I look forward to some challenging debates at the Battle of Ideas conference in November.  The GTC is embarking on a major programme of dialogue with the public and the teaching profession to develop a more ambitious vision for the future of teaching and to help make that vision a reality.  The education sessions at this year’s conference fit brilliantly with the debates we want to encourage.  We want to see the teaching profession taking greater ownership of its own professional knowledge base and pedagogy, so the debate on evidenced based education will provide a valuable forum for that discussion.  We also want to see more meaning and value attached to being a registered teacher and will be consulting widely on a new Code of Conduct and Practice for teaching. The debate with Professor Alison Wolf on professional regulation will support that important dialogue because it should throw up some important challenges about the nature of professional accountability and the purpose and limits of professional regulation..

Keith Bartley, Chief Executive of the General Teaching Council