afPE Initial Teacher Education Conference 2023

afPE ITE Conference 2023

A must-attend event for the ITE community. If you’re involved in training the PE teachers of tomorrow, join us in Birmingham for a day of professional learning and networking.

Date: Wednesday 22nd March 2023

Venue: IBIS Styles Hotel, Bickenhill Lane, Marston Green, Birmingham B40 1PQ

Timings: 09:00hrs arrival & registration to 15:30hrs departure

Cost: £110 members / £150 non-members

To view the conference programme please click HERE.

To book, click HERE and email your form to cpd@afpe.org.uk.

The theme of the conference will be: Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze.

Keynote Speaker

Emma Hollis is our keynote speaker. Emma is Executive Director of the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT) which promotes high-quality schools-led programmes of training, education and professional development of teachers. Previously Head of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) for a School-Centred ITT provider, then Head of Teaching School and subsequently Head of Education Strategy for a newly-formed MAT, Emma has worked closely with NASBTT since January 2016 when she joined the Management Team. She took up the role of Executive Director in April 2017.

Title: Towards meeting the mentoring requirements for 2024.

Description: This session will explore some of the common challenges arising from the mentoring requirements associated with 2024 delivery and will aim to answer some frequently asked questions around the reality of putting these expectations into practice. We will also share NASBTT’s approach to developing a flexible suite of Mentor Development Modules designed to support providers to meet the

Workshop Sessions

Dr Julia Lawrence: Supporting the development of reflective practice in beginner teachers of physical education

As part of the Core Content Framework (Department for Education, 2019) beginning teachers are required to learn that:
8.1 Effective professional development is likely to be sustained over time, involve expert support or coaching and opportunities for collaboration
8.2 Reflective practice, supported by feedback from and observation of experienced colleagues, professional debate, and learning from educational research, is also likely to support improvement

Further that through support and guidance they learn how to:
8.c Strengthening pedagogical and subject knowledge by participating in wider networks
8.d Learning to extend subject and pedagogic knowledge as part of the lesson preparation process
8.e Seeking challenge, feedback and critique from mentors and other colleagues in an open and trusting working environment
8.f Reflecting on progress made, recognising strengths and weaknesses and identifying next steps for further improvement
8.g Engaging critically with research and using evidence to critique practice

This workshop looks at the use of reflective models as a way of developing teachers understanding of the processes involved in engaging reflectively and how that may look within a classroom situation. Drawing on recent publications (Capel, Lawrence, Martens and Abdul Rahem, 2022; Lawrence, 2023), it will also look at the use of classroom inquiry and Guskey’s (2002) model of professional development to encourage participants to think about;
• how we reflect and how this impacts on our own teaching,
• how we support others to develop their ability to reflect,
• how we identify the impact of changes we make as a result of the reflective process on the progress of the learners with whom we work.

Edward Carline: Personalised Teacher Education Through Triad Meetings and Rich Pictures.

Over the last 4 years the PE and Dance team have developed a curriculum provision that is underpinned by the use of Rich Pictures and Triad meetings to develop trainees evidence informed subject intent. Program design allows for trainee focus to be personalised through shared mentor meetings and focused engagement in practice and evidence/research. Trainees develop and reflect on curriculum intent via a rich picture and then develop this through reflective meetings and research. The impact has been for school mentors to engage on a more consistent basis in evidence and have a greater understanding of the trainees ideology and pedagogical preferences.

Matt Coldrey: Explaining why Learning Styles can be harmful, and what better alternatives are.

Objectives:
• Understanding of what Learning Styles are
• Explanation of how using them can inhibit learning
• Consideration of the alternative understandings of how learning takes place, and how these approaches can be utilised in Physical Education

Will Swaithes: Preparation for ITE

Do you find that students are joining your course (especially secondary PGCE) with big gaps in subject knowledge and experience? Do you struggle to find enough time on your course to fill these gaps and cover all other aspects of the Core Content Framework? Do you want your trainees to hear the voices and ideas from other specialists within physical education to help develop them?

This workshop will give you the chance to discuss challenges, potential solutions and different approaches to combat these issues. We will also share a pilot project that 18 lecturers and researchers across 12 different ITE providers collaborated on and launched in 2022 that received exceptional feedback from participants.

Dr Oliver Hooper: Scoping the potential for PE to become a core subject

This session will provide an overview of the recently published report scoping the potential of physical education (PE) as a core subject. It will share key findings outlining the challenges and opportunities that a move toward PE as a core subject may present, as well as the support the profession needs to get there. It will also share early insights into detailing a vision for PE as a core subject, working with the profession to determine what this might ‘look like’. Following a presentation on the report, there will be an opportunity for delegates to consider what the implications of a move toward PE as a core subject might mean for initial teacher education (ITE) within PE.