Why isn't all CPD like this?
I recently took part in a CPD session with the fantastic English team at Kingsdown School in Swindon, which comprised a talk-through and discussion of how to teach an upcoming unit on teaching Macbeth to Year 10. I feel a little behind the curve on this as I know that other schools and MATs do this regularly, but I was struck by how much more useful it felt than a lot of other training I've received or delivered over the years. The content of the session was this: - Introduction to the philosophy / principles behind the unit . This included elements such as: teach first, then question (not the other way around), knowledge leads to skill, be the expert in the room, do a limited range of core activities repeatedly (more on the approach is here if you are interested. - Talk through of the medium-term plan , which the head of English had prepared meticulously, including dates, assessment weeks, core knowledge. It was only a side and a half of A4, with no further paperwork, so simple e...