TPL 4: Skills for Sharing

About This Programme

Introduction and Programme Aim

Heart of Shared Education is the ability to work with others in collaborative contexts.

This ability doesn’t happen by accident. It needs to be developed and nurtured in children, young people and adults through a wide range of educational and life-long learning opportunities.

By engaging pupils in active learning contexts across all areas of the curriculum, teachers can develop learners’ personal and interpersonal skills, capabilities and dispositions, and their ability to think both creatively and critically.

The activities should be planned and delivered so that learners have opportunities to develop skills and/or capabilities that reflect the aims of Shared Education. For example, the development of the personal capability Working with Others will be appropriate in many learning experiences due to the nature of Shared Education activities, where collaborative practice is a necessary component.

This programme will take you through a process for identifying and explicitly developing Skills and Capabilities alongside the knowledge and understanding in your planned shared activities.

It has been adapted from CCEA Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities resources that can be accessed using the links below and throughout the module.

Overarching Aim:

Refresh knowledge on what are the Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities,
Explore why Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities should be developed through teaching and learning opportunities, and
Work through how to develop Thinking skills and Personal Capabilities through Shared Education activities.

Module Structure

The module is divided into two sections which can be accessed using the links or using the left hand navigation pane.

A Teachers' Learning Journal, linked to the module activities has been created to support your professional development and reflective practice.

The module is designed to support teachers from all sectors.

Teachers should engage in with content and adapt it to reflect the context of their partnership, school, key stage, pupils and community.

Click her for Section 1:

What are Skills and Capabilities and why should they be developed?

Click here for Section 2:

How to develop Skills and Capabilities through Shared Education activities

TeacherLearning Journal Skills for Sharing (1).docx

External Voice

Mick Davies - Educational Consultant

Mick Davies entered teaching in 1991 after working in commercial graphics for several years. He was employed as a teacher of Art and Design in Dalriada School and moved to take up the post of Head of Department in Ballymena Academy in 2000. In 2006 Mick joined CCEA to work on the introduction of the revised NI Curriculum supporting Art and Design and then Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities. Mick worked closely with Professor Carol Maginness, developing resources to support the development and embedding of Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities through the Northern Ireland Curriculum. Following a diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2012, Mick left CCEA in 2016. He now continues to work as an artist and writer with a special interest in educating for creativity.

Practitioner Voice

Within this module you will have the opportunity to listen to teachers who have been involved in training and delivered Shared Education lessons which have incorporated Thinking Skills & Personal Capabilities.

Paula O'Hare-Armstrong (St. Paul's HA, Bessbrook)

Paula O'Hare-Armstrong is currently a Physical Education Teacher in St. Paul's HS, Bessbrook and is the Director for Quality Assurance within their organisation. Paula is an experienced practitioner who has the opportunity to engage in Joint Practice Development (JPD) Programmes focused on the development of Thinking Skills & Personal Capabilities. Paula is currently the Metacognition Champion for her partnership and is responsible for driving these approaches in order to improve outcomes for pupils and to enhance their Learning experiences.

Angela Casey (The High School, Ballynahinch)

Angela is a former Shared Education Coordinator and a current Cluster Leader for the Ballynahinch Post-Primary Partnership. She has experience in the development and inclusion of Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities within Shared Education Programmes. Angela has been responsible for the planning, implementation and evaluation of Joint Practice Development Programmes focused on Thinking Skills including Metacognition.