The Chartered College of Teaching’s flagship CTeach programme is to be delivered overseas after the professional body partnered with a group of schools in the United Arab Emirates.
Schools Week can reveal that a partnership between the UAE Research Schools Network and BSAK Leadership and Learning Academy is one of 11 providers selected by the College as part of a pilot to deliver its chartered teacher course to a wider pool of participants.
CTeach, a 14-month course designed to represent a gold standard of excellence in teaching, was previously delivered in its entirety by the Chartered College itself.
The move comes after College leaders assured ministers the organisation would be financially self-sufficient by this March and will not need further handouts. The professional body’s membership numbers passed 30,000 in the autumn.
Although the need to raise money isn’t thought to be the main driver for the use of delivery providers going forward, the change will help the College scale-up its operations and creates a bigger pool for potential trainees. If this pilot cohort works well, leaders hope to recruit a wider pool of providers to work with in future.
The partners will provide training and mentoring to support teachers in the cohort launching this April to achieve chartered teacher status. However, the assessment and quality assurance elements of the course will still be run in-house by the College.
“Moving to this new approach for the delivery of our chartered teacher programme is a really exciting step,” said College director of education and research Cat Scutt.
“Our pilot providers all have extensive experience in delivering high-quality teacher CPD. We are looking forward to working with them and making use of their local expertise to offer tailored support and development opportunities.
“This will help to ensure more teachers can have their expertise and skills recognised through CTeach status.”
The 11 providers selected are a mixture of school partnerships, academy trusts and teaching schools alliances.
Schools Week understands the UAE partnership will initially deliver the course to teachers at schools within its own network, but could provide it to others in the future.
However, overseas teachers will only be able to participate if they meet the requirements for College membership. The organisation’s rules state that only those who did their teacher training in the UK, Ireland, a crown dependency or British overseas territory can join.
Julie McCulloch, director of policy at school leaders’ union ASCL, said: “We welcome the development of this important programme and we see the range of providers – including the fact that one provider is international – as a real strength.
“It recognises the importance of teaching as a global profession and helps to create links which enable us to learn from one another internationally. We look forward to seeing chartered status going from strength to strength and giving teachers the enhanced professional recognition they deserve.”
The providers
Beacon Partnership: Beacon Academy, East Sussex County Council, St. Richard’s Catholic College, St. Mark’s Church of England Primary School and Sussex University School of Education and Social Work
Beaumont School, Sir John Lawes School
GLF Schools and Thinking Schools Academy Trust
Teaching Schools South West
Learning Unlimited Teaching School Alliance, Sheffield Hallam University
Scarborough Teaching Alliance
Keele and North Staffordshire Teacher Education
The Laurus Trust, Didsbury High School
The Lion Alliance, Finham Park School
West Lakes Teaching School
UAE Research Schools Network in partnership with BSAK Leadership and Learning Academy
You could not make this up.
An organisation whose sole role is to stand up for the teaching profession in England thinks it should have a focus in the UAE!
If actual working UK teachers were running The Chartered College would this have been a priority?
I guess if you have an organisation taken over by leaders of university teacher training departments, you will focus on making money out of training programmes.
How many trained UK teachers have said that the most pressing problems in English schools is the lack of teacher qualifications in the UAE?
Erm, assembly tube…10 of the providers are England based? Only 1 of them is in the UAE? I don’t understand the problem?
Erm, assembly tube…10 of the providers are England based? Only 1 of them is in the UAE? I don’t understand the problem?
1. Many British teachers work overseas and rtn to the UK. This is in the interests of CCT to stay connected and support British teachers. 2. Raising the status of the profession and the work of the CCT is enhanced, again good for teachers at home and abroad. 3. Having a global outlook and engagement isn’t a bad thing. 4. This has no negative impact, nor does it compromise the work on the CCT in England. A good move and to be supported. Too easy to be negative, critical and narrow minded.