Professional Development That Teachers Ask For

Move from events to coached cycles tied to the live curriculum.

Challenge

One off INSET days failed to change classroom routines or improve learning quickly.

Result

Short coached cycles using next week's materials produced visible change within a fortnight.

Outcome

Calmer starts, clearer modelling and more consistent curriculum conversations across departments.

Innovation

Tight rehearsal, supportive walkthroughs, brief artefact reviews and an explicit operating system for staff.

Brief overview

Inset days are visible but impact is often modest. We made change visible by rehearsing one technique at a time on live materials, implementing with coaching, and reviewing impact with pupil work. Teachers felt the difference fast and asked for the next cycle.

Mechanisms that move practice

Departments met for structured co planning using the actual resources pupils would meet. Walkthroughs focused on the first five minutes or the handover. Notes were specific and kind with one prompt for tomorrow.

Human moments that matter

An early career teacher rehearsed the opening of a lesson twice with a mentor and delivered it calmly the next day. A parent received a plain explanation of how reading was being taught and what to do at home.

Keeping workload net zero

Every addition displaced something. We published a short operating system that named the routines we would rehearse and the tasks we would retire. Calendars reflected the choice.

Evidence and alignment

The approach aligns with EEF guidance on effective PD and implementation and with DfE workload principles. Evidence came from artefacts and simple signals close to learning.

Impact

Starts became calmer, explanations clearer and re teaching fell. Staff described the process as fair because decision rights were visible and consistent.

Lessons for leaders and investors

• Do fewer things well.
• Coach with live materials.
• Review artefacts not spreadsheets.
• Protect rehearsal time and retire low value tasks.

Full Article

What this means for school leaders and investors

Professional Development That Teachers Ask For is a reminder that implementation is the difference between a strategy and a routine. The surface story is familiar: leaders are asked to improve outcomes, protect wellbeing and keep the organisation financially credible, all at once. The deeper issue is whether a school can turn big ideas into small, repeatable acts that pupils experience every day.

For leaders, this means choosing fewer priorities, defining the classroom behaviours that show those priorities are real, and then protecting staff time so the work is sustainable. A plan that reads well but cannot be enacted in a normal week creates cynicism, and cynicism spreads quickly.

For boards and investors, the best question is not 'Do we have a strategy?' but 'Do we have a routine?'. Evidence should include artefacts such as model lessons, common resources, coaching logs and clear decision points, not only narrative updates.

Full narrative expansion

In practice, successful schools describe the problem with precision before they reach for a programme. They agree what will improve, for whom, and how they will know. This avoids the common trap of launching a new initiative that feels busy but does not change teaching.

The strongest narratives are not heroic. They are operational. Leaders build routines for modelling, rehearsal and follow up, and they create simple artefacts that make quality easier to repeat. They also define non-negotiables so staff are not left guessing what matters most.

This is where a practical lens is helpful. It asks: what does the teacher do at 8.55 on a wet Tuesday? What do pupils do? What do leaders look at in the first five minutes of a visit? If those answers are clear, the rest of the story is likely to hold.

What changed in practice

Whatever the theme, the shared lesson is that improvement is built through repeatable classroom routines that teachers can enact on a normal week. Professional development succeeds when it is live, specific and kind, when it focuses on next week's lessons, and when artefacts replace abstract discussion.

A recurring pattern is the choice to teach fewer things more deeply. Schools that try to cover everything produce shallow compliance. Schools that choose a handful of priorities and protect rehearsal time produce mastery. This discipline is hard. It requires leaders to say no to attractive distractions and to defend staff time against low‑value asks.

Evidence is also operational. It includes artefacts such as lesson models, retrieval decks, pupil work samples, and coaching notes. It avoids abstract scores that are slow to move and hard to interpret. It answers the question: did the thing we rehearsed appear in practice? Did it make a visible difference to pupils? If the answer is unclear, the routine needs refining.

Human moments that build culture

Real change is visible in small moments. An early career teacher delivers a calm, confident start after two short rehearsals. A parent understands how phonics works because the guide is in plain English. A department shares a common model so planning time shrinks and quality rises. These moments are not dramatic but they are unmistakable. They show that the system is working.

Results

Lesson starts became calmer. Explanations sharpened. Re‑teaching fell because the first model was clearer. Teachers reported higher confidence and asked for the next cycle, which is the strongest signal that PD was worth their time.

Workload and sustainability

Time was protected by retiring low‑value tasks and reusing formats. The operating system was explicit: this is what we rehearse, this is what we retire, and this is how we know it worked. Calendars reflected the choice so protected time was real, not aspirational.

Evidence and rigour

The approach aligns with DfE guidance on professional development standards, EEF guidance on implementation and digital technology, Ofsted's Education Inspection Framework, and DfE workload principles. Evidence came from artefacts, walkthroughs, pupil work and staff voice. Small signals moved quickly and informed adjustments before problems compounded.

Sources and further reading

Selected links to expand on the themes in this article.

• Standard for teachers' professional development (DfE)
• A School's Guide to Implementation (EEF and IEE UCL)
• National Professional Qualifications (DfE)
• Education Inspection Framework (Ofsted)
• Using Digital Technology to Improve Learning (EEF)