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Bullock (1975) Notes on the text
Part 1 Attitudes and standards
Part 2 Language in the early years
Part 3 Reading
Part 4 Language in the middle and secondary years
Part 5 Organisation
Part 6 Reading and language difficulties
Part 7 Resources
Part 8 Teacher education and training
Part 9 The survey
Part 10 Sumary of conclusions and recommendations
Appendix A Witnesses and sources of evidence
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The Bullock Report (1975)
A language for life Report of the Committee of Enquiry appointed by the Secretary of State for Education and Science under the Chairmanship of Sir Alan Bullock FBA London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1975
Chapter 24 In-service education
24.1 We start from the premise that everyone now accepts pre-service and in-service training to be parts of a single continuous process. This view is reflected in the White Paper Education: A Framework for Expansion (1) and in the James Report (2), which preceded it. Pre-service education is not a phase in which the intending teacher must stockpile resources for a lifetime. Nor is in-service education simply a phase for remedying deficiencies or decay in the original supply. This movement in the direction of a unified process has been strengthened by the notion of the induction year in place of the period of probation. The change in terminology is significant. It marks a shift from simply allowing the realities of classroom responsibility to test the personal and professional adequacy of the teacher and, by implication, the quality of his initial training. The situation is replaced by one in which the newly qualified teacher is supported in his adjustment to the responsibility. Part of the process is the opportunity to continue his training, including those elements of it which may be more appropriate here than in the pre-service stage. These two aspects of the induction year find expression in the notion of the teacher tutor or professional tutor and of the professional centre. There has been a good deal of discussion of the idea of the teacher tutor, but rather less of the professional centre to add to the description given in the James Report. It is clearly envisaged both there and in the White Paper that the centres should occupy an important place in the continued education of teachers during their induction year. Later in the chapter we shall consider how they might play their part in helping the teacher to his understanding of language and reading. In the meantime we must consider in greater detail the characteristics of the induction year and the needs of the young teacher leaving college or UDE [university department of education]. 24.2 First, he or she will need to be inducted into the procedures of the particular school, and this means learning the answers to some fundamental questions. What, for example, is the school's attitude to language development and its strategy in the teaching of reading? What resources are available and to which colleagues should one turn for advice? What is the policy for record-keeping? These are only a few of the many facts, some articulated, some left implicit, that the new teacher will have to learn about the school's way of working. Even more important will be his need to discover as much as possible about the backgrounds and interests of the children. It is during this period of orientation that the support of head, teacher tutor, and colleagues will be of the greatest importance. As the teacher comes to know his class and the educational and social context better he will become more aware of the points at which his own knowledge needs filling out. This is the stage where the expert assistance and resources of the professional centre should be available in an essentially practical application. The young teacher may need help in exploring the materials available for the teaching of reading and perhaps preparing his own; he may need advice on specific language difficulties or on matters of classroom organisation. This work is best organised on a small group basis, so that he can explore with his peers these and other problems of mutual interest. Another important element in his continued professional studies must be the opportunity to re-examine in the light of his classroom experience some of the material on language and reading which he encountered during his initial training. 24.3 We have used as an illustration the newcomer to the primary school, but of course his secondary colleagues will be faced with the same general problems and many of the particular ones. Young teachers from both phases should come together frequently in the induction year to discuss such aspects of continuity as those we outlined in Chapter 14, and in particular the children's language development. We apply this recommendation to all secondary school teachers, whatever their subject, for an essential aim of the induction year should be to sensitise the young teacher not only to the children's language but to his own use of language in the classroom. We have discussed this at length earlier in the Report, but must include a brief additional reference to it in this context as one of a number of features we regard as essential in in-service training. Simple realism makes it obvious that one cannot expect every serving teacher to enrol for courses on language in learning; and this is one reason why we go on to propose what might be done by and within the school itself. But the induction year gives a unique opportunity for teachers of different subjects engaged with different age groups to acquire the kind of knowledge and awareness embodied in Part Four of this Report. 24.4 The growing preference for the term 'in-service education' signals some important convictions about the position of the teacher as a full partner in the enterprise rather than as the object of a training programme. It is a concept which we believe of great importance for the improvement of language work and reading in schools. The principle was expressed in the written evidence of witnesses who are themselves actively engaged in promoting it: 'Professional education implies not simply learning for oneself but learning to apply in school: this is the weakest part of our present system, since it demands a steady interaction between working in the classroom and detaching oneself to consider more objectively what has been going on, and what alternative choices might be made. This suggests that the present system of continuing education, with its main emphasis on either evening courses or release for a term or a year, needs extending and a new emphasis to be given to a flexible interaction between practice and theory.'There is growing evidence of disenchantment with what has been described as the 'solution-centred approach', where the emphasis is on promoting a supposed solution to educational problems. In our discussions with teachers we heard many complaints about the kind of course where a series of lectures was delivered to a large audience, with the short 'question time' excluding most of those present from any kind of participation. It is interesting to note that in a survey carried out by Nottingham University School of Education (3) only 25 per cent of the teachers preferred the idea of 'a prescribed, taught course of study'. The remainder opted for one or other of a number of alternatives which involved more active participation. From these 36 per cent chose 'to work within a group of teachers on a problem of professional interest'. 24.5 This is all part of the question of how innovation comes about in schools. Not all in-service education is directly concerned with promoting innovation for curriculum change, but much of it has this intention. When the efforts have met with only modest success, as not infrequently happens, there has been a tendency to ascribe this to the school's natural resistance to the ideas the returning teacher brings with him. From this it has often been assumed that the remedy lies in an increase in the dose. However, it has rightly been argued (4) that to rely exclusively upon formal courses is to misjudge the school as a social organism and underrate the part the teacher himself plays in initiating change. We believe that the individual school is a highly important focal point in in-service education, and that there should be an expansion in school-based approaches. For example, with the help of one or more members of the English advisory team as a catalyst, an entire primary school staff might study how the teaching of reading could be improved. This could result in several experimental measures and an agreed common policy arising from discussion among the teachers themselves. In addition, it might lead to identifying areas in which further outside help was needed. A staff that has played a part in deciding its own in-service education needs will be likely to receive and evaluate collectively the ideas that are brought back, not reject them unexamined. The head has a crucial role in this process, in which he should be supported by the teacher with responsibility for language, and we regard opportunities for in-service training for heads as of the first importance. There should be more experiments of the kind initiated by one reading centre, which ran a one month course for eight primary school heads, followed by a course of twenty half days for a member of staff from each of the eight schools. We recognise that there are particular difficulties in all this for very small schools, and we urge the generous use of supply teachers to allow heads and teachers to attend inservice activities outside the school and to exchange visits with other schools. 24.6 The appropriate unit for in-service education in the secondary school will more frequently be the English department, and clearly the head of English has a particular responsibility for helping in the continuing professional education of his colleagues within the department. This implies a long-term view of the shaping and direction of the English teaching in the school, and the opportunity for every member of the department to share in it. Thus, the head of department should keep his colleagues up to date with information on new developments, maintain a continuing dialogue on policy, and encourage shared decisions on where the English teaching can be strengthened by help from outside the school. We have already suggested in Chapter 15 that this becomes extremely difficult where the English teaching involves several teachers who spend only part of their time in it, but it becomes correspondingly more important. Heads of department should receive every help and encouragement in developing this aspect of their role, and some schools will need more support than others from the LEA English advisory team. The English department will also have an important part to play in sustaining a language policy across the curriculum. We have discussed this at length earlier in the Report but believe that it deserves mention in this context as an example of school-based in-service education at its most productive. 24.7 It is clear from the evidence we received that large numbers of teachers believe there are not enough courses in reading. When the DES published Survey of In-Service Training for Teachers (5) in 1967 the results showed that in the year 1966-67:
Various surveys have revealed that reading occupies the highest priority when teachers in primary schools are asked to say for what aspect of their work there should be more in-service provision. Since the 1967 figures, quoted above, there is likely to have been a considerable expansion in the number of courses on reading, but it seems certain that the demand still greatly exceeds supply. We believe that LEAs and other providing agencies should increase the availability of courses on reading and on the various other aspects of English to which we have drawn particular attention in the Report. Two that we regard as of primary importance are the role of language in the classroom and the use of diagnosis in the teaching of reading. 24.8 In-service education in reading should include courses which deal with the teaching of advanced skills. The majority at present available do not go beyond the teaching of reading in the early stages. It is therefore not surprising that teachers of English in secondary schools have not shown a marked interest in attending reading courses. In the DES Survey of In-Service Training for Teachers, Table 25 gave details of courses for which teachers felt there was a future need. 35 per cent of English teachers believed there should be more courses on the teaching of English, but only 5 per cent felt the same about courses on the teaching of reading. (The corresponding figures for lecturers in the English departments of colleges of education were 87 per cent and 2 per cent). Such figures can certainly be taken to indicate that a need is not always recognised, but they can also be taken to reflect on the course provision itself. A reading course with the kind of structure they felt appropriate to the pupils they were teaching might evoke a quite different response from secondary school teachers of English. 24.9 We recommend that there should be a variety of kinds of provision, with the emphasis on a flexible interaction between practice and theory. These might include: (i) One to four week workshops held in the summer and planned to lead to a term's follow-up work in school.24.10 Complementary to the substantial increase in the range and volume of local in-service training in recent years, there has been a developing pattern of planning on a regional basis. The merits of such a strategy are obvious, for it enables the best use to be made of scarce resources, particularly people expert in the field of language and reading. It becomes possible to provide courses which it would be impossible or uneconomic for local authorities to organise themselves. Moreover, it provides the stimulus that comes from working with teachers from different areas and circumstances, and with different problems. The most important single advance here has been that of the regional courses arranged jointly by the Area Training Organisation and the Department of Education and Science. These ATO-DES courses, of which there have been a number in reading and various aspects of English, have broken new ground in drawing together all major partners in in-service education in the region - teachers, local authorities, colleges and universities, and HM Inspectorate. They have provided a type of course which lies between the shorter sessional courses of a local character and the full-time ones which require secondment. The pattern of movement between participation in the course and work in the classroom has enabled principles to be studied and applied, and then reconsidered in the light of practical experience. We hope that under whatever title or auspices ATO-DES courses continue in the future there will be an expansion of the number concerned with the field we are discussing. There is a particular need for more courses on a regional basis for teachers of English in secondary schools. 24.11 An important source of in-service education for experienced teachers is the full-time courses on reading, language, or general English provided by some colleges and university institutes. These courses, of one term or one year duration, are at present few in number and they have encountered some problems of recruitment in recent years owing to the difficulties teachers face in securing secondment. Our survey showed that few teachers had attended either kind of course during the past year, and particularly those of one term's length. Yet the indications are that teachers recognise the value of such courses and would welcome the opportunity to attend them. In the Nottingham survey referred to earlier a majority of teachers said they would prefer one term release to a number of other alternatives. We strongly recommend that local authorities should do everything possible to second more teachers to attend these courses and that the courses should be increased in number. In-service education at this level has a vital part to play in expanding within an authority the number of teachers who have added to their classroom experience a period of sustained study. At least some of the advisory teachers referred to in Chapter 16 could be expected to come from among this group. 24.12 Full-time diploma or higher degree courses, drawing upon a national rather than local or regional constituency, make up only a relatively small part of the total in-service training activity. We believe the number of such courses in language and reading should be increased. The quality of in-service education at local and regional level depends upon the people who will be available to provide informed leadership. Expansion of the kind we have suggested requires more such people than are at present available. Practical experience needs to be combined with an understanding of fundamental principles which has been developed by advanced study. Every effort should therefore be made to involve teachers who have already taken substantial courses in the various in-service courses and workshops that may be organised. 24.13 Opportunities for part-time study have been increased in number and range through the degree and post-experience courses offered by the Open University. It is significant that among the post-experience courses the one on Reading Development has had the largest enrolment. This is the more impressive when it is remembered that many of the teachers enrolling receive no financial help from their local authority. In itself it is yet another indication of the importance teachers attach to learning more about the teaching of reading. It also says much for the attraction of an interplay between professional experience and academic study which makes considerable intellectual demands. We consider this course a significant forward step and believe that its methods and materials provide a valuable model. 24.14 We would summarise these various opportunities as converging upon one overriding need: a substantial increase in the number of teachers who can provide the tutorial and advisory help upon which developments in initial training, induction, and in-service education depend. There are not enough teachers equipped to act as language consultants within schools, as advisers and advisory teachers for a local authority, or as specialist lecturers for students in training. At other points in the Report we have emphasised the importance we ascribe to these functions if there is to be a growth in the quality of the teaching of reading and English. For this to happen there must be a systematic and progressive programme of in-service education which opens up possibilities of career development. A suggested pattern would be as follows: (a) (i) local part-time courses for teachers who are, or might become, language and reading consultants within the primary or middle school. These courses should extend over at least two terms, preferably on the pattern of ATO-DES courses, and might include a residential element. They would have a common core with options. In addition, the teacher should undertake in his own school a supervised investigation into some aspects of language or reading, e.g. the demands of writing in various areas of the curriculum, or the diagnosis of individual reading difficulties.24.15 From their continuous contact with schools the authority's English advisory team will be an important influence in assessing local in-service education needs and in devising ways of meeting them. Among these will be development work at Teachers' Centres, where the provision for work in language and reading should be strengthened. As the first point of reference outside the school they are in a position to bring home to teachers, whatever their purpose in attending, the central importance of language throughout the curriculum. There is great variation in the facilities of Teachers' Centres and in the range of activities that take place in them. In some, language activities are already well developed; in others there is little more than elementary attention to them. In addition to the general Teachers' Centres there are a number of specialist centres in reading and a few in language, and certain of these have come to attract teachers from all over the country, notably the Centre at Reading. We visited some of these centres and were impressed by the service they were offering to teachers, not only as focal points for in-service education but in their collection and evaluation of materials. They indicate clearly how great a need there is for sources of expert knowledge and advice at this level. Several colleges of education have also established reading centres, which are simultaneously meeting the requirements of students in training and of serving teachers. Of particular value are their large and comprehensive collections of materials and equipment which teachers may examine, sample, and discuss. Frequently, there is cooperation between these centres and local Teachers' Centres, and this is a welcome development. Equally welcome are the signs of growing cooperation between the different kinds of centre and the professional associations in reading and English. In varying degrees these associations make a valuable contribution to in-service education, both directly and through publications and general influence. 24.16 We recommend that language/reading centres should be developed on such a scale that teachers in every authority can have access to one. In making this recommendation we prefer to think in terms of function rather than of institution. As we have remarked, a few such centres already exist, and they should be strengthened. Some Teachers' Centres have the potential to build up the language/reading element to the status of a specialist unit. The same is true of a number of colleges. In some authorities none of these circumstances obtains, and it may therefore be necessary to build up a specialist centre, either as an independent unit or upon an existing institution. In short, it would be unrealistic of us to recommend a uniform pattern. The variety of circumstances is so great that to do so would be a recipe for duplication and redundancy. Our fundamental concern is that every teacher should have access to a stage in provision at which expert knowledge and an extensive collection of materials is available. Where this is housed will depend upon the local circumstances, but we would expect a flexibility of administration which will allow joint participation by full-time professional staff, the LEA English advisory team, and lecturers from the college of education. 24.17 The relationship of such centres to the professional centres needs to be carefully considered if they are to be mutually supporting. In the future pattern of regional planning for in-service education the professional centres promise to become a significant feature. They will be concerned not only to support newly qualified teachers in their induction year, but to augment the in-service provision for experienced teachers. Their role and function still await full articulation, though these will probably evolve from working experience rather than spring fully armed from an a priori definition. However, it is reasonable to anticipate that these centres, based upon existing institutions and providing good accommodation and resources, will be able to help the serving teacher in at least three ways: (a) Short full-time courses, or courses on the ATO-DES pattern and opportunities for private study in a variety of fields. These opportunities would be open to teachers in the new larger authorities in which the centres were situated. Where the centre has developed a particular competence they would be available to teachers from other parts of the region.Professional centres may be expected to draw upon existing agencies, reinforcing rather than attempting to replace them. Indeed, one of their functions will be to help create links between these agencies, both national and local, and the teachers in the area. We would expect that where a language/reading centre is established - in any of the forms we have suggested - it will operate as the arm of the professional centre for that aspect of the curriculum. And, of course, it may fall to the professional centre itself to develop the language/reading centre if in a given situation it is more appropriate than any of the variations we have suggested. The pattern of provision must be governed by local circumstances, and the range of possibilities must be wide enough to allow these to be used to the best advantage. 24.18 The suggestion was put to us in evidence that there should be one or more national focal points for developments in the teaching of the various aspects of English. There were a number of variations of this recommendation: 'For various reasons the study of reading and English lacks a national organisation that commands authority. I would recommend the establishing of a National Centre for the Teaching of English at all levels.'The emphases are different but these and similar suggestions converge upon an idea for which we believe there is a sound case: there should be a national reference point for language in education, which includes the teaching of English in all its forms and at all levels. Before considering the possible activities of such an institution we feel it important to emphasise this comprehensiveness of interest. We do not accept that there should be a national centre concerned only with the teaching of reading. Nor would we advocate a national centre for the teaching of English which was identified with a literature-based view of the subject and concerned largely with the secondary or older primary pupil. Our notion of such a centre is that it should embrace all aspects of English teaching - from pre-school language and early reading to advanced reading and English studies in the sixth form. We see its activities as including: (i) Providing a consultancy service for all who are involved, in whatever capacity, in the teaching of English in its various aspects.Our own view, and it is no more than a tentative suggestion, is that for logistical reasons the centre should be sited on a university campus, though with its own governing body and staff. This would enable it to draw upon the resources of the university while remaining independent. However, we believe that the question of siting and funding should be the subject of consultation and further discussion. We therefore recommend the principle of a national centre and suggest that interested parties should be called together by the Secretary of State to consider the details of location, organisation and function. References 1. Education: A Framework for Expansion HMSO: 1972. 2. Teacher Education and Training HMSO: 1972. 3. Bradley H In-Service Education after the White Paper University of Nottingham School of Education: 1974. 4. Havelock RG The Utilisation of Educational Research and Development British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 2, No. 2: 1971. 5. Survey of In-Service Training for Teachers Department of Education and Science, HMSO: 1967. 
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