The book provides you with some key knowledge that you will find useful. However, one book cannot cover everything you need to do. This book attempts to introduce you to the key knowledge that you need, but you will want to research some aspects in greater depth. Each chapter includes links to research and practical classroom examples that will help you to contextualise the theories and literature. Your understanding of the core content needs to be underpinned with rich and sustained periods of time in school, which will enable you to apply your knowledge of the framework within your practice.
Introduction What does the ITT Core Content Framework mean for teacher educators and trainee teachers?
In this chapter
This chapter outlines the ITT Core Content Framework. It introduces you to the framework and provides you with some background information about its development. This chapter is mainly intended for ITT providers and their partnerships rather than for trainees, although it is likely that trainees will find the implications of the framework interesting in relation to their own professional practice.
Key research
The ITT Core Content Framework (DfE/EEF, 2019) was developed from the Carter Review of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) (Carter, 2015) which made some key recommendations for ITT courses. Key recommendations from this review are identified below.
To develop a framework of core ITT content.
Subject knowledge and subject-specific pedagogy should be included in this framework.
The framework should include a strong emphasis on evidence-based teaching.
Theories of assessment should be included in this framework.
Child and adolescent development should be included.
The framework should include practical strategies to support trainees in managing pupils’ behaviour.
Special educational needs and disabilities should be included in the framework.
Trainees require input on developing their professionalism, resilience and time management.
(Carter, 2015)
Key policy
The ITT Core Content Framework states:
The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for pupils – and it is particularly important for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. No one is born a great teacher. Great teachers continuously improve over time, benefitting from the mentoring of expert colleagues and a structured introduction to the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching.
(DfE/EEF, 2019, p3)
The ITT Core Content Framework (DfE/EEF, 2019) sets out the minimum entitlement for trainee teachers. It draws on the best available evidence from research to identify the elements of quality-first teaching. The framework does not identify all the content that trainee teachers need and neither is it a curriculum. Providers will need to make decisions about how to structure the content to provide trainees with a well-sequenced, coherent ITT curriculum. It is a framework that sets out the minimum essential knowledge and skills that trainee teachers need to become effective teachers. Together with the Early Career Framework (DfE, 2019a), it will provide a comprehensive package of support for teachers at the early stages of their careers.
The ITT Core Content Framework should not be used as an assessment framework to assess the performance of trainee teachers. Although it aligns with the Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2011), it emphasises specific essential knowledge for trainees. Building on the recommendations of the Carter Review of Initial Teacher Training (Carter, 2015), there is a strong emphasis on developing trainees’ knowledge of behaviour management and special educational needs. In addition, there is a strong emphasis on developing trainees’ subject knowledge. The framework emphasises the importance of subject-specific and age-specific training because strong subject knowledge is associated with good outcomes for pupils (Coe et al., 2014).
In addition, the framework emphasises the importance of providing quality-first teaching for all pupils. It explicitly states that:
The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for pupils — and it is particularly important for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. No one is born a great teacher. Great teachers continuously improve over time, benefitting from the mentoring of expert colleagues and a structured introduction to the core body of knowledge, skills and behaviours that define great teaching.
(DfE/EEF, 2019, p.3)(3)
The ITT Core Content Framework is deliberately designed to emphasise the importance of high-quality teaching, which is particularly important for disadvantaged pupils and those with additional needs. For this reason, the ITT Core Content Framework deliberately does not detail approaches specific to particular additional needs – to reflect the importance of quality first teaching.
(DfE/EEF, 2019, p6)
There is a strong emphasis on providing all pupils with high-quality teaching. The framework states that this is the best way of raising outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The framework therefore does not emphasise the use of differentiated approaches because these can serve to widen ability gaps between groups of pupils. There is also an emphasis on developing trainees’ understanding of how to support pupils with specific mental health needs. For primary schools, the framework specifically emphasises the importance of developing trainees’ knowledge and understanding of systematic synthetic phonics to support pupils’ early reading development. In addition, there is an emphasis on developing trainees’ subject knowledge in mathematics.
In line with the Education Inspection Framework (Ofsted, 2019), the framework includes an emphasis on supporting trainees to manage their workloads and their own well-being.
What does the ITT Core Content Framework mean for trainees?
Although the ITT Core Content Framework should not be used as an assessment framework to evaluate your capability as a teacher, nonetheless it breaks down the Teachers’ Standards into more specific content that you need to know and understand. You can use it as a developmental framework to identify things that you already know and understand, and aspects that you need to develop. Once you have identified these aspects, you can focus discussions with your mentors on how to address these aspects within your practice. You can also observe other teachers to see how they implement these aspects in their practice. If you use the ITT Core Content Framework in this way, it becomes a tool to support your development as a teacher.
What does the ITT Core Content Framework mean for course managers and tutors?
Course managers and tutors should ensure that all the aspects of the ITT Core Content Framework are embedded within either central training or school-based training. They should work collaboratively with their partnership schools to map
