Continuing Professional Development Forum
Chair: Dr Paul Vare (University of Gloucestershire); Vice-Chair: Lizana Oberholzer (University of Wolverhampton)
The CPD Forum discusses the full range of issues relating to the continuing professional development of teachers and other educators across all sectors of education, including the primary, secondary and post-compulsory phases. Discussions cover: latest CPD programme developments; relevant research findings in respect of CPD; and links between initial teacher education and early professional development. The forum is particularly interested in making progress towards teaching becoming a master's level profession and the role of the new Chartered College for Teaching. A key area of work over the coming year is likely to be the implications for CPD of government policies in relation to the 'strengthening' of QTS, as well as the development of apprenticeship programmes for serving teachers.
Presentations from previous morning discussions are available to download below.
Chair
Paul Vare is Course Leader for the Doctor of Education programme within the School of Education and Humanities at the University of Gloucestershire where he is also Postgraduate Research Lead and Research Convenor.
When Paul joined the university in 2013 he led on CPD development, joined UCET’s CPD Forum and soon became Course Leader for the MA Education programme on which he continues to teach. Since 2015 Paul has been running an international programme called A Rounder Sense of Purpose that researches and promotes teachers’ competences in education for sustainability.
Starting his professional career as a secondary school teacher in a dedicated special educational needs unit, Paul soon left formal teaching to take up education roles in non-governmental organisations with a focus on conservation and community development in both the UK and East Africa. As Executive Director of Living Earth Foundation he worked with people from all walks of life from rural communities to education ministries in five continents and was co-author of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development.
Paul’s interest in continuing professional development stems from the conviction that, for good or ill, teachers change the world. To be truly effective, CPD should offer teachers an opportunity to not only improve how they do that but also to reconnect with why.
Paul’s latest book, co-authored with Prof Bill Scott and published by Routledge in November 2020, is: Learning, Environment and Sustainable Development: a history of ideas.