Towards the Learning Profession

1. Towards the Learning Profession An Escalate Project http://www.escalate.ac.uk/exchange/CPD/contact.php3#case David Wood (Oxford Brookes) and Julie Anderson (Bristol) Towards the Learning Profession

2. Why investigate professional learning communities? • An element of the DfES CPD Strategy (2001): • ‘to identify characteristics and conditions of schools which function as professional learning communities (para. 4) Towards the Learning Profession

3. Why investigate professional learning communities? • The GTCE Teacher Learning Academy phase 1 begins in Sept. 2003. Objectives include the promotion of ‘enquiry-based practice, peer mentoring and local flexibility • The Scottish Chartered Teacher Scheme Towards the Learning Profession

4. Why investigate professional learning communities? • Despite these initiatives to develop a learning profession, the workload agreement reached between the DfES and many teacher unions and due for introduction in September 2003, points to an overloaded profession, with little time for CPD, Towards the Learning Profession

5. Escalate • E – Education • S – Subject • C – Centre • A – Advancing • L – Learning • A – And • T – Teaching in • E – Education Towards the Learning Profession

6. What it is • One of 24 Subject Centres working for staff in Education and Continuing Education in Higher Education • Based at Bristol, it has partners at Oxford Brookes, Nottingham and Stirling Universities Towards the Learning Profession

7. What’s in it for you? • The leaflet in your pack gives further details but activities include: • Offering resources of all kinds • Small grants • Supporting events • Briefings and bulletins • www.escalate.ac.uk Towards the Learning Profession

8. The Project • Aimed to write up 6-8 case studies of schools identified as ‘hotspots’ of CPD or meeting the definition of ‘professional learning communities’; • to interview members of the leadership teams in schools nominated by university or college CPD staff. Towards the Learning Profession

9. The Project • We aimed to interview leaders on the basis of the pivotal role they play in catalyzing CPD activity (NFER: 2001); • the semi-structured interviews were designed to illuminate key factors in promoting professional learning communities. Towards the Learning Profession

10. The questions 1.Briefly, how would you describe the context of the school? 2.What does the term ‘professional learning community’ mean to you? 3.How does the school context affect the conditions for a professional learning community? 4.What type of Continual Professional Development (CPD) takes place in a professional learning community? 5.Why is such CPD undertaken? 6. How would you describe the balance between formal and informal CPD activities. Do you think some are valued more than others? Which? Towards the Learning Profession

11. The questions (cont) 7. Who does the research? 8. How does CPD relate to everyday processes in the maintenance of learning, teaching and the curriculum? • How does the CPD undertaken relate SDP and the EDP? • What characterises staff who initiate their own projects? 11. What do teachers report about the benefits or otherwise of participating in such a learning community? 12. Do we live in a climate where initiative in CPD is encouraged? Towards the Learning Profession

12. The questions (cont) 13. What have been the constraints or otherwise on the creation and maintenance of this CPD climate / culture? 14. Who has ownership and control of the work? 15. Who sustains the learning community how is momentum maintained? 16. What do you feel about the time needed to do CPD yourself, including time necessary for follow up? 17. How has work relating to CPD impacted on you in terms of how you feel about yourself, your role and your career overall? Towards the Learning Profession

13. The Project • One object was to reflect practice in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; Towards the Learning Profession

14. Oxfordshire Case Study • Marlborough School is a successful comprehensive in a semi-rural part of the county. The Deputy Head approached Oxford Brookes in 2002 to design a leadership programme for staff as part of a strategy for succession planning & retention. Towards the Learning Profession

15. Oxfordshire Case Study • He saw this as a means of incentivising & retaining the well-trained teachers of recent years: ‘45% of teachers are now 1-3 years into their careers and we have a generation..coming through now who want to develop themselves as practitioners.’ Towards the Learning Profession

16. The learning culture • He described the process of ‘scanning the horizon’ looking for every opportunity for CPD; • refreshing subject knowledge; • reflective teams (eg on behaviour) • updating (eg child protection); • govt. strategy (eg KS3). Towards the Learning Profession

17. An agile process • By this the school takes a creative approach to needs as they arise. Eg, after a racist incident a governor, parents from ethnic minority groups and pupils devised an INSET. This contrasts with the sense that, ‘we had this problem so they sent us on a course.’ Towards the Learning Profession

18. Segmentation • The school identifies ‘segments’ (Corkindale and Trorey: 2002) of the staff and offers CPD opportunities judged appropriate for each group; eg experienced female staff undertake ITT mentoring as a form of CPD. Towards the Learning Profession

19. Peer observation • Whilst this is a formal system the school encourages a ‘no blame culture’ (see Senge: 1990). The senior management nurture receptive dispositions so staff do not regard classroom observation or evaluation as a threat. Towards the Learning Profession

20. Impact • The Deputy Head acknowledges that the school gathers insufficient data to demonstrate impact. But his impression is that CPD has propagated diversity in learning activity: ‘this is related to our lesson observation programme, to all forms of CPD and to the high quality now of ITT.’ Towards the Learning Profession

21. Contingency • So the energetic professional learning community is achieved through a ‘contingency’ approach to management (Law & Glover:2000) by avoiding simple ‘off the shelf’ CPD solutions in favour of constantly matching staff and school needs with a range of CPD. Towards the Learning Profession

22. The South West case study SWIfT A consortium of 6 LEAs and 2 HEIs • one of the country’s largest providers of award-bearing CPD for teachers. • traditional twilight / evening CPD courses in HEIs unsuitable in area. Towards the Learning Profession

23. The SWIfT Approach • discuss with schools re: what SWIfT can offer; • 80% of programmes tailor made; • initial contact - leads to 10-15 minutes follow up at staff meeting; • sessions 1.5 – 2 hrs at monthly intervals - after school on school premises. Towards the Learning Profession

24. Reasons for success • Credibility and a good team; • suitable location; • groups develop their own momentum; • supportive colleagues and HEI staff; • course reflects teacher concerns and interests. Towards the Learning Profession

25. Honiton College • Interviewees - new entrants / nearing retirement; • programme negotiated; • centred on contemporary issues; • dominant learning and teaching style of interaction and debate; • increasingly focus on individual assignments. Towards the Learning Profession

26. Recruitment most effective if … • SWIfT find that direct approach -then a visit - is most effective; • it helps where the CPD Co-ordinator is on the SMT, is enthusiastic and works well with the SWIfT staff; • NfER (2001:34) identifies school leaders as the ‘fundamental’ determinants of maintaining the professional learning community. Towards the Learning Profession

27. Further reasons for success • SWIfT ensures regular review of any programme – leads to maintaining interest by remaining relevant to the participants; • agendas for individual sessions are also constantly reviewed; • each session ends with agreement about content/topic for the next + agreement re:date etc. Towards the Learning Profession

28. Potential problems • OFSTED disrupted programmes; • dominant voices can dissuade possible interested parties; • constraint of time; • no clear agreement in the SMT about what a programme could or should include; • CPD not a very high priority in the school. Towards the Learning Profession

29. Bedfordshire case study • Beds. School Improvement Partnership formed by heads esp. heads in GM schools to undertake CPD independently of the LEA. • Has 180 schools including 24 in a Networked Learning Community. Co-ordinates a wide range of activity, esp. collaborative working. Towards the Learning Profession

30. Pupils as researchers • This is a distinctive aspect of BSIP’s work - pupils are supported so that they can offer opinions and research findings on learning & teaching; • eg at the BSIP annual conference pupils themselves contributed to staff training on inclusion. Towards the Learning Profession

31. The Student Voice • For the Partnership Director a key objective is to develop pupil articulacy in support of their role in improving learning & teaching, so that their opinions can be seen as more legitimate and informed. Towards the Learning Profession

32. The Student Voice • BSIP emphasises the importance of maintaining structures which give pupils a role in improving learning. • The student voice ‘can be scary and intimidate staff’ so schools need to provide formal opportunities for pupils to respond and staff to get used to their input. Towards the Learning Profession

33. Collaborative learning • BSIP has promoted professional study groups across schools and phases (eg thinking skills in maths and PE); • for the Partnership Director every classroom is unique but this is not incompatible with experiments in the transfer of practice. Towards the Learning Profession

34. The University of Glamorgan case study • Janet Todd Jones funded by NOF; • bought in Janet - a practising teacher -for ICT Training Co-ordinator role; • based at the university; • Janet – already a member of the ICT steering committee for the region; • Centre for Lifelong Learning ( CELL) - focuses on inclusion and widening access to communities. Towards the Learning Profession

35. The School • supportive of CPD for its staff; • benefits from Janet returning there regularly; • technical support and advice etc. • Janet’s work dovetails closely with School Development Plan; • HEI and school in close proximity. Towards the Learning Profession

36. Teacher research- Time • Re: teachers returning from CPD courses: ‘most .. were unable to exploit their newly acquired skills .. on returning to schools because of the competing demands and pressures of time’ (HMI report 410 p25, paragraph 53).   Towards the Learning Profession

37. Teacher research -Enthusiasm • The issue of the importance of ‘personal enthusiasm’ was a finding in the LGA research report 23 which stated that it is ‘crucial’( page 96).   • Janet has found that enthusiasm can be generated! Towards the Learning Profession

38. New entrants V experienced teachers • As an older teacher herself, Janet couldn’t have taken on her current role earlier - so takes view that flexibility in CPD is crucial - something we will return to later Towards the Learning Profession

39. Possible constraints and Reasons for success Nervous of change; financial constraints; attitude of key members of staff; commitment, drive and courage! subject area genuinely of interest. Towards the Learning Profession

40. Kent Case Study • Angley School has a long-standing relationship with Canterbury Christ Church. A group of staff are undertaking enquiry-based development work leading to a masters degree in School Development. Towards the Learning Profession

41. CELSI • This is supported by the Centre for Educational Leadership and School Improvement at Canterbury Christ Church, which exists to provide ‘critical friendship..and to raise levels of criticality and professional discourse.’ (Durrant: 2003) Towards the Learning Profession

42. Kent Case Study • In the view of the case study author, Judy Durrant, ‘relationships and contacts are often more important than structures, systems and marketing’ in maintaining this school-based activity.Key support is seen to come from the head. Towards the Learning Profession

43. Multiplying • 2 members of the Angley group were appointed to leadership posts elsewhere and established similar groups in their new schools ‘a number of overlapping communities of practice’ (Wenger:1998); Towards the Learning Profession

44. Process framework • For staff this involves: • Clarifying values & concerns; • personal development planning; • strategic action planning; • leading development work; • transforming professional knowledge (Frost & Durrant: 2003). Towards the Learning Profession

45. The staff response • At interview the group reported: • that they participate to affect learning and school development - more than to gain qualifications; • that they value cross-hierarchical, inter-departmental debate; • that the work transcends national policy imperatives. Towards the Learning Profession

46. Issues for staff • Time and prioritising; • continuing the practice of ITT - one teacher said she joined the group to continue the reflective habits she developed in her recent initial training; • profiling this work in the wider staff group: Towards the Learning Profession

47. Northern Ireland case study • LEAs provide a curriculum and assessment support service (CASS) focusing on what are perceived as relevant issues; •  two large universities provide a wide choice of award bearing courses, diplomas, masters and doctoral programmes. Towards the Learning Profession

48. The school • Special attention given to learning and teaching; • creation of a post for learning and teaching for a senior teacher; • the SMT saw learning and teaching as integral to their development plan. Towards the Learning Profession

49. Approach • The teacher appointed began by engaging with people who wanted to work in learning and teaching - and building a small team - with the aim that it would become infectious - and so engage other staff. Towards the Learning Profession

50. She said: • ‘As a learning community our priority is the pupils, but we also realise they cannot really benefit unless we work on staff development, so in a way we enhance the pupil learning experience through enhancing the skills of the staff which in turn enhances the teaching experience and is a learning experience in itself for them…Learning and Teaching are central to our SDP and the work we do as a result of the SDP results, without a doubt, in improvement.’ Towards the Learning Profession