Chapter 1
Effective professional development
The internal and external environment
What is professional development?
In the United Kingdom (UK), a plethora of policy-driven initiatives, including the prescription of standards, enhanced self-management opportunities, organisational restructuring, professional development of staff and statutory interventions such as literacy developments, have underlain recent pressure and support by central government intended to raise the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms and, hence, standards in schools and colleges. Given that effective teachers are key determinants of successful learning, it is not surprising that some government initiatives have been directed at the management of teachersâ performance and at supporting them in their professional development. Teachers are required to be competent in practice having mastered a body of knowledge. It is reasonable to assume that over time additional professional development inputs will be required to maintain the required professionalism. Professional development is regarded as an essential component in maintaining and advancing individual personal and professional abilities (see Friedman and Phillips, 2001).
For many teachers in the UK, professional development commences with initial teacher training, and in schools continues into the Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) induction year. Teachers then engage with professional development activities, perhaps by necessity or perhaps by desire, throughout their career. Within the context of initial teacher training for schools, mentoring has become a familiar educational term in the UK. There is a rich literature concerning the role of the Higher Education Institution (HEI) tutor and related school-based mentor support during initial teacher training (see Hayes, 1999; Smith, 2000; Hopper, 2001). This literature shows that HEI tutors have important responsibilities with respect to the trainee teacherâs placement school, the development and assessment of the trainee, and the development of school-based mentors who act as role models, support and encourage the trainee, offer feedback and assess the trainee against prescribed standards.
There is also a rich literature associated with the school-based mentoring activities of induction tutors during the NQT induction year (see DfEE, 1999; TTA, 1999, 2001; Bleach, 1999, 2000; Bubb, 2000, 2001; Hayes, 2000). NQT induction tutors in schools need to be fully aware of induction arrangements, possess the skill and knowledge to be able to make judgements against prescribed standards and to be capable of providing effective support for the NQT. However, it is not only at the early stages of a professional career in teaching that the support of a mentor may be required. For example, experienced staff in either schools or colleges may need the support of a mentor at the start of a new post. In this case, the mentoring relationship is likely to take the form of a sensitively managed partnership designed to enable new staff to quickly adopt the working practices of the new institution and bring their own skills to bear as soon as possible (see Fabian and Simpson, 2002).
Although professional development during initial teacher training, during the NQT induction period and for staff commencing in new posts is of great importance, this text is concerned primarily with the professional development of teachers in schools and colleges who are established in their present posts, are experienced, and either seek to engage in or are required to engage in professional learning. Professional development in this context has often been referred to as continuing professional development (CPD). It is well established that the continuing professional development of teachers is regarded as essential in creating effective educational organisations and in raising the standards of learner achievement (see Kydd et al., 1997; OâBrien and MacBeath, 1999; Moon, 2000). For example, professional development has been associated with improving classroom performance, engaging with opportunities created by change initiatives, preparing teachers for specialist roles within the organisation, preparing teachers for roles in management and leadership, and enabling the sharing of good practices through networking arrangements. Professional development has been defined in Learning and Teaching: A Strategy for Professional Development (DfES, 2001a) as: âany activity that increases the skills, knowledge or understanding of teachers, and their effectiveness in schools.â
Activity 1.1
How are your personal and professional needs identified?
The following diagram depicts a possible professional development cycle:
- How are your personal and professional needs identified?
- How could these be improved?
- Are sufficient learning opportunities available to you?
- How could these be improved?
- Are there barriers within the organisation which make it difficult to express your learning in the classroom?
- How could this be improved?
- Are you able to reflect on and evaluate changes to your practice resulting from professional learning?
- How could this be improved?
How do teachers acquire professional knowledge?
Gains in professional knowledge may be generated in a number of different ways. For example, teachers may find that they acquire professional knowledge by attending courses, or they may generate knowledge through their own experience of teaching. Alternatively, they may acquire knowledge through collaboration and discourse with other teachers either from the same or from other organisations.
With respect to knowledge acquisition, Sugrue (2002), drawing on the work of Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999), suggests that three broad conceptualisations as points on a continuum are identifiable in the teacher continuing professional development literature:
- Knowledge for practice
Teachers engage with instruction and bring back âbest practicesâ generated by researchers which can be applied within their own practice. This equates broadly to âcourseâ attendance on the part of teachers. - Knowledge in practice
Teachers themselves generate âbest practicesâ and modify their own practices accordingly. This implies reflective practice on the part of teachers either individually or as part of a group and suggests that the parent organisation is able to sustain at least some characteristics of a learning community. - Knowledge of practice
Teachers are active in their own learning, and are engaged in enquiry and the construction of new insights through collaborative learning in groups, communities and networks.
Activity 1.2
Gaining professional knowledge
How does your organisation enable staff to gain:
- Knowledge for practice?
- Knowledge in practice?
- Knowledge of practice?
- Which kind of knowledge acquisition is best supported?
- Which kind of knowledge acquisition is least well supported?
- How could this be improved?
An organisational climate for professional development
The establishment of a climate in which open networking between colleagues enables mutual support and reflection to take place has been shown to be an important element in the effective management of school professional development cultures (see Law and Glover, 1996). However, not all schools benefit from the presence of such a climate (see Law, 1999). In educational organisations, leadership and management teams should consider whether staff collaboration is facilitated or hindered by the professional development culture they have created. For example, Williams et al. (2001) point out that support and development accorded to newly qualified teachers is of a much higher order in schools where the culture is one of collaboration when compared to schools with cultures denoted by individualism.
Organisational leadership and management exercises significant influence on teacher professional development. For example, a study by Bredeson and Johansson (2000) identified four areas where school principals have the opportunity to effect a substantial impact on teacher learning:
- The principal as an instructional leader and learner;
- The creation of a learning environment;
- Direct involvement in the design, delivery and content of professional development;
- The assessment of professional development outcomes.
In order that school leadership and management teams may create cultures which link teacher professional development more firmly to the achievement of objectives, a system of performance management came into statutory force in September 2000 for schools in England. The performance management framework (see DfEE, 2000a, b) leads teachers to expect a focus upon the improvement of their knowledge and skills, and also offers financial reward for those who are deemed to be performing well. Performance management may be viewed as an important element in raising professional standards or as an element of governmental intervention to exact greater efficiency, effectiveness and accountability (see Down et al., 1999; Gleeson and Husbands, 2001).
In essence, performance management is meant to identify teacher strengths and weaknesses with respect to addressing performance targets set so that development needs are identified and recognised. However, doubts have been raised concerning the management of teacher performance in this way, since as teaching practices take time to develop, requiring reflection on experience rather than being amenable to rapid change through the direct intervention of performance management mechanisms (see Silcock, 2002). Feedback on performance management from schools in England has revealed the following:
- The emotional climate of an organisation is important in effecting improvement. Highly motivated staff are likely to drive up performance.
- The approach of current performance management arrangements does not connect with the learning of some teachers and simply brings about âperforming for the managementâ.
- There is a linkage between staff relationships based upon mutual respect, collaboration and consultation and which involve a âfeel-goodâ factor, and the high levels of intrinsic motivation leading to the use of initiative and a desire on the part of staff to achieve high-quality work.
- Where performance management is a âbolt-onâ activity, it has little impact upon learner progress, the performance of staff or the overall achievement of the organisation.
Activity 1.3
Emotional climate and performance management
- Rate the emotional climate of your organisation on a scale from 1 (low) to 10 (high). What factors tend to drive this up? What factors tend to drive this down?
- Rate the relationship of your access to professional development with your performance management or appraisal arrangements on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). What factors tend to drive this up? What factors tend to dr...
