Margaret Alcorn has led the National CPD Team since May 2004. In this role she has visited schools and local authorities in every part of Scotland, and has spoken to many teachers in focus groups, workshops, staff meetings, conferences, one-to-one meetings and seminars. Before taking up this post, she was a teacher, principal teacher and assistant headteacher in a number of schools, and has almost 30 years classroom experience. Margaret also has experience of local authority service and was CPD Manager and then Quality Development Manager in the City of Edinburgh Education Department. In the paper below, Margaret gives her view of the professional development implications which might arise from the development of teachers for excellence.
Teachers for Excellence At the Scottish Learning Festival in September 2006, Peter Peacock spoke of the need to ensure that the curriculum for excellence is taught by “teachers for excellence”. He said that a teacher for excellence would be one who: • demonstrates in his/her own practice the four capacities from A Curriculum for Excellence • sees her/himself as a partner in the continuum of a child's learning • has a sense of community with the whole school and a sense of responsibility for all that happens in it • is reflective on his/her own practice • welcomes and is open to dialogue about his/her development • is collegiate and open to collegiate support • is continuing to develop • is prepared and can use the new flexibilities coming with A Curriculum for Excellence • takes responsibility and shares in leadership He made clear that the Executive were committed to ensuring that teachers are given access to high-quality professional development which will help them build their confidence and competence in order to ensure successful outcomes for young people, and to help all teachers re-engage with their own professionalism in the service of pupils’ learning. I believe that this focus on teacher development as an essential element of the successful delivery of curricular reform will be welcomed by many. In his book School Reform from the Inside Out1, Richard Elmore argues that successful educational change requires attention to three separate but closely interrelated aspects of the curricular core, as shown below:
1
School Reform From The Inside Out: Policy, Practice, And Performance by Richard F. Elmore Harvard Educational Pub Group (30 Sep 2004) ISBN: 1891792245
What do teachers need to know and be able to do?
What do pupils need to know and be able to do?
Content
Teacher
Pupil
How will pupils learn? How will they be engaged?
Elmore contends that to address any of these in isolation is an error, as all three are fully interdependent and action in one area results in change in the other two. Traditionally, in my experience, curricular reform in Scotland has been built round content, and on occasion this has meant insufficient attention has been paid to the need for teacher and pupil engagement. In the past, the experience of most teachers was that the first indication of changed expectations came in glossy packs delivered to the school or at large scale dissemination meetings. They were given detailed and clear requirements of how they would “deliver” the new curriculum. The model of staff development was one of passing information either directly or by a “cascade” model. Teachers worked hard to respond positively to these directives, but unsurprisingly there was little sense of ownership or buy-in. Teachers have told us that they hope we can learn from such practice, and that we ensure an appropriate focus on teacher and pupil preparation in the plans to implement A Curriculum for Excellence. So what is the new context in which teachers will learn? What kind of professional development will have the biggest impact in changing our practice in the service of improved pupil learning? What have we learned about what makes for good CPD? How can we design CPD to support and develop the capacity of teachers and pupils to commit to the excellence agenda at a deep level within their schools and establishments? Regardless of the area of content, my experience leading the National CPD team suggests that there are five essential elements that are present in excellent teaching. Although described separately below, they are of course closely linked and interdependent. Taken together, I believe, that they describe a possible model for developing teachers for excellence. Good CPD will support teacher learning in all of these areas. Good teachers have: • A positive attitude to all pupil learning Successful implementation of ACfE will require teachers to adapt their teaching practice to meet pupils’ needs – whatever these are and however challenging the behaviour. There is no doubt that there are a small but significant number of pupils who disengage from learning, and who act as a barrier to progress for themselves and others. Teachers will require access to high quality professional development that replicates and learns from good practice in areas such as Assessment is for
Learning and Determined to Succeed, where schools and teachers have taken a lead in introducing new teaching approaches which can help minimise disruptive and disengaged behaviour. These initiatives have helped teachers to maintain a consistent and sustained focus on pupil learning, and to internalise accountability for every learner for whom they have teaching responsibility. The programmes have worked, in my view, by offering a clear strategy and good leadership, and by creating a culture where all staff are expected to deliver the curriculum in new ways, supported by creative and relevant CPD, and where staff feel supported and valued. •
An ability to communicate value to pupils There is general agreement that pupils learn best when they understand and acknowledge the value of what they are learning. Studies of pupils’ views of what makes a good teacher reinforce this – good teachers interpret the curriculum in a way that makes sense for young people, and deliver content to take account of pupils’ interests and contexts. They link learning to real life, and take every opportunity to bring the outside world into the classroom, and vice versa. I believe we have clear evidence of how positive an impact this can have in many areas, including the work undertaken as part of the enterprise initiative. Teachers who feel they have a low locus of control and consequently have developed a negative view of their own efficacy, may believe that all problems are the result of things happening outside the school over which they have no control. Good CPD will consistently challenge this view, as it can lead to a lack of focus on learning, and may be interpreted by pupils as an alibi for failure.
•
Good content knowledge and understanding Currently there is an appropriate and necessary focus on the development of curriculum descriptors, and it is important that teachers have and develop good knowledge of the content and curriculum areas which are relevant to their sector and stage. Strategies should be developed to engage teachers in reflection on how their practice could change, and what the implications are for how children will learn. In addition to content knowledge, good teachers develop expertise in the use of evidence to improve learning, building on the excellent practice established by Assessment is for Learning. This evidence will include a wide range of data, including attainment information, pupil and parent surveys, self-evaluation against standards, peer observation and feedback, HMI and local authority reports, etc, and, taken together, will act as a signal to teachers of areas where changes in practice may be required. Good CPD will include providing models of protocols and tools to support teacher understanding of what good practice looks like, and which articulate and develop a range of pedagogical approaches. These will include classroom observation records, research digests, on-line forum, video clips, online seminars, case studies, facilitated group discussions and tools to aid self evaluation against the standards.
•
A teaching repertoire of many ways to impart content
Teachers need to develop enhanced expertise in their teaching practices. To do this they need to learn new skills and increase their knowledge to improve their practice, whatever their current level of effectiveness. All teachers must be engaged in analysing their practice and reflecting on how they can help young people to cultivate knowledge and skill about how they can improve their own work and develop higher order learning (as Bloom’s Taxonomy2). To achieve this, teachers must know, understand and take account of children’s learning styles, and this presents a rich area for professional development activity within our educational establishments. Good CPD will provide opportunities for teachers to observe excellent practice, to be observed and to receive feedback from colleagues from the same school, cluster or authority. Effective practice requires a learning culture in schools that values the authority of expertise rather than the authority of status or position, and would allow teachers who have strong expertise to become ‘teacher leaders’ by working as mentors, coaches and leaders of CPD for colleagues. This might, for example, be an appropriate role for some Chartered Teachers and those who have achieved professional recognition in a relevant area. The current CPD focus on building a coaching culture within learning communities will also be helpful in promoting good practice. The induction programme and initiatives developed to support AifL have shown the transformational power of teacher leaders working with teachers in their classrooms as they master new skills and adapt them to pupil responses to new materials and resources, and it will be important to build on this. •
Knowledge and understanding of relationships and connections across curricular areas ACfE invites innovative and creative approaches to interdisciplinary work. While many schools and centres already have excellent practice in creating new contexts and connections, it is a significant area for development for many teachers, particularly in the secondary sector. Implicit in ACfE is the need to move from delivering subject content to pupils, towards developing ways to pass ownership of the learning to them. Schools also need to find ways to engage all teachers in regular dialogue about learning within and outwith curriculum areas, and to ensure that CPD happens as close as possible to the classroom. Again there are many good examples of practice in promoting learning conversations, sharing practice formally and informally and collaborative enquiry at stage, departmental, school level which can help inform effective CPD. Curriculum development teams need to ensure that clear messages about the requirement for all teachers to work across boundaries and develop a holistic approach to learning are explicit in the new guidelines.
Conclusion In his Learning Festival speech, the Minister made clear his respect for “inspiring, committed and effective teachers ---- who would stand comparison with the best anywhere in the world”. He also noted the new sense of professionalism that has 2
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emerged across the education system. This reflects the experience that members of the CPD team have had as they have visited many schools and authorities over the last two years. CPD is now fully acknowledged as a key part of the professional commitment of teachers. As a profession we have developed many excellent and creative programmes and strategies to support enhanced teacher confidence and competence. We now know better than ever before what makes for good teacher CPD. We know it works best when: • it is essentially a collaborative rather than an individual activity • it takes account of research evidence which indicates that the strongest influence on teacher choice of content and pedagogy is the guidance and support of other teachers • it acknowledges that the capacity to lead learning and develop improved practice already exists in most of our schools – it needs to be enhanced and developed (as it has been in many instances through the AifL programme) • everyone understands and accepts that there is no magic fairy dust, all-knowing expert, simple solution, outside guru with all the answers As we drive forward with the professional reflection, debate and rethinking which is an essential part of successful implementation of ACfE, it will be important to place teacher development at the heart of all of our plans. The best curriculum architecture, the most generous provision of resources, the clearest statements of policies and principles – these alone cannot deliver success without real and significant investment in the preparation and support of all teachers. I believe that we already have in place many of the building blocks which will help us achieve success; the challenge will be for the profession as a whole to move forward in a number of key areas, for example: To ensure success the Executive and local authorities must continue to build leadership capacity at all levels of the profession and to lead schools and teachers in seeking new ways of engaging those young people who are not currently benefiting from their school experience. Schools and teachers must work to improve professional review and development processes to ensure they become genuine coaching interventions, linked to the aspirations of the school community and the authority. They must continue to learn from the success of the induction scheme, AifL and enterprise education, and to make best use of the resources already in our schools, such as principal teachers, chartered teachers, professionally recognised teachers, project leaders, EIS Learning Reps, etc Within the profession as a whole we must learn to use the tools and opportunity offered by new technology to enhance the experience of our teachers in the support of improved pupil learning. This would include the building of collaborative networks for groups such as curriculum managers, headteachers in each sector, chartered teachers, principal teachers, early years specialists, CPD Coordinators, probationer mentors, etc. The collaborative and communication tools provided by Glow will be a key enabler in this aim In his keynote speech referred to above, Peter Peacock said,” Quality teaching is at the heart of future success. It may sound ridiculous to make this point - the most
obvious point that could be made about education. But too often in the past it is the central insight that has been lost sight of.” The challenge I see, is to make sure that we maintain an appropriate balance between the three aspects of Elmore’s curricular core described above, and that we give teacher development and the provision of high quality CPD a key place in our implementation strategy. If we can achieve this, then I believe we will be in a strong position to see the emergence of teachers for excellence in all of our educational communities.
Blooms Taxonomy
BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY Creating Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing. Evaluating Justifying a decision or course of action Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging Analysing Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships Comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding Applying Using information in another familiar situation Implementing, carrying out, using, executing Understanding Explaining ideas or concepts Interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining Remembering Recalling information Recognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding