12 minute read
Empower teachers and school leaders with quality PLD
By Heather Barker Vermeer
Industry Reporter When developments in curriculum and pedagogy arise, PLD must fill gaps in capabilities so that schools and teaching staff can meet new requirements.
One of the most hotly criticised aspects of the profession, this process remains pivotal for career development, whether you’re a teacher or in a school leadership position, and it is also significant for school growth and student outcomes. Therefore, planned professional development should support both individual goals as well as contributing to a whole-school approach in improving workplace culture and instilling a strong team ethic at your school. The Curriculum Progress and Achievement Ministerial Advisory Group identified a need for professional learning and development to be strengthened to better recognise people's diverse needs and contexts, and to be clearer about what growth in core curriculum capabilities looks like. All PLD should be culturally responsive, so when researching and choosing a new facilitator, schools should do their due diligence by asking about the provider’s practice. For instance, ask how their PLD model recognises and supports marginalised groups of staff and learners. How have they developed their PLD approach? Is it evidence-based? Which schools have they worked with previously? Are they community engaged? Reaching out to schools who have worked with them previously is a great way to gage whether their approach to PLD will align with the needs of your school.
Subject Specific and Leadership PLD
of PLD to brush up on digital skills; for instance, attending workshops and webinars on how to integrate Minecraft or other software into your pedagogy. For subject-specific PLD like Literacy PLD or Mathematics and Statistics PLD, it is a good idea to ask facilitators about their approach—does it align with your school’s? Some providers design their PLD framework to help schools reflect on their existing strategy and assess for improvement. This can be a terrific tool for school leaders, particularly as the curriculum evolves, so should be factored into your PLD facilitator selection criteria.
Leadership development is an asset to all schools; particularly new schools who can benefi t from PLD facilitated guidance in the creation of trustee boards. Existing schools can also engage PLS facilitators for mentorship on running performance reviews and appraisals, and on developing leadership within Kāhui Ako.
MoE Hybrid Learning PLD
The Ministry of Education says that it supports professional learning opportunities “to be consistently high quality and coherent with Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and the New Zealand Curriculum,” which includes ongoing professional learning and development across the education system, with a range of funded services to assist schools, kura, Kāhui Ako and clusters as they identify their unique development opportunities to bett er support the learning and well-being needs of ākonga and their whānau in their community, with a focus on those whose needs are not currently met. The current priorities for English medium sett ings are cultural capability, local curriculum design and assessment for learning. With the priorities for Māori medium and te reo Māori sett ings being mātauranga Māori and te reo Māori, marau ā-kura and aromatawai.
Digital fl uency remains a priority in all sett ings and remains key to enable eff ective hybrid and remote learning, deep into the Omicron era.
Current PLD opportunities available through the Ministry of Education include hybrid learning PLD support. As of mid-February, schools and kura are now able access up to 25 hours of support.
The Ministry says this is, “to develop understanding, processes and resources that will ensure the learning of all ākonga continues regardless of whether they are in school or off site”.
The support can also help school leaders plan for the possibility of learning disruptions due to staff illness or absence due to COVID isolation requirements. This PLD support has a threemonth time limit on delivery and must be done virtually, by a PLD facilitator. The MoE’s intention is for this “support to be given to any school or kura who requests it”, “regardless of any existing PLD allocations”. Obtaining Hybrid Learning PLD follows a streamlined process for COVID specifi c support and 8-25 hours of PLD can be accessed via Regional Offi ce PLD Teams.
MoE Adjusts for NCEA changes
Support for NCEA change through PLD is another opportunity currently available to school leaders and teachers across Aotearoa. The Ministry of Education encourages schools to apply for Regionally Allocated PLD to support the implementation of NCEA changes in their schools, applying under the Local Curriculum Design priority. In December, the Ministry’s facilitator database was updated to include a specialisation category to assist secondary schools to identify facilitators who can lead PLD in specifi c subject areas to support the upcoming NCEA changes. Schools can choose multiple facilitators across multiple provider organisations to deliver their PLD, if required. For example, a facilitator with NCEA Science as a specialisation and a facilitator with Mātauranga Māori as a specialisation might work together to plan and facilitate your PLD.
Micro-credentials and Postgrad Options
For teachers that love learning, micro-credentials are a useful option; particularly for those interested in pursuing postgraduate study but unsure about what to study. An NZQAregistered postgraduate facility, tertiary institute or other higher learning provider can off er a wide range of short courses (most are online-only, with live or in-person facilitated classes) in areas like sustainability and digital skills. Some microcredentials can be stacked; take multiple courses to work toward a postgraduate certifi cate, or even a master’s degree.
PLD for Teachers by Teachers - we get it!
Digital Circus has been working with kaiako and kura to support their professional learning since 2017.
We are currently working with over 100 schools around Aotearoa, New Zealand. Our PLD is free and fully funded through the Minstry of Education. At the heart of what we do is whanaungatanga. Our people know that establishing trust and building strong relationships provide the 'glue' that empowers kaiako. Our small team of facilitators are recently out of the classroom and are passionate about gett ing alongside teachers - planning, modelling and supporting teachers in their mahi. We guide teachers to explore the opportunities and experiences that digital technologies and future focused pedagogies provide, aligning these with local curriculum integration. With ākonga at the centre, we develop deeper learning across curriculum areas and focus on student agency, choice and voice.
Our sustainable and integrated approach to PLD means we kōrero with each teacher, meet them where they are at, and provide practical and relevant solutions and ideas that work for today's learners. We co-create rich experiences and useful hands-on resources to support empowerment and change.
By supporting kaiako to implement useful and relevant strategies and resources in the classroom, we empower them to move forward, creating a more inclusive and equitable Aotearoa, New Zealand for all.
Want to join the journey?
PERSONALISED PLD For Teachers By Teachers
Localised Curriculum
Digital Fluency Digital Technologies Digital Citizenship Hybrid Learning STEAM + Project-Based Learning
FULLY FUNDED PLD APPLY NOW
www.digitalcircus.org.nz
What would it take to reach educational Everest?
By Arran Hamilton
The global research on education eff ectiveness is now stronger than ever, with more than 1.5 million books and articles on how to teach, how to manage schools, how to design curricula, and how to progress students best in their learning. Good times indeed.
That research also suggests that teachers make the biggest diff erence to the learning lives of children (no major surprises). But that, oft en, pre-service teacher training and licensing does not adequately prepare teachers to hit the ground running (a consensus view in the research literature but not widely trumpeted). Enter stage left , professional learning and development (PLD). We know from the data that teachers learn most during their fi rst three years, through trial and error. We also know that high-quality professional learning during this period (and into the longterm) enhances their impact. But as the great Michael Fullan lamented, all the way back in 1991: “Nothing has promised so much and has been so frustratingly wasteful as the thousands of workshops and conferences that led to no signifi cant change in practice when teachers returned to their classrooms”.
Since Fullan wrote those words, there has been much research on the critical ‘active ingredients’ of outstanding teacher professional development. And there is now a strong consensus around critical features like: knowledge and understanding; motivating goals; modelling; deliberate practise; spaced learning; communities of practice; coaching; and feedback. There’s also a moderate consensus on the importance of the PLD being placed within the subject context and taking place within the school. That was until last year, when a new systematic review by Sims and Fletcher-Wood (2021) seriously questioned the empirical foundations of both the strong and moderate consensus. Whilst they did not disagree with any of the above or say that it was harmful, Sims and colleagues instead concluded that the research evidence is not (yet) strong enough for us to know (for sure) how to deliver eff ective professional development, that genuinely pushes the need to drive changes for student achievement. That it's still an open question.
Recognising that there are multiple viable paths for schools to reach the top of “educational Everest” and that there are still gaps in the global knowledge about which PLD approaches really do work best, at Cognition Education we are working to support impact from a diff erent angle. Rather than obsessing over the mechanisms of PLD, we instead privilege the impact and evidence of impact. And this means that over the last 12 months we have been putt ing two new structures in place across ALL our work:
Evaluation, evaluation, evaluation
We have rolled out standardised tools to measure satisfaction, implementation, and impact across our PLD engagements. The purpose isn’t to collect data for its own sake but to interrogate outcomes for unrelenting improvement.
The Cognition Way
Recognising that there are many viable paths to the top and that Everest isn’t the only mountain worth climbing – we have also developed protocols to help our clients achieve really ambitious goals of their choosing. We call this approach The Cognition Way; and the kitset is used by our teams to help schools identify and validate their most pressing local education challenges; to build a theory of the present; agree an ambition for the future; and then to co-develop theories of improvement and action. We then co-deliver, which brings us full circle to evaluation – so that we can collectively know and grow our impact. These processes have been meticulously researched and fi eld-tested and are also the subject of a new book Building to Impact: The 5D Implementation Playbook for Educators – cowritt en by the Cognition team and scholars at Melbourne University. For us, it’s all about your impact and helping you to get there on your terms!
If this article has raised any questions for you about the impact of your professional development, or how the Cognition Way could be used to support your school, please get in touch with us. www.cognitioneducation.co.nz
From curious to empowered: A teacher’s journey to her Masters
Jamie Leckie is a New Entrants Teacher at Coromandel Area School, and completed The Mind Lab’s Postgraduate Certifi cate in Digital & Collaborative Learning, then continued on with her Master of Contemporary Education.
While completing a Masters is no mean feat, Jamie discovered that her studies fi t in well with her life as a busy teacher. She says her projects didn’t feel like “work”, instead, they empowered her to share knowledge with her learning community. “It’s not work, it’s completely passion. It’s my gift , I want to give this to people,” says Jamie. Her Masters project was a professional development tool giving teachers the skills to implement play based learning, which she discovered helped to improve her students behaviour and grades. Meeting with the principal aft er each one of her classes to share her new-found knowledge, Jamie is now educating fellow teachers on how to implement play based learning. “[Studying] was about growing my capabilities, so I could help the students grow theirs.” Jamie was impressed with the amount of support off ered by The Mind Lab, whether it was in-person or online, her tutors were quick at responding to emails, and any group work was made easy by instant messaging on Slack. “There is so much instant support online, everything is there that you need. If you needed someone to talk to, they were there,” says Jamie. With The Mind Lab’s fl exible learning approach, not only was it possible to study remotely, but create lifelong friends in the process. With like minded mates across the country, Jamie was thankful for the collaborative environment that allowed relationships to be built with peers and advisors over the two year period.
This strong support network was a highlight for Jamie because being in the Coromandel, she initially felt isolated to the idea of further study. “It was amazing to be able to get this information, learn from across Aotearoa, and bring that knowledge back to school,” she says. Jamie started her journey at The Mind Lab to grow her capabilities, so her students could grow theirs too. Before diving into her Masters Degree, she completed the Postgraduate Certifi cate in Digital and Collaborate Learning, which took her out of her comfort zone.
“I’m young, I thought I was quite techy and knew how to navigate my way around apps and allof that, but I learnt so much!” says Jamie.
Being so practical and hands on, Jamie loved how the class was on Thursday evening, so she would return to school on Friday and go through what she’d learnt with her Year 4 students. Not only was it benefi cial for her own self growth, but exposed her students to “a whole new world”. The most memorable lesson was when she made VR goggles out of cardboard for the kids, as taught in her course. ‘We’re going on a plane! We’re looking at a desert! We’re at the zoo!?’, the students said in awe, and Jamie realised that these were simple things that she had taken for granted, that these small town Coromandel kids had never experienced. “It was cool to not only bring it back as technology skills but as life experiences,” Jamie said.
At school prizegiving, Jamie was recognised for her achievement on stage, where her students could cheer her on for completing the course. “It was really cool for the kids to see me as a learner, rather than just a teacher.” From feelings of isolation to achieving her Masters, Jamie says she felt curious on day one - a bit unsure of what was to come - and empowered on her fi nal day as a student at The Mind Lab.
Jamie hopes to continue learning to aid her school and students. “Watch this space!”
Jamie Leckie, teacher and graduate of The Mind Lab
