Abstract
The recent changes in the existing Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) brought the introduction of the new Teachers’ Standards, which affected all the Registered Teachers in England. The new Teacher’s Standards provide a point of reference for every teacher or trainee teacher, regarding the requirements that are expected from them. Although this change was introduced a couple of years ago, there is always a need for extra support to teachers and trainee teachers regarding the practical and everyday implementation of these Standards in the teaching and learning procedure.
The Teachers’ Standards in the Classroom is written to address this matter. The writer provides a very good description of these standards, providing also relevant quotes from the document from the Department for Education. Following these quotes there is a commentary, which explains and provides more details and information about what these standards mean in practice, breaking down each benchmark.
This is a very positive aspect of this book as it gives more information to the readers and enables them to fully understand the content of the Teacher’s Standards. The commentary is written in simple but also academic language and combines theory with practice. Another strength of this book is the reflections and the evidence at the end of each Standard. The reflections are written as questions that enable teachers and trainee teachers to reflect on the knowledge they gained, by reading the relevant chapter, and to create links with everyday practice. The evidence section is really helpful as it provides extra hints with practical examples of how to demonstrate evidence in order to meet the particular Standard.
What is really interesting in this book is the interlude chapters, which appear twice in this book. These interlude chapters describe a visit in a Year 6 and Year 10 classroom, and provide some questions that could be used during peer observations, and practical examples that could be utilized for professional development. Along the same lines as this is Chapter 12, ‘The Chief Inspector’s Dos and Don’ts’, in which specific guidelines are given for effective teaching, with some examples of what to avoid. This chapter is followed by three case studies which illuminate the discussion.
This book could be used as a valuable teaching resource in the Initial Teacher’s Training programmes as it could serve a core reading book. It would also be beneficial to practitioners in their everyday teaching in order to meet in practice the specific requirements that are brought with the introduction of the new Teacher’s Standards.