Master Teachers

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On 12th December 2011 the UK Department for Education announced that a new ‘Master Teacher Standard’ to recognise outstanding teachers should be introduced.

The review team has sought to simplify the current teachers’ standards by scrapping the existing system, which has three separate categories, and introducing a single 'Master Teacher Standard' to recognise truly excellent teachers and provide a focal point for all good teachers to plan their professional and career development.

The 'Master Teacher Standard' describes a clear set of characteristics for high-performing teachers. They include:

• Deep and extensive knowledge of their specialism, going beyond the set programmes they teach.
• Command of the classroom, skilfully leading, encouraging and extending pupils. They will have the respect of both pupils and parents.
• Excellent planning and organisation to ensure pupils are well-prepared for all forms of assessment.
• Their classes demonstrate a stimulating culture of scholarship alongside a sense of mutual respect and good manners.
• They are highly regarded by colleagues, who want to learn from them. They play a role in the development of school policies and they engage with professional networks beyond the school.

Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor of Educational Measurement at London’s Institute of Education, speaking on 9^th December 2011 at the Salzburg Global Summit, stated that Teacher Quality was critical for education:

“We are discovering now that Teacher Quality is the most important variable in any system so each country needs to do all it can to improve teacher quality. …. Entry into the profession and getting rid of the least effective practitioners are only marginal in terms of their impact ….If any country wants to improve the quality of its education system, the challenge is to improve the performance of those teachers who are already serving in the schools. The idea is that every teacher needs to get better. No matter how good they are, they can get better.”