The Early Career Framework: Origins, outcomes and opportunities

Teacher quality is widely reputed to be the key determinant of educational success for students. Teachers at the beginning of their career need support and guidance in providing a sustained, high quality experience for their learners. The role of continuing professional development (CPD) is crucial in honing and refining the knowledge, understanding and skills of teachers. Effective CPD can also provide teachers with the self-efficacy needed, particularly when they start teaching, to stay in the profession. With teacher shortages reported across the globe, and up to one third of teachers in England leaving the profession by their fifth year in teaching, CPD is an attractive solution to retain teachers. The Department for Education have established a mandatory CPD framework for all early career teachers (ECTs) teaching in schools in England -The Early Career Framework (ECF). Tanya Ovenden-Hope (Editor) brings together insights from those most closely connected to the ECF; the training providers, school leaders and academics involved in understanding the efficacy of professional development and learning in schools. Ovenden-Hope offers an historical record of the ECF, showing where it came from, what it offers now for schools and early career teachers (ECTs) and the challenges and opportunities for development in the future. Part One of the book focuses on the origins of the ECF. It opens by explaining the context for developing a national programme of CPD and the links to the Retention and Recruitment Strategy launched by the Department for Education in 2019. The pilot programmes of the ECF are explored in turn and illuminated by an evaluation of the pilots' efficacy. Part Two extends into the outcomes of government planning for the ECF and invites comment from the training providers on their vision for their programmes and their experience of rolling it out at a national level. The experiences of school leaders are also appreciated through consideration of Special School ECT needs and through an Education Trust undertaking the development of their own resources to support their ECTs with the ECF. Part Three deliberates the opportunities presented by the ECF for enhancing ECT self-efficacy and supporting greater retention in the profession. Academics consider the complexity of past programmes, such as the Masters in Educational Practice supported by the Welsh Government, and the effective use of key CPD elements, such as coaching and mentoring; providing insights for the future of the ECF.