IPPR calls for the creation of an Institute for Advanced Teaching

An Institute for Advanced Teaching (IAT) should be created to identify high-potential teachers and support their progression, according to a new report from the he Institute For Public Policy Research (IPPR).

IPPR’s ‘Beyond the plateau’ report looked to investigate why teacher progression plateaus after five years and found that this is due a failure of the system to improve teaching techniques.

The report advises that teacher training too often fails to meet the needs of pupils or give teachers a clear understanding of their performance against a ‘highly expert’ standard, meaning that teachers stop developing their abilities before becoming an ‘expert’ in their craft.

The IPPR argues that expert teaching is the best way to improve pupil progress, especially for children from deprived backgrounds, and suggests that that £1 billion spent on teacher training could be more wisely spent through the formation of the IAT.

Its vision of the IAT would identify high-potential teachers already in the classroom and support them to be ‘highly expert teachers’. It advises this should be done through involvement in part-time Masters courses, encouraging them to share excellence with other schools and defining new career paths for teachers who wish to remain in the classroom instead of taking on management roles.

Matthew Hood, the report author, said: “Teachers should continue learning and improving, and they want to. They shouldn’t be plateauing five years into what could be a 30-year career. The problem is the education system tells them if they want to progress they have to teach less and manage more. And the schools where great teachers are most needed, those in economically deprived communities, often suppress ambition and innovation.

“We need to make low quality courses which fail to address the needs of pupils a thing of the past. Government ministers say they want a school-led system, and that is right. Many schools are now coming together and that is something that should be supported.”

Jonathan Clifton, IPPR associate director for public service reform, said: “Bad teaching blights a child’s future prospects and can cost children the equivalent of a whole year’s worth of education. Poor classroom practice is made more likely because teacher’s progression plateau after five years, well before they become highly-expert teachers. Worryingly, all the training they get for the rest of their career does not seem to make much difference. So something is wrong in the system. Too many children are being failed by bad teachers while good teaching is often locked inside individual schools.

“That is why we are proposing a new Institute of Advanced Teaching, to match classroom practice more closely with pupils needs, to ensure that teachers keep learning and refining their craft, and that new career paths are identified for teachers who wish to remain in the classroom, which after all is where they make the most difference.”

Read more