Labour conference: Call to improve teachers' family support skills

1 October 2009 1 min read Ross Watson Education

The government has been urged to boost training for teachers to gain wider skills in their work with pupils and parents, in order to make the vision of 21st Century Schools a reality.

Geoff Whitty, director of the Institute of Education and adviser to the Select Committee for Children, Schools and Families, made the recommendation at the Labour Party Conference fringe meeting, Realising Every Child's Potential: Addressing Educational Disadvantage. The committee is currently investigating teacher training.

Whitty said although the Training and Development Agency had identified a lack of focus on parents in initial teacher training, more needed to be done to reach established teachers.

"Partnership with pupils and with parents are things we need to focus more on in initial teacher training and continued professional development (CPD)," he said. "I'm hoping strong evidence for the need to improve CPD will be included in the committee's report."

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits: