Teacher Journey (part 2) - Career-Long Professional Learning through Practitioner Enquiry

The Career-Long Professional Learning standard is an aspirational standard that challenges practitioners to signpost their professional learning in a way that is unique to them. The CLPL, alongside the Standard for Registration and the Standard for Leadership and Management are all underpinned by the themes of values, sustainability and leadership, and can be used throughout a teachers’ career to support their professional learning.

The OECD (2105) report describes the CLPL standard as supporting practitioners to develop “decisional capital”, which is the “deliberate development of judgement and expertise over time” through a commitment to continual professional learning, informed by their own practice and research. Teachers make judgements on a minute by minute basis, these judgements have their basis in ‘new, unique and concrete situations’ and should be considered through the lens of impact on student outcomes. The appropriateness of what and how teachers teach and organise the learning is important, not only for the immediate impact but also the long term impact on learning. All of these pragmatic judgements brings into question the ‘what works’ agenda, where evidence based strategies ‘tell’ teachers what they should do but unless critically viewed, they can discount that situation of the student and their need to learn content with purpose but also this happens through the relationship between pupil and teacher.. ‘What works’ can be considered as a process and practice, rather than communication and encounter and does not take into consideration ‘what works’ for whom, where and when.

Through the application of the CLPL standard practitioners are challenged to reframe the agenda and shape the notion of what a ‘good teacher’ is in Scotland. As there is no consensus in the literature around what makes a ‘good teacher’, the GTCS Standards provide teachers with a framework to move towards an agreed definition in Scotland as to the values, knowledge, skills and abilities that we, as the teaching profession, think makes a ‘good teacher’. This evolving concept of what it is to be a ‘good teacher’ requires teachers to be “active agents in their own professional worlds” Sachs (2003). Being an ‘active agent’ or ‘activist’ a term coined by Sachs, (2003) requires teachers to work collaboratively and take risks. The professional learning undertaken by teachers as they evolve into enquiry practitioners must be part of a learning journey, where opportunities to work together and to ask questions of their own practice and indeed the practice of others, needs to be promoted and supported. This is high on the agenda for Scottish education and must remain so if we are to be true to the aspiration of a learning profession, but where so often as Sachs (2003) states “student learning is a goal, the continuing learning of teachers is often overlooked”.  Although there is not consensus, Sachs (2003) argues that undertaking practitioner enquiry can “act as an important source of teacher and academic professional renewal and development”. Practitioner enquiry as part of a teacher professional learning journey can be planned for and undertaken to support professional growth.

Practitioner enquiry is seen as a vehicle to promote research by supporting teachers to engage with theory, policy and practice within their own local environment and is congruent with the act of ‘becoming’. It should lead to deep transformative learning which significantly informs and influences a professionals’ understanding, practice and impact on pupil experiences. Hargreaves (1999) argues that schools and teachers should be knowledge creators, thus accepting teachers as researchers. This point is echoed by Darling-Hammond and Sykes (1999:256) who state that

“the classroom and the school occupy a crucial place in teachers’ professional growth. It matters how the school organises and promotes teacher’ work and teacher learning”. 

The purpose of any research activity should be related to increasing skills, knowledge or practice of the teacher but also linked to improved outcomes for learners. Linking teacher learning to student outcomes is a way to promote and engage educators in research through practitioner enquiry, Timperley et al (2009) states  “[if] teachers can gain an understanding of what it is they need to learn to improve outcomes for students and have a compelling reason to engage” in practitioner enquiry.

Practitioner enquiry as a form of professional learning, allows teachers the space to engage with research and create their own knowledge, which is very pertinent to their students in their situation. Even more powerful yet is being part of an enquiring community, where all data and evidence is given consideration and the reliance on test scores and ‘what works’ is included but critically reviewed to establish the best path for the establishment, at that time, to support student learning. When a community becomes an enquiring community it opens up the possibility to challenge assumptions, to articulate values, to ask questions of their practice and to form partnerships with academics to engage in theory and research to further enhance the life chances of their students.

So through practitioner enquiry as a means of professional learning, practitioners can address the needs of their own learning so than they can better support student attainment and achievement.

References

Darling-Hammond, L. Sykes, G. (eds) (1999) Teaching as the Learning Profession; Handbook of Policy and Practice. Jossey-Bass. San Fransisco

Hargreaves, D. (1999) The Knowledge-Creating School. British Journal; of educational Studies, 47(2), 122-144

Improving Schools in Scotland: An OECD Perspective (2015)

http://www.oecd.org/edu/Improving-Schools-in-Scotland-An-OECD-Perspective.pdf

Accessed last : 16 February 2016

Sachs, J. (2003) The Activist Teaching Profession. Open University Press

Timperley, H.S. Parra, J.M. Bertanees, C.  (2009)  Promoting professional inquiry for improved outcomes for students in New Zealand Professional Development in Education Volume 35, Issue 2 pp227-245)  

Teacher Journey (Part 1) -Teacher Professionalism

Teacher professionalism, being professional or being part of a profession are widely used in literature and policy statements in Scotland. However, have we as a ’profession’ ever stopped the think what does this means? Do we all have a similar definition? Or are there distinct and competing definitions? The discourse around professionalism is not helpful as there is also contention in the literature around the meaning of ‘profession’ and ‘professionalism’, it is acknowledged by Kennedy, Barlow & Macgregor that these concepts are “multifaceted”  and “contested” ( (2012:4).

Here are some definitions of professional.

From Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

The competence or skill expected of a professional or the practising of an activity, especially a sport, by professional rather than amateur players.

The Australian Council of Professionals 2004

A profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and uphold themselves to, and are accepted by, the public as possessing special knowledge and skills in widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others

Business Dictionary

Person formally certified by a professional body of belonging to a specific profession by virtue of having completed a required course of study and/or practice. A person whose competence can usually be measured against an established set of standards or a person who has achieved an acclaimed level of proficiency in a calling or trade.

So, “Is professionalism a ‘thing’ or is it a process? I would argue that it has meaning in both descriptions. The ‘thing’ as a static element for me would be the suite of standards held by GTCS for all practitioners in Scotland. In addition, the Code of Professionalism and Conduct which outlines the characteristics and code of conduct which the individual complies with, to uphold to the status of themselves as a credible professional and also the profession in holistic terms, in the sense of what ‘we’ stand for and this is how ‘we’ behave.

Next, a question asked by Kennedy, Barlow & Macgregor (2012:4) “Is professionalism owned by individual professionals or is it owned by the entire occupational group?” Again I would argue that this is a false dichotomy and the real answer lies within both the individual and the collective. Teachers have a responsibility to meet expected standards, set by themselves but this must also be within the realms of what is perceived to be acceptable within the ‘profession’ and the public as stated in the definition from the Australian Council of Professionals (above).

Finally, Kennedy, Barlow & Macgregor(2012:4)  also posed this question “Is professionalism something that provides strength, identity and a moral compass for an occupational group or is it something that can be used on or against the professional group as a means of exerting external influence and control?” The idea of a moral compass, is idealistic but does chime with the ideal of vocational purpose which is often aligned with teaching. The second part of the definition is more about a control mechanism, where the use of the term ‘professionalism’ has become a tool to shape education policy.

Models of professionalism

Sachs (2001) distinction of professionalism, which was then extended by Whitty (2008), discussed a “spectrum” of professionalism with the polar extremes being managerial and democratic. Whitty (2008) extended this to a four model structure;

TRADITIONAL

The traditional model is discussed as being more led by a list of characteristics and a code of conduct.

MANAGERIAL

The managerial model as discussed by Kennedy, Barlow & Macgregor involves professionalism being used as a means of “control over teacher behaviour” (2012:3) There is an expectation of “compliance”, and professionalism is measured using targets with business influenced criteria, led by “externally imposed concept and accountability” (Kennedy, Barlow & Macgregor, 2012).

DEMOCRATIC

Democratic professionalism is described as being the “enactment of principle of equality and social justice” (Kennedy, Barlow & Macgregor, 2012)an internal autonomy model which is “critical, politically engaged and [a] proactive attempt to promote social justice through professional actions”

Each model has its own strengths and issues dependant on whose lens you are using to scrutinise them.

COLLABORATIVE

The final model is the Collaborative model in which Whitty (2008) talks about “the growing emphasis on inter-professional working”.

The Scottish Context

The challenge for education profession is that teacher identity in Scotland is currently being re-conceptualized.  A new kind of professionalism is evolving which Evetts (2012) describes as a ‘hybrid professionalism’, encompassing the professional wish for empowerment, innovation and autonomy but recognizes the public interest need for quality assurance and accountability. This involves teachers as practitioners becoming more research enriched and engaging in enquiry, which can lead to transformative learning and is congruent with the act of ‘becoming’, Sachs (2003). By offering guidance on practitioner enquiry GTCS supports the Cochrane-Smith & Lyttle (2009) disposition of ‘enquiry as stance’ where GTCS challenges practitioners to question their practice and adopt an ‘critical habit of mind”.

From a presentation delivered at the ICSEI conference in Glasgow 2016, Finn discussed a good professional;

Delivers a good service to those who rely on their professionalism and....on their skills, knowledge and expertise being up to date and relevant to their need.

Professional practices involves more than just delivering what the ‘client’ thinks they want. It goes beyond delivery as the professional also influences and to some extent shapes the client expectation. The client/professional relationship creates a transactional basis to the relationship and becomes more accountability driven rather than values based. Biesta (2010) argues that we have moved into a bureaucratic rather than democratic culture of accountability systems where we come to value what we can easily measure, data, rather than measuring what we really value, learning.

Finally we can refer to a list of characteristics adapted from Burbules and Dennison (1991) by Finn & Hamilton (2012) to help us to identify what we may mean by a teaching professional in 2016.

A teaching professional will;

• o    have clearly defined practical and theoretical knowledge
• o    have professional autonomy and accountability
• o    prioritisation of service to others before economic benefits
• o    be commitment to keep learning and improving throughout a career
• o    have aspirations towards optimal learning performance
• o    collaborate with other professionals

 So I would say we that we haven’t got to an agreed working definition yet, but perhaps with Teacher Professionalism as a key driver within the National Improvement Framework, we as a ‘profession’ have an opportunity to define what we mean by professionalism and the values that underpin our contribution to young people’s lives in Scotland.

Bibliography

Biesta, G.J.J.  (2010) Good Education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy: Boulder and London: Paradigm

Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S.L. (2009) Inquiry as Stance: practitioner Research for the Next Generation, New York:Teachers College Press

Evetts, J. (2012) Professionalism in Turbulent time: Changes, Chellenges and opportunties Keynote Presentation to professional Practice and Learning (proPEL) Conference, University of Stirling 9 may 2012 http://www.propel.stir.ac.uk/downloads/JuliaEvetts-FullPaper.pdf

Kennedy, A. Barlow, W. MacGregor, J. (2012) ‘Advancing Professionalism in Teaching’? An exploration of the mobilisation of the concept of professionalism in the McCormac Report on the Review of Teacher Employment in Scotland, Scottish Education Review 44 (2) 3-13

Sachs, J. (2001) Teacher professional identity: competing discourses, competing outcomes. Journal of Education Policy, 16(2), 149-161.

Sachs, J. (2003) The Activist Teaching Profession, Buckingham : Open University Press.

Whitty, G. (2008) Changing modes of teacher professionalism: traditional, managerial, collaborative and democratic. In: B. Cunningham, ed. Exploring Professionalism: 28-49. London: Institute of Education, University of London.

Scottish Attainment Challenge – support for practitioners

The Education Scotland website has a range of support information to help practitioners to engage with the Scottish Attainment Challenge through the National Hub. The National Hub support practitioners with information, blogs and social media and through an online community. The research and evidence pages within the Scottish Attainment Challenge area of the website aims to help practitioner engage with current research by supporting the “effective translation of knowledge into action within the Scottish Education system”.

Two research briefing papers have been produced both focus on ‘closing the gap’. The first research briefing paper was published in November 2015 and is entitled “Differentiated Learning in Numeracy and Mathematics”, the second was published earlier this month and discusses “Early Reading”. The research briefings were created using current thinking and literature and are intended to be used as a useful starting point for further research by practitioners. Here, I will give a brief summary of each research briefing paper.

Differentiated Learning in Numeracy and Mathematics (November 2015)

Differentiation provides a means to try to ‘close the gap’ in numeracy and mathematics, however, practitioners need to take cognisance of social factors as well as academic attainment. The impact of socio-economic factors on students attainment and achievement is complex, but as an education system, we need to, “view children and families living in poverty in terms of their possibility and promise rather than their deficiencies” (Ciuffetelli Parker, 2015). Heacox (2002) described differentiated learning as “one dimension of equitable teaching” which can be used to alleviate disengagement and reduce barriers to education, thus helping to ‘close the gap’.

Differentiation is not a single approach but provides a foundation on which all teachers can develop multiple starting points and learning journeys for their learners. Effective teachers differentiate through a variety of different strategies to meet the needs of their learners and involves teachers adapting the learning and teaching, and assessment strategies. These strategies can include making changes to accommodate learners needs by differentiating learning through changes to content, modification of process, or adapting the learning environment to meet the needs of all students’. Differentiation, effective assessment and monitoring of students progress are paramount in supporting teachers make professional judgements about the learners’ progress and next steps in their learning journey.

The challenge for teachers and schools remain the same for every change in practice; time, skills and resources. It has been argued that the time spent on differentiation, supports student learning and thus alleviates the need for interventions later in the students’ school career. Teachers need to be supported through strong leadership and high quality professional learning, including collaborative working in order to make improvements to support student outcomes and ‘close the gap’.

Early Reading (February 2016)

In ‘closing the gap’ in reading, it is important to acknowledge that this is a complex issue. Research has consistently reported that children from more disadvantaged backgrounds find reading more difficult and that this gap can be identified in pre-school children (Buckingham et al., 2014). Further evidence suggests that parental education and the influences of home learning (Hartas, 2013) also have a substantial impact on the gap between the readiness of children to become readers.

In order to become a successful reader, children must learn a number of interconnected skills. Hattie (2007) offers the ‘five pillars’ of good reading to be phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The Education Endowment Foundation (2015a) suggests that it is more important to match the strategy for learning phonics to the needs of the individual than having a blanket approach to teaching phonics. This research also suggests that for young readers a phonic based approach, as part of a balanced reading programme, gives the most effective learning experiences for children.

Ellis (2015) noted, that there are a number of factors that can support disadvantaged students to become better readers. These include challenging classroom environments and learning opportunities that promote literacy and match pupil’s needs. To help reduce the attainment gap, students’ need to have high quality learning and teaching experiences and to be supported by targeted programmes or one to one support as and when required.

In conclusion, ‘closing the gap’ is very challenging and complex. All learning relies on high quality learning and teaching but within the Scottish Attainment Challenge there is a particular focus on learners from more disadvantages backgrounds. Practitioners need to ensure that they are delivering high quality learning and teaching opportunities, that engage students and that they have the skills and resources to do so. Practitioners also have to undertake regular effective monitoring of individual progress and to make professional judgements about the support each pupil needs in order to help them be successful learners.

Both research briefing papers can be found here:

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inclusionandequalities/sac/nationalhubforscottishattainmentchallenge/research/researchbriefings.asp