New Specialist Graduate School for Teachers launches

The Institute for Teaching, a new specialist graduate school for teachers, officially launched yesterday (2 November) at an event in Manchester attended by Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for Education.

The organisation has been founded by a group of schools to address a growing need to improve the training and development of qualified teachers.[[{“fid”:”207751″,”view_mode”:”default”,”fields”:{“format”:”default”,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:””,”field_tags[und]”:””},”type”:”media”,”link_text”:null,”attributes”:{“style”:”height: 300px; width: 200px; float: right; margin: 8px;”,”class”:”media-element file-default”}}]]

Director Matt Hood, said: “Having an expert teacher in every classroom is the best way to make sure that every pupil, regardless of their background, gets a great education. But teaching is complex – becoming an expert isn’t easy. To improve teaching, we have to improve the training teachers get because most of what’s out there isn’t helping them to get better. Working with our partners, we’re trying to change that.”

The Institute for Teaching is being incubated by Ark Ventures, CEO Lucy Heller said: “Ark Ventures supports organisations that have the potential to deliver widespread change in education and society. We’re proud to include The Institute for Teaching in this family alongside other great ventures like Ambition School Leadership, Frontline, Mathematics Mastery and Now Teach. Improving teacher education remains the most promising driver for improving our schools and we are delighted to support an organisation that is dedicated to helping teachers to get better at what they do.”

Dean and Head of Teacher Training at Ark, Marie Hamer said: “We have pulled together some of the best minds who all believe that teachers deserve as much effort to go into their training as they put into their teaching. That’s why, at the Institute for Teaching, we are doing things differently – re-thinking teacher education and providing a progression pathway to expertise that is taught by a faculty of expert teacher educators.”

Institute for Teaching applications for the following courses are now open:

Masters in Expert Teaching: A practiced-based programme aimed at teachers who are keen develop advanced teaching techniques and in turn, improve outcomes for their pupils.

Fellows: A course designed to enable experienced teachers to become teacher educators who are able to help other teachers to keep getting better.

Transforming Teaching: A programme funded by the Department for Education’s Teaching and Learning Innovation Fund which focuses on supporting school leaders to improve their expertise in developing the teachers in their schools.

The Institute for Teaching was founded by a diverse group of school alliances – all of whom serve low income communities. It will be working with teachers across the country with a particular focus on Manchester, London, Hastings, Portsmouth, Bradford and Birmingham.

The Institute is working with system leading organisations who support its work including Ark Venture fellow, Ambition School Leadership (formerly The Future Leaders Trust and Teaching Leaders). ASL is transforming the lives of children in disadvantaged areas by building a network of exceptional school leaders at all levels.

For more information or to find out more about the courses visit www.ift.education.