A good INSET day (In-Service Education and Training) should be inspiring, useful, personalised and above all engaging. A day where teachers come together to discuss strategies for improvement, share their pearls of wisdom and focus on how to improve the learning experience for students.
Sadly, the reality is quite different...
“In England, for more than two decades, teachers have been required to participate in five in-service training days per year. The research evidence demonstrates that these are rarely well organised, are seen as of little use by participating teachers and represent a wasted resource.”
- Brighouse and Moon (2013)
With this in mind, here are a few key things to consider when planning your INSET days that will help ensure your training has teachers chomping at the bit to get back in their classrooms, for the all the right reasons.
How to plan the perfect INSET day: 7 questions to ask yourself
1. What are your aims and objectives for the day?
Just like you do when you’re planning any lesson, it is important to determine what outcomes you are hoping to achieve through your INSET day. Setting objectives will make it far easier to plan the content of your day/session and give staff a clear idea of what they will achieve.
Making sure they fit into your whole school improvement plan e.g. ‘to minimize low level disruption across the school’ is key. As much as possible, these days should be about developing teachers’ classrooms skills through modelling and collaboration.
2. Who will lead your INSET day?
You could choose to appoint internal members of staff to lead your INSET training. This can work well as long as they are well-prepared, have the respect of their colleagues and the required skills and knowledge to deliver the training. An alternative is to bring in an external provider. This can often add excitement to the day and sends a clear message to staff that you are willing to invest in their professional development.
However, one-off training sessions have very limited impact on teacher development, so if you do decide to do this, think about how it relates to your professional development goals and how you will ensure that the content gets embedded into everyday teaching. Also, how you will follow up sessions to discover whether what’s been learnt during them is being put into practice and how you and your staff can share these experiences and refine them over time.
3. Where will you host it?
Like children, adults learn better in the right environment. Try a space that is light and airy, not too hot or cold, roomy and has everything to hand that you need for the training. Nothing drags the energy and momentum down in a room more than when the host has to duck out because they forgot something.
4. What activities will you include?
To get the best out of your students, do you talk to them for an hour? We would hope not. So why would you subject your colleagues to the same? Keep presentations short, activities interactive and offer plenty of time for talking and discussion.
INSET days are also a great opportunity to share ideas and ensure that everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet. Maximise this opportunity by creating activities throughout the day where staff develop shared goals together as well as giving them time to think about personalised goals and objectives. They are sure to be more motivated to achieve the goals if they have had a hand in setting them.
5. How will you make your materials engaging?
When compiling your materials, keep in mind all of the same ideas and techniques you use when planning a good lesson. Make things relevant and interesting, differentiate when appropriate and (again) make sure there are plenty of opportunities for interaction and discussion.
6. How will you make it enjoyable?
Little things can make a big difference, so try to make your INSET days fun. Build in decent coffee breaks allowing staff to catch up with each other, make sure you have some amusing or lighthearted activities and most important of all… make sure you buy plenty of biscuits!
7. Does INSET need be a day at all?
Could you get rid off INSET days altogether and replace them with regular CPD sessions throughout the year, where teachers discuss learning, share ideas and refine performance over time? Perhaps you could take a joint practice development approach and break down your day into shorter 60 min sessions, so staff can get together more regularly to work towards achieving their longer term goals. Food for thought.
Tips for engaging staff during INSET days
1. Make sure everyone who needs to be included, is
If you are planning an INSET activity for all staff but actually is only relevant to teaching staff, have support staff attend only when necessary. This gives support staff some time to catch up on tasks that are difficult to complete in a normal school day and will show them that you are not interesting in wasting their time. The more staff your session is relevant to, the more engaged the audience will be.
2. Make it relevant
Ensure that the content of the INSET day is relevant to the teachers' daily work and is aligned with the school's improvement plan. If teachers can see the value in what they are learning, they are more likely to engage with the training.
3. Use a variety of activities
Avoid lengthy presentations and instead use a mix of activities such as group discussions, hands-on activities, and interactive exercises. Consider showcasing and discussing expert teaching that is happening in your school via IRIS Connect. This will help to keep teachers engaged and maintain their interest throughout the day.
4. Personalise the training
Provide opportunities for teachers to reflect on their own practice and set their own professional development goals. This will help to make the training more meaningful and relevant to individual teachers.
5. Encourage collaboration
Create opportunities for teachers to work together and share ideas. This can be done through group activities or paired discussions. Collaboration can help to build a sense of community and encourage teachers to learn from one another.
6. Use technology
Incorporate technology into your training sessions to keep teachers engaged and to provide a variety of learning experiences. For example, you could use interactive whiteboards, online resources, or digital quizzes.
7. Make it fun
Inject some fun into the training by incorporating games, quizzes, and other activities that help to break up the day and keep teachers engaged.
8. Provide food and drink
Ensure that there are plenty of refreshments available throughout the day, including tea, coffee, and snacks. This will help to keep energy levels up and create a positive atmosphere.
Overcoming common challenges that arise during INSET days
Poor design and delivery
Every experienced teacher has attended an INSET that has been poorly designed and delivered, resulting in a lack of impact on teachers' professional development and student outcomes. Taking the time to carefully plan INSET days, making use of the information above, will combat this challenge.
Limited time
Schools have limited time to devote to INSET days, which can make it challenging to cover a wide range of topics and to ensure that all teachers have the opportunity to participate. Using IRIS Connect to deliver CPD sessions saves time as PD is continuously developed throughout the school year. The IRIS Connect platform allows teachers to generate a bank of their own teaching examples to share and discuss with colleagues. UnityPD allows teachers to complete practical pathways focused on research-backed learning modules.
Cost
Bringing in external trainers or providing resources for INSET days can be costly for schools, which may limit the frequency or quality of training. A professional development solution like IRIS Connect can remove these costs and save money on outsourced coaching and cover related costs.
Staffing issues
Schools may struggle to find suitable trainers or cover for teachers during INSET days, which can disrupt the normal functioning of the school. See how IRIS Connect helped reduce the cover required for Sir Thomas Wharton Academy.
Conclusion
When planning an INSET day it's important to remember the objectives of the day, plan accordingly and remember who is attending the training to provide as personalised experience as possible. Consider professional development tools like IRIS Connect to improve outcomes and build a culture of collaboration.
Do you have any tips for making INSET days more useful? Leave us a comment below.
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