The Chartered College of Teaching

Twitter was alive yesterday with ideas, comments and inspirational quotations about the launch of the #collectivevoice campaign.

It was the clarion call of the new professional body in education, the Chartered College of Teaching, established last year with a guarantee of Government funding to the tune of 

£5million over 4 years.

The college inherited the Royal Charter from the College of Teaching at the end of last year, a shift that marked yet another evolution in the professional body that represents teachers. Originally begun in 1846 as the Society of Teachers, it was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1849 and largely remained unchanged until the rebrand in 1998 to the College of Teachers.

The new organisation has a clear vision, and seems keen to distance itself from its predecessors as a refreshed and reinvigorated organisation. As expressed by Chief Executive Dame Alison Peacock (@AlisonMPeacock), the Chartered College aims to "blend research and practice within teaching". Whilst this isn't a revolutionary statement in itself, in a world where teachers' professional judgements and autonomy are being maligned on what feels like a daily basis, it is an encouraging point of view. The College goes on to state that, "teachers deserve greater recognition of their value to society and they should be entrusted with responsibility for shaping the future of their profession." I think this is something that all of us can agree with.

The College also seeks to support and further promote professional rigour within teaching by establishing a 'Chartered Teacher' status which will offer career long development and "an ambitious career framework". The CTeach, as it will be called, is currently ind development with only some key goals stated. Applications open in September 2017, by which time the content, objectives and purpose will be clearer. The goals for the framework are in keeping with the College's push to re-establish the wider professional voice. They will recognise teachers' expertise, their commitment to the profession, and provide a structured platform to share best practice.

Having just developed a blog to share professional ideas and research, it is particularly heartening to hear that the final significant feature of the Chartered College of Teaching is that it will "bridge the gap between teachers and research" to "develop the evidence-informed expertise necessary to achieve and maintain genuine excellence". Whilst teachers have been able to access pedagogy before, the College's approach of combining online sources, traditional journals and magazines, with a fresh peer reviewed publication will allow as many professionals as possible to engage.

Even in just under a decade in the profession I have seen teaching bodies and agencies change or become obsolete (The General Teaching Council? The National College?). I am hopeful for the future of the new Chartered College of Teaching, because of its clearly defined vision and appropriate goals to reinvigorate and re-professionalise the teaching work force.