Leading effective professional learning and development – where are we now? Carol Taylor Leadership of Strategic PD
London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education c.taylor@ioe.ac.uk
www.ioe.ac.uk/lcll
Programme This session offers you an opportunity to: • consider the implications of national policy for the leadership of professional learning and development
• explore what the research base tells us about effective professional learning and development • share with and learn from like minded colleagues • identify the implications for you and your organisation and your next steps
National Policy ‘The Importance of Teaching’ (HM Government, 2010): -
school improvement rests with schools a self improving system schools and teachers learn best from one another to this end a self improving system means TSs leading the way with alliance partners ‘The single most important thing in education is improving the quality of educational experience for each child by investing in high quality teaching.’ (Gove, M. quoted in Bassett et al, 2010)
…and it’s still about leadership
‘The most distinctive feature in (successful) schools was the commitment of leaders at all levels to use professional development (professional learning?) as the main vehicle to bring about school improvement’. Search www.ofsted.gov.uk for Good professional development in schools. How does leadership contribute? (Ofsted, 2010)
Five Dimensions of Student-Centred Leadership Derived from Quantitative Studies Linking Leadership with Student Outcomes
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1. Establishing Goals and Expectations 1. Establishing Goals and
Expectations
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2. Resourcing Strategically
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Resourcing Strategically
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3. Ensuring Quality Teaching
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Ensuring Quality Teaching
4. Leading Teacher Learning and Development Leading Teacher Learning and
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Development 5. Ensuring an Orderly and Supportive Environment
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Ensuring an Orderly and Safe Environment 0
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Effect Size ŠAuckland UniServices Ltd, 2013.
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Leadership of PD Effective leadership of PD ensures:
• clarity of purpose at outset of PD activity • a specific focus / goal for PD activity aligned to clear timescales • a focus on pupil outcomes in PD activity • participants’ ownership of PD activity • engagement with a variety of PD opportunities • time for reflection and feedback • the development of collaborative approaches to PD • the development of strategic leadership of PD • everyone understands how to evaluate the impact of PD http://www.ioe.ac.uk/about/27793.html
In summary, the changing landscape involves us being effective in: • • • • • •
collaboration – within and across school/s coaching and mentoring research approaches school led professional development school to school support / alliances teachers learning from each other to improve skills and practices
… with an unrelenting focus on improving outcomes for pupils
Effective PD Sources of research evidence as to what effective PD looks like: • EPPI studies (from 2003 onwards) • Outcomes of Effective Practices in CPD (TDA national project), 2010 • What makes great CPD that leads to consistently great pedagogy? (Harris, A; Stoll,.L, and Handscomb,G. 2012) • Vivianne Robinson, (2012-13) • Hargreaves, 2013
What do we already know about great PD that leads to great pedagogy? Nine strong claims: 1. Effective professional development starts with the end in mind 2. Effective professional development challenges thinking as part of changing practice 3. Effective professional development is based on assessment of individual and school needs 4. Effective professional development involves connecting work-based learning and external stimulation 5. Effective professional learning opportunities are varied, rich and sustainable 6. Effective professional development uses action research and enquiry as key tools 7. Effective professional development is strongly enhanced through collaborative learning and joint practice development 8. Effective professional development is enhanced by creating professional learning communities within and between schools 9. Effective professional development requires leadership to create the necessary conditions
Moving to a better model‌ From Knowledge Model
To Practice Model
Occasional and irregular opportunities for out of school CPD
Regular opportunities throughout career for CPD
Cognitive change through acquired / academic knowledge
Progressive development fused with best professional practice Learning by doing. Teachers’ own research
Practical skills in classroom judged by occasional visits and observations
Improving what teachers do not just what they know. Coaching and mentoring
Designed and delivered by HE; LA i.e. expert > novice mode
In house design and in house facilitation
Cascaded down from top / central government
Developed by schools for schools
Where is your organisation now? Hargreaves, D. NCTL, 2013
Policy and research driving practice ‘We expect schools to use their increased autonomy
to explore new ways of working together – but collaboration in the future will be driven by school leaders and teachers – not bureaucrats.’ (Schools White Paper- The Importance of Teaching DfE (November 2010)
The most effective CPD, which was clearly linked to the strongest or widest ranging positive effects for teachers and pupils, was found to be collaborative’ (EPPI, 2010)
Sharing knowledge within the organisation
“Knowledge carried by an individual only realizes its… potential when [it] becomes organizational knowledge.” Charles Leadbetter, 2000
So, thinking about with-in school, how do you currently move beyond learning and sharing ideas, to developing, changing and improving practice and convert individual knowledge into organisational knowledge?
to Tacit knowledge
Explicit knowledge
Dialogue Tacit knowledge
from
Explicit knowledge
Socialization
Externalization
sympathised knowledge
conceptual knowledge
Networking
Sharing experience
Internalization
Combination
operational knowledge
systemic knowledge
Learning by doing
Professor Dylan Wiliam, Institute of Education,2008
After Nonaka & Tageuchi, 1995
Joint Practice Development (JPD) ‘Peer to peer professional development is often called ‘sharing good practice’ … the weakness is that sharing practice does not necessarily mean there has been any practice transfer … the best way to move practice is to move those who practice it close to the site to which it is to be moved ... what begins as sharing practice ends up as co-construction of practice that entails incremental innovation.’ Hargreaves, D, NCTL (2013)
Joint practice development (JPD)
It is: -a joint activity in which two or more people interact and influence one another (beyond ‘sharing good practice’)
- an activity that focuses on teachers’ professional practice, i.e. what they do, not merely what they know - a development of the practice, not simply a transfer of it from one person or place to another, and so a form of school improvement
Research Lesson study helps teachers to: • develop and innovate new practice in order to solve classroom problems • provides a framework for the collaborative study of the basic unit of teaching and learning – the lesson • engineer the way the lesson is framed and talked about
Building evidence into education ‘I think there is a huge prize waiting to be claimed by teachers. By collecting better evidence about what works best, and establishing a culture where this evidence is used as a matter of routine, we can improve outcomes for children, and increase professional independence’. Ben Goldacre; Building Evidence into Education, 2013
“It is about turning intuitive and spontaneous judgments into more systematic investigations, and it starts with the everyday questions that teachers ask themselves…” (Handscomb and MacBeath, 2008)
A typical cycle
Implications … coaching ‘Relocating teachers’ time and energy from relatively ineffective models of sharing good practice to more effective models based on mentoring and coaching … it means reforming what we mean by professional development and the means by which it is implemented.’ (Hargreaves, 2013, NCTL)
Coaching is key More commonly, coaching involves the ‘coach’ watching the ‘learner’ teach … but the strongest evidence comes from Showers and Joyce, who report the greatest benefit when the ‘coach’ is the person teaching and the observer, the one being ‘coached’, since the observer is expected to learn more from watching a colleague teach; in general, coaching should be perceived as a collaborative activity between teachers, not a one-way expert critique. Showers and Joyce, 1996
Evaluating impact Guskey’s levels pupil learning outcomes participants’ use of new knowledge and skills
organization support and change
participants’ learning
participants’ reactions
Key questions? What CPD / PLD opportunities currently happen most in your organisation? How do these relate to your school improvement priorities? On what basis are you offering these PLD opportunities i.e. how do you know that they will make the most difference to the issue that you have in school / with that teacher? What conditions may need to change in your organisation?
Leadership ‌ Of all of the aspects and issues explored today, what development in this area would have the biggest impact on your colleagues, your organisation and your pupils? What role does leadership have to play in making that happen?
The Teaching and Learning Toolkit • Free summary of educational research: what works and, as important, what doesn’t • Practice focused: giving schools in the information they need to make informed decisions and narrow the gap. • Based on meta-analyses provided by Durham University
References NCSL :Joint Practice Development What does the evidence suggest are effective approaches? (Judy Sebba’s work. University of Sussex Levin, B. (2004). Making research in education to matter more, Education and Policy Archives, 12(56): 1-22. Cordingley, P., Bell, M., Rundell, B. & Evans, D. (2003). The impact of collaborative CPD on classroom teaching and learning. In: Research Evidence in Education Library. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=132 Fielding, M., Bragg, S., Craig, J., Cunningham, I., Eraut, M., Gillinson, S., Horne, M., Robinson, C. & Thorp, J. (2005). Factors Influencing the Transfer of Good Practice. Nottingham: DFES Publications. https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/RSG/publicationDetail/Page1/RR6 15 Hargreaves, D. (2011). Leading a Self-Improving School System. Nottingham: National College. http://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/docinfo?id=154604&filename=leading-a-selfimproving-school-system.pdf
Resources: www.nationalcollege.org.uk www.lessonstudy.co.uk www.lessonresearch.net www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk