Background/ Introduction/ Government Reforms:
In December 2021, the Department for Education published an initial teacher training market review report outlining the response to the ITT reforms. This report makes a range of recommendations including the following:
- ITT should develop an evidence-based training curriculum
- Providers should design and deliver an intensive placement experience of at least 4 weeks (20 days) for single-year courses and 6 weeks (30 days) for undergraduate, over the duration of their course
- Single-year ITT courses that lead to QTS should be required to be of 38 weeks’ duration, as a condition of accreditation, of which the minimum spent in schools should be 28 weeks
- Providers should identify, as a condition of accreditation, sufficient ‘lead mentors’ who will ensure that trainees receive mentoring and support across placement schools
- Providers should develop a detailed training curriculum for mentors at all levels,
- Providers should demonstrate the capacity to develop an assessment framework
- Teaching school hubs should partner with an accredited provider to play a role in the delivery of ITT
- Providers should design and implement rigorous quality assurance arrangements
- As trusts grow, there should be an expectation that they actively meet their responsibilities for ITT involvement in the areas they serve. Read the full report here:
The changing landscape of ITT can be confusing, so as a Teaching School Hub we have created a short video to support school leaders to understand these changes. Please click HERE to access the video and click HERE to access the slides.
The Framework for Initial Teacher Training:
In its strategy document from June 2021, the Department for Education sums up the rationale for the planned changes to ITT in four words - ‘. The reforms are designed to help this process by expanding the package of structured support that trainee teachers and ECTs are eligible for.
The ITT Core Content Framework sets out the learning priorities that will make up a teacher trainee’s course. Created according to evidence compiled by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the Core Content Framework (CCF) is the basis for training in five core areas: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and professional behaviours.
The CCF spells out the minimum requirements for completion of an ITT course, from understanding how to teach phonics to using models and scaffolds to teach complicated ideas. This creates an evidence-based standard in theoretical and practical aspects for all teacher training providers to follow.
The leaflet below also helps to explain to school leaders the changes within Initial Teacher Training from September 24, under the new ITT criteria and quality requirements. The leaflet also helps schools to understand how they can engage in ITT with the four main providers offering teacher training within the county.
The New Era of Initial Teacher Training, click below:
Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP)
In July 2021, the ITT Market Review recommended the introduction of a compulsory “intensive practice placement” in ITT across England. The Review argued that intensive practice would support better integration of theory and practice, consolidate trainees’ understanding of how teaching practice is informed by research and evidence and consequently, better prepare trainees to understand and apply learning material. It is an opportunity to focus on the
threshold concepts in teaching and unpick the link between theory and practice.
L.E.A.D. Teaching School Hub, has worked in collaboration with Lincolnshire SCITT and Bishop Grosseteste University to create the guidance below for Lincolnshire Schools, so they understand this ITT reform. Click HERE to read the full ITAP guidance.
ITT Core Content Framework: The Framework for Initial Teacher Training
The ITT Core Content Framework, builds on and replaces the Framework of Core Content for Initial Teacher Training (2016), which defines in detail the minimum entitlement of all trainee teachers. As with the ECF, the ITT Core Content Framework draws on the best available evidence and has been independently reviewed by the Education Endowment Foundation. The ITT Core Content Framework sets out the learning priorities that will make up a course. The ITT Core Content Framework, as with the ECF, has been designed to support trainee development in 5 core areas: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and professional behaviours. In order to ensure congruence with the 8 Teachers’ Standards, the ITT Core Content Framework is presented in 8 sections. In developing the framework, behaviour management is addressed in High Expectations and Managing Behaviour (S1 and S7); pedagogy is addressed in How Pupils Learn, Classroom Practice and Adaptive Teaching (S2, S4, S5); and curriculum, assessment and professional behaviours are addressed in S3, S6 and S8 respectively.
The CCF spells out the minimum requirements for completion of an ITT course, from understanding how to teach phonics to using models and scaffolds to teach complicated ideas. This creates an evidence-based standard in theoretical and practical aspects for all teacher training providers to follow.
ITTECF Combined Framework from September 25
The Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF) covers the training and induction periods at the start of a teacher’s career. It combines and replaces the previously separate Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) and Early Career Framework (ECF) following a review. The ITTECF sets out the entitlement of every trainee and early career teacher (ECT) to the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching, and to the mentoring and support from expert colleagues they should receive throughout the three or more years at the start of their career. ECTs will purposefully revisit the elements of teaching introduced in ITT to deepen their knowledge and understanding. The ITTECF remains designed to equip all trainees and ECTs with a shared body of knowledge and skills, irrespective of subject or phase.
The ITTECF, as with its predecessors, is based on the best available evidence from this country and around the world, assured by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). The content of the framework has been updated based on a Call for Evidence in spring 2023, feedback from a broad range of experts across the education sector, and on what the department has learned from the first few years of CCF implementation and delivery of ECF-based induction. The changes include updates and enhancements regarding supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), high quality oral language (sometimes known as oracy), early cognitive development, and social and emotional learning. The EEF have appraised all changes to ensure they reflect the evidence base.
Working in Partnership: The Teaching School Hub and ITT Providers/ Schools
Prior to and following the national market review and process for reaccredit ation of initial teacher education, the Teaching School Hub has always been committed to high quality support and training for all who enter the profession. To that end, the Hub has worked strategically for a number of years with all accredited partners operating in the area, forming a strategic board to focus on the following aspects:
- Securing a pipeline of high quality teachers for schools across the county.
- The curriculum for ITT, ECTs and Mentors to ensure that it is impactful, drawing upon significant expertise to ensure that high quality provision prevails.
- Supporting and developing school capacity for ITT through mentors and the wider staff culture.
- Supporting and sourcing high quality intensive practice placements.
- Coherently tracking the engagement of schools in the ITT placements, informing and supporting the landscape further.
- Focus on current challenges faced by our sector and will seek to involve experts from the ITT field to inform our thinking.
Equally, L.E.A.D. Teaching School Hub works in partnership with all schools across the county of Lincolnshire, supporting placements and individual needs. Please contact the Hub on 01522 214459, asking for Charlotte Smith if you would like to discuss any elements relating to Initial Teacher Training or hosting a trainee.