On Monday 3rd September I was asked to go and speak to staff at another school. Several staff members had witnessed the Teacher Learning Communities (TLC) that we have at Rossett (our vehicle for staff training and development) and were preparing to adopt a similar approach. I had already been and spoken to the new TLC leaders and this visit was to speak to the whole school staff.
The aim of this was not to simply explain what we do at Rossett with relation to staff training and development but was to try and get the whole staff to think about what it is that makes a successful training environment. The staff had KWL grids to fill in but I emphasised at the beginning that the 'learning' element of the grid could come from themselves and others on their tables rather than just from me. It wasn't going to be much use to them if they just heard 30 minutes of 'what works for us' I believed that it would be much more useful for them to establish 'what will work for them'.
Throughout the session the aim was to also showcase some simple straightforward activities that could instantly be used in any classroom.
This was only a short 30 minute 'presentation' and the central activity revolved around the staff completing a card sorting activity:![]()
The initial aim was for them to establish 6 essential components of good staff training. They could then put the other six in a column of 'ideals' or, as some of them did, they could remove some of the suggestions altogether.
The secondary aim was for the staff to get into discussions about what makes good training. They were sat in tables that would form their TLC groupings for the year to come and the aim was to feedback to their new TLC leader some ideas that were essential for their staff development.
Throughout the session the staff filled in their KWL grids beginning by showing what they knew already about TLC and developing to show what they had learnt. I thought that this approach was particularly useful as there was different levels of understanding and knowledge at the start of the session and in order for me to attempt to show some personalised progress this tool worked well.
At the end of the session I asked the staff to share what they had learnt on a central grid in the middle of the table. The grid was split into sections. One was to be used to show what they had learnt from me. The other, more important part, was to show what they had learnt from each other.
Reflections
+ Ensuring that the training occurs in a supportive, non-judgemental environment was highlighted by every group.
+ The importance of, and opportunity to, collaborate was also something that featured very highly in most groups.
+ Virtually every group placed 'Linked to Performance Management' as the least important and some groups found that it was actually counter productive.
It seemed that this kind of activity worked well at the start of the year. It provided a base for discussion about what is important when delivering staff training. Arguably all the points are very valid but this activity gave the TLC leaders clear insight into what their groups would most value. Whatever the vehicle for staff training it seemed to me to be a worthwhile activity to begin a year with and to allow staff to think about what is important for them.
I also believe it is a good activity for groups of students who are looking to deepen understanding of a particular topic. At GCSE for example, I could see an activity with 12 causes of American Involvement in Vietnam being used in a similar way.