acel conference 2011 the succession challenge [email protected]
TRANSCRIPT
The challenge
Developing, sustaining and growing great teacher leaders for quality schools and student learning
…………………
Great teacher leaders should be considering designing and delivering effective whole school PD programs
PD at your school
• Use a metaphor to describe the teacher professional development approach or program at your school
Metaphors: The PD program at my school can be described as:-
• a waterfall – continuous and effective• an early morning ocean swim – invigorating and exhilarating• a Picasso – creative and energising• a retreat – deep , meaningful and transformative• a bomb car – stops and starts, but we get there in the end• a kaleidoscope – multi facetted and interesting but possibly
with no central goal or articulated purpose• a pop – up cake – not over planned and never quite know
what you may get – but it is fun finding out• a rocket – lots of bang for your buck, but fizzes out in the end• a person running for the train – happens at the last minute,
but we usually get there on time
Teacher professional learning
Identified in the literature as critical to:-
•quality teaching which has a direct impact on enhancing student learning outcomes
(Rowe, 2003; Hattie, 2007; Dinham, 2008)•building and maintaining effective schools as learning communities
(Ewing, 2006; Aubusson, 2009)•Developing teachers as leaders in learning
(Darling-Hammond, 2006; Dinham, 2008)
Effective schools literature
Top three results in effective schools research according to:-
Dinham and Rowe (Aust.)
Hattie and Timperley (N.Z.)
Schools which have:-• Leadership which builds learning community
culture• Effective teacher professional learning• Teachers who manage their classes well
Teacher learning matters
• The teacher is the determining factor in student learning outcomes (Dinham, 2008)
• Teacher professional growth is paramount for student learning (Hattie, 2003)
• The ability of an organisation to learn is dependent on the capacity of key individuals to learn and grow
(Senge et al, 2000)
Teacher learning matters
• Wright, Horn & Sanders (1997) “The most important factor affecting student learning is the teacher. The immediate and clear implication of this finding is that seemingly more can be done to improve education by improving the effectiveness of teachers more than by any other single factor”
• Timperley (2007) Studies show that “there are substantive student outcomes associated with teacher learning and development”
• Borko(2004) Teacher professional development is “essential to efforts to improve our schools”
How do teachers learn?
Australian Government Mapping of Teacher Learning Report (2008) states that there is no agreement about an overarching definition for professional learning practices, nor for what constitutes successful teacher learning in the current literature.
Your school
• How do teachers learn at your school?
Examples of teacher learning
Plenty of examples of teacher learning (as there would be at your school):-•Collaboratively, through feedback from students and teachers, informal collegial conversation, action learning style projects, lesson observations, reflection, reading and writing, post grad courses, experimentation, specialist speakers, workshops•The literature leans toward recommending planned, well organised, sustained experiences and less through “one off” in services•Not much on how they learn across their career continuum in the context of school culture on specific school sites (case studies)
Coalescing factors:teacher learning: school context
Teacher learning literature:- •Not keeping up with the effective schools literature•Not keeping up with the adult learning literature – more information on the impact of teacher learning on individuals, personally or professionally and how this relates to school effectiveness would be beneficial•Salient features of teacher PD are emerging (mostly as a result of research not focussed on this area) but they are not necessarily based on research of how teachers learn•There is growing mention that teachers learn effectively within the context of the environments in which they teach – their schools •Actual school case studies of teacher learning in schools are scarce
An interest in the career continuum of teachers is emerging:-•Accreditation frameworks have been developed and are being implemented based on career continuum definitions of teachers and associated levels of development•Studies on how teachers learn across the career continuum are usually focussed on one point, rather than all levels •Difficult to find ongoing case studies which studied teacher learning on school sites across the career continuum from early career through to Principal•Little concentrated research on the best delivery practice of professional development for teachers•The assumption seems to be that teachers readily learn effectively as professionals at all points in their career development within the context of their schools in a way which improves their practice
Coalescing factorsteacher learning:career continuum
What does your school say?
About:-
•your teachers?•teacher learning?•teacher professional growth? •School based professional development program?•Teachers and their career continuum and how this may effect both their learning and inform the PD program at your school?
At THGS: teachers are considered to be leaders in learning = school effectiveness
Hattie (2003) “It is what teachers know, do and care about which is very powerful in this (student learning) learning equation”(2003)
Rowe (2003) “The quality of teaching and learning provision are by far the most salient influences on students’ cognitive, effective and behavioral outcomes of schooling”
Dinham (2008) “The teacher is the most major in-school influence on student achievement”
Professional learning @THGS
• Strategically developed based on identified goals and staff professional learning needs
• Contextualised within the vision and core values of the school
• Emerges out of, and then enriches the learning community culture
• Is aligned with accreditation and draws upon a career continuum approach
• Supports the core programs of the school – academic, pastoral and co - curricular
Staff goals informing PL and PD approaches, practices and programs
• 2A: Build staff capacity to respond to growing needs and expectations of students and parents.
• 2B. Develop and value staff capability and nurture their skills, resourcefulness and creativity to change and improve the School.
• 2C. Engender a spirit of research and enquiry in order to develop staff capacity to lead, innovate and improve
• 2D. Recruit and retain the highest quality staff.• 2E. Challenge staff to undertake professional
learning which provides access to world best practice in teaching and enables them to be recognised as educational leaders.
THGS 2010 program
Courses and Presenters Contents
• THGS Collegial Conversations
• ICT Integration Training
• Learning Enrichment Sessions
• Mental Health Matters Program
• Consultant Presentations
• THGS/UTS Tailored PD Sessions and Special Projects
• Faculty/Stage Consultancy Program
Mentoring program
• An integral factor of our professional learning program
• Relates to strategic goals for staff• Is embedded in our practice• Is utilized in both professional learning and
accreditation processes• Relates directly to Elements 6 and 7 (Professional
Commitment)• Three levels of mentoring in the school that relate
to the career continuum
PhD research – How teachers learn across the career continuum in the context of
their schools
.Research on:-•Teacher learning•Across the career continuum•On school sites (case study approach)•Will involve a review of professional learning according to teachers, leadership and school policy/documentation
Validated by the literature from educational leadership, teacher development, teacher professional development, effective schools, schools as learning communities, adult learning and organisational change
Outcomes
Better understanding of:-• How teachers learn according to their career stage/development and how this effects their practice•The impact that school planning and delivery of professional development has on the learning of teachers along the career continuum•Teacher accreditation standards frameworks and their impact on teacher learning•The possibilities of using a career stage professional development approach for teacher learning in school contexts
Does your school want to be involved in the case study research?
Over the semester, at times that suit the volunteer teachers and the school, each teacher would participate in:-•One 45 minute “chat” with Chris Furner about your learning and what you think about teacher learning. Open ended questions are used in a relaxed setting•One 40 minute focus group “chat” with colleagues from your school about how teachers learn in the context of the school•One 20 minute survey
• Refreshing chance to talk about themselves and their learning journey
• Afterwards, the chance to reflect upon and ponder their learning and teaching, and form thoughts and plans for their own learning
• Increased morale and collegiality at their school• Satisfaction in contributing to research which could
assist themselves, their colleagues, school and students, as well as the broader national and international teaching profession
(All input is totally anonymous and confidential)
Benefits for teachers
Benefits to their school
• School leadership is supported in their efforts to improve the school for both their teachers and students
• The school learning community culture is edified• The school will receive a report which can assist
the community together to continue with a conversation about professional learning and teacher development programs
• The school will have access to benchmarking tools to assist them to self-evaluate and monitor their teacher learning resources and initiatives
• Access to the final report and recommendations
Benefits: school PD benchmarking
• Strategic alignment• Resource allocation• PD content• Implementation• Career continuum learning• Accreditation processes• Teacher collaboration• School leadership in PL• School culture• Evaluation process
Benefits: future research
• Contribution to the literature and emerging interests in effective schools, teacher career continuums, leadership for learning, schools as learning communities, delivery of effective, contextualised professional learning on school sites
• Could lead to trialling a career continuum teacher learning methodology approach to the delivery of professional learning
• Could lead to trialling the use of a career continuum approach to evaluate teacher professional learning programs in schools
• benchmarking
Contact to discuss the possibility of being involved in this research
Chris Furner (conducting the research)
Or 96545327
Norman McCulla (Macquarie Uni PhD supervisor)
Or 98508650
Conclusions
• Teacher learning is integral to developing, sustaining and growing great teacher leaders for quality schools and student learning (ACEL Conference Focus)
• Great teacher leaders need to be informed about and drive teacher learning and professional development programs in their schools – at macro and micro level
• At present we don’t know enough about how teachers learn along their career continuum in the context of their unique schools, to enable us to design, develop and deliver school based PD programs confidently to all teachers across the career continuum, contextualised to the school and the particular mix of teacher learning stages/needs on that site
• If we knew more we would be in a better position to shape it…..