Report proposes teachers face ‘revalidation’ every 5 years

Teachers should face revalidation every five years, according to a new report from the Times Education Commission.

The commission spent a year preparing a wide-ranging report, Bringing out the best: How to transform education and unleash the potential of every child, which looks at the whole of the UK education system. Among the 22 commissioners involved in the project were Robert Halfon MP, chair of the commons education committee; Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL union; and Anne Longfield, former children’s commissioner for England.

In the report they state ‘Teachers are not the problem in the education system, as they are sometimes treated by politicians: they are part of the solution.’. However they call for ‘a concerted effort to raise the status of teaching in this country and also make it more intellectually engaging’. This would include the proposed five year revalidation (to be overseen by the Chartered College of Teaching), which would involve teachers being offered more professional development. The commission says this would mirror the certification process for doctors run by the General Medical Council, and would place emphasis on excellence while ensuring that all teachers were up to date with new technology as well as developments in neuroscience and pedagogy.

Another proposal in the report is for a new category of ‘Consultant Teacher’, which would enable teachers to ‘work towards promotion within the classroom, rather than having to move into management’. Other recommendations in the report include the establishment of a national leadership programme for head teachers, and a new ‘undergraduate teaching degree apprenticeship’ route into the profession. The latter could boost the diversity of the profession and make it easier for teaching assistants to progress, the commissioners suggest. They also call for teachers to receive better training to enable them to identify pupils with special educational needs.

Responding to the report, a Department for Education spokesperson said they ‘always welcome new ideas and views from the sector and education experts’. 

Full report: https://tinyurl.com/dbz4bem9

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