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

1
School based professional development to support
the implementation of the New National Curricula
Issues for consideration

• Professor Tony Townsend
• Chair of Public Service, Educational Leadership
  and Management
• Department of Educational Studies,
• University of Glasgow

Pedagogical Institute Cyprus March 2012, 2010
2
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?

3
THE CHANGE CONTEXT

• THE BIG PICTURE
• THE CHANGE CONTEXT

4
Peter Drucker

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

5
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
thingsOR E - we start using a new innovation
that replaces the one we had, and the cycle
starts again
C
E
D
B
A
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THE PACE AND FLOW OF CHANGE
7

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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.

9
Make a list

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

10
The Surgeon and the Teacher...the impact of change
11

• 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

12
We are preparing young people for jobs that dont
yet exist
requiring technologies that havent yet
been invented
to solve problems of which we are not yet aware.
13
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.
14
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.

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• THE NEW CURRICULUM
• AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAIN POINTS

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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

17
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.

18
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.

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Principles of the New Curriculum

• Conciseness
• Equilibrium - Balancing different types of
  learning
• Consistent
• Consequence
• Effective

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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

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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.

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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?

23

• IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
• THE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT CONTEXT

24
Hill and Crevola 1997
General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes
leadership and coordination
standards and targets
home, school and community partnerships
Intervention and special assistance
beliefs and understandings
monitoring and assessment
School and class organisation
classroom teaching strategies
professional learning teams
25
Assess Readiness
School Readiness - the extent to which a schools
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.
26
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.
27
Assess Readiness
Sometimes, people arent really unwilling, its
just that theyve never done a specific task
before. They dont have any experience with it,
so theyre insecure or afraid.
Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth, Management
of Organizational Behavior, Utilizing Human
Resources, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.
28
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

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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?

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Assess Readiness
Se Hace Camino al Ander -Antonio Machado
We Make the Road by Walking
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School Improvement Process
Department for Children, Families and Schools, UK
32
School Improvement Process
Oak Farm Community School, Hampshire, UK
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• WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT GOOD STAFF DEVELOPMENT?

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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

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Where do we start?

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

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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)

37
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)

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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).

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What counts as professional development?

• True professional development should be a
  learning experience for all who are
  involvedprofessional 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)

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We have to remember

• Teaching isnt easy, and getting better at it
  isnt just a matter of experience, of trial and
  error. For the sake of the profession, for the
  teachers being helped - for the children wholl
  learn more as a result we must help teachers
  develop.

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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.

42
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)

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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?
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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)

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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

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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
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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)

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Identifying the Professional Development Needs

• Given what the new curriculum is trying to do
• list the three main professional development
  needs that you think need to be addressed for
  classroom teachers
• list the three main professional development
  needs that you think need to be addressed for
  department level leaders
• list the three main professional development
  needs that you think need to be addressed for
  school leaders

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• HELPING TEACHERS TO USE DATA TO EVALUATE STUDENT
  LEARNING

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Formative assessment for students

• Allows them to answer the questions
• Where am I going?
• How am I doing?
• Where to next?
• Hattie Timperley (2007)

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Formative assessment for TEACHERS

• Allows them to answer the questions
• Where am I going?
• How am I doing?
• Where to next?

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Required Conditions

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

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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

54
Hill and Crevola 1997
General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes
leadership and coordination
standards and targets
home, school and community partnerships
Intervention and special assistance
beliefs and understandings
monitoring and assessment
School and class organisation
classroom teaching strategies
professional learning teams
55
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

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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?
Deepen professional knowledge and refine skills
Engage students in new learning experiences
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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?

58
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?

59
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

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

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(No Transcript)
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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

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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

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• TOWARDS A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY

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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)

67
Organizing for Performance-Based Learning

• The Essential Question
• How does the organization of the
• school support the process for
• teacher and student learning?

68
Developing a self-evaluation culture
Michael Fullan 20 years in teaching is
1 year, repeated 20 times
Do you think this is true?
69
How Improvement works

• The rule of the vital few A few exceptional
  people doing something different start and
  incubate an epidemic.
• The stickiness factor Some attribute of the
  epidemic allows it to endure long enough to
  "catch", to become contagious or "memorable".
• 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)

70
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.

71
Capacity
Capacity building is concerned with creating the
conditions, opportunities and experiences for
collaboration and mutual learning Harris (2001)
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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)

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Major influences that transform student learning

Improvement Capacity
Instructional Capacity

Learning
Leadership Capacity

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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.

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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
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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)
77
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.

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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?

79
Web based support services

• The teacher support website, Department of
  Education and Childrens Services, Victoria
  Australia
• http//www.education.vic.gov.au/schoolprofessional
  s/teachers/default.htm

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• THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL LEADER

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Robinson (2008)

• Does leadership make a difference? This is a
  silly question. It is what leaders actually do
  that matters.

82
Best Evidence Synthesis
School Leadership and Student Outcomes
Identifying What works and Why Viviane Robinson,
Margie Hohepa, Claire Lloyd, University of
Auckland, 2009
83
Leadership Dimensions Linking Leadership with
Student Outcomes
84
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.

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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

86
Hill and Crevola 1997
General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes
leadership and coordination
standards and targets
home, school and community partnerships
Intervention and special assistance
beliefs and understandings
monitoring and assessment
School and class organisation
classroom teaching strategies
professional learning teams
87
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

88
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

89
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?

90
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

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Evidence-Informed Conversations about Data
Earl and Timperley (2000)
92

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

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THE 9 PRINCIPLES OF SELF EVALUATION

• Start from what matters
• Experiment with new ways of measuring and
  reporting what matters
• Explore multiple perspectives to enrich the
  dialogue
• Stimulate and keep alive a culture of reflection
• Build external accountability out of strong
  internal accountability
• Seek out and use data selectively and critically
  a focus on evidence keeps contention
  constructive
• Try the 80 listening, 20 talking rule - showing
  you have understood others points of view
  increases probability that others will listen

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THE TYRANNY OF NUMBERS
Not everything that counts can be counted. And
not everything that can be counted,
counts. Albert Einstein
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Critical features of good evaluation

• Measurement over time
• Patterns of change
• The inter-relationship of factors

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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

97

• EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF THE PROFESSIONAL
  DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY

98
Hill and Crevola 1997
General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes
leadership and coordination
standards and targets
home, school and community partnerships
Intervention and special assistance
beliefs and understandings
monitoring and assessment
School and class organisation
classroom teaching strategies
professional learning teams
99
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?

100
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?

101
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.

102
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.

103
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

104
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

105
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.

106
How much evaluation is enough?

• Practical considerations
• Length of the evaluation tool
• Time, when and where
• Pre and post data
• Participant numbers
• Workshop numbers

107
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

108
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.

109
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

110
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)

111

• If you would like more details contact Prof.
  Tony Townsend
• Department of Educational Studies
• University of Glasgow
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• email t.townsend_at_educ.gla.ac.uk