Scottish Teachers for a new Era: Transforming teacher Learning and Development

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Scottish Teachers for a new Era Transforming
Teacher Learning and Development Myra A
Pearson Head of School of Education 24 January
2008
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Overview

• Context and Foundations
• Teacher Education Programme
• The Research Dimension
• The Future

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• Scottish Teachers for a New Era

• What is STNE?
• Research and Development Initiative Funded by
• Government, Hunter Foundation and the
• University
• Developing Teachers Increasing Pupil Gains
• Exploring how best to prepare teachers to
  support
• learners and learning in the 21st century

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Effective Teachers
are adaptable, well organised and have
high expectations for their pupils know their
material so thoroughly they can easily teach
children of different abilities they are
flexible and can use different strategies to
do what is needed to help every child to learn
they are caring, compassionate, like
children/young people and like working with
children/young people
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The Challenge for Teacher Education
How do we develop these qualities in our
aspiring teachers?

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The Aberdeen Approach

• Build an evidence base add to knowledge and
• inform developments
• Develop new collaborative model of teaching
• learning and development from Initial Teacher
• Education through Induction and into the
  early
• years of a teachers career.

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• The Design Principles

• Decisions driven by evidence
• Engagement with Arts and Sciences
• Teaching as an academically taught clinical
• practice
• Social and educational inclusion
• Reflective and activist teacher

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Determining Factors

• Teacher
• deep curriculum knowledge
• investigator
• present relevant curriculum
• confident exploring new methodologies and
  technologies
• Learning environment
• university-based, new investigative/research
  model of field
• experience
• Support framework
• university staff and class teachers as mentors
  to and
• co-investigators with students
• Professional Culture
• decision making, embedded framework of evidence
  gathering,
• reflect on impact of teaching on pupil
  learning

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• BEd (STNE) Model

• Years 1 and 2 Foundation Stage
• development of knowledge and understanding of
  learning,
• personal and professional growth
• challenging assumptions, beliefs and values
• critical enquiry/investigation
• Years 3 and 4 Emergent stage
• Development of professional knowledge,
  understanding, skills
• and values in practice
• Learning and teaching, curriculum
• Action research
• Years 5 and 6 Beginning Teacher
• connections with Induction year
• extended year of mentoring

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The BEd (STNE) Programme

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Field Experience

• Years 1 and 2 The Foundation Stage
• 25 days
• Investigating the influences on childrens
  learning
• Year 1 Practical Experience relating to
  family, school and community
• Year 2 Issues of Diversity and inclusion,
  issues of professional identity
• Years 3 and 4 The Emergent Stage
• 24 weeks 20 days (Action Research)
• The development of professional knowledge,
  understanding skills and values
• Learning and Teaching, Curriculum discrete
  and cross curricular
• Action Research
• Years 5 and 6 Beginning Teacher Stage
• Continuing Professional Learning and
  Development
• Year 5 Induction 70 teaching 30
  professional learning and development
• Year 6 Extended mentoring.

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Research Framework

• Key elements on the process of learning to
  teach
• Entry characteristics
• Learning opportunities
• ITE to Induction to CPD
• How these elements
• Link to and relate to classroom practice
• Influence pupil learning and achievement
• How external influences impact on the process
  of learning
• Further embedding effective practice

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• Research Model

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Portfolio of Evidence

• Surveys and Tracking
• Entry survey and profile
• Exit survey and profile
• Year 1 survey
• Year 2 survey
• Common course and reporting
• Qualitative Case Studies
• Pupil Gains Studies
• Teacher Action Research
• Comparative Studies

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Reactions from students

• the new programme
• through the teaching of the new style B Ed
  course we are focusing much more strongly on
  teaching the pupils in an informed way, taking
  our observations and tailoring our lessons around
  these learning needs. We are not given a
  checklist to follow .
• now I see where they are coming from because
  with the experience from the like of psychology
  and out in the university I am not just stuck in
  Education, I am a lot more open to things, so
  yes, the course has really helped me. Hopefully I
  can be an excellent teacher, more than if I had
  done the traditional course and just been like
  watching the teacher write on the board

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Reactions from students

• mutual learning
• in the videos you could see that I was like.
  my god, I have got to pretend I know what I am
  doing, but now Im like, I think the kids will
  respond better if Im like I dont know and try
  to work things out with them
• Im happy to learn from the children because
  you learn so much more
• taking field notes
• maybe at the time you are thinking, why are we
  doing this? but, like for the essay I handed in
  today, I looked over the field notes and I have
  definitely learned from it

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Reactions from students

• collaborative learning, working in pairs and
  groups during field experience
• someone to talk to about teaching
• someone to feed off
• someone to share with, like peer assessment ...
  and it helps, it always helps

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STNE next steps

• In his teaching the wise man guides his students
  but does not pull them alone he urges them to go
  forward and does not suppress them he opens the
  way but does not take them to the place . if his
  students are encouraged to think for themselves
  we may call the man a good teacher
• Confucius (c. 5th century BC)