Research School Network: Why the need for Effective Professional Development? How using the correct steps can improve your PD planning

This is the question I wished I’d asked myself earlier. I was familiar with my own Professional Development and had been involved in training and supporting other staff, however, I had never planned a course of Professional Development myself. I discovered afterwards, the ways in which I had followed the correct steps as recommended in the EEF’s Guidance Report; I also discovered where I went wrong. Ultimately, I realise now how I could have saved myself a lot of valuable time.

Where to begin?

Having been a science coordinator for the past eight years, I knew the direction I wanted my subject to take. Nevertheless, I also knew the age-old issue in primary school: it’s just not maths and literacy. I wanted science to have the same consideration that maths and literacy had to progression of skills, breadth of content and meaningful teaching of metacognition and self-regulation. Luckily, a lot of the hard work had been completed for me. The teachers were using metacognition and self-regulation across the curriculum, the pupils were experts with rapid recall, using displays and planning strategies. I could see efforts of the staff and school to carry good practice into the other (non-maths and English) subjects, but as I observed the teaching and learning of science, I couldn’t help asking: Were staff bridging back far enough? Were the links between previous years explicit? Were the disciplinary skills of the subject taught in depth? Did the teaching show a continuation from one year to the other?

Recommendation 1 – Focus on the mechanisms

I did my research, trialled different resources and finally settled on a new approach. The approach contained all the desired mechanisms, although I wouldn’t use that term at the time:

High quality teaching – linked directly to the metacognition skills that my school had been refining.
Improving pupils’ outcomes – clear progression across the school from EYFS to year 6.
Observable and replicable, evidence-based strategies – including displays to be utilised throughout the school and resources designed by specialists for teachers.

In my mind, the benefits of the new approach were obvious. I thought that the whole school would be behind me when introducing something that made so much sense. Without realising that I was on the path to Effective Professional Development, I jumped straight in. I thought I could make these changes through emails, informal chats and one-to-one planning sessions.

Recommendation 2 

I began by working with individual year groups introducing the approach and resources. I felt pleased that by Autumn half term, every class would have a richer science curriculum. Yet, come Autumn 2, there was no change in the teaching and learning!

​“If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again”

My next approach was to do the same thing again and expect a different result
(Einstein’s definition of insanity). I went back, to every year group, shared the resources again, shared planning, shared expectations and once again left feeling like the whole school would benefit from the hard work I’d put in. Surely, by January, the entire school would benefit from this new approach. Come new year, still no change!

It was clear at this point that something wasn’t working. I knew I was working with skilled and motivated staff. I knew I was sharing quality resources. I knew my explanations and examples were clear and easy to follow, therefore, there must have been something I had not considered. Finally, I consulted the research. Now identifying that I had been delivering professional development to my staff body, I consulted the EEF’s Guidance Report to ensure that I was designing Effective
Professional Development!

Recommendation 2…Again

I realised I had fallen down at recommendation 2. I was not building on the knowledge of metacognition strategies: this needed to be modelled. I had demotivated staff by taking time away from their other duties and not considered their workload. I had not developed the teaching techniques by modelling good practice and given time for this to be embedded.

Now that I understood the needs of our teachers, I could begin planning Effective Professional Development. I designed a series of staff meetings to introduce the new approach and resources. I focused on mixing up teams throughout the school and discussing the curriculum expectations together so that every teacher was now an expert for their year group. The first staff meeting considered a variety of modelled student activities (that could be conveniently used by the teachers for their classes thus reducing teacher workload). I explicitly modelled the bridging back techniques to show the importance of that extra couple of slides in their lessons.

Recommendation 3

Finally, we ended with the promise of a follow up and, most importantly, time. The next staff meeting was set as dedicated planning time, allowing the staff to absorb and perfect their new understanding. The next promise – the celebration! The staff’s opportunity to share good practice, reflect on their success and motivate them to continue their journey.

Now, with a clear understanding of the role of Effective Professional Development, and considering the bespoke needs of my school, I will know how to plan and deliver Effective Professional Development.


By Georgina Morrison