Teacher Education, Teacher Work

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Teacher Education, Teacher Work

• 12 February 2008
• University of Glasgow
• Presentation by Donald Gray

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Scottish Teachers for a New Era
Dr Donald Gray School of Education, University
of Aberdeen
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Structure of presentation

• In the beginning
• Consideration of meanings and the development of
  a rationale.
• The changing environment context of the study.
• What is STNE?
• Structure of the B.Ed course.
• Phase 1 some reflections.
• STNE phase two addressing the issues.
• Moving forward.

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The Invitation

• DEVELOPING TEACHERS, INCREASING PUPIL GAINS
• A NEW PILOT PROGRAMME TO FURTHER DEVELOP TEACHING
  AS A
• VALUED AND RECOGNISED PROFESSION IN SCOTLAND

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Sanders and Rivers

• Cumulative teacher effects in mathematics from
  grades 3 to 5.
• Teachers influence on the rate of academic
  growth.
• the single most dominant factor affecting
  student academic gain is teacher effect

Teacher effectiveness construed only in terms of
academic test results. Study was reductionist,
purely quantitative and focused entirely on
numerical causal links.
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The Independent. Friday 8th February 2008
Our children tested to destruction English
primary school pupils subjected to more tests
than in any other country
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Characteristics of Effective Teachers?

• Beliefs about teaching well formed by the time a
  student begins college (Pajares (1992)
• preservice teachers enter teacher preparation
  programs with well established filters for what
  constitutes effective teaching based on an
  apprenticeship of observation (Lortie, 1975,
  cited by Walls et al, 2002).
• ..teaching must be understood in terms of its
  complex contributions to new, as-yet-unimaginable
  collective possibilities. (Davis Sumara, 2007)
• Muijs et al. (2005) argue for a differentiated
  model of teacher effectiveness.

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The New Teacher Education For Better or Worse?
Marilyn Cochrane-Smith AERA Presidential Address
2005, Educational Researcher, 34, 7, pp3-17
New Teacher Education constructed as Public
policy problem, based on research and driven by
outcomes. new teacher education needs also to
be informed by inquiry and scholarship that are
not empirical we need to make learningnot
outcomes narrowly defined as teststhe bottom
line of teaching and teacher education When
teacher education is learning-driven, there is a
focus on ensuring that all schoolchildrenincludin
g those in poor schoolshave rich opportunities
to learn, not just opportunities to be held
accountable to the same high stakes.
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Constructing 21st Century Teacher Education

• Three critical components of teacher education
  programmes
• Tight coherence and integration among courses and
  between course work and clinical work in schools
• Extensive and intensely supervised clinical work
  integrated with course work using pedagogies that
  link theory and practice and
• Proactive relationships with schools that serve
  diverse learners effectively and develop and
  model good teaching. (p300)
• The What of Teacher Education
• Knowledge of learners and how they learn and
  develop within social contexts, including
  knowledge of language development
• Understanding of curriculum content and goals,
  including the subject matter and skills to be
  taught in light of disciplinary demands, student
  needs, and the social purposes of education
• Understanding of and skills for teaching,
  including content pedagogical knowledge and
  knowledge for teaching diverse learners, as these
  are informed by an understanding of assessment
  and of how to construct and manage a productive
  classroom. (p303)
• (Darling Hammond, 2006)

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TTA Teaching 2020
What sort of teachers will be needed then, and so
what kind of teacher education and training?
Whatever happens in 2020 schools and teachers
will be very different. The teachers we are
training now, and those currently teaching and
engaging in CPD, need to be prepared to be
flexible, to manage change, and more than that,
to be agents of change.
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Globalisation (Mortimore, 2001)

• International comparisons show effects of
  motivating staff, focusing on TL, enhancing the
  physical environment, changing the culture of the
  school. However, while many similar strategies
  used, the different context meant similar actions
  did not always produce similar results.
• Improvements must fit the grain of society
  indiscriminate borrowing from other cultures may
  not achieve the desired results there is no
  quick fix for school improvement change has to
  be carried out by the school itself.

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Scottish Teachers for a New Era
Developing teachers increasing pupil gains

• Scottish Executive Education Department
• Hunter Foundation
• University of Aberdeen
• Opportunity for Change
• Research Informed Development

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Change vs Transformation

• Context
• Former College of Education. Northern College was
  the last of Scotland's monotechnic colleges to be
  merged with an institution of higher education on
  December 1, 2001, but remained on a separate
  campus.
• Move to the main University Campus in the summer
  of 2005.
• No culture of research.
• Contract for STNE awarded at the beginning of
  2005.
• Implementation of a new (STNE) B.Ed course in
  October 2005.
• Research team appointed in October 2005.

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What is STNE ?

• Design Principles
• Decisions driven by evidence
• Engagement with Arts Sciences
• Teaching as an academically taught clinical
  practice

• Key Aims
• To develop a
• Teacher for a New Era
• New Learning Environment
• New Framework for Continuous Learning
• New Professional Culture

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What is STNE ?

• Transforming initial teacher education, through
• Developing ITE Programmes, particularly although
  not exclusively, the BEd(P) Programme
• Research
• Enhanced Partnerships
• Developing and contributing to quality
  professional learning opportunities for teachers
  who are mentoring, coaching and assessing student
  and beginning teachers

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What is STNE ?
Research a multi-disciplinary team of
researchers and practitioners are developing
evidence gathering activities related to

• Pupil learning gains and achievements
• Student teacher knowledge and performance
• Beginning teacher knowledge and performance
• Programme review and development

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What is STNE ?

• The engagement of Arts and Sciences
• Student teachers gain enhanced subject knowledge
  through academic study and learning in Arts and
  Sciences Faculties/Departments.
• Teaching as a clinical profession
• To develop a model of teaching as a clinical
  practice which is integrated into an extended
  induction programme.
• Teaching as an evidence-based profession
• Evidence is generated and used routinely within
  teacher education
• Teachers (inc. beginning teachers) using and
  generating evidence of pedagogy to inform
  practice.

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Working in partnership to

• Build a seamless continuum of teacher
  development from pre-service through induction to
  continuous professional development.

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STNE Phase 1 2005-2007
B.Ed1
Field Experience Originally 2xhalf days per week,
over 7 weeks (semester 2). Working in pairs
(peers). Now one full day per week. Focus
contexts for learning, the learner and learning.
Community, school environment.
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STNE Phase 1 2005-2007
B.Ed2
Field Experience 1 full day per week over 7 weeks
(semester 1). Focus on learning experiences. 1
full day per week over 9 weeks. Focus on
particular curricular areas.
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STNE Phase 1 2005-2007
B.Ed.3
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STNE Phase 1 2005-2007
B.Ed.4
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Phase 1 Research

• Focus on original B.Ed1 (2005-06) cohort and the
  programme through B.Ed2, B.Ed3 and B.Ed4.
• Entry questionnaire B.Ed1.
• Exit questionnaire of B.Ed4 (2005-06)
• Longitudinal Study of 20 students.
• New Field experience (ASG study).
• Examination of the process of change.

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Phase 1 Data 2005-2007
Year 1 Mapping Exercise B.Ed1 Questionnaire 1
B.Ed1 questionnaire 2 ASG Data B.Ed1 tutor
interviews B.Ed4 Focus group (sem.1) and
questionnaire (sem.2) Survey 2005 Graduate
Experiences of Induction Year Video Interactive
Guidance (VIG) Literature reviews.
Year 2 B.Ed2 tutor interviews B.Ed2
questionnaire Teacher questionnaire B.Ed2 focus
groups B.Ed2 observations B.Ed2 questionnaire
B.Ed2 interviews Teacher questionnaire Video
Interactive Guidance (VIG) Literature reviews
Summary reports for each of these elements have
now been produced and will shortly be available
on the website. Fuller reports are complete for
some and in preparation for others.
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Shifting Sands?
B.Ed1
B.Ed2
B.Ed3
Evidence
Evidence
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STNE Phase 1 2005-2007. Issues

• Peer working of students accepted very
  positively.
• Field experience model mixed views but
  principles and potential viewed very favourably.
• Implementing new paradigms in traditional
  contexts.
• Concerns with shift from teaching as practice
  to teaching as reflection on learning.
• Need for strategies to develop shared vision and
  focus.
• Need for greater engagement and reflective
  professional development for tutors, and
  additional elements for CPD for teachers.
• Need for transformative as well as informative
  PD.
• Organisation and communication among all
  stakeholders.
• Compartmentalised working, links to communication
  and sharing of vision and focus. Fragmentation.
• Lack of cohesive teams.

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STNE Phase 1 2005-2007. Issues

• Assessment and effective feedback for students.
• Need for development of effective modelling of
  assessment on the courses.
• No clear strategy for assessing impact of
  initiatives on pupil learning.
• Greater need for clarity with respect to the role
  that other courses play in the B.Ed programme,
  and exploration of other roles that arts and
  sciences may have.

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Identified Needs

• Greater sharing and discussion of data.
• More in-depth analysis and critical review of
  existing data to provide foundations for further
  research within the School of Education.
• Creation of space for dialogue and sharing of
  ideas and information needs to develop.
• Greater emphasis on creating a shared vision, and
  understanding of personal values and beliefs.
• Needs effective linkage with schools through
  action research initiatives and school placement
  and internal (to the school) and external
  comparative measures of impact on pupil learning.

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STNE Phase 2 2007-2009
While there is a continuation from phase 1 with
the longitudinal case studies, phase two of the
STNE research is deepening and broadening through

• comparison of data across all the ITE programmes
  in the School of Education,
• involvement and engagement with teachers in
  practice and
• supporting and taking forward projects with
  specific focuses involving staff within the
  School of Education in collaboration with staff
  in other Colleges and Departments.

This model is represented in the following
diagram which shows the three main components of
phase 2.
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(No Transcript)
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STNE Phase 2 2007-2009

• Continuation of focus with B.Ed course and the
  process of change.
• Continuation of longitudinal study of B.Ed
  sample.
• Observations of students on first block
  placements.
• Building on Graduate surveys of Induction year to
  inform support and partnership developments of
  future beginning teachers (e.g. Beginning Teacher
  Support Network)
• Extension of entry and exit surveys to cover all
  programmes (PGDE primary and secondary, B.Ed and
  B.MusEd and MA.Ed). To be analysed using
  advanced modelling techniques.
• Collaboration and partnership through Teacher
  Action Research linked to pupil gains B.Ed
  student research.
• Linking to LTS ACfE trialling in the six
  partner authorities.
• Secondees from each authority to work with
  SoE/STNE and T A-R.
• Support and development of research capacity
  building and other learning projects within the
  School of Education.

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A-R SCHOLARSHIPS

• Research seminars
• University mentors
• Links with APS (Masters route)
• Focus on classroom practice
• Focus on pupil (learner) gains
• 2007 Funded 15 teachers

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(No Transcript)
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STNE A-R SCHOLARSHIPS 2007

• Examples (PS)
• The impact of using drama in media studies in a
  CfE.
• New approaches to introducing P1 children to ICT.
• Video-based approaches to problem solving (maths
  recovery).
• Writing through role-play structured activities.
• Personal Learning Planning
• Enterprise in mathematics

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PUPIL GAINS ?

• Debate about what is meant by pupil gains. What
  kind of gains? E.g. Parsons et al.
• Link to Curriculum for Excellence four
  capacities.
• Collaboration with LTS in six partner authorities
  trialling schools.
• Links with Teacher Action Research

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Learning Projects

• E.g.
• ATLAC Arts as a Tool for Learning Across the
  Curriculum. In collaboration with Aberdeen City
  Council with Arts Council Funding.
• Communities for Learning group. Actor Network
  Theory a Theoretical Framework for Examining the
  School Experience
• Student Impact on Schools group.
• Literature Review Group -

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Needs

• Effective database management to keep track of
  all projects.
• Now under development
• Template for information gathering on all
  projects at regular intervals e.g every six
  months.
• In development
• Agreed structure for final reports to enable
  efficient meta-analysis.
• Preliminary structure undergoing refinement.
• Effective communication strategy.
• Central repository and Project Co-ordinator.
  Multi-level website under development.
• Evidence seminars and open research meetings.
• Needs driven training and support e.g. research
  and writing workshops
• Plan for publication and dissemination.
• Writing up of Phase 1 underway for different
  audiences. Continued

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Phase 1 Some Outcomes

• A model to look at the courses tutorial
  coherence, theoretical framework and teaching
  philosophy.
• A model to reflect on teaching, what it means and
  how it changes.
• A model to empower teachers and schools.