Today Teacher Tapp has published data that sheds new light on the perceptions of teachers in relation to their own professional development. We welcome this as an important and additional contribution to the wider understanding of how those invested in professional development for teachers can best frame their work.
In particular, we have been pleased to work with the Gatsby Foundation and Teacher Tapp on this survey as a way of contributing to the report on introducing an entitlement to CPD for all teachers and school leaders that we will release in the coming weeks.
A key finding of the Teacher Tapp work highlights there is an appetite for change within the profession, but moreover an understanding of the positive impact good CPD could have on the sector. More than one–in-ten teachers and two to three-out-of-ten Heads would choose CPD vouchers over a pay rise.
After the Labour Party announced its intention to launch a CPD entitlement (in its mission document on Breaking Down the Barriers to Opportunity.) TDT established a group of experts to consider how such a policy might best be introduced. We have been leading data collection and consultation with individuals and groups across the sector in facilitated focus groups, interviews, roundtable discussions and received data returns from two surveys. Our findings and preliminary conclusions have been considered by our expert group and will be published in a final report before Spring 2024. The foundation of our research and data collection starts from the basis that teachers accessing and engaging in continuous professional development is uniquely impactful.
