John Bangs Senior Consultant Education International

1. WE KNOW WHAT WORKS… orEvidence about teacher learning and the most effective forms of professional development… The best conditions for providing professional development in the context of creating ownership of teacher policy by the teaching profession. John Bangs Senior Consultant Education International Honorary Research Associate, University of Cambridge

2. “For policy-makers… the findings… (of the Best Evidence Synthesis Programme)… confirm the importance of professional development as possibly one of the highest impact policy levers in education, with potentially transformational effects on both social and academic outcomes from the education system.” Timperley and Alton-Lee 2008 rre.sagepub.com/content/32/1/328.full

3. “There is a growing amount of research on the most effective forms of professional development which has implications for its provision and organisation at school and system level. The English Government’s paper, ‘A Case for Change’, (Department for Education 2010), noted convincing evidence that collaborative professional development is more strongly associated with improvements in teaching and learning… (and)… appears more likely to produce changes in teacher practice, attitudes or beliefs and in pupil outcomes.” These findings were a result of research reviews initiated by the National Union of Teachers for England and Wales in preparation for establishing its professional development programme and were carried out by Cordingley et al…. Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders for the 21st Century: Lessons from around the World, p77. Schleicher, A.(ed) (2012) http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264174559-en

4. The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre, EPPI Centre Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London eppi-ioe.ac.uk • How does collaborative continuing professional development for teachers of the 5-16 age range affect teaching and learning (2003)? • The impact of collaborative continuing professional development on classroom teaching and learning. How do collaborative and sustained CPD and sustained and but not collaborative CPD affect teaching and learning? (2005) • The impact of collaborative continuing professional development on classroom teaching and learning. What does teacher impact data tell us about collaborative CPD? (2005) • What do specialists do in CPD programmes for which there is evidence of positive outcomes for pupils and teachers? (2007) http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=274&language=en-US

5. Teachers • Greater confidence and enhanced beliefs in their power to make a difference • Developed enthusiasm for collaborative working not withstanding initial anxieties and relative discomfort • Collaborative practice including joint planning and team teaching • Greater commitment to changed practice and willingness to try new things including new teaching strategies and ICT • Weak evidence on individually sustained CPD -Minimal impact on teacher efficacy but some impact on teachers’ practice and beliefs

6. Students • Enhanced enthusiasm, confidence, participation and satisfaction • More positive responses to specific subjects • Improvements in learning in performance such as improved test results • Better organisation of work • Increased sophistication in response to questions • Experienced a wider range of learning activities • Some evidence of positive impacts on student behaviour • Some evidence that collaboration among teachers was role model for student collaboration • Individually sustained CPD - modest impacts on behaviours and attitudes.- Outcomes not measured

7. CPD processes • External expertise linked to school based activity • (Peer) observation • Feedback • Based in teachers’ classrooms • Involving teachers in refining new knowledge and skills and experimenting in integrating them in day to day practice • Emphasis on peer support rather than leadership by supervisors • Scope for participants to identify their own CPD focus • An extension of professional dialogue • Sustaining CPD over time to enable practices to be embedded in the classroom • Working in pairs or small groups

8. Specialist input • Build CPD processes into what teachers know and can do already with emphasis on individual learning • In most cases CPD should not last more than two terms • Specialists encourage and guide teachers in supporting each other • Specialists introduce theoretical and practical knowledge base • On-going special support including modelling, workshops, observation and feedback, coaching, and planned and informal meetings for discussion

9. New developments since the EPPI research • A Pedagogy for Teachers Professional Learning • The distinctions between professional learning and professional development. • Principles for acting as a confident professional learner. • The importance of coaching and mentoring in professional learning. • Professional Learning and Research. The Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education www.curee.co.uk

10. New developments - the growing interest in teacher standards: for example; • National Board for Professional Teaching Standards - US • Teacher Leader Model Standards (Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium) - US • The Independent Review of Teachers’ Standards - UK • The National Professional Standards for Teachers - Australia “The standards describe what is required of teachers at four levels - Graduate, Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead… the standards provide a common language for professional dialogue between teachers, teacher educators, teacher organisations, professional associations and the public.”

11. “The devolution of powers and responsibilities to schools opens up significant opportunities for Unions to provide the sites in which teachers can engage in professional discourse, exchange professional practice and gain the confidence to lead professional change in their schools. The collective agency of teachers’ own organisations can both enhance their learning and contribute to the formation of teacher policy.” ‘Collective Leadership: the role of teacher unions in encouraging teachers to take the lead in their own learning and in teacher policy’. John Bangs and John MacBeath. Professional Development in Education Vol.38, No.2, April 2012, 331-343. Routledge.