Outstanding teachers model the Cambridge learner attributes. They are
confident, responsible, reflective, innovative and engaged because they:
- Have mastery of their subject area. They can relate concepts and skills in
such a way that students learn to understand and appreciate the nature of
the academic discipline they are studying, and what constitutes excellence for
the developmental stage they are teaching. - Teach for understanding as well as coverage. They have the ability to engage
with learners’ mental ideas about the really important concepts, and take
them on a journey of discovery. This approach requires learners to revisit
concepts over an extended period of time and within different contexts. This
spiralling strategy reinforces learning and leads to deeper levels of
understanding. - Connect learning to the real world. They connect learning to other topics in
the subject, other disciplines and the experience of learners – making learning
relevant. - Scaffold learning. Teachers need to constantly challenge student thinking in
the proximal zone of development. The optimal level of performance for a
learner is the level that they can reach when they receive expert support, as
distinct from the functional level, which they can achieve independently.
Scaffolding learning helps to close this gap. - Have a learning rather than a performance orientation. Chris Watkins (2010)
points out that too many schools and teachers are more concerned about
students looking good rather than learning well. There is considerable
evidence that learning to learn is an effective strategy at raising student
performance and preparing them to be independent, self-regulated learners
equipped for modern life. - Are able to model problem solving and consider themselves as mentors as
much as teachers. They are concerned with the holistic development of the
learner and understand the critical role that attitudes, emotions and self
confidence play in learning. They communicate a love of learning and believe
every learner can achieve. - Understand, and can apply, assessment for different purposes. They have an
excellent grasp of summative assessment practices, but they also understand
how to use assessment to support student learning. This is the process of
identifying what the learner has or has not achieved in order to plan the next
steps in learning and provide appropriate support. - Use a variety of different teaching strategies and activities. This includes
whole class instruction, collaborative group work and creative assignments
and activities, as well as overseeing individual learning. - Are reflective and creative practitioners engaged in ongoing effective
professional learning. - Are collaborative and supportive of their colleagues, the school and the
school’s community.
In order to support schools, Cambridge has developed a set of teacher standards
which define the key professional characteristics and practices that teachers
should develop to enable effective student learning in Cambridge schools. The
standards can help to provide benchmarks against which teachers and their
schools can evaluate their current practice and plan future development. They
can show how the Cambridge Teacher and Cambridge Leader attributes are
demonstrated in practice and they can contribute to the development of a
shared frame of reference within which schools can work to improve the quality
of teaching and leadership. The standards are flexible and have been developed
so that they can be used to best effect in each school context providing a
benchmark of what Cambridge considers to be teacher quality. See here:
3.2 The Cambridge learner and teacher attributes
Schools want their learners to combine both a deep understanding of their own
culture and nation, with the skills to be global learners who are able to
contribute and adapt to the uncertainties of the modern world.