Professional development packs
The Journey to Excellence is built around ten dimensions. In each, the key features of excellent practice are exemplified. What teachers and learners do to achieve these excellent outcomes is very often innovative, based on well considered advice about what works.
This resource contains videos of young people learning, teachers talking about learning and academic perspectives, giving you the opportunity to see a wide range of practices and exemplification of excellence.
Where do I start?
A series of professional development packs have been created. Users should establish which aspects they would like to improve, select an appropriate pack and work through it:
PDF file: Active Learning - professional development pack (252 KB)
PDF file: Assessment - professional development pack (148 KB)
PDF file: Inclusion - professional development pack (165 KB)
PDF file: Leading Learning - professional development pack (113 KB)
PDF file: Motivation - professional development pack (86 KB)
PDF file: Vision - professional development pack (131 KB)
PDF file: Meeting learners' needs - professional development pack (333 KB)
About the professional development packs
The professional development packs use carefully selected movies and key documents from The Journey to Excellence website. Whilst you watch examples of practitioners and learners, and listen to the perspective of researchers, you will be encouraged to carry out activities and apply your learning to your practice.
The professional development packs:
- are equally relevant to all professional groups including classroom assistants and allied professionals
- encourage you to identify your current level of knowledge and expertise and build on this
- are flexible, can be adapted to your individual or school’s needs and to enable you to work individually or collectively
- provide active tasks and aim to improve the quality of outcomes for learners
- promote creativity and innovation
- have tangible outcomes.
How long do activities take?
They can be used flexibly. You may want to spend two hours on an activity, an inservice day, or a series of twilight sessions. Most have additional activities for you to carry out with your class or colleagues.
Further professional development
These exemplar professional development packs have been created using elements throughout the resource. However, the resource is a vast and growing fund of information on all ten dimensions. You, your establishment or your authority may wish to use the resource in a similar way to develop and share the professional development packs and resources to meet your individual or collective needs.
Would it work for me?
What works in one context may have to be adapted to your own school or classroom. Innovate, create, use, adapt and apply ideas… But keep returning to the aims. Keep checking… is this making a difference to learners?