The Professional Learning Paradox

The new Ofsted framework compels school leaders to ensure there is a ‘coherent professional learning programme for all staff’ but this is easier said than done for many schools, writes Sara Davidson, Director of Red Kite Education and Professional Learning.

I have always loved learning. After 20 years working in education I’ve concluded that teachers, particularly the most effective ones, have an intrinsic motivation to learn. We are all familiar with the Dylan Wiliam quote, ‘Every teacher needs to improve, not because they are not good enough, but because they can be even better’. It is difficult to argue with this when we have such a strong moral imperative to ensure that children and young people have the very best teachers – after all, research shows that highly effective teaching is the most important factor in narrowing the disadvantage gap (Slater et al. 2012).

We recently had the privilege of working with Lighthouse Futures Trust - an organisation that supports neurodivergent young people into employment. On the penultimate day of the Autumn term, with rain lashing at the windows, and mince pies on the table, their team explored all things teaching and learning.  Despite end of term fatigue, the educators in the room enthusiastically shared strategies for supporting learners and reflected on their practice. We see powerful examples of this day in and day out at Red Kite Education - teachers love to learn and seize the opportunities they are given to do so.

As a teacher educator, I am pleased to see the importance of professional learning reflected in the new Ofsted framework. Leaders are expected to ‘ensure that staff have access to high quality, evidence-informed, sustained and coherent professional learning programmes’ which draw on ‘high quality research and expert provision from beyond and within the school’ (Ofsted, 2025) including programmes such as national professional qualifications (NPQs) and the Early Career Teacher Programme (ECTP).  

Recent research carried out by the Teacher Development Trust (TDT, 2025) shows that effective continuing professional development (CPD) is a key factor in teacher retention. It is also a key retention recommendation made to the government by Education Support; in their recent report they state that ‘We hear so often that staff are stuck in fire-fighting mode and can seldom step-back from the day-today and think creatively about the challenges they face. Reflective practice approaches, like supervision, coaching and mentoring provide these spaces.’ (Education Support, 2025). However, what we are finding at Red Kite Education is that schools are finding it increasingly difficult to create and access these and many types of professional learning opportunities. 

It seems ‘fire-fighting mode’ has become the norm in many schools with fewer staff facing more complex challenges; in many cases it is nigh on impossible to find time in the busy school day for learning or reflection.  This view is supported by TDT’s research and our experience; school leaders most frequently cite ‘lack of capacity’ as the key barrier to accessing CPD.  This is where the paradox comes in: capacity is not just time but also teacher knowledge and understanding (Brown and Greany, 2018).  A key factor in addressing the myriad of challenges faced in schools around SEND, attendance and behaviour is further upskilling colleagues and developing their expertise.  TDT’s research shows that coaching and mentoring are the least used forms of CPD in schools despite their impact and value for money - we can infer that the reason for this is lack of time.  It can feel like a self-perpetuating cycle from which there is no escape.

At Red Kite Education, recognising this paradox has forced us to reflect on what we do and how we do it.  In 2023, we created Red Kite Connect, a space that allows us to work with other networks and organisations to respond to professional learning needs.  We know we need to be flexible and agile in how we respond due to the barriers to accessing relevant CPD.  Whilst we continue to offer face to face training such as Learning from Leaders, as well as online events such as the upcoming Building Belonging conference, we are also creating learning resources that can be accessed in different ways to try to address some of these capacity issues. Our ‘Train the Trainer’ model for our Adaptive teaching programme has been incredibly successful as it allows schools to deliver the training themselves in a way that suits their context and training needs.  We are also offering bitesize recordings which can be accessed anytime, anywhere (watch this space for our upcoming Ofsted series).

In tackling challenges around access to CPD, we believe in taking a collective approach to drawing on the knowledge and expertise in our region and beyond.  In the spirit of what Hargreaves and O’Connor (2018) call ‘collaborative professionalism’, we would like to being together a steering group of educators across phases and roles to shape our approach; we aim to do this through the use of ‘deep and sometimes demanding dialogue, candid but constructive feedback and continuous collaborative inquiry’ (Hargreaves and O’Connor, 2018). If you are passionate about all things teaching, learning and CPD get in touch and help us be stronger together.

If you wish to join our professional learning steering group, contact Sara Davidson on davidsons@rklt.co.uk. To find out more about Red Kite Connect courses or bespoke support for your school, visit our courses page or email us on rkconnect@rklt.co.uk.

References:

Education Support (2025) ‘Revisiting the teacher retention crisis: recommendations for change’  revisiting-the-teacher-retention-crisis-recommendations-for-change.pdf

Hargreaves, A. and O’Connor, M. T. (2018) ‘Leading Collaborative Professionalism’ Centre for Strategic Seminar Series Paper no. 274

Slater, Davies, and Burgess (2012) ‘Do Teachers Matter? Measuring the Variation in Teacher Effectiveness in England’ Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 74 (5), pp. 629–645.

Teacher Development Trust (2025) ‘Teacher Development: The CPD Landscape in 2025’ https://tdtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CPD_Report_Digital.pdf