School based professional development to support the implementation of the New National Curricula...

School based professional development to support the implementation of the New National Curricula –

Issues for considerationProfessor Tony Townsend

Chair of Public Service, Educational Leadership and Management

Department of Educational Studies,

University of Glasgow

Pedagogical InstituteCyprus

March 2012, 2010

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 CHANGE CONTEXTTHE BIG PICTURE:

THE CHANGE CONTEXT

Peter Drucker

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

A

B

C

D

E

A - when an innovation is first introduced, it takes time for it to be accepted by peopleB - once it starts to be accepted it is easier for others to start using it tooC - most people are now using the innovation, and it has changed how we see the worldD - eventually all thing start to decline. We get bored with them, or do other things…ORE - we start using a new innovation that replaces the one we had, and the cycle starts again

The S (Sigmoid) Curve (Handy 2004)

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 youngpeople for jobs thatdon’t yet exist…

requiring technologiesthat haven’t yet beeninvented…

to solve problems ofwhich we are not yetaware.

And even more difficult….

We should be helping them tolead purposeful and fulfilledlives…

in circumstances changing atunprecedented andaccelerating speed….

in ways that affect custom and belief as well as materialsurroundings.

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 21st century for the development of creative human being

Key Competences in the New Curriculum

a) Creativityb) Critical thinking and reflective management knowledgec) Theoretical thinking and ability to convert theory into practiced) Abilities and skills of analysis and designe) Willingness and ability for teamwork and information exchangef) Ability to problem solve, to develop and search options and develop the capacity to identify alternative theoriesg) Excellence in testing and prudent use of information and communication technologiesh) 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

General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes

beliefs and understandings

School and classorganisation classroom teaching

strategies

Intervention andspecial assistance

home, school andcommunity partnerships

professional learning teams

monitoring and assessment

standardsand targets

leadership andcoordination

Hill and Crevola 1997

Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth, Management of Organizational Behavior, Utilizing Human Resources, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.

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.

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.


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.

Assess Readiness

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?

We Make the Road by Walking

“Se Hace Camino al Ander”-Antonio Machado

Assess Readiness

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 self-esteem, 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).

• 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)

What counts as professional development?

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

Monitoring it

Identification of PDneeds

Analysis of needs

Planning a PDprogramme

Evaluation of impact

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 questionsWhere 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




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

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? Deepen professional

knowledge and refine skills

Engage students in new learning experiences

Teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to promote student outcomes

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 KnownThe knowledge from theory, research and

best practice

What We KnowThe knowledge of

those involved.What practitioners

know

New KnowledgeThe 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 worksHow 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

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

ImprovementCapacity

Instructional Capacity

Leadership Capacity

Learning

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, McMahon, 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 WhyViviane Robinson, Margie Hohepa, Claire Lloyd, University of Auckland, 2009

Leadership Dimensions Linking Leadership with Student Outcomes

0.27

0.84

0.42

0.31

0.42

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

5. Ensuring an Orderly andSupportive Environment

4. Promoting and Participating inTeacher Learning and

Development

3. Planning, Coordinating andEvaluating Teaching and the

Curriculum

2. Resourcing Strategically

1. Establishing Goals andExpectations

Effect Size

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




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

Relationships of Respect and Challenge

Inquiry Habit of MindUsing Relevant Data

Evidence-informed Conversations

Evidence-Informed Conversations about Data

Earl and Timperley (2000)

SCHOOLS EVALUATING THEIR PROGRESS: THE ROLE OF

SCHOOL 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 9 PRINCIPLES OF SELF EVALUATION

Not everything that counts can be counted. And not everything that can be counted, counts.

Albert Einstein

THE TYRANNY OF NUMBERS

Critical features of good evaluation

•Measurement over time

•Patterns of change

•The inter-relationship of factors

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

THE TOOLS OF SELF EVALUATION

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

ACTIVITY




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--(open-ended)

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: [email protected]

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