have planned.

At this point, let's move beyond the focus of specific contributions to explore the positive effects that schools can have.

In the wide-ranging and ambitious chapter ‘The positive effects of schooling’ (Chapter 22), Mortimore reviews the literature relating to the presumed and actual impacts of schooling upon children. Such studies have shown that some schools promote positive effects, others negative. Tellingly, some research work has indicated that the same school can impact differentially upon groups of students according to their gender, social class or perceived ability.

Mortimore presents the evidence available to us about variations between schools in relation to four sets of outcomes: attendance, student attitudes, student behaviour and scholastic attainment. He makes the crucial point that knowing what makes one school more effective than another, and for all of its students, is not the same thing as knowing how to change a less effective school into a more effective one. However, this piece of writing does, directly as well as cumulatively, build a case for the value of an informed set of contributions to the corporate life of schools such as the ones possible in your teacher-as-tutor role.

Activity 11 The positive effects of schooling

1 hour 30 minutes

The purpose of this activity is to allow you to consider these issues in relation to your Level 1 school experience.

Task 11.1

You will need the following resource:

Chapter 22, ‘The positive effects of schooling’, by P. Mortimore. Click on the following link to open this file.

View document

Read pages 237–42 and jot down what mechanisms are connected with school effectiveness/success.

Task 11.2

Compare your responses to the list identified by Sammons et al. and cited in Section 4 as typifying successful schools.

6.1 Introduction

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It may at first sight appear odd to you that this is the final key issue of this unit. This is in no way to reduce the importance of your statutory school duties. It is axiomatic that these must at all times be adhered to and they will be structured for you. All teachers-in-post will receive feedback in relation to them, officially from their subject or pastoral head, and certainly as part of the performance review processes which occur in school for qualified teachers.

6.2 Your professional duties

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

Click on the link below to open Chapter 12: Bourdillon and Storey

View document

The professional duties outlined in Chapter 12 (pp. 236–7) are wide-ranging and challenging. They relate to what a contractually obligated teacher is expected to do under the ‘reasonable’ direction of the headteacher of a school – a concept that has been shaped by national and local education and welfare provision for pupils. They cover:

teaching;
assessment and reporting duties;
communicating and consulting with parents;
providing guidance to pupils on educational and social matters;
contributing to the preparation and development of teaching materials and to pastoral arrangements;
participating in national appraisal arrangements and in training and professional development schemes;
helping to sustain the discipline and health and safety dimensions of school life;
engaging in staff meetings;
providing limited ‘cover’ for absent colleagues.

The activities suggested by this list will keep you busy enough but it covers the minimum! However, there is a list of 24 administrative and clerical tasks you are not required to undertake, and you can find these on the TDA or teacher union websites.

‘Appropriate’ professional relations with pupils, discussed in Section 3, are legally defined by a number of documents. The DfEE Circular 10/98: Section 550A of the Education Act 1996 – The Use of Force to Control Pupils outlines the parameters of using ‘reasonable’ force with physically aggressive pupils. This is covered in Northern Ireland by the Department of Education Circular 1999/9: Pastoral Care – Guidance on the Use of Reasonable Force to Restrain or Control Pupils, and its related handbook.

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, Section 3, places a veto on a sexual relationship with a pupil at a teacher-as-tutor's school. The DfEE Circular 11/95: Misconduct of Teachers and Workers with Children and Young Persons, contains other important strictures which help to define what is ‘appropriate’ in this context.

Note 5 for students in Wales and Northern Ireland

You may wish to refer to the following Welsh equivalents of the above-mentioned circulars:

Circular 54/93: Protection of Children – Disclosure of Criminal Background of Those With Access to Children (NAfW, 1993);
Circular 34/97: Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs (NAfW, 1997);
Circular 13/98: Requirements for Courses of Initial Teacher Training (NAfW, 1998a);
Circular 37/98: The Use of Force to Control or Restrain Pupils (NAfW, 1998b);
Circular 3/99: Pupil Support and Social Exclusion (NAfW, 1999);
Special Educational Needs Code of Practice for Wales (NAfW, 2002b).

Note also that DfES and similar circulars refer to day-to-day practices or legal requirements which are specific to England (or England and Wales) only.

There are no Northern Ireland equivalents to DfEE Circulars 11/95 and 10/98. However, two documents available from the Northern Ireland Department of Education (or on its website) do cover similar ground to the fair opportunities papers referred to above. These are:

Promoting and Sustaining Good Behaviour: a discipline strategy for schools (DE(NI), 1998);
Pastoral Care in Schools – Promoting Positive Behaviour (DE(NI), 2001).

Since devolution, the Northern Ireland Department of Education has been replaced by three departments, one of which is the Department of Education. Here, DE(NI) represents all references to this department.

In addition, a swathe of other directives has evolved to give a fairer set of opportunities for all pupils which teachers are required to enact, for example: Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs (DfE, 1994); Circular 14/96: Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs (DfEE, 1996); Circular 10/99: Social Inclusion – Pupil Support (DfEE, 1999).

These are representative of the intention to provide equality of opportunity. See also Reaching Higher: higher education and the learning country (NAfW, 2002a).

Set against these details are what are termed by Bourdillon and Storey as ‘school-based commitments’ – all those other facets of support for school life that contribute to its success and its spirit. It is the commitment to and living out in practice of these facets of support which, we have argued in this unit, enable a teacher to go beyond competence and towards making a real difference to pupils’ learning and lives. These professional duties, then, are essential and also complementary to what we have stressed as the distinguishing marks of the professional-in-action, one who works ‘to a set of values and standards for the benefit of others’ (key issue 1). These are embodied in the ‘Professional values in practice’ which you looked at in Activity 4 in Section 2.

6.3 Health and safety

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Above all things, parents want their children to be safe at school, both physically and emotionally. This notion of being ‘safe’ relates to lesson activities across the curriculum, scheduled both inside and outside classrooms. It includes break-times between lessons and protection from other pupils who might threaten safety. It also covers the safety of pupils when they are in your care on a visit that takes them out of school. It requires that meals taken at school by pupils are hygienic and reasonably nutritious. It certainly demands that pupils operate within an environmentally friendly context that is composed of non-toxic materials and one that does not pose a danger to health and well-being. And, at an often unspoken level, it includes the requirement that the school must be a site which successfully screens and deters adults who might threaten or endanger young people.

You need to know that The Protection of Children Act (1999) operates through circulars and legal requirements made by the education, health, police and social services. The commonly referred to ‘police check’ of adults working with children, for example, is just one facet of this. The DfES publications list for the health, safety and welfare of pupils, which you can see on its website, will give you a sense of the wide-ranging brief of the Act in relation to the education service. In Northern Ireland, Circular 1999/10: Pastoral Care in Schools – Child Protection (DE(NI), 1999b) and its associated handbook (DE(NI), 2001) cover similar ground. Another useful document to consult is Welfare and Protection of Pupils (DE(NI), 2003).

The fact that so many of these issues will be discussed with you at a very early stage in school underlines the heightened importance of this facet of school life.

Activity 12 The legal responsibilities of teachers

2 hours 0 minutes

This activity will enable you to find out more about teachers’ legal responsibilities during the school day, and beyond it, when supervising pupils who are taking part in activities and visits. You will also consider the assessment of risk.

Task 12.1

You will need the following resource:

Information about school activities, from the DfES website.

Access this website and make a note of any key findings about organising and supervising school travel and activities out of school which you did not expect.

Task 12.2

You will need the following resource:

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) website or any other professional association site such as the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru (UCAC), the Union of Welsh Speaking Teachers, the Irish National Teachers Organization or the Ulster Teachers Union.

Access one of these websites and browse the range of publications available, and then some of the details contained in what appear to be important documents. This will give you some sense of the wealth of information available and the levels of responsibility which will be placed upon your school and upon you individually in these areas.

You may also find it useful to know at this point about the publication Teachers’ Legal Liabilities and Responsibilities: lecture notes (NUT, 2001). Other professional associations will also provide their members with similar notes.

7 Summary

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

We hope that you have found this unit interesting and challenging. The issues raised go to the heart of the work of the teacher-as-tutor, and so are challenging. The processes and procedures you find in place in your schools may at first seem strange and may even puzzle you. The activities in this unit will have helped you to make sense of what you see, hear, read and reflect upon, and you should now be developing an understanding of the overlaps and the particular concerns of the class subject teacher and those of the form or group tutor and what being ‘professional’ as a teacher-as-tutor entails. In addition, you should now have a grasp of how many other adults support the teaching and learning processes in school life. Finally, you will also now have an understanding of the everyday ways in which ‘making a contribution’ to your school can occur and of its importance for what your pupils can achieve.

This contribution will increasingly be shared with other professionals in related public sector fields such as health and social care. The Green Paper Every Child Matters (2003) set out a vision of multi-agency co-operation for the benefit of all children, with more targeted services for those with additional needs. The Children Act 2004 is the legislative spine that will drive these projected reforms. You can find a link to these documents from the DfES website.

Openlearn unit PGCE_2 will build upon these issues and understandings so that you can begin to think about what else the wider professional role of the teacher might mean and entail. There we will look at the work of the pastoral care team and your work within that as a tutor as well as the ways in which you can make a contribution to particular whole-school initiatives and processes. We shall also be examining issues of progression within the tutorial and your part in that process.

8 Optional reading

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

Chapter 13, ‘Effective and improving schools’, by H. Bourdillon and A. Storey, from Aspects of Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools: perspectives on practice (Generic Reader 2.

Askew, S. (ed.) (2000) Feedback to Learning, London, RoutledgeFalmer.

Lodge, C. (1992) ‘Integrating new pupils who speak no English’, Pastoral Care in Education, 10(2), June, pp. 32–5.

Next steps

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References

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Adams, C. (2000) ‘Beyond the rhetoric: building a teaching profession to support quality teaching’ [on-line], London, GTCE.

Askew, S. (ed.) (2000) Feedback to Learning, London, RoutledgeFalmer.

Bourdillon, H. and Storey, A. (2002) Aspects of Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools: perspectives on practice, London, RoutledgeFalmer in association with The Open University (Generic Reader 2).

Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2004) The Children Act 2004, London, The Stationery Office.

Department for Education (DfE) (1994) Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs, London, HMSO.

Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (1995) Circular 11/95:

Misconduct of Teachers and Workers with Children and Young Persons, London, HMSO.

Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (1996) Circular 14/96: Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs, London, HMSO.

Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (1998) Circular 10/98: Section 550A of the Education Act 1996 – The Use of Force to Control Pupils, London, HMSO.

Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (1999) Circular 10/99: Social Inclusion – Pupil Support, London, HMSO.

Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2001) Schools Achieving Success, London, HMSO (White Paper).

Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2003) Command 5860: Every Child Matters, London, The Stationery Office.

Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and Teacher Training Agency (TTA) (2002) Qualifying to Teach: standards for the award of qualified teacher status [on-line], London, TTA.

Department of Education (Northern Ireland) (1998) Promoting and Sustaining Good Behaviour: a discipline strategy for schools, Bangor, DE(NI).

Department of Education (Northern Ireland) (1999a) Circular 1999/9: Pastoral Care – Guidance on the Use of Reasonable Force to Restrain or Control Pupils, Bangor, DE(NI).

Department of Education (Northern Ireland) (1999b) Circular 1999/10: Pastoral Care in Schools – Child Protection, Bangor, DE(NI).

Department of Education (Northern Ireland) (1999c) Lifelong Learning: a new learning culture for all, Bangor, DE(NI).

Department of Education (Northern Ireland) (1999d) Pastoral Care in Schools -Child Protection, Bangor, DE(NI).

Department of Education (Northern Ireland) (2001) Pastoral Care in Schools -Promoting Positive Behaviour, Bangor, DE(NI).

Department of Education (Northern Ireland) (2003) Welfare and Protection of Pupils. Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order, Bangor, DE(NI).

General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) (2002) Code of Professional Values and Practice for Teachers [on-line], London, GTCE.

General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GCTNI) (2004)> Code of Professional Values and Practice [on-line], Belfast, GTCNI. [Accessed 4 July 2005].

General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) (2002) Professional Code for Teachers in Wales [on-line], Cardiff, GTCW.

Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) London, HMSO.

Health and Safety (Northern Ireland) Order (1978) Bangor, Northern Ireland.

Lodge, C. (1992) ‘Integrating new pupils who speak no English’, Pastoral Care in Education, 10(2), June, pp. 32–5.

Moon, B., Shelton Mayes, A. and Hutchinson, S. (eds) (2002) Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum in Secondary Schools: a reader, London, RoutledgeFalmer in association with The Open University (Generic Reader 1).

National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) (1993) Circular 54/93: Protection of Children – Disclosure of Criminal Background of Those With Access to Children, Cardiff, NAfW.

National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) (1997) Circular 34/97: Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs, Cardiff, NAfW.

National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) (1998a) Circular 13/98: Requirements for Courses of Initial Teacher Training, Cardiff.

National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) (1998b) Circular 37/98: The Use of Force to Control or Restrain Pupils, Cardiff, NAfW

National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) (1999) Circular 3/99: Pupil Support and Social Exclusion, Cardiff, NAfW.

National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) (2001) How is your child doing in primary school?, Cardiff, NAfW.

National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) (2002a) Reaching Higher: higher education and the learning country – a strategy for the higher education section in Wales, Cardiff, NAfW.

National Assembly for Wales (NAfW) (2002b) Special Educational Needs Code of Practice for Wales, Cardiff, NAfW.

National Union of Teachers (NUT) Teachers’ Legal Liabilities and

Responsibilities: lecture notes (2001) London, National Union of Teachers.

The Protection of Children Act (1999), London, HMSO. Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority (ACCAC) (2000)

Personal and Social Education Framework: key stages 1–4, Cardiff, ACCAC.

Sammons, P., Hilman, J. and Mortimore, P. (1994) Key Characteristics of Effective Schools, London, London Institute of Education for OfSTED.

Acknowledgements

The Open University — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:00:08 GMT

Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material in this unit:

Unit Image

NNadya Peek, photos

Text

Younger, M. and Warrington, M. ‘He’s such a nice man, but he’s so boring, you have to really make a conscious effort to learn’: The views of Gemma, Daniel and their contemporaries on teacher quality and effectiveness chapter 9 in ‘Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum in Secondary Schools’ A reader (eds) Bob Moon, Ann Shelton Mayes and Steven Hutchinson, published by Routledge Falmer in Association with The Open University (2002). This is an edited version of an article originally published in Educational Review 51 (3), Carfax Publishing, Taylor & Francis Ltd, Basingstoke (1999). Copyright © M. Younger and M.Warrington.

Wragg, T.'Teachers for the comprehensive idea' chapter 11 pp112-116 in Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum in Secondary Schools’ A reader (eds) Bob Moon, Ann Shelton Mayes and Steven Hutchinson, published by Routledge Falmer in Association with The Open University (2002). This was originally published in Pring, R.and Walford, G. (eds) (1997) Affirming the Comprehensive Ideal, pp 137-47, Falmer Press, London.

Bourdillon, H. and Storey, A. chapter 10 ‘Inclusive education Gender and ethnicity’, chapter 11 ‘Inclusive education Special educational needs’, chapter 12 ‘The teacher’s wider role’ in ‘Aspects of teaching and learning in secondary schools: perspectives on practice’ (2002), Routledge Falmer in association with The Open University (2002). Copyright © The Open University.

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