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The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

Professional development

Liz Worthen
20 June 2014

Creating a buzz around CPD

Thursday afternoons at Bluecoats Academy in Nottingham are CPD time. Official teaching finishes early and staff all engage in CPD activities (while pupils benefit from extra-curricular activities, coaching and specialist teaching). Lisa Harrison, Assistant Principal in charge of CPD, told us about...
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Elizabeth Holmes
12 June 2014

Does having a strong professional identity hold teachers back?

Elizabeth Holmes looks at the impact of professional self-image on professional learning in schools. ‘Change is the end result of all true learning.’ Leo Buscaglia Looking back at staffrooms I have sat in over the years, it is evident that as educators we all have a sense of professional identity...
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Elizabeth Holmes
29 May 2014

How to learn anytime, anywhere in school

Elizabeth Holmes explains how to facilitate professional dialogue for learning. ‘Discussion is impossible with someone who claims not to seek the truth, but already to possess it.’ ― Romain Rolland , Above the Battle Imagine a working day where you spoke to no-one but your pupils; no interaction...
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Elizabeth Holmes
9 May 2014

Developing a positive mindset to CPD in your school

‘Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.’ Lou Holtz Attitude is everything, so the saying goes; not least in our approach to CPD. In a publication I wrote for Schoolmanager.net 14 years ago I covered what I termed the ‘...
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Elizabeth Holmes
24 March 2014

Small-scale research: your next CPD priority

Use action research to enhance teaching and learning. Elizabeth Holmes explains how ‘Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.’ EM Forster ith the ongoing debate about using research in education to inform teaching and learning, it seems timely to revisit the...
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