IOE launches new online course to support early career teacher development

Led by the IOE’s Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research (CTTR) and the Centre for Educational Leadership (CEL), the course is aimed at school leaders and mentor teachers who are working towards the implementation of the ECF.

The ECF underpins an entitlement to a fully-funded, two-year package of structured training and support for early career teachers linked to the best available research evidence. The IOE was appointed by the Department for Education (DfE) to deliver the national roll-out of the Early Career Framework for teachers in March 2021.

CTTR and CEL’s new preparatory course, hosted on FutureLearn, will help participants to plan for and support early career teachers’ professional development through using the ECF. The course brings together learning from evaluating the ECF pilot programmes with input from school leaders, mentors and early career teachers. It supports thinking and planning around how to make the most of the ECF in different settings.

The course’s weekly topics cover:

• Perspectives on teacher expertise and learning, including pedagogical methods of teacher education;
• Implementing the Early Career Framework;
• Mentoring and the Early Career Framework.

Mark Quinn, Associate Professor (Teaching) and Programme Leader of the UCL Early Career Teacher Programme, said: “We know, from the pilot and also the early rollout of the Early Career Framework, that it is already making a very positive difference to early career teachers, their mentors and their schools. We also know that, where our UCL programme is implemented well, it makes the biggest difference. That’s why this FutureLearn course is so important. Headteachers, Induction Leads, mentors – anyone involved in implementing ECF-based induction from September will find food for thought and practical guidance here. I look forward to dipping into the online discussions.”

Polly Glegg, Lecturer in Education and one of the course authors, said: “School leaders and mentors have told us how important it is to plan thoroughly so that early career teachers can get the most from the Early Career Framework during their induction. We’ve designed this short, accessible course to share insights from our evaluation of the ECF pilot programmes, from schools involved in the early roll-out and from our wider research and practice at the IOE. We want everybody involved in delivering the ECF to feel informed, supported and empowered to get the most from it in their setting, for their early career teachers.”

Participants can begin to work through the course ‘Supporting early career teacher development with the Early Career Framework’ at their own pace from 5 July 2021 onward. 

Find out more and register

Links

• Early Career Framework
• Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
• Department of Learning and Leadership

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• Phil Meech for UCL Institute of Education