A new report published jointly by Pearson and NoTosh recommends that teachers should use Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools to improve their classroom skills.

Tweeting for Teachers, a new report from the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning, co-published with NoTosh, recommends that:

• head teachers should consider using social media tools to communicate with school staff, parents and the local community
• schools should allow teachers unfiltered access to social media websites at work, to hone their skills and network with teachers at other schools
• teacher training courses should include lessons for new teachers on how to use digital and social tools for their own learning

Julie McCulloch of the Pearson Centre for Policy and Learning said:

“With some notable exceptions, traditional teacher training isn’t held in high regard.  Too often it is lacklustre, costly, and unconnected with what teachers do each day in the classroom.

“Many teachers are now taking their skills and development into their own hands, by networking with other classroom professionals online as well as in-person.  With school training budgets under many pressures, schools should look at giving teachers the time, skills and encouragement to use tools like Twitter and Facebook to improve their teaching.”

The social media tools we see today aren’t just a bit of fun: this report’s case studies and research show they’re having a fundamental effect on the nature of the workplace and are making educators question the very nature of professional development and ‘schooling’. Professionals in every walk of life are now using Twitter and other tools to network, learn new skills and further their careers.  Teachers should be no exception.

Twitter, Facebook and other social media are immensely popular with pupils and their teachers. Changes in policy and the attitudes of many school leadership teams are long overdue.

The report makes several recommendations for how headteachers, national and local policy-makers can use social media for better professional development.  The full report, along with video and further research content, is available at www.pearsoncpl.com.

A key point coming through in the report and re-iterated in the launch session, is that teachers do not learn best from each other, but rather the research shows they learn best with each other.

It’s not just using social media, but having mentors, coaches and insight into how one is using it that helps learning relationships online become more equitable. Too often, the advantage is on the side of the sharer more than on those being shared to. The case studies we gathered show people who make that effort to make the learning relationship as equitable as possible, and how they go about that.

Tweeting for Teachers – key recommendations

School leaders should:

1. learn about and engage with the social platforms that their teachers, parents and pupils are using every day;
2. use a social media tool as part of their communications with the school community;
3. validate and support their staff in using social media tools for ongoing professional development;
4. turn online activity into offline actions, in order to harness the benefits of face to-face interaction alongside those of online interaction;
5. implement robust systems for evaluating the impact of CPD on teacher effectiveness and student outcomes.

National and local policymakers should:

1. publish guidelines and support for teachers and leaders to help them use social media in schools;
2. consider how they will begin to unfilter social media sites for use in schools;
3. recognise and celebrate self-directed professional learning by teachers using online tools, and the role of social media in this learning;
4. create a common online space where the whole education community can find each other;
5. ensure that all Initial Teacher Training courses demonstrate a strong focus on the use of social media tools for ongoing professional development.

We also undertook case studies of how businesses are using social media for professional development, and what education could learn from this. Finally, we developed recommendations for how teachers, heads and policymakers could further exploit the potential of social media to help teachers develop in a cost-effective way.

At a launch event of the research paper on the 21st October 2011, co-authors Ewan McIntosh and Tom Barrett spoke more broadly about some of the findings and the ongoing challenges we face in schools, and what policymakers and leadership may wish to consider to make teacher professional development more easily enriched through social media use.

Feedback from the launch event:

Fantastic morning at Pearson’s #tweetingforteachers report launch. We’re looking forward to being able to help this initiative! (UExplore, Rotherham, UK)

Great work (Gary Brown, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia)

Great session this morning about #tweetingforteachers. We’re excited about the potential this could have for teachers and how we can help! (Personal Finance Education Group)