Highly effective teachers can make a significant impact in schools. Jon Sparkes, an experienced headteacher and Initial Teacher Training Lead whose school will be hosting Ambition Institute trainees, believes that “great teachers can transform lives”.
As a teacher, you can inspire pupils and help them to reach their full potential. Ambition’s Teacher Training programme is designed to help you become an expert teacher. Jon delves into why he believes our programme will give you the highest quality training and set you up to change lives.
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Making a difference as a highly effective teacher
Too many children from disadvantaged backgrounds start school behind their classmates and this gap only expands throughout their time at school, widening to 16.6 months by the end of secondary school. Jon explains that schools are “continuing to see a disadvantage gap in the education sector” but that “highly effective teachers are the ones who will make all the difference to that gap.”
“Evidence-based teaching is an important part of closing that gap. It helps teachers to make a difference by ensuring that all pupils have high-quality teaching. New teachers are coming into the profession excited to develop their knowledge and have an impact in the classroom.”
With Ambition, you’ll learn how to plan teaching that helps pupils to learn. Our training is founded in evidence about how pupils learn and what makes effective instruction. As you begin your teaching career, our training will provide you with a toolkit of evidence-informed approaches. The programme encourages you to engage thoughtfully with evidence which will help to develop your expertise and your practice.
“I absolutely believe that great teachers can transform lives. We know what the evidence says – and it's entirely true from my perspective – that a great teacher has a bigger impact than a great school. As a head teacher, I see pupils come back and what they always mention are the teachers who had an impact on them, the teachers who inspired them.”
Why Ambition?
Jon has worked in schools for more than 20 years and, as one of our local partners, has insight into Ambition’s training programme.
“Having seen some of what our trainees will be learning, I am excited that it has been designed in an incredibly intentional way,” Jon says. “The course aligns with what we, as school leaders, understand about what teaching should look like.”
Our teacher training draws on the expertise of our staff and partners. Many of these experts have first-hand experience in the classroom, as well as insight into a range of developments in the education sector. On the programme, you’ll build your teaching practice step-by-step over the year.
As a trainee, you’ll learn the theory behind teaching, have opportunities to practice, and the chance to revisit what you learn. This will help you master your toolkit of teaching strategies over time.
Becoming a highly effective teacher
Jon highlights “how important deliberate practice is” for new trainees. Deliberate practice is a way of training teachers that is purposeful and consistent. It encourages you to break down teaching strategies into smaller parts which you’ll rehearse outside of the classroom. You’ll practise these continuously until you are secure with the new strategy. This allows you to feel confident when trying it in the classroom and helps you to build good habits.
“I know deliberate practice is hard-wired from the word go on Ambition’s training programme. Teaching is such a complex activity; it needs breaking down into its smallest possible components with each component being mastered before moving on,” Jon says. “As a headteacher, I want a highly effective teacher in the classroom, not somebody who’s just got the knowledge in their head. Ambition’s curriculum has deliberate practice at its core and that’s why I’m confident that this programme will help train effective teachers.”
Joining a community
When training with Ambition, you’ll complete most of your training in one placement school. Jon says this approach means “you can become part of the school’s staff body and contribute to school life. It allows people to get to know you as an individual in the school setting.”
He believes that this placement structure “emphasises the importance of building relationships in school”. On our training programme, you’re joining a community of likeminded teachers and staff who want to make a difference. Our one-school training approach gives you the opportunity to cultivate your working relationships with teachers, staff, and the wider school community during your teacher training journey.
By training with Ambition, you will gain hands-on experience and benefit from evidence-informed learning which will support you to become a highly effective teacher. Become a teacher and join a community that’s transforming lives every day.