As teaching and learning practices continue to evolve, we are keen to provide additional support for you and your teaching team in the classroom. In our recent webinar, Head of Professional Development at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Victoria Renfro explores how the Cambridge Teaching Skills Roadmap helps you to enhance your teaching skills.
This session provides an overview of what to expect from the roadmap, including videos from classrooms around the world that show you how to apply six key teaching skills in practice. Discover different elements of the roadmap and learn how to use them to build your own professional development programme.
Teaching Skills Roadmap webinar
Here are the accompanying slides to the webinar:
Answering your questions
We received a lot of questions from our participants throughout the session. It would be difficult to answer all of them in detail, but we have identified some common themes and provided advice on each.
Q: How important are teacher observations for teacher development and does the roadmap encourage this?
A: The Cambridge Teaching Skills Roadmap supports individual development. It is not designed to facilitate official or school-wide observations. We aim to make teachers active participants in their professional development, to feel empowered by individualised support. The roadmap provides you with an opportunity to assess where you are on your teaching journey and take the right steps to improve your own professional practice.
In the ‘Learning Together’ and the ‘Lesson Study’ models of the roadmap, we do suggest engaging in peer-to-peer observation in order to encourage peer support and collaboration. The observer can provide additional feedback to the teacher, such as the learners’ reaction to a particular teaching technique, in order to help them improve their teaching practice.
Q: What is the ‘Film Club Model’ and how does it work?
A: The ‘Film Club’ model is a method of working through the roadmap independently. It is best suited for schools with very limited time to dedicate to professional development. It is also a great model for building confidence, as it does not necessarily need to involve peer collaboration or lesson observation.
For this model, we encourage one session of two hours per week together as a team, with the option of an additional five hours per week of self-guided learning around each session. We recommend focusing on a different skill in each session, going through the guidance provided within the roadmap, and watching the videos together to explore how to apply the key teaching skills in practice.
Q: What other tools are important to complement the support provided in the roadmap?
A: One of the most important things to complement the resources provided by the roadmap is the culture in your school. It helps to encourage open dialogue around the subject of professional development and build a supportive culture where you want (and are able) to grow and learn. For you to develop your practices, it is important that your environment supports you whilst trying new things.
The Cambridge Teaching Skills Roadmap also complements our Preparing to Teach courses. If you have been involved in Preparing to Teach, you will have an understanding of Cambridge teaching and learning approaches and can take your skills to the next level with the support of the roadmap. The Cambridge Teacher Support Service is also a helpful tool to use alongside the roadmap, especially if you are working on your own.
These are by no means requirements, but rather suggestions on how to approach your professional development which you may wish to discuss with your teaching team or your local Cambridge representative.
Q: Do you have any ideas for how to encourage shy students to voice their opinions?
A: During our live session, one of our participants suggested that a technique they have found helpful is ‘Think, Pair, Share’. The learner can take the time to consider their answer, share their thoughts with a peer, and then share it with the wider class. It can also help to have a ‘no hands-up’ classroom. Instead of asking a student to share their thoughts in front of the whole class, go over to their desk and listen to them. Take the time to positively reinforce their contributions, tell them that they have great ideas. When you return to the whole class, ask the student to share their thoughts again and they should feel more confident.
Learn more about the Cambridge Teaching Skills Roadmap and other professional development opportunities.
