Recent legislation and teacher training time line
1983 Teaching in Schools: The content of initial training (DES)
1983 White Paper - Teaching quality (DES)
1984 Circular 3/84 (DES)
Through this series of publications the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (CATE) was established which through a series of Catenotes set out a framework for the initial training of teachers. Required more explicit relationships with schools in partnership with HE institutions.
1988 Qualified Teacher Status: a consultation document (DES)
1989 Circular 18/89 (DES)
1989 Circular 23/89 (DES)
These documents removed the requirement for HEIs to be involved in teacher training and hence provided opportunities for school-based routes.
1992 Circular 9/92 (DFE)
1993 Circular 14/93 (DFE)
1993 White paper The Reform of Teacher Training (HMSO)
1993 - OFSTED inspections of teacher training implemented
1994 Education Act
The main outcome of this legislation was a shift of emphasis for HEIs from providing education to monitoring quality control over the training of teachers. There was also a shift from traditional HEI-centred teacher training courses to school-based training including alternative routes to becoming a teacher (e.g. through distance learning). The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) was set up to replace CATE to administer the provision and monitoring of teacher training.
1998 Green paper Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change
1998 Circular 4/98 (DFEE)
2002 Qualifying to Teach (QtT) - sometimes referred to erroneously as 02-02
2005 - The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) becomes the Teacher Development Agency with a wider remit to cover the remodelling of the workforce
2007 - Revised Standards for QTS introduced (replacing QtT)
These papers prescribed the Standards which trainees are required to demonstrate to be awarded Qualified Teacher Status. The 4/98 requirements were highly detailed and specific. The QtT Standards allowed for more flexibility and the 2007 Revised Standards eased up the requirements considerably. At the same time, a set of professional standards was introduced which will guide the path of teachers as they progress in their careers. The QTS Standards are identified with a prefix of Q (ie Q1 to Q33). The Core Standards are followed after completion of the induction period (C1 - C41) and then the Post-Threshold Standards (P1 - P10); the Excellent Teacher Standards (E1 - E15) and the Advanced Skills Teacher Standards (A1 - A3) are used at various career review points thereafter.
You should be aware that the Standards for QTS are accompanied by guidance material (see http://www.tda.gov.uk/partners/ittstandards/guidance_08/qts.aspx) and that ITT providers are expected to adhere to the Requirements for ITT which form the basis for OFSTED inspections of provision.
Related legislation
2003 - Raising Standards and Tackling Workload
2003 - Every Child Matters (ECM)
This legislation has had a profound impact on the roles and responsibilities of teachers. It led to the remodelling of the workforce and the notion of the 'extended school', in which all professionals who might have contact with children are required to work more closely together. The influence on teacher training was reflected in the wider remit given to the TDA (formerly the TTA) and the revision of the Standards for QTS which came into effect in September 2007 (see above).
2007 - The Children's Plan
Following ECM, the Children's Plan detailed the next phase of Governmental Reform for Education and Children's Services taking them to 2020. Among the planned reforms is a commitment to making teaching a Masters' only profession. The ramifications of this have already been seen in the introduction of masters level credit for PGCE courses in 2007/8 and, from 2009/10, the introduction of the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL). This will be a school-based programme for teachers to provide opportunities for those in their first five years of teaching to gain a Masters degree. At the time of writing (December 2008), consultation is ongoing and a trial is planned for the North West region of England which will commence in September 2009. It is envisaged that national roll-out of the programme will be in 2010/2011.
See:
http://www.tda.gov.uk/upload/resources/pdf/i/itt_provider_conference_day.pdf
author: Richard Bennett