School based professional development to support the implementation

School based professional development to support the implementation of the New National Curricula – Issues for consideration Pedagogical Institute Cyprus March 2012, 2010 Professor Tony Townsend Chair of Public Service, Educational Leadership and Management Department of Educational Studies, University of Glasgow

Our Task today • How do we support teachers in the implementation of the new curriculum through professional development? • How do we monitor whether or not this professional development is working? • How do we evaluate whether or not the implementation has been successful?

THE BIG PICTURE: THE CHANGE CONTEXT

Peter Drucker People born in the 1980 s and 1990 s cannot even imagine the world into which their parents were born.

The S (Sigmoid) Curve (Handy 2004) A - when an innovation is first introduced, it takes time for it to be accepted by people B - once it starts to be accepted it is easier for others to start using it too C - most people are now using the innovation, and it has changed how we see the world D - eventually all thing start to decline. We get bored with them, or do other things…OR E - we start using a new innovation that replaces the one we had, and the cycle starts again C E D B A

THE PACE AND FLOW OF CHANGE

How quickly things change How many things as you can think of in the next 2 minutes that a 15 year old can do or experience today that you could not do or experience when you were 15.

Make a list Categories of change • • • Technology Environment Health Wealth Employment Society/Population Culture Relationships Values Education

The Surgeon and the Teacher. . . the impact of change

“In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. ” Eric Hoffer, 1995

We are preparing young people for jobs that don’t yet exist… requiring technologies that haven’t yet been invented… to solve problems of which we are not yet aware.

And even more difficult…. We should be helping them to lead purposeful and fulfilled lives… in circumstances changing at unprecedented and accelerating speed…. in ways that affect custom and belief as well as material surroundings.

So what does this mean? • The students we are teaching today see the world differently to the way in which we see it. They learn new things in entirely different ways than we did. We might even say they are a completely different species to us. • If we teach them the way in which we were taught ourselves there will be a mismatch between our teaching and their learning. • Implementing a new curriculum by teaching it in the same way we taught the old curriculum will lessen its chance of being successful.

THE NEW CURRICULUM: AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAIN POINTS

The New Curriculum Philosophy • Development of Greek culture and a national, religious and cultural identity. • Creation of a national, religious and cultural identity and development of self-esteem, learning simultaneously to respect the different characteristics of the identities of others. • Provision for the support of the development of identities for students from other countries

The Democratic School • The democratic school is a school where all children learn together irrespective of any personal characteristics or differences from the majority of children, in order to prepare for their common future. • No child is excluded from the process of acquiring the necessary knowledge, skills and competences which characterize an educated person. • There is equality in all aspects of education (equal opportunity, equality in access to educational means, access of participation) for all students in order for all students to achieve their maximum potential.

The Humanistic School • There is respect for human dignity - In a humanistic school all children can be included, no child is marginalized, is stigmatized, left out or feeling unhappy due to personal characteristics • There are human rights at both childhood and youth students can experience childhood and their juvenile age not only as a particular period in preparation for adult life (as in traditional school) but as the most creative and happy times of human life.

Principles of the New Curriculum • Conciseness • Equilibrium - Balancing different types of learning • Consistent • Consequence • Effective

Three main pillars of the New Curriculum Students should: • Acquire an adequate (sufficient) and coherent (consistent) body of knowledge from all disciplines. • Develop attitudes and attributes that characterize a democratic citizen • Develop high levels of “key competences”, abilities and skills required for the society of the 21 st century for the development of creative human being

Key Competences in the New Curriculum a) Creativity b) Critical thinking and reflective management knowledge c) Theoretical thinking and ability to convert theory into practice d) Abilities and skills of analysis and design e) Willingness and ability for teamwork and information exchange f) Ability to problem solve, to develop and search options and develop the capacity to identify alternative theories g) Excellence in testing and prudent use of information and communication technologies h) Empathy and interpersonal skills and communication.

What are the attitudes and attributes that characterise a democratic citizen? • List 5 attitudes or attributes that we want every student to have by the time they finish school. • What are some behaviours that we associate with having these attitudes or attributes? • What are some specific activities we can include into the new curriculum that allows students to demonstrate these behaviours? • How might we judge students on these areas and how might we report this to parents?

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY: THE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT CONTEXT

Hill and Crevola 1997 General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes home, school and community partnerships Intervention and special assistance School and class organisation leadership and coordination beliefs and understandings professional learning teams standards and targets monitoring and assessment classroom teaching strategies

Assess Readiness School Readiness - the extent to which a school’s staff has the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. Two major components of readiness are ability and willingness. Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth, Management of Organizational Behavior, Utilizing Human Resources, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.

Assess Readiness Ability is the knowledge, experience, and skill that an individual or group brings to a particular task or activity. Willingness is the extent to which an individual or group has the confidence, commitment, and motivation to accomplish a specific task. Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth, Management of Organizational Behavior, Utilizing Human Resources, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.

Assess Readiness Sometimes, people aren’t really unwilling, it’s just that they’ve never done a specific task before. They don’t have any experience with it, so they’re insecure or afraid. Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth, Management of Organizational Behavior, Utilizing Human Resources, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.

Assess Readiness • What skills do teachers need to implement, support and assess the new curriculum? • Are teachers willing to do the work involved to make this change? • Skill training is easy, but changing attitudes is much harder

How do we make teachers willing to implement the new curriculum? Talk amongst yourselves • What are three major benefits of the new curriculum for Cyprus? • What are three major benefits of the new curriculum for students? • What are three major benefits of the new curriculum for teachers?

Assess Readiness “Se Hace Camino al Ander” -Antonio Machado We Make the Road by Walking

School Improvement Process Department for Children, Families and Schools, UK

School Improvement Process Oak Farm Community School, Hampshire, UK

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT GOOD STAFF DEVELOPMENT?

Professional Development or staff development? Are we only interested in developing teachers or are we thinking about everyone in the school? • • Administrators Support staff Volunteers Parents

Where do we start? 1. What is your definition of staff development? 2. What are the elements that make staff development most successful?

Staff development is … …an on-going process encompassing all formal and informal learning experiences that enable all staff in schools, individually and with others, to think about what they are doing, enhance their knowledge and skills and improve ways of working so that pupil learning and wellbeing are better. (Bubb & Earley, 2007)

Staff development It should achieve a balance between individual, group, school and national needs; encourage a commitment to professional and personal growth; and increase selfesteem, resilience, self-confidence, job satisfaction and enthusiasm for working with children and colleagues. (Bubb & Earley, 2007)

The journey - professional development A logical chain of procedures, which: • entails identifying school and staff needs, planning to meet those needs, providing varied and relevant activities, involving support staff alongside teachers, monitoring progress and evaluating the impact of the professional development (Ofsted, 2006).

What counts as professional development? • True professional development should be a learning experience for all who are involved…professional development is a purposeful and intentional process designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of educators so that they might, in turn, improve the learning of all students. ” (Guskey, 2001 p. 121)

We have to remember Teaching isn’t easy, and getting better at it isn’t just a matter of experience, of trial and error. For the sake of the profession, for the teachers being helped - for the children who’ll learn more as a result – we must help teachers develop.

The Principles of Adult Learning Knowles believes that adults need to: • know why they need to learn something • learn experientially and take account of previous experience • approach learning as problem-solving • learn best when the topic is of immediate value.

People have different learning styles • Theorist: learns using abstract conceptualisation and reflective observation Training approach: case studies, theory readings, thinking alone. • Pragmatist: learns using abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation Pragmatists ask: ‘How can I apply this in practice? ’ • Activist: likes to learn using concrete experience and active experimentation; practising the skill, problem solving, small group discussions, peer feedback. • Reflector: likes to learn using reflective observation and concrete experience; like time to think. (Honey & Mumford)

They have different personalities (BBC, 2004) …Based on how they see the world Do they PLAN things before acting or do they act SPONTANEOUSLY? Do they prefer working with IDEAS or with FACTS? Are they more comfortable making decisions using their HEADS or their HEARTS? Are they EXTROVERTED or INTROVERTED?

They have different personalities (BBC, 2004) 1. Big Thinker (Spontaneous + Ideas + Heads + Extrovert) 2. Counsellor (Planner + Ideas + Hearts + Introvert) 3. Go-getter (Spontaneous + Facts + Heads + Extrovert) 4. Idealist (Spontaneous + Ideas + Hearts + Introvert) 5. Innovator (Spontaneous + Ideas + Hearts + Extrovert) 6. Leader (Planner + Ideas + Heads + Extrovert) 7. Mastermind (Planner + Ideas + Heads + Introvert) 8. Mentor (Planner + Ideas + Hearts + Extrovert) 9. Nurturer (Planner + Facts + Hearts + Introvert) 10. Peacemaker (Spontaneous + Facts + Hearts + Introvert) 11. Performer (Spontaneous + Facts + Hearts + Extrovert) 12. Provider (Planner + Facts + Hearts + Extrovert) 13. Realist (Planner + Facts + Heads + Introvert) 14. Resolver (Spontaneous + Facts + Heads + Introvert) 15. Strategist (Spontaneous + Ideas + Heads + Introvert) 16. Supervisor (Planner + Facts + Heads + Extrovert)

One possible cycle of learning for teachers • Do - Observe someone that I admire take a lesson • Review - Think about it and discuss it with them afterwards • Learn - Learn some key techniques for taking this lesson • Apply - Try them out when I take the lesson • Do - Get someone to observe me taking the lesson and give me feedback

The Professional Development Cycle Identification of PD needs Analysis of needs Evaluation of impact Planning a PD programme Monitoring it Doing it! Bubb & Earley, 2007

Understanding Professional Learning Two types of professional learning • Vertical development – knowing more, getting better • Horizontal development – same knowledge etc but used in lots of new contexts (Williams, 2002)

Identifying the Professional Development Needs Given what the new curriculum is trying to do… 1. list the three main professional development needs that you think need to be addressed for classroom teachers 2. list the three main professional development needs that you think need to be addressed for department level leaders 3. list the three main professional development needs that you think need to be addressed for school leaders

HELPING TEACHERS TO USE DATA TO EVALUATE STUDENT LEARNING

Formative assessment for students Allows them to answer the questions Where am I going? How am I doing? Where to next? Hattie & Timperley (2007)

Formative assessment for TEACHERS Allows them to answer the questions Where am I going? How am I doing? Where to next?

Required Conditions • Relevant assessment data • Beliefs, knowledge and skills of teachers • Beliefs, knowledge and skills of school leaders

Relevant Assessment Data • Provides teachers with curriculum relevant information about; – Where their students are – What their students need to learn next – In a timely manner • Can be of many different kinds

Hill and Crevola 1997 General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes home, school and community partnerships Intervention and special assistance School and class organisation leadership and coordination beliefs and understandings professional learning teams standards and targets monitoring and assessment classroom teaching strategies

Beliefs, knowledge and skills of teachers about data use • Inquiry habit of mind – Data can inform teaching and learning (not labels for students) • Sufficient knowledge of the meaning of the data to make appropriate adjustments to practice • Sufficient pedagogical content knowledge to make relevant adjustments to practice

Teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to promote student outcomes What knowledge and skills do our students need? What knowledge and skills do we as teachers need? What has been the impact of our changed actions? Engage students in new learning experiences Deepen professional knowledge and refine skills

Teachers Inquiring into Students’ Knowledge and Skills • • What do the students already know? What sources of evidence have we used? What do the students need to learn and do? How do we build on what they know?

Teachers Inquiring into Own Knowledge and Skills • How have we contributed to existing student outcomes? • What do we already know that we can use to promote improved outcomes for students? • What do we need to learn and do to promote these outcomes? • What sources of evidence / knowledge can we utilise?

Deepen Professional Knowledge and Refine Skills Three principles: • Focus on the teaching / learning links; – Explicit that the purpose is to improve learning • Integrate knowledge and skills – Curriculum, assessment, pedagogical – Theory and practice (over-assimilation) – Multiple opportunities to learn and apply (1 – 2 years) • Engage teachers’ existing ideas about students, assessment, curriculum and how to teach it

Three Fields of Knowledge (NCSL) What Is Known The knowledge from theory, research and best practice What We Know The knowledge of those involved. What practitioners know New Knowledge The new knowledge that we can create together through collaborative work

Judging Impact • How effective is what we have learned and done been in promoting our students’ learning and well-being? – Means the use of assessment information on a daily, weekly, term by term and annual basis • Using a range of assessment tools

Assessment Information is NOT a single event • Pervades all aspects of the cycle – Identifying what students need to learn – Identifying what teachers need to learn – Checking impact of changes to practice

Conclusion • Teachers can use data to improve teaching practice in ways that work for students • Requires – Curriculum-relevant assessments – All layers of the system to know their learners – Development of the beliefs, knowledge and skills needed for each to enact their responsibility throughout the system

TOWARDS A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

From individual learning to group learning • Neurons connect parts of our brains with one another but no cables made of neurons drape from person to person. We talk about ideas. We share insights. We pool recollections. (David Perkins)

Organizing for Performance-Based Learning The Essential Question How does the organization of the school support the process for teacher and student learning?

Developing a self-evaluation culture Michael Fullan: “ 20 years in teaching is … 1 year, repeated 20 times” Do you think this is true?

How Improvement works 1. The rule of the vital few: A few exceptional people doing something different start and incubate an epidemic. 2. The stickiness factor: Some attribute of the epidemic allows it to endure long enough to "catch", to become contagious or "memorable". 3. The power of context: The physical, social and group environment must be right to allow the epidemic to then suffuse through the population. (Gladwell, 1999)

What we have learned from School Reform • Successful school improvement requires ownership among teachers. • Resource hungry models of change are at greater risk of instability. • Need to move from adoption to adaptation. • Context shapes implementation.

Capacity building is concerned with creating the conditions, opportunities and experiences for collaboration and mutual learning Harris (2001)

Capacity . . . is a complex blend of motivation, skill, positive learning, organisational conditions and culture, and infrastructure of support. Put together, it gives individuals, groups and, ultimately whole school communities the power to get involved in and sustain learning. Stoll, Stobart et al (2003)

Major influences that transform student learning Improvement Capacity Instructional Capacity Learning Leadership Capacity

Building Improvement Capacity: Key Lessons (Harris et al, 2003) • central focus on teaching and learning. • a focus on continuous professional development. • using data to inform decisions and target setting. • creating a culture of high expectations. • building links to external agencies. • teachers leading improvement efforts. • context specific improvement approaches.

Professional Learning Communities An effective professional learning community has the capacity to promote and sustain the learning of all professionals in the school community with the collective purpose of enhancing student learning Effective Professional Learning Communities Project, 2004

Identified characteristics of an effective professional learning community • • • Shared values and vision Collective responsibility Reflective professional inquiry Collaboration Group, as well as individual learning Stoll, Wallace, Bolam, Mc. Mahon, Thomas, Hawkey, Smith and Greenwood (2003)

Schools that Build Capacity • Provide opportunities for teachers to lead innovation. • Create opportunities for meaningful collaboration. • Invest in distributed or teacher leadership. • Network with other schools.

Strategies to build capacity ACROSS schools • List three ways in which you might support the ongoing professional development of schools apart from conducting specific professional development sessions. • What are some ways in which best practices in one school might be shared with other schools?

Web based support services The teacher support website, Department of Education and Children’s Services, Victoria Australia http: //www. education. vic. gov. au/schoolprofessionals/teachers/default. htm

THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL LEADER

Robinson (2008) Does leadership make a difference? This is a silly question. It is what leaders actually do that matters.

Best Evidence Synthesis School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What works and Why Viviane Robinson, Margie Hohepa, Claire Lloyd, University of Auckland, 2009

Leadership Dimensions Linking Leadership with Student Outcomes

Dimension 1: Promoting and Participating in Teacher Learning and Development Leadership that not only promotes but directly participates with teachers in formal or informal professional learning.

Making staff development effective It's no longer sufficient for leadership teams to know how students learn; they need to know how to promote their own learning and that of colleagues. There must be dedicated time and training for teachers to learn. Frank Coffield, 2005

Hill and Crevola 1997 General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes home, school and community partnerships Intervention and special assistance School and class organisation leadership and coordination beliefs and understandings professional learning teams standards and targets monitoring and assessment classroom teaching strategies

Beliefs, knowledge and skills of leaders • Skilled enough to have conversations about school improvement (pedagogy, relationships, data, assessment) with teachers; • Inquiry habit of mind – Data can inform teaching and learning • Know enough to lead the changes required for teachers to use data to change their teaching; • Engage in systematic evidence-informed cycles of inquiry

Beliefs, knowledge and Skills of School Leaders • Teachers cannot do it alone • To lead effectively, leaders must know their teachers so they can: – Create a vision of new possibilities – Lead the learning – Organise the learning opportunities

If leaders are to lead the learning: They must know their teachers • What do the teachers already know? • What do the leaders need to learn and do to make a difference to teacher learning and valued student outcomes? • How are the leaders systematically building on what the teachers already know and can do? • How are they checking impact?

Relationships of Respect and Challenge • The context for learning is social if there is to be a system change rather than patches of brilliance – Probing meanings, challenging interpretation of the evidence and reasoning – Respect for the capacity of all to learn and improve

Evidence-Informed Conversations about Data Relationships of Respect and Challenge Evidence-informed Conversations Using Relevant Data Earl and Timperley (2000) Inquiry Habit of Mind

SCHOOLS EVALUATING THEIR PROGRESS: THE ROLE OF SCHOOL SELF-EVALUATION

THE 9 PRINCIPLES OF SELF EVALUATION 1. Start from what matters 2. Experiment with new ways of ‘measuring’ and reporting what matters 3. Explore multiple perspectives to enrich the dialogue 4. Stimulate and keep alive a culture of reflection 5. Build external accountability out of strong internal accountability 6. Seek out and use data selectively and critically : a focus on evidence keeps contention constructive 7. Try the 80% listening, 20% talking rule - showing you have understood others’ points of view increases probability that others will listen

THE TYRANNY OF NUMBERS Not everything that counts can be counted. And not everything that can be counted, counts. Albert Einstein

Critical features of good evaluation • Measurement over time • Patterns of change • The inter-relationship of factors

THE TOOLS OF SELF EVALUATION • • • Questionnaires Interviews Observation Analysis of pupils’ work Spot checks Posters, stickies, exit tickets Portraiture/photo inquiry Critical incident analysis Force field analysis

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY

Hill and Crevola 1997 General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes home, school and community partnerships Intervention and special assistance School and class organisation leadership and coordination beliefs and understandings professional learning teams standards and targets monitoring and assessment classroom teaching strategies

Beliefs and Understandings are critical • What are your beliefs about the teachers you will be working with? • What are your understandings about the teachers you will be working with? • What are your beliefs about the school leaders you will be working with? • What are your understandings about the school leaders you will be working with? • Do some of these need to change if you are to be successful?

What about us as professional development leaders? • Who are the members of your ‘class’ and how well do you know them as learners? • What do we need to learn and do to make a difference in ways that impact on student outcomes? • How are we systematically building on what those for whom we have responsibility already know and can do? • How are we checking impact?

Why do we evaluate professional development? • Effectiveness of professional development needs to be evaluated to assist in– Planning – Formative assessment and, – Summative assessment • To provide evidence of effectiveness so that good programs get better, great programs spread and ineffective programs get eliminated or significantly reworked.

A Different Level of Learning • Assessment of learning requires a documentation of change over time. – For students, we can compare year to year test data. – Assessing teachers knowledge is more complex.

What kinds of evaluation can we use? • Levels of evaluation – – – Participants’ reactions Participants’ learning Organization support and change Participants’ use of new knowledge and skills Student learning outcomes From Guskey, 2001 pp 79 -81

You get what you ask for: • After a 2 -day Workshop on Cooperative Learning, one participant responded, “The ideas were fine, but they had us working in groups too much”. • One teacher responded to a workshop titled, Tactics for Thinking: “this is all very interesting but I feel it requires students to think too much!” From Gusky, 2001

Designing and/or choosing the evaluation instrument • Understand the purpose of your assessment • Understand the intervention you are assessing • The questions should vary in scope so that you gain understanding of improvements in teaching for the desired outcomes of the new curriculum content AND for the key competencies AND for the identified attitudes, values and skills.

How much evaluation is enough? • • • Practical considerations Length of the evaluation tool Time, when and where Pre and post data Participant numbers Workshop numbers

What do you do with ALL THAT DATA? • Ethical considerations – Permission to use/collect data – Anonymous vs. named • Paper assessments • Electronic assessments • Summarizing and analyzing assessment data

Qualitative or Quantitative… Qualitative evaluations of program effectiveness can occur at any level in many formats. • • interviews open-ended responses observations journals Summarizing these data usually takes more time and consistently reporting the results can be difficult. Information gained from qualitative data can yield a more personal and deeper understanding of the participants’ experiences.

Quantitative Data • Easy to collect • Easier to interpret without bias* • Limited in scope – Likert scales – Multiple choice *bias is still present, especially within the assessment design

Both? • Typical professional development evaluation has both elements. • e. g. “Were your expectations met today? ” (a numeric score is assigned) • Tell what you liked best about this workshop--(openended)

If you would like more details contact Prof. Tony Townsend: Department of Educational Studies University of Glasgow Phone: +44(0)141 330 4434 Fax: +44(0)141 330 5451 email: t. townsend@educ. gla. ac. uk