WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE CHARTERED TEACHER PROGRAMME
Dawn Cox
Secondary teacher, Manningtree High School
Dawn Cox writes about her CTeach experience and why you should join the Chartered Teacher Programme programme
“I have completed many teacher CPD courses in my career, but the Chartered Teacher Programme (CTeach) stands out as being different.”
It’s about teaching
Many teacher development courses are about leadership and management skills or linked to a specific subject. However, the CTeach course is about teaching; your own teaching. This is quite unique as you can focus on the aspect of your own practice that will make a difference to your own students. When you write your Professional Development Plan, think carefully about what you want to improve, but make it realistic and manageable. It might be useful to consider this as part of a development that you’re already working on or the start of a process that will continue beyond the programme. If it’s something that you wanted or needed to do anyway, it’s more likely to have an impact beyond the programme.
Research
The course focuses very clearly on how we can use research in our teaching. It has a balance of providing participants with relevant research on the modules to be completed but also expects you to find research that is applicable to your own focus. For example, when looking at the assessment, we were given compulsory and optional reading lists. Meanwhile, in my own project, I looked at many original research papers to inform my literature review.
Individual & collaborative
The course is focused on your own individual needs so a lot of it will be done by yourself, however, there are lots of opportunities to share and work with others.
Firstly, the website offers simple forums to share ideas and ask questions. It’s good to hear what other people are doing and support one another in the programme.
Secondly, you will have a mentor that works alongside you throughout the programme. They are someone to bounce ideas off and can be a nudge when things get busy and you need a reminder of what you should be doing and when.
You will meet other participants at the face to face days. It’s good to be able to share how things are going and particularly share any worries about how things are going. There’s a good chance that others will feel the same.
There are webinars led by programme leaders and experts that are interactive so that you can ask questions that relate to your own project.
For the recording of your teaching, you will work with others that are focusing on a similar topic. I found this aspect challenging in terms of time, but really enjoyed seeing how other colleagues teach.
Time
This is probably the most important thing to consider. How will you organise your time to complete the programme? If possible, try and negotiate some time with school. If you have a school set CPD ask if CTeach can be your provision for the duration of the programme. If not, think about how your work best: before school, after school, weekends, holidays.
Visit the Chartered Teacher page to find out more or email charteredteacher@chartered.college with any questions. Early-bird rate for the programme closes 2nd December