This presentation explores the processes through which a new Professional Development Framework of standards for teachers was developed simultaneously in both Montenegro and Ukraine and identifies key issues and learning from the two projects. In both countries, the British Council has partnered with the respective Ministries of Education to achieve a similar outcome of a Framework integrated into national education systems, supporting the development of quality teaching and learning within education reform. However, the processes by which this was achieved in the two countries differed, and learning from this provides the basis of this presentation.
In Montenegro and Ukraine, teachers have traditionally been accredited mainly on years of service, not on their professional development record or their classroom behaviours. In addition, there has not been a unified framework to identify and describe teachers’ professional knowledge and skills to be shared between different ministry departments, institutions and schools.
The process of developing the Framework took four years in Ukraine and three years in Montenegro. Working with core committees of INSETT stakeholders and with close support from the Ministry of Education in each country, identifying standards through a Professional Development Framework were negotiated, with changes brought to the local education system at various levels. The Framework is now used as a tool to measure the level of teacher professional competence, with clear descriptors and indicators of teachers’ professional behaviour ensuring the process of teacher accreditation is objective and transparent. In addition to setting minimum requirements in terms of professional knowledge and skills, teaching standards inform the development of professional learning goals and provide a ‘Teaching for Success’ framework by which teachers can get individualised guidance on areas of focus with links to related resources and activities. They can then judge the success of their learning through self-reflection and self-assessment
