Benefits of building a shared video CPD library and how to do it

How to build a shared teacher CPD library

There's more than one reason to build a library of best practice clips, here are five of them:

5 benefits of building a shared library

1. Model and share best practice -One of the key things that holds teachers back from moving their practice forward is knowing what good or outstanding teaching looks like. A shared library is a simple and easy way to both model and share it across your school.

2.Timely and accurate support - Teachers grow and develop at different rates. A shared library offers them personalised CPD opportunities that they can access at the right time for them.

3. Peer-to-peer observation - Teachers love seeing each other in action but finding the time to observe colleagues is an increasing challenge. Having a library that staff can access, any time and from anywhere using their secure login details means they don't need to find lesson cover, or take time out from teaching their own students.

4. Unlimited resources - If one recorded lesson can be a multiple resource for professional development, then imagine how much a whole library of lessons can offer.

5. Collaborative culture - A library of lessons is a great way to open doors and engage teachers in professional dialogue, helping you to build a collaborative culture and improve your school.

As Michael Fullan says;

"The power of collective capacity is that it enables ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things."

4 tips for starting a shared library

The benefits of building a shared library are clear but how do you actually go about getting started?

Take a look at these 4 tips to find out:

1. Ask of others only what you are willing to do yourself - At the start of every department meeting show a short 5-10 minute clip of a lesson recorded. Ask the leadership team to start this off and it will hopefully encourage others to do the same at a later stage.

2. Clearly name the clips - Ask teachers to name their clips making it clear what is being modelled or demonstrated. So when a teacher is looking for a good example of lesson starters, for instance, they can easily find them.

3. Start small - Put staff into triangular learning teams or triads and ask each teacher to share a lesson with the other two in their team. Once they are happy sharing among themselves you can then encourage them to share into the larger library you are building.

4. Set goals to work towards - For example, ask each teacher to extract one clip per term, of a moment they are particularly proud of or happy with.

Got some tips about building a shared library  Share them in comments below...