DEVELOPING TEACHER COMPETENCE AND PERFORMANCE

1. DEVELOPING TEACHER COMPETENCE AND PERFORMANCE MICHELLE MATHEY JET EDUCATION SERVICES 20 MAY 2011

2. Outline of presentation JET’s systemic school improvement model Aspects underpinning JET’s teacher development model Conceptualisation of Teacher competence and performance interventions Rapid Baseline and annual diagnostic tests (FET) Findings and comments Conclusion

3. SYSTEMIC SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT MODEL

4. CONSIDERATIONS UNDERPINNING TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AT JET • NATIONAL POLICY • Norms and Standards for educators( Roles; Applied competences) • Integrated strategic planning framework for Teacher education and development in South Africa • TEACHER DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND RESEARCH • TEACHER ASSESSMENTS – NEEDS BASED DESIGN • SYSTEMIC ISSUES

5. Beeby’s(1962) hierarchical model of development

6. NEEDS ANALYSIS : RAPID BASELINE ASSESSMENT TESTS (FET) and ANNUAL DIAGNOSTICS Area of cognitive skill: basic conceptual knowledge, comprehension , application and problem solving. level of cognitive demand,: easy, medium or difficult. Test questions drawn from seven Knowledge Areas of EFAL : reading for understanding and comprehension, summary writing, visual literacy, Language and editing, unseen poetry, prescribed poetry and creative writing. Advantages of these tests : Individual knowledge areas needing intervention and support identified ; focussed training and support .

7. RAPID BASELINE ASSESSMENT TESTS (FET): ENGLISH AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESULTS RBAT 1 EFAL Project 1 : 8 teachers : 49% - 72% Project 2 : 15 teachers: 49% - 81%

8. Causal analysis framework Needs analysis (Subject knowledge tests; Classroom observation schedules; Interviews; analysis of learner results) Dosage of interventions required for optimal success Design of training materials (subject content & classroom practice) Monitoring ( Annual Intervention Diagnostic tests ; P and O component External review of intervention - reiterations of intervention based on changing needs.

9. JET’S TEACHER DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTUAL MODEL SUBJECTKNOWLEDGE CLASSROOM PRACTICE Methodologies; Assessment; Mediation of learning; Management; Enabling environment; Lesson planning; Curriculum coverage/time on task Content knowledge; Assessment; acceptable language proficiency Communities of practice Book clubs Subject/ learning clusters

10. Some findings • One size definitely does not fit all. • Interventions are dynamic , responsive and long term. • Systemic school improvement model lends itself to sustainable , long term results • District and other stakeholder collaboration is paramount for advocacy and accountability. • Teacher results: • Holistic approach ( incorporating personal, emotional, professional and academic needs) achieves better results. • Challenges : heavy workloads; poor resources; insufficient advisory support.

11. Comments from trainers “I am impressed by the level of commitment of the teachers. They all involved themselves in the workshops very actively, and are clearly very eager to improve their subject knowledge and their ability to teach it, despite adverse working conditions.” “Teachers have clearly never been shown how to introduce concepts in a simple manner using experimental evidence as a starting point. They seemed to benefit from the modelling of this skill”. “Teacher X has shown an eagerness to learn and grow in his own knowledge of the subject, which has contributed to the positive impact of the intervention on his own knowledge of the subject.”

12. There is an angle to reform; the trick is not to make it too sharp or too flat.Wayne Hugo