Five Models of Staff Development

1. Five Models of Staff Development Sparks, Dennis and Loucks-Horsley, Susan(1989). Five Models of Staff Development. Journal of Staff Development. 10 1-26.

2. Five Models of Staff Development • Individually-guided staff development • Observation/assessment • Involvement in a development/improvement process • Training • Inquiry

3. Individually-guided “I have come to feel that the only learning which significantly influences behavior is self-discovered, self-appropriated learning.” Rogers, 1969, p. 153

4. Individually-guided - Defined • A process through which teachers plan for and pursue activities they believe will promote their own learning. • Designed by the teacher • Teacher defined goals and activities

5. Individually-guided - Underlying Assumptions • Individuals can judge their own needs and that they are capable of self direction and self-initiated learning. • Adults learn most efficiently when they initiate and plan their learning rather than spend their time in irrelevant activities of little interest. • Most motivated when they select their own leaning goals based on their personal of their needs.

6. Individually-guided - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Adult learning theory • Kidd (1973) and Knowles (1980) • Increasingly self-directed • Stimulated by real life tasks and problems • Stage Theory • Levine (1989) • Different stages of development have different needs

7. Individually-guided - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Learning styles researchers • Dunn & Dunn (1978); Gregorc (1979) • Individuals differ in the way they process information and in the manner they learn • Concerns-based Adoption Model (CBAM) • Hall & Loucks (1978) • As individuals learn new behaviors and change their practice, they experience different concerns that in turn requires different types of responses from staff developers

8. Individually-guided - Phases of Activity • Identification of need or interest • Develop a plan to meet the need or interest • The learning activity • Assessment of whether the learning meets the identified need or interest.

9. Observation/Assessment “Feedback is the breakfast of champions” Blanchard & Johnson The One Minute Manager

10. Observation/Assessment • Many teachers receive little or no feedback and in some cases they only observed once every three years. • May be a powerful staff development model but is perceived by teachers as evaluation. • In reality other forms such as peer coaching and clinical supervision fall into this category

11. Observation/Assessment - Underlying Assumptions • “Reflection and analysis are central means of professional growth”. Loucks-Horsley (1987, p. 61) • Reflection by an individual on his or her own practice can be enhanced by another’s observation. • Observation and assessment of classroom teachers can benefit both parties – the observer and the observed • When teachers see positive results from their efforts to change they are more apt to engage in improvement

12. Observation/Assessment theoretical and research underpinnings • Teacher Evaluation • McGreal (1982) • Classroom observation plays a key role • Concern about reliability • Two ways to increase reliability • Narrow the range of what to look for (Madeline Hunter) • Use a pre-conference to increase the knowledge of the observer prior to the observation

13. Observation/Assessment - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Clinical Supervision • Glatthorn (1984) • Recommends clinical supervisors (or coaches) alternate unfocused observations with focused observations • Unfocused – observer usually takes verbatim notes on all significant behaviors • Data gathered is used to identify strengths and potential problems that are discussed in a problem-solving feedback conference • Focused – observer gathers data related to identified problem

14. Observation/Assessment - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Clinical supervision • Glickman (1986) • Suggest that feedback be to provided teachers based on cognitive levels. • “low-abstract” receive direct conferences ( problem identification and solution comes from the coach) • “moderate-abstract” receive collaborative conferences (an exchange of perceptions about problems and negotiated solutions) • “high-abstract” receive nondirective approach (coach or supervisor helps the teacher clarify problems and choose a course of action)

15. Observation/Assessment - Phases of Activity • Pre-observation conference • Observation • Analysis of data • Post-observation conference • In some cases, analysis of the observation/assessment process

16. Involvement in a Development/ Improvement Process • Teachers are asked to: • Develop or adapt curriculum • Design programs • Engage in a systematic school improvement • Any or all of these with the focus of improving classroom instruction and/or curriculum. • Successful completion requires the teacher to gain additional knowledge to complete the task. • This model focuses on the combination of learnings that result from the involvement of teacher in the process.

17. Involvement in a Development/ Improvement Process - Underlying Assumptions • Adults learn more easily when they have a need to know or a problem to solve (Knowles, 1980). • People working closest to the job best understand what is required to improve their performance. • Teachers acquire important knowledge or skills through their involvement in school improvement or curriculum development processes.

18. Involvement in a Development/ Improvement Process - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Curriculum Development • Joyce and Showers (1988) • “It has been well established that curriculum implementation is demanding of staff development – essentially, without strong staff development programs that are appropriately designed a very low level of implementation occurs” (p. 44). • Glickman (1987) • Three ways teachers can modify a district’s curriculum guide • Taking lists of objectives and recommended teaching methods and turning them into a set of usable instructional guides • Adapt the guide to students’ special needs • Enhance the guide by developing optional enrichment units.

19. Involvement in a Development/ Improvement Process - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Curriculum Development • Glatthorn • Activities should be done in groups thus teachers will become more cohesive and will share ideas about teaching and learning in general, as well as, on the development task at hand. • School Improvement • Loucks-Horsley and Hergert (1985) • Described seven action steps in a school improvement process that are based in research on implementation of new practices in schools • Cohen (1981) • Research on effective schools underpins an approach to school improvement through staff development

20. Curriculum Development and School Improvement - Phases of Activity • Identification of a problem or need by an individual, a group of teachers, a school faculty, or a district administrator. • Response is formulated • May be formal or informal • Response may be immediate or may require brainstorming sessions • May require consultation with a larger group (i.e., whole faculty) • Specific knowledge or skills may be required • Implement or produce the product

21. Training … the purpose of providing training in any practice is not simply to generate the external visible teaching “moves” that bring that practice to bear in the instructional setting but to generate the conditions that enable the practice to be selected and used appropriately and integratively …a major, perhaps the major, dimension of teaching skill is cognitive in nature Showers, Joyce, and Bennett (1987, p. 85-86)

22. Training • Many educators equate training with staff development • Training session is conducted with a clear set of objectives or learner outcomes that may include • Awareness or knowledge • Skill development

23. Training - Underlying Assumptions • There are behaviors and techniques that are worthy of replication by teachers in the classroom • That teachers can change their behaviors and learn to replicate behaviors in the classroom that were not previously in their repertoire

24. Training - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Training Model • Joyce and Showers (1988) • Depending on the desired outcomes, training might include: • Exploration of theory • Demonstration or modeling of a skill • Practice of a skill under simulated conditions • Feedback about performance • Coaching in the workplace • Combination of components is necessary if the outcome is skill development

25. Training - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Training Model • Sparks • Discussion and peer observation are important as training activities • Loucks-Horsley et al. (1987); Sparks (1983) • Training sessions spaced one or more weeks apart in order to allow for improved comprehension and so teachers have opportunities for classroom practice and peer coaching are shown to be more effective than “one-shot” sessions • Sparks (1983); Wu (1987) and Wood and Kleine (1987) • Point out the value of teachers as trainers of their peers

26. Training - Phases of activity • Involve participants in the planning • Allow for interaction in the training session among peers • After training, in-classroom assistance in the form of peer observation and coaching is critical to the transfer of more complex teaching skills

27. Inquiry “the most effective avenue for professional development is cooperative study by teachers themselves into a problem and issues arising from their attempts to make practice consistent with their educational values…[The approach] aims to give greater control over what is to count as valid educational knowledge to teachers.” (Ingvarson, 1987, p. 15.17)

28. Inquiry • Teacher inquiry may be a solitary activity, be done in small groups, or be conducted by school faculty. • May be formal or informal • May occur in the classroom, at a teacher center, or results from a university class • Research is an important activity in which teachers should be engaged, although they rarely participate in it other than as “subjects.”

29. Inquiry - Underlying Assumptions • Teachers are intelligent, inquiring individuals with legitimate expertise and important experience. • Teachers are inclined to search for data to answer pressing questions and to reflect on the data to formulate solutions. • Teachers will develop new understanding as they formulate their questions and collect their own data to answer them. (Loucks-Horsley et al., 1987)

30. Inquiry - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Inquiry-oriented teachers • Dewey (1933) • Need for teachers to take a “reflective action.” • Zeichner (1983) • Advocacy for “teachers as action researchers,” “teacher scholars.” “teacher innovators,” “self-monitoring teachers,” and “teachers as participant observers.”

31. Inquiry - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Interactive research • Tikunoff (1983) • Interactive research and development promotes inquiry into the questions they are asking through close work with researchers (who help with methodology) and staff developers (who help with the creation of ways of sharing their results with others). • Lieberman (1986) • Teachers server on collaborative teams pursuing answers to schoolwide rather than classroom problems • Watts (1985) • Role of collaborative research, classroom action research, and teacher support groups in encouraging teacher inquiry. • Sparks (1985) • Use of action research to help teachers better relate research on teaching to their unique classrooms.

32. Inquiry - Theoretical and Research Underpinnings • Action Research • Glickman (1986) • Advocates action research in the form of quality circles, problem-solving groups, and school improvement projects as a means to develop teacher thought. • Cross (1987) • Proposed classroom research as a means to evaluate their own teaching • Glatthorn (1987) • Action research by teams of teachers as a peer-centered option for promoting professional growth.

33. Inquiry - Phases of Activity • Identify a problem • Explore ways of collecting data that may range from existing theoretical and research literature to gathering original classroom or school data • Analyze and interpret these data • Changes are made and new data are gathered to determine the effects of the intervention