Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Programmes in Scotland, and Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Programmes of Initial Teacher Education in Scotland

Status: Open (16 April 2013 to 17 May 2013)

Background

Following a recent informal consultation on the Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Programmes in Scotland and the Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Programmes of Initial Teacher Education in Scotland, work has been done on redrafting these two documents in the light of what was said during the informal consultation.

Consultation

Comments are now sought on the redrafted versions below:

To assist you, we have included commentary documents which outline the changes proposed in both documents:

No formal response document is being issued but comments are now invited from all interested parties with submissions preferred via email to cheryl.loughbrough@gtcs.org.uk.

It is appreciated that the timescale is tight but we would be very grateful to receive comments by Friday 17 May 2013.

In addition to submitting written comments, or as an alternative if preferred, Tom Hamilton, Director of Education and Professional Learning, will be happy to meet with organisations or interested parties to discuss their views on these two documents. If you wish to organise such a meeting, please contact Cheryl either by e-mail or telephone on 0131 314 6079.

Informal consultation on issues relating to Initial Teacher Education in Scotland

Status: Closed (11 January 2013 to 31 January 2013)

Background

GTC Scotland is responsible for determining what constitutes a recognised teaching qualification for those seeking registration as a school teacher. We are now seeking comments from stakeholders and interested parties relating to the Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Courses of Initial Teacher Education (ITE), and the Guidelines for Courses of ITE in Scotland.

The purpose of this informal consultation was to gain some early comment from stakeholders. We will feed these comments into a redrafting of both the Guidelines and the Entry Memo before consulting formally on specific proposals in the Spring. We aim to have the revised versions in place for our council meeting in June.

The revised Guidelines will be used for all programme accreditations after that date, and the revised Entry Memo will be used to consider applications for those wishing to enter ITE in and after August 2014.

Consultation

This consultation provided an opportunity for the education community to raise any matters regarding the Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Courses of ITE, and the Guidelines for Courses of ITE in Scotland.

View the information and issues below:

Revision of the Professional Standards

Status: Closed (29 August 2012 to 6 November 2012)

Background

The GTC Scotland framework of Professional Standards has been revised in the light of changing contexts within education and society. The complex dynamic nature of education and society mean that teachers need to be and become critically informed adaptive experts whose professional values, knowledge and actions ensure positive impact on learners and learning. In addition, Teaching Scotland's Future affirmed the need to revise the Professional Standards. The revised Professional Standards reconceptualise what it means to be a teacher in Scotland in the 21st Century. Our profession has a moral imperative to secure the best learning opportunities and experiences for all learners in Scotland.

Development of the Professional Standards

In revising the Professional Standards, GTC Scotland has worked in partnership with members of the educational community. The revised Professional Standards have been developed by three writing groups, made up of teachers at various career stages, as well as local authority and university colleagues. A steering group also provided helpful feedback on proposals and early drafts of the Professional Standards.

Read our update on the progress of the draft revised Professional Standards

Principles

The draft Professional Standards aim to provide a coherent framework to support teachers at all stages in their careers. The same values have been incorporated in each of the standards, as have leadership and sustainability.

The Standards for Registration

The draft revised Standards for Registration incorporates the Standard for Provisional Registration and the Standard for Full Registration. The Standard for Provisional Registration outlines what is expected of a teacher at the end of Initial Teacher Education and the Standard for Full Registration outlines what is expected of a teacher at the end of their probationary period, as well as what all teachers are expected to maintain and enhance over the course of their careers. By including these two standards in one document, we have attempted to demonstrate the expected progression in the early phase of a teacher's professional learning journey.

The Standard for Career-Long Professional Learning

This draft standard aims to support teachers to develop and advance their thinking, learning, practice and expertise throughout their careers. The actions, knowledge, skills and abilities identified in the Standard for Full Registration will continue to be the foundation of practice. Teachers who work with this standard will evolve and develop their practice and expertise beyond the registered level. The standard recognises that during their careers teachers may undertake a variety of roles within and beyond the classroom. It also recognises the potential leadership roles that all teachers have.

Standards for Leadership and Management

The draft revised Standards for Leadership and Management have been extended from the previous Standard for Headship to include a standard for Middle Leadership, as well as the Standard for Headship, in order to meet the needs of all teachers in, or aspiring to, formal leadership roles in our schools.

Consultation

You can view the consultation responses below:

The consultation provided an opportunity for the education community to respond to the draft framework of Professional Standards. There was significant thought, discussion and time to get to the consultation stage with a great deal of input from a variety of people. Find out who has been involved in the steering and writing of the draft framework of Professional Standards:

You will find the draft framework of Professional Standards documents below:

We held a number of meetings across Scotland to gather views, and we also hosted a series of GLOW Meet events to provide additional opportunities for discussion about each Professional Standard. We also hosted three regional consultation meetings in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Following receipt of consultation responses, we will finalise the Professional Standards. We plan to publish the revised Standards framework at the start of 2013.

Scheme of Professional Update

Status: Closed (1 February 2012 to 12 March 2012)

On 17 March 2011, the Scottish Parliament approved the Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011 which sets out the Government's plans for the granting of independent status to us from April 2012. As part of this legislation (Section 31), the Government placed us under a duty to introduce a scheme of 're-accreditation' for teachers.

This consultation provided an opportunity for the education community to respond to the position we have adopted in our proposals for a scheme of Professional Update.

You can view the consultation responses and position paper below:

View our draft advice notes which have been prepared as part of our initial thinking about Professional Update and how it could operate:

Framework on Teacher Competence

Status: Closed (17 January 2012 to 14 February 2012)

The Framework on Teacher Competence (FTC) replaces the Code of Practice on Teacher Competence from 2 April 2012. It sets out the procedures to be used by employers when addressing teacher under-performance.

View a summary of the responses:

Following analysis of responses to this consultation, we have published the following final version:

Code of Professionalism and Conduct

Status: Closed (1 September 2011 to 17 October 2011)

The Code of Professionalism and Conduct (CoPAC) is intended to assist registered teachers and members of the public to understand the standard of behaviour expected of a registered teacher. Version 1 of CoPAC was introduced in August 2008.

In the light of the legislative changes to apply to us from 2 April 2012, CoPAC required to be revised to embrace new legislative terminology and a new Fitness to Teach framework. We also took the opportunity to revisit the content of the Code, remove reference to the current disciplinary process, and make the revised Code less legalistic and technical in character.

View a summary of the responses:

Student Teacher Code

Status: Closed (1 September 2011 to 17 October 2011)

The Student Teacher Code (STC) is intended to be a supportive document for those undertaking or proposing to undertake a programme of teacher education. Accordingly the STC reflects the stage at which students find themselves in their career and also the context in which they are involved with pupils.

The original draft was produced by a small working group which comprised staff from some Scottish Universities and a GTC Scotland Officer.

View a summary of the responses:

Fitness to Teach and Appeals Rules

Status: Closed (1 September 2011 to 17 October 2011)

We launched a consultation on new Fitness to Teach and Appeals Rules (the Rules) which set out how we will investigate and determine the fitness to teach of individuals who are applying for registration or who are already registered where it is alleged that they have fallen short of the standards of conduct or professional competence that GTC Scotland expects.

View a summary of the responses:

Following analysis of responses to this consultation, we have published the following final version:

Code of Conduct and Membership Scheme and election and appointment processes

Status: Closed (31 January 2011 to 20 February 2011)

We launched a consultation on our proposals relating to how registered teachers are elected and individuals appointed to a future independent Council, or to serve on its committees and panels. This ran from 29 September 2010 to 11 January 2011.

We also launched a short consultation on our proposed Code of Conduct and Membership Scheme which is to be applied to seek to ensure that public and stakeholder confidence is maintained in the effectiveness, impartiality and integrity of those who serve on the Council as well as its committees and panels. This ran from 31 January 2011 to 20 February 2011.

Following analysis of responses to these consultation exercises, and taking into account the impact of the final version of the draft Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011, we published revised, final versions of each of the documents on which we consulted (as noted below).

The reasons for the changes made to the documents in view of the consultation responses received are set out in the section entitled "Summary and GTC Scotland Conclusions" in our response available below.

Overview of respondents

Submissions were received from 13 respondents in terms of the consultation on our election and appointments processes; 10 responding on behalf of an organisation and 3 responding as individuals.

Submissions were received from 13 respondents in terms of the consultation on the proposed Code of Conduct and Membership Scheme; 12 responding on behalf of an organisation and 1 responding as an individual.

We thank all respondents for taking the time to help inform, and improve, the documentation that we proposed.

View a summary of the responses:

Registration and Standards Rules

Status: Closed (1 October 2010 to 3 January 2011)

We launched a consultation on new Registration and Standards Rules (accompanied by a Statement of Registration Principles for those qualified outside Scotland) which were proposed to update our current registration and standards rule framework to align with the Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council Scotland) Order 2011 and current law. In proposing the new rules, we also took the opportunity to simplify and streamline the framework to try to make it more accessible and easier to understand.

Following analysis of responses to the consultation, and taking into account the impact of the final version of the draft Public Services Reform (General Teaching Council for Scotland) Order 2011, we have published a revised, final version of the rules framework which can be downloaded below:

The rationale for the changes that have been made in view of the consultation responses received is set out in the section entitled "Summary and GTC Scotland Conclusions" which is available below.

Overview of Respondents

Submissions were received from 9 respondents; 7 responding on behalf of an organisation and 2 responding as individuals.

We thank all respondents for taking the time to help inform, and improve, our proposed Registration and Standards Rules.

View a summary of the responses: