Annabel Brown – NPQ Lead

The educational landscape is constantly evolving, demanding educators to adapt and refine their skills. To support this growth, the Department for Education (DfE) has introduced new implementation guidance for National Professional Qualifications (NPQs). This blog dives into these changes, exploring how NPQs can empower leaders at all stages of their careers and contribute to a thriving education system.

What are NPQs?

NPQs are nationally recognised qualifications designed for aspiring and current school leaders in England. They provide a structured framework for professional development, equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to excel in leadership roles.

What’s New in the Implementation Guidance?

The revised guidance focuses on enhancing the overall NPQ experience. Here are some key highlights:

• Stronger Focus on Impact: The new guidance emphasises the measurable impact of NPQs on student outcomes. This aligns with a growing need for leaders to demonstrate the effectiveness of their practices.
• Increased Flexibility: Recognising the diverse schedules of educators, the NPQs will offer more flexible delivery options. This includes a blend of self-study, online learning modules, face-to-face sessions and written assessments.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Collaborative learning is central to the new approach. Participants will have opportunities to network with peers, share best practices, and learn from each other’s experiences.
• Emphasis on Coaching and Mentorship: The importance of coaching and mentorship is highlighted in the revised guidance. This personalised support in and out of school, will be critical in nurturing leadership skills and navigating challenges.

Benefits of Participating in an NPQ Programme:

There are numerous advantages to participating in an NPQ programme, both for individual educators and the schools they serve. Here are some key benefits:

• Develops Leadership Skills: NPQs provide a structured approach to honing essential leadership skills such as strategic planning, effective communication, and fostering a positive school culture.
• Improves Teaching and Learning: Leaders who participate in NPQs gain a deeper understanding of curriculum development, assessment strategies, and differentiated instruction, ultimately leading to improved teaching and learning outcomes for all students.
• Boosts Career Progression: NPQs act as a valuable credential, demonstrating commitment to professional development and leadership excellence. This enhances career prospects and opens doors to leadership positions.
• Benefits the Whole School: When leaders develop their skills and knowledge, they create a ripple effect that benefits the entire school community. Improved leadership translates to a more positive school environment, higher staff morale, and increased student achievement.

Who Should Consider Pursuing an NPQ?

NPQs cater to a wide range of educators at various stages of their careers. Here are some groups who can benefit immensely from these programmes:

• Aspiring Leaders: Teachers who aspire to leadership positions can equip themselves with the necessary skills through NPQs.
• Newly Appointed Leaders: Those recently taking on leadership roles can sign up to NPQs to build their confidence and effective leadership.
• Experienced Leaders: Even seasoned leaders can benefit from NPQs by staying current with educational trends, refining their practices, and fostering a growth mindset.

Investing in the Future of Education:

The revised NPQ implementation guidance demonstrates a commitment to fostering a new generation of skilled leaders in England’s schools. By offering a flexible, collaborative, and evidence-based approach to professional development, NPQs empower educators to make a lasting difference in the lives of children. If you’re an educator passionate about improving educational outcomes and shaping the future of schools, consider exploring the NPQ programme that aligns with your career goals and leadership aspirations.

How to sign up for an NPQ:

1. DfE Registration: Create a DfE Identity account or sign in if you have one. Choose your desired NPQ and select Alban TSH as your Lead Provider. They’ll ask for your Teacher Reference Number (TRN) during registration, even if you’re not a teacher.
2. Alban TSH Application: After registering with DfE, you will  also need to submit an application to Alban TSH for your chosen programme.

Further resources to learn more about NPQs:

• Department for Education – National Professional Qualifications: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-professional-qualification-npq-courses
• Alban Teaching School Hub: https://albantsh.co.uk/national-professional-qualifications/

Annabel Brown – NPQ Lead

The autumn term brings a fresh start, not just for students, but for educators too. It’s a perfect time to reflect on your career goals and consider investing in your professional development. If you’re an ambitious teacher or leader looking to take the next step, then pursuing a National Professional Qualification (NPQ) could be the perfect choice.

Boost Your Skills and Confidence:

NPQs offer a structured and supportive learning journey designed to hone your leadership skills and deepen your subject knowledge. Whether you’re aiming for a management position, seeking to refine your existing pedagogical practices, or specialising in a specific area like leading primary maths or SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator), there’s an NPQ tailored to your aspirations. 

Make a Tangible Impact:

NPQs aren’t just about ticking a box. NPQs play a crucial role in the golden thread of teacher development, providing structured professional learning opportunities that build upon initial teacher training and early career support. By aligning with the latest research and best practices, they equip you with evidence-based strategies and practical knowledge to make a real difference in your classroom and school. From enhancing student engagement to fostering a more inclusive learning environment, the skills you develop through an NPQ programme will translate to improved outcomes for your students.

Embrace New Opportunities:

An NPQ qualification holds significant weight within the education sector. Not only does it showcase your commitment to professional growth, but it also positions you as a valuable asset within the school community. This can lead to exciting new opportunities, from promotions within your current school to attracting leadership roles in other institutions.

Financial Support Available:

Great news! Funding is available for a variety of NPQs, particularly for those working in schools serving disadvantaged communities. Check with your school leadership or head to the Department for Education website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-national-professional-qualifications-npqs to explore opportunities for your school.

Flexible Learning Options:

Time constraints shouldn’t hold you back! Many NPQ programmes offer flexible learning models, allowing you to balance your workload with your studies. Whether it’s through blended learning that combines online modules with face-to-face sessions or part-time delivery options, you can find a programme that fits seamlessly into your busy schedule.

Investing in Yourself, Investing in Education:

Ultimately, pursuing an NPQ is an investment in your future and the future of education. By enhancing your leadership capacity and subject expertise, you’ll contribute to creating a more stimulating and effective learning environment for all students. So, if you’re ready to take your career to the next level and make a lasting impact on your school community, consider embarking on an NPQ journey this autumn!

Ready to sign up? Explore NPQs to see how they can transform your school and register with the DfE and Alban TSH: 

1. DfE Registration: Create a DfE Identity account or sign in if you have one. Choose your desired NPQ and select Alban TSH as your Lead Provider. They’ll ask for your Teacher Reference Number (TRN) during registration, even if you’re not a teacher.
2. Alban TSH Application: After registering with DfE, you will  also need to submit an application to Alban TSH for your chosen programme.

Additional Resources:

• Department for Education – National Professional Qualifications: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-professional-qualification-npq-courses
• Alban Teaching School Hub: https://albantsh.co.uk/national-professional-qualifications/

by Nick Gray, Bushey Meads School

Motivation is a challenge for teachers; on the one hand we know that motivated students are the ideal if we want them to succeed in our classroom, but what actually motivates them to work hard in our lessons is less tangible and open to influence from many different variables. Knowing that pupil motivation can change is important, but what perhaps interests us most as educators is why students’ motivation does change depending on the class or subject.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Whether in the classroom or in our day to day lives, ‘motivation – both intrinsic and extrinsic – results when, as humans, we believe that we will benefit as a result of the action or behaviour’ (Moore, 2019). As Ryan and Deci stated, ‘extrinsic motivation refers to doing something because it leads to a separable outcome, but intrinsic motivation refers to doing something because it is inherently enjoyable’ (Ryan and Deci, 2000). While it may be that we do certain things for an external reward, behave for house points for example, we also want students to enjoy working in our classrooms as ‘according to Bandura, internal rewards for goal attainment can be more powerful influences on effort and achievement than external rewards such as praise or grades’ (Tollefson, 2000). What is important for us as teachers to understand is that ‘it may be more important for teachers to think about the best techniques to improve student performance, rather than techniques to increase their short-term engagement or interest’ (Boxer, 2019). While research suggests that extrinsic rewards can help support and develop motivation in the classroom, it is often for a limited time, ‘rewards can increase the frequency of desired behaviours while decreasing the frequency of undesired behaviours; rewards can improve the behaviour of unmotivated students, although these effects tend only to be in the short term’ (Bear, 2013). So, whilst rewards and praise have a place in any effective classroom, they must be used prudently to create a positive climate of learning, and any rewards should not be given ‘without regard for completion or quality’ (Akin-Little and Little, 2009). What you praise or reward is just as vital as when and how you praise or reward. We want students to develop their own intrinsic motivation, and so, as Covington wrote, ‘students should be taught to analyse the causes of success and failure in constructive ways, in which they can value their hard work and effort as a source of personal worth (Covington, 1998).

Self-determination Theory

Ryan and Deci’s seminal work on self-determination theory allows us to look in greater detail at what motivates us in any given scenario. ‘Self-determination theory declares that, as humans, we all have three basic psychological needs that need to be satisfied for us to be intrinsically motivated to perform at our best: relatedness, autonomy and competence’ (Moore, 2019). In our classrooms it is important that we are creating the culture for students to learn at their optimum level, in terms of behaviour for learning clearly, but also in motivated students who want to learn. As humans we need to feel a ‘sense of belongingness and connectedness to the persons, group, or culture disseminating a goal’ (Ryan and Deci, 2000), and our students need to feel trusted to complete a given task, or make choices on their own. The third element, which we will look at in greater detail is that they also need to be able to succeed – tangible and real success because they have worked hard. ‘Relatedness needs reflect the universal human desire to be valued, respected, and desired important by others’ (Cerasoli et al., 2016). Therefore, what we need to create as teachers is a culture of learning that thrives on motivation, but in order for that to occur, it must ‘be based on trust and have collaboration at its heart’ (Moore, 2019).

In order to fully understand the variables that impact on student motivation we need to look in more detail at what has been raised by self-determination theory. While it is clear that the climate for learning needs to be nurturing and supportive, allowing students to feel connected to one another and vitally, trusted by their teacher. There are also other elements that students need in order to be motivated to work hard in your lessons.

Competence

Ryan and Deci argue that ‘a vital component of individual motivation is competence’ (Boxer, 2019). In fact, ‘the need to feel competent has to be fulfilled for students to be successful in learning’ (Sun and Chen, 2012). It is natural for humans to avoid tasks they do not feel competent at, or do not believe they can do well. For our students this can be magnified by their peers depending on the climate in your classroom but our desire to become competent ‘refers to the desire to demonstrate and improve one’s abilities’ (Cerasoli et al., 2016). We all enjoy getting better at something, feeling like an expert and so do our students. The intrinsic motivation garnered by feeling that you can achieve is a powerful factor. ‘When students master a task, their expectation that they will master similar tasks in the future increases’ (Tollefson, 2000), and this is a factor that we must not underestimate in our classrooms.

Autonomy

Ryan and Deci also state that ‘competence needs to be accompanied by a sense of autonomy’ (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Our students need to feel that they have an element of control in their work, “if individuals are forced or manipulated to engage in a task, they lose the intrinsic desire to subsequently do so” (Cerasoli et al., 2016). Our role as teachers is to create the environment where students are well supported, trusted, engaged and successful, not in comparison to others but rather ‘success on the task needs to be attributed to ability or effort’ (Tollefson, 2000).

Creating the Culture

We all want our students to master our subject and the expectations we hold for students can have a large impact on this. Studies have shown that ‘students who expect to do well in school earn higher grades than students with like ability who expect to fail’ (Battle, 1966; Eccles, 1983), and so we must ensure that our lesson climate promotes deep thinking, embraces the struggle and supports students in order to help them achieve. ‘The importance of creating a supportive, collaborative learning  environment  that  enables students to feel comfortable in accepting challenges is key to building confidence; this includes avoiding practices that make students feel isolated or threatened in their efforts to meet the teacher’s expectations (Brophy, 2004). Mastery goals allow students to focus on ‘self-development or skill development’ (Poortvliet, 2016). ‘Students can be motivated by mastery goals in particular as they emphasise the challenge of learning and understanding, with a goal of continuous improvement despite how many mistakes might be made’ (Moore, 2019).

Supporting Students

Ensuring that your lessons support students in their journey from novice to master is an important skill. ‘Brophy (2004) proposes that teachers should minimize elements of competition and social comparison, while encouraging students to adopt mastery goals, and providing the instructional scaffolding and personal support needed to enable them to attain these goals successfully’ (Moore, 2019). Essentially, we need to ensure that the target is the same for all students, but the level and type of support we offer each child differs depending on their need. This sounds like a great deal of work, but it could be a simple as a well-chosen question, a resource at the appropriate time or some specific and actionable feedback. Be aware of Cognitive Load Theory when presenting material to your class, is this causing overload that disengages students and demotivates them? Think about the environment you have created in your classroom, what new strategies could you instigate to further support your pupils?

There is a wealth of literature surrounding strategies to best support teaching students. Making Every Lesson Count and Teach Like a Champion (see Strategy Check below) are just two which provide multiple ideas to develop challenge and high expectations in the classroom. In order to best support our students we should be attempting to scaffold pupils towards one goal; being able to successfully complete whatever task we have set. This may be writing a paragraph in English or completing a calculation in Maths – even throwing a ball in PE, but it is our interactions with students during their attempts, and the input we give, that will have the greatest impact. As Allison and Tharby state, our role, ‘is to respond to and support students during lessons, and over weeks, months and years, so that they all strive to reach…this common goal’ (Allison and Tharby, 2015).

Willingham’s work on developmentally appropriate practice highlights four areas where we can hopefully benefit our students:

1. Use information about principles, but not in the absolute – be aware of what is written on student development, motivation and behaviour, but also know your students – you are the best person to guide them because you know them so well.
2. Think about the effectiveness of tasks – Sometimes everything works perfectly, but occasionally students don’t make the progress you were hoping for. This may have been the task you set, but it could have been that some students didn’t grasp a certain aspect. Work with other teachers to create a bank of tasks for different scenarios to help your planning.
3. Think about why students don’t understand – Just because a task hasn’t worked doesn’t mean that there is anything inherently wrong with what you have done, the pupils may have been missing background information, they may not have understood the task, they may understand the concept in one format but not another. Make sure you understand why a pupil can’t do something.

4. Recognise that no content is inherently developmentally inappropriate – Ensuring that all students reach their potential is more often about scaffolding and support rather than content. If we strive to ensure that all students can reach or excel our goals for them then anything is possible. This challenging quote is taken from Bruner’s research: ‘we begin with the hypothesis that any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development. It is a bold hypothesis and an essential one in thinking about the nature of the curriculum. No evidence exists to contradict it; considerable evidence is being amassed that supports it’ (Bruner, 1960).

(Willingham, 2008) *Italics added

References

• Akin-Little, A., & Little, S. G. (2009). The true effects of extrinsic reinforcement on ‘‘intrinsic’’ motivation. In Akin-Little, S. G. Little
• Alison, S. & Tharby, A. (2015). Making Every Lesson Count, Crown House Publishing
• Bandura, (1982), Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist.
• Battle, S. (1966). Motivational determinants of academic competence. Journal of personality and social psychology.
• Bear, (2013). Teacher Resistance to Frequent Rewards and Praise: Lack of Skill or a Wise Decision?, Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation
• Boxer, (2019), What is the best way to motivate students in your subject? Impact Journal
• Brophy, (2004). Motivating Students to Learn, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishing
• Bruner, 1960. The Process of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Cerasoli CP, Nicklin JM and Nassrelgrgawi AS (2016), Performance, incentives, and needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness: A meta-analysis. Motivation and Emotion
• Covington, V. (1998) The will to learn: A guide for motivating young people. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Deci, Edward & Ryan, (1985). Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior.
• EEF Toolkit, Parental engagement
• EEF Toolkit, Metacognition and self-regulation
• Eccles, J. (1983), Expectancies, values and academic behaviours. J.T.
• Feather, T. (1969). Attribution of responsibility and valence of success and failure in relation to initial confidence and task performance. J. Personal. Social Psychol.
• Hattie, J. & Yates, (2013), Visible Learning and the Science of how we learn, Routledge.
• Lemov, (2015). Teach Like a Champion 2.0, Jossey-Bass
• Moore, (2019). The Importance of a Learning Culture for Teacher Motivation. Impact Journal
• OFSTED, Schools and parents
• Poortvliet, (2016). Mastery Goals, Springer International Publishing.
• Rosenthal, R. & Jacobson,L. (1963). Teachers’ expectancies: Determinants of pupils’ IQ gains. Psychological Reports.
• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist
• Tollefson, (2000). Classroom applications of cognitive theories of motivation. Educational Psychology Review.
• Willingham, (2008). Ask the cognitive scientist, What is developmentally appropriate practice?, American Educator, AFT.

Further Reading

• https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/go–with–me–on–this/parental–eng agement-parents-UtWHcnYLpde/
• https://theteachingbooth.wordpress.com/2019/02/22/dr–differentiation–o r-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-challenge/
• https://impact.chartered.college/article/importance–learning–culture–te acher-motivation/
• https://chartered.college/how–to–nurture–students–motivation–read–refle ctions-recommendations
• https://impact.chartered.college/article/what–is–the–best–way–motivate–s tudents-your-subject/
• Lemov, D. (2015). Teach Like a Champion 0, Jossey-Bass, p.89 – p.127
• Alison, & Tharby, A. (2015). Making Every Lesson Count, Crown House Publishing, p.14 – p.50