I’ve been thinking about the relationship between continuing professional development and subject knowledge development and I think there might be an underdeveloped aspect of professional development which might be worth exploring.
It’s possible that there is an additional fruitful lens through which to consider professional learning.
By way of background, I have been thinking about some principles for implementing the curriculum in our classrooms. I have developed three broad rules of thumb about the quality of materials offered to pupils:
· First, they should privilege thinking over task completion
· Second, they should have the potential, over time, to lead pupils to a place of mastery where they can do something on their own terms, in a new context as a result of what I have taught them
· Third, they should reflect the original source of the domain as closely as possible.
If I have these principles in mind, they help to provide a quality assurance bar for what lands on my pupils’ desks.
So how does this link to professional learning? Well, what I’ve noticed is that if the materials I am using are of the highest quality and are an accurate representation of the domain, then I find that my own subject knowledge increases.
And it seems to me that this is an important aspect of professional development. In a nutshell, if I’m using high quality materials and texts, I get better as a teacher. And the opposite might also be true (I’m still thinking about this) – in other words if the resources I use in lessons are poor quality worksheets with low level activities for pupils, then they are likely not improving my practice or insights into the subject.
To take an example, for the Year 6 science programme of study pupils need to be taught about the theory of evolution. If I’m working to the principles above, I might select Sabina Radeva’s ‘Charles Darwin’s on the Origin of Species’.
Sabina trained as a scientist and retrained as an artist and this book fits the criteria above: furthermore, it is beautifully illustrated, the tone of the text does not patronise pupils and it contains all the rich vocabulary that I want pupils to learn.
It also has a page of common misconceptions. These are incredibly useful for me, as I don’t have a background in science. And they also mean that I can include them in order to deepen pupils’ understanding of evolution. You can find out more on the value of using texts to help pupils know more and remember more on The Teachers’ Collection and the draft unit and knowledge organiser for the Year 6 science unit here (£).
It seems to me that the very fact of using a high quality, challenging resource for my class, has an important by-product of developing my subject knowledge. I shall be exploring this additional lens through which to consider continuing professional development in future posts.
Until next time
Mary
PS
We’re working hard on The Huh Academy as the home for courses to support your work in school.
We’ve called it ‘Huh’ for two reasons: one, ‘Huh’ is the Egyptian god of regeneration, creativity and ever-lasting things and we think that accurately reflects ongoing professional learning. And second, because we often find ourselves saying ‘Huh? I didn’t know that!’