Research Proposal X7826 [PR960]
The Scottish Experience of Learning Rounds. • Understanding the means by which Learning Rounds as a collaborative activity can influence teacher professional learning.
The system of classroom observation known as Learning Rounds is a form of collaborative continuous professional development (CPD) which is gaining popularity in schools in Scotland. The system emerged after a visit by Richard Elmore to Scotland as part of the Government – funded Thought-Leaders’
Programme, 2005-2008 during which he described the process of CPD for teachers through professional learning networks, known as instructional rounds networks in the US. This process was honed and adapted, and through the leadership and facilitation of the National CPD team, with the support of the Scottish Government, it evolved into Learning Rounds in Scotland.
As the Learning Rounds Toolkit ( 2010) explains:
Learning Rounds is a new kind of collaborative professional learning. It involves teams of staff observing and learning about and from teaching practice across the school. Observers create a base of evidence describing
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what they have seen. There are no evaluative comments or value-laden points. The team then discusses how they, their school or authority will use the data to bring about improvement for learners.
This evidence-based process leads to a continuous development of practice at personal, school and authority level. Staff learn together and both those observed and those observing develop and deepen their understanding of how to improve learning. The process creates descriptive evidence that can generate effective change across a school or authority.
Although certain conditions must be in place and protocols followed in Learning Rounds,
the process is essentially a straightforward one, and the
claims made by it are bold. Through this process it is claimed that collegial practice will develop and that Learning Rounds…”can deliver high quality,
sustainable improvements in the learning experiences of pupils in a range of contexts.” (Learning Rounds Toolkit 2010).
This study will aim to investigate these claims and evaluate
the ways in which
Learning Rounds influence and impact upon teachers’ professional learning.
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The Policy Context
An increasingly sharper focus on teachers’ continuous professional development (CPD) activities has come about over recent years, especially since The McCrone Agreement; A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century (TP21). The TP21 agreement may well be mostly associated with
a significant salary increase along with a
simplified career and salary structure, and formalisation of entitlement to non-class contact time across all sectors. However, one strand of the McCrone Agreement (Scottish Executive Education Department, 2001) also addressed issues under the heading ‘professional development’. This included the recognition of CPD as a professional entitlement, with 35 hours of CPD per annum built into teachers’ contracts, and the expectation that every teacher would maintain a professional development portfolio
(Fraser, et al., 2007). The notion of CPD as an entitlement,
and part of the teachers’ contractual obligation was a new concept, and heralded a new era whereby unlike in previous times, where CPD did not feature as part of the contractual arrangements of teaching, the entitlement to, or reponsibility for CPD, became part of the teachers’ role. Since the introduction of this CPD entitlement, there is anecodotal evidence to suggest a move away from a limited understanding of CPD as set pieces (Donaldson 2011) or limited to courses teachers attend, towards a deeper understanding of enhanced professionalism. There is still a continued need, however, to encourage deeper understanding of complexities of CPD amongst the profession, the range of opportunities which can
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be defined by this term, and
the impact of CPD activities on the learning
experiences of students.
Presently, in 2011 these arrangements are due to be re-examined under the Review
of Teacher Employment in Scotland Committee, led by Professor Gerry McCormac. Its call for evidence
suggests that ideas and understandings of professionalism and
CPD, the value of the 35 hour entitlement,
as well as more administrative concerns
will be scrutinised as part of this review.
Alongside this, the entirety of teacher education in Scotland has recently been reviewed and reported on in the form of the Teaching Scotland’s Future report, authored by Graham Donaldson (2011), formerly of HMIE. This report looked extensively at the continuum of teacher education, including both pre-service and in-service stages And with an eye on building capacity among teachers and improving the learning of the young people of Scotland (Donaldson; 2011), a wideranging set of 50 recommendations has been offered, most of which are underpinned by the theme of career-long teacher capacity building. Interestingly, all of the reports’ recommendations have been accepted by the Scottish Government, in whole, in part or in principle. Specific reference to Learning Rounds in the context of “hub schools” (Donaldson: 2011, pg112) as sites of partnership collaborations involving teachers, researchers, teacher educators and students, suggests that the Learning Rounds model has potential to influence the thinking around possible implementation of some of these recommendations.
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Additionally,
Learning Rounds in the context of Donaldson’s recommendation 33,
which states that CPD activities should be shifting from set-piece events to more
local, team based approaches, which centre around self evaluation and professional collaboration (Donaldson, 2011), appear to assume a certain significance. When pitched alongside ever-tightening financial constraints which are presently throttling school expenditure on CPD, a practice such as this could neatly be seen to fufill a development need for teachers, whilst also responding to current policy imperatives, as above. The issues to be explored in the course of this study intend to shed some light on what the value of these activities would be in terms of teacher professional development, and the convergence of these reports provides a timely backdrop for this or any examination of teacher CPD or professional learning experience currently taking place.
Key Issues and the research problem
A closer examination of
collaborative CPD; what the literature says; practitioner
understanding of collaborative CPD and the conditions necessary for it to occur.
In recent years, it would appear that the term collaborative practice has become part of the everyday lexicon of educators in Scotland, and possibly beyond. In addition, professional learning communities or
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practitioner networks are becoming
increasingly common across the teaching profession to the extent that …you can’t
turn around in a school ….. with any kind of improvement agenda without bumping into some kind of network. Some are effective, but some are merely repackaged dysfunctional meetings which fail because they are disconnected from instructional improvement (City et al, 2009).
This raises questions of the quality and effectiveness of such practice, and also, what actually happens inside these communities? Under the rubric of managing change and teacher capacity, Fullan (2007) makes an argument for
learning
communities advancing and supporting the process of personal development in a social context, and pitches this development against the opposing concept of isolationism. This is not an unqualified argument, however. While explaining how the process of creating and nurturing purposeful learning communities is capable of a reculturing of the profession (Fullan, 2007), Fullan also draws on McLaughlin & Talbert, 2001 (in Fullan, 2007) and highlights the dangers of collaborative activities and communities which reinforce bad or ineffective
practice. This is an issue that
needs to be considered in relation to Learning Rounds.
Referring to what teachers actually achieve or do as a result of participation in groups such as these has been described as being locked inside a “black box” (Little, in Nelson and Slavit; 2007). A detailed analysis of the dynamics at work inside professional learning communities was undertaken by Nelson and Slavit (2007). The actual study examined five PLCs working through a collaborative inquiry
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process which, similar to Learning Rounds, has the focus on teachers and their learning as the agents of change, and the process itself as the innovation rather than an end to be achieved. Their conclusions
resonate with much of what is
claimed by Learning Rounds, while also highlighting some potential challenges this model faces. Through observing
the process of participation in these communities
of inquiry, the authors identified values-based trusting and respectful professional relationships as crucial to progress, and saw that‌..
most of these teachers had little experience with looking closely at student work or other forms of classroom data‌. We saw them struggle to make explicit their tacit beliefs about teaching and learning; to co-construct a vision for high-quality mathematics or science teaching, to recognize gaps between the vision and the reality of any given classroom and to critically examine the impacts on student learning (Nelson and Slavit, p37, 2007).
Although this suggests that aspects of Learning Rounds do seem to correspond to the theoretical framework established in this study, it also raises issues around necessary underlying conditions and challenges encountered in collaborative CPD.
In more recent studies (such as Kennedy, 2011) the characteristics of collaborative and individual forms of CPD have been investigated and analysed through a series of theoretical lenses and frameworks which cast an interesting light on the subject. Kennedy (2011) found collaborative CPD was shown to have much more impact on
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teaching and learning than individualised forms of CPD, and was also shown to encourage teacher commitment and ownership of CPD. This study highlights a need for a common understanding of collaborative CPD which takes into account its role, purpose, value and shape (Kennedy 2011), but that the formal/informal dichotomy also has an influence on teacher understanding and opinions of CPD.
Kennedy (2011) also points out that even with teacher understanding of these issues, and with enabling factors in place, there is a systemic bias towards individualised, more formal types of CPD which is underpinned by both policy and standard-based frameworks, and which is at odds with the current vogue-ish emphasis on collaborative practice, as mentioned above. This frames the Learning Rounds model in an interesting, and possibly unique space: here is a practice which does respond to elements of current policy imperatives, and which is both formal (i.e systematic and planned; can possibly be linked to school improvement) and collaborative. Does this model then which as demonstrated, relates to the broad literature on the subject of collaborative practice in CPD, offer us a valid, theory – based and workable way forward within this domain?
Key questions
In order to address this problem, this study will seek to answer questions relating to the strategic issue of understanding the means by which Learning Rounds as
a collaborative activity can influence teacher professional learning. The key
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questions to be addressed will draw on the existing literature, documentation and practitioner testimony.
1.What is the nature of collaborative CPD?
This key question will serve to attempt to arrive at an understanding of how practitioners relate to and understand the nature of collaborative CPD. There is also a need to examine what exactly the benefits of collaborative CPD are, and understand if these benefits relate only to teachers as individuals or are there collective benefits to be derived? If so what might they be and how are they evidenced? And crucially, it will be necessary to understand they ways in which any benefits evidenced relate to teacher practice.
Barriers to collaborative CPD and also to the implementation of Learning Rounds will need to be examined, as will the nature,
interaction and overlap between
Learning Rounds, collaborative CPD and any reported benefits to practitioner professional learning.
2. What are Learning Rounds and how have they been understood and implemented?
A worm’s eye view of what Learning Rounds actually are, what they look like in practice and how they have been understood and implemented by practitioners in schools will be necessary to frame the study. An analysis of the resources and processes involved in Learning Rounds and how they relate to existing, the research problem
relevant research will underpin this. Any pre-requisite underlying conditions will be identified and explained and the study will seek to
locate the practice within
the current policy context. Potential barriers to implementation and inhibiting factors will also be explored.
3. What outcomes would serve as indicators of success in Learning Rounds?
If the question as to whether Learning Rounds offer a valid, workable model of collaborative CPD is to be posed, some further questions on the model’s perceived value in practice must also be asked. The factors which enable and inhibit successful learning rounds in theory and in practice will be examined as will
the
exact nature of participants’ professional learning that may take place. The value attributed to their learning as related to the process will also be examined and empirical evidence related to these themes will be gathered. As a CPD activity, an appraisal of the impact on student learning as an ultimate success indicator will also be required.
Research methodology
Learning Rounds is a bounded system which is school- based and a specific, complex, functioning thing (Stake, 1995).These characteristics invite an emphasis on holistic treatment of phenomena (Stake, 1995) which is an appropriate approach to a research problem such as this. Learning Rounds therefore lend themselves neatly the research problem
to case-study research, and the problem posed invited a detailed analysis of a complex, bounded and functioning system. This study will work within a qualitative design, with an inductive orientation as a multiple intrinsic case study.
Multiple sites of research into Learning Rounds have been identified. One is a local authority who could be seen as early adopters of the model, and another is a local authority which is new to the practice but is keen to try it out. A multiple case study approach will give a broader view of the process from both inexperienced and veteran perspectives. Within each of these authorities one school will be identified where the research will take place. Local authority co-ordinating staff will be regarded as key informants in this process and will be interviewed. Participants at school level will be identified on a voluntary - sampling basis. The number of practitioners typically taking part in a Learning Round is 6. This number includes the facilitator. It is envisaged that within each site of research, a maximum of two examples of the process in action will be analysed.
The methods used to gather evidence in this study will be mixed and will include: 1. Observations of Learning Rounds in practice. Non–participative observations will be carried out in order to address question 2 above. Key elements of the Learning Rounds process lend themselves to observations,
namely the
initial planning discussion prior to the Learning Round observation, and the post- (Learning Round) observation discussion. The research observations will
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be recorded and transcribed where appropriate. Emerging themes will be coded and collated for further analysis.
2. Semi- structured interviews. Interviews will be carried out with key informants i.e local authority staff, school-based learning round facilitators, and key members of the national CPD team. A sample of the estimated 24 participating school-based practitioners will also be interviewed. A small sample of learners in the non - experienced local authority school will also be interviewed to seek their views on any impact Learning Rounds may have had on their learning experience. The interviews will be carried out on a one to one basis and will be semi-structured in order to allow
for the
emergence of themes or ideas which may not have been anticipated. The interviews will seek to drill into practitioner understandings of the nature of collaborative CPD and provide the data to address the issues raised in question one.
The interviews will again be recorded and transcribed. A
thematic analysis of
the interviews will be carried out.
3. Relevant document analysis. Any evaluative reports which have been written and key documentation such as “The Learning Rounds Toolkit� will be critically analysed. Evaluative reports will relate only to the participating local authority which has had previous experience of Learning Rounds.
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Potential limitations
There are some considerable limitations to this study. Learning Rounds operate on a system of voluntary participation, and this may have some influence on participants disposition towards the process, since as volunteers they will be more likely to have a positive disposition rather than a negative one, which could create bias. As a practitioner working in the domain of CPD I must also take account of my own epistemological perspective which will inevitably have some sort of bearing on what is
produced. The proximity of the study to my
area of work is also something to be considered as an influencing factor. Lastly, my own relative inexperience as a researcher means that I do not have a full understanding of the scale or the scope of the task ahead, which could also have implications for the study.
Dissemination
These findings will form the basis of a report which will be made publically available via the National CPD team or its successor. It is hoped that the report will be useful to practitioners interested in engaging with the Learning Rounds process. It will be shared in the national Learning Rounds online community on Glow, the national intranet for education in Scotland. As a collegiately active online
practitioner, I will also publish
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the report on my personal blog. Local
authorities, schools and participating
practitioners and learners will be
anonymised in the report.
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Bibliography City, Elizabeth A, Elmore, Richard F, Fiarman, Sarah E and Teitel, Lee. (2009).
Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Donaldson, G. (2011). Teaching Scotland's Future: A Review of Teacher Education in Scotland. Edinburgh: The Scottish Government. Fraser, Christine , Kennedy, Aileen , Reid, Lesley and Mckinney, Stephen(2007).
Teachers' continuing professional development: contested concepts, understandings and models. Professional Development in Education, 153-169.
Fullan, M. (2007). The New Meaning of Educational Change. New York: Teachers' College Press. Loraine Blaxter, Christina Hughes, Malcolm Tight. (2010). How to Research Forth Edition. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press. National CPD Team. (2010). Learning Rounds Toolkit. Retrieved January 9/01/11, 2011, from National CPD Team Blog: http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/cpdfind/searchcpd/oppdetails.asp?inst=5349 Nelson, Tamara Holmlund and Slavit, David. (2007). Collaborative inquiry among science and mathematics teachers in the USA: professional learning experiences through cross-grade, cross-discipline dialogue. Professional Development in Education, 23-39. Stake, R. E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc.
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