WHY CTEACH SHOULD BE PART OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Helen Barker

Helen Barker writes about her CTeach experience and why you should join the Chartered Teacher Programme programme

We all know that if you want something doing, you should give it to a busy person, and there aren’t many professions where people are busier than teachers. Although there has been a focus on workload reduction over the past few years, we still work long hours in a sometimes stressful environment, making thousands of decisions a day and looking after children as they develop and grow.

So why should you find even more time in your packed schedule to study towards Chartered Teacher (CTeach) status, especially as the course has a reputation for being challenging?

Firstly, by becoming a Chartered Teacher you are showing that you are committed to developing your teaching, even as you become more experienced in the profession. This will open doors for you, whether in your own school or into others.

By focusing on how research can actually be implemented and used in the classroom, you will become a shrewd reader of research papers, able to sum up current research and also to use your own classroom-based research to inform educational practice in your classroom, your setting, and beyond. Because of this, you will be able to evaluate and if needed, challenge any new or existing policies in school.

The challenging nature of the qualification ensures that only those who are at the top of their teaching game will succeed. You will also show that you are both committed and organised, and willing to work hard in order to improve your own teaching practise, as well as to offer feedback to others. This will reflect well on you both personally and professionally, as it shows that you can set yourself challenging objectives and meet them.

You won’t be working alone- you’ll be alongside a cohort of other CTeach delegates, supported by experienced mentors, each of whom has the educational experience needed to support and encourage you appropriately. Your cohort will become a network of teachers who you can trust, both to help you as the course progresses, but also in your further professional development after the course has finished.

The CTeach course has real benefits for teaching and learning in the classroom. A great deal of the course is practical, allowing you to look in detail at your own teaching, improving it in small stages. As well as this, your understanding of the research which underpins many educational and pedagogical approaches will improve, so that you have a deeper understanding of how the best teachers teach and fundamentally, how children can learn.

Most importantly, you will join a growing group of Chartered Teachers, who are the passionate new voice of education. We will be playing a pivotal role in the educational landscape, as the CTeach status confers a level of academic rigour and commitment to excellent teaching which is above and beyond other qualifications.

I hope that you will consider joining the growing group of CTeach graduates.

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