School based professional development to support the implementation of the New National Curricula – Issues for considera

1. School based professional development to support the implementation of the New National Curricula – Issues for consideration Professor Tony Townsend Chair of Public Service, Educational Leadership and Management Department of Educational Studies, University of Glasgow Pedagogical Institute Cyprus March 2012, 2010

2. Our Task today • How do we support teachers in the implementation of the new curriculum through professional development? • How do we monitor whether or not this professional development is working? • How do we evaluate whether or not the implementation has been successful?

3. THE CHANGE CONTEXT THE BIG PICTURE: THE CHANGE CONTEXT

4. Peter Drucker People born in the 1980s and 1990s cannot even imagine the world into which their parents were born.

5. The S (Sigmoid) Curve (Handy 2004) A - when an innovation is first introduced, it takes time for it to be accepted by people B - once it starts to be accepted it is easier for others to start using it too C - most people are now using the innovation, and it has changed how we see the world D - eventually all thing start to decline. We get bored with them, or do other things…OR E - we start using a new innovation that replaces the one we had, and the cycle starts again C E D B A

6. THE PACE AND FLOW OF CHANGE

8. How quickly things change How many things as you can think of in the next 2 minutes that a 15 year old can do or experience today that you could not do or experience when you were 15.

9. Make a list Categories of change Technology Environment Health Wealth Employment Society/Population Culture Relationships Values Education

10. The Surgeon and the Teacher...the impact of change

11. “In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” Eric Hoffer, 1995

12. We are preparing young people for jobs that don’t yet exist… requiring technologies that haven’t yet been invented… to solve problems of which we are not yet aware.

13. And even more difficult…. We should be helping them to lead purposeful and fulfilled lives… in circumstances changing at unprecedented and accelerating speed…. in ways that affect custom and belief as well as material surroundings.

14. So what does this mean? • The students we are teaching today see the world differently to the way in which we see it. They learn new things in entirely different ways than we did. We might even say they are a completely different species to us. • If we teach them the way in which we were taught ourselves there will be a mismatch between our teaching and their learning. • Implementing a new curriculum by teaching it in the same way we taught the old curriculum will lessen its chance of being successful.

15. THE NEW CURRICULUM: AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAIN POINTS

16. The New Curriculum Philosophy • Development of Greek culture and a national, religious and cultural identity. • Creation of a national, religious and cultural identity and development of self-esteem, learning simultaneously to respect the different characteristics of the identities of others. • Provision for the support of the development of identities for students from other countries

17. The Democratic School • The democratic school is a school where all children learn together irrespective of any personal characteristics or differences from the majority of children, in order to prepare for their common future. • No child is excluded from the process of acquiring the necessary knowledge, skills and competences which characterize an educated person. • There is equality in all aspects of education (equal opportunity, equality in access to educational means, access of participation) for all students in order for all students to achieve their maximum potential.

18. The Humanistic School • There is respect for human dignity - In a humanistic school all children can be included, no child is marginalized, is stigmatized, left out or feeling unhappy due to personal characteristics • There are human rights at both childhood and youth - students can experience childhood and their juvenile age not only as a particular period in preparation for adult life (as in traditional school) but as the most creative and happy times of human life.

19. Principles of the New Curriculum • Conciseness • Equilibrium - Balancing different types of learning • Consistent • Consequence • Effective

20. Three main pillars of the New Curriculum Students should: • Acquire an adequate (sufficient) and coherent (consistent) body of knowledge from all disciplines. • Develop attitudes and attributes that characterize a democratic citizen • Develop high levels of “key competences”, abilities and skills required for the society of the 21st century for the development of creative human being

21. Key Competences in the New Curriculum a) Creativityb) Critical thinking and reflective management knowledgec) Theoretical thinking and ability to convert theory into practiced) Abilities and skills of analysis and designe) Willingness and ability for teamwork and information exchangef) Ability to problem solve, to develop and search options and develop the capacity to identify alternative theoriesg) Excellence in testing and prudent use of information and communication technologiesh) Empathy and interpersonal skills and communication.

22. What are the attitudes and attributes that characterise a democratic citizen? • List 5 attitudes or attributes that we want every student to have by the time they finish school. • What are some behaviours that we associate with having these attitudes or attributes? • What are some specific activities we can include into the new curriculum that allows students to demonstrate these behaviours? • How might we judge students on these areas and how might we report this to parents?

23. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY: THE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT CONTEXT

24. Hill and Crevola 1997 General Design for Improving Learning Outcomes leadership and coordination standards and targets home, school and community partnerships Intervention and special assistance beliefs and understandings monitoring and assessment School and class organisation classroom teaching strategies professional learning teams

25. Assess Readiness School Readiness - the extent to which a school’s staff has the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. Two major components of readiness are ability and willingness. Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth, Management of Organizational Behavior, Utilizing Human Resources, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.

26. Assess Readiness Ability is the knowledge, experience, and skill that an individual or group brings to a particular task or activity. Willingness is the extent to which an individual or group has the confidence, commitment, and motivation to accomplish a specific task. Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth, Management of Organizational Behavior, Utilizing Human Resources, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.

27. Assess Readiness Sometimes, people aren’t really unwilling, it’s just that they’ve never done a specific task before. They don’t have any experience with it, so they’re insecure or afraid. Hersey, Paul and Blanchard, Kenneth, Management of Organizational Behavior, Utilizing Human Resources, Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall, 1988.

28. Assess Readiness • What skills do teachers need to implement, support and assess the new curriculum? • Are teachers willing to do the work involved to make this change? • Skill training is easy, but changing attitudes is much harder

29. How do we make teachers willing to implement the new curriculum? Talk amongst yourselves • What are three major benefits of the new curriculum for Cyprus? • What are three major benefits of the new curriculum for students? • What are three major benefits of the new curriculum for teachers?

30. Assess Readiness “Se Hace Camino al Ander” -Antonio Machado We Make the Road by Walking

31. School Improvement Process Department for Children, Families and Schools, UK

32. School Improvement Process Oak Farm Community School, Hampshire, UK

33. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT GOOD STAFF DEVELOPMENT?

34. Professional Development or staff development? Are we only interested in developing teachers or are we thinking about everyone in the school? • Administrators • Support staff • Volunteers • Parents

35. Where do we start? • What is your definition of staff development? • What are the elements that make staff development most successful?

36. Staff development is … …an on-going process encompassing all formal and informal learning experiences that enable all staff in schools, individually and with others, to think about what they are doing, enhance their knowledge and skills and improve ways of working so that pupil learning and wellbeing are better. (Bubb & Earley, 2007)

37. Staff development It should achieve a balance between individual, group, school and national needs; encourage a commitment to professional and personal growth; and increase self-esteem, resilience, self-confidence, job satisfaction and enthusiasm for working with children and colleagues. (Bubb & Earley, 2007)

38. The journey - professional development A logical chain of procedures, which: • entails identifying school and staff needs, planning to meet those needs, providing varied and relevant activities, involving support staff alongside teachers, monitoring progress and evaluating the impact of the professional development (Ofsted, 2006).

39. What counts as professional development? • True professional development should be a learning experience for all who are involved…professional development is a purposeful and intentional process designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of educators so that they might, in turn, improve the learning of all students.” (Guskey, 2001 p. 121)

40. We have to remember Teaching isn’t easy, and getting better at it isn’t just a matter of experience, of trial and error. For the sake of the profession, for the teachers being helped - for the children who’ll learn more as a result – we must help teachers develop.

41. The Principles of Adult Learning Knowles believes that adults need to: • know why they need to learn something • learn experientially and take account of previous experience • approach learning as problem-solving • learn best when the topic is of immediate value.

42. People have different learning styles • Theorist: learns using abstract conceptualisation and reflective observation Training approach: case studies, theory readings, thinking alone. • Pragmatist: learns using abstract conceptualisationand active experimentation Pragmatists ask: ‘How can I apply this in practice?’ • Activist: likes to learn using concrete experience and active experimentation; practising the skill, problem solving, small group discussions, peer feedback. • Reflector: likes to learn using reflective observation and concrete experience; like time to think. (Honey & Mumford)

43. They have different personalities (BBC, 2004) …Based on how they see the world Do they PLAN things before acting or do they act SPONTANEOUSLY? Do they prefer working with IDEAS or with FACTS? Are they more comfortable making decisions using their HEADS or their HEARTS? Are they EXTROVERTED or INTROVERTED?

44. They have different personalities (BBC, 2004) 1. Big Thinker (Spontaneous + Ideas + Heads + Extrovert) 2. Counsellor (Planner + Ideas + Hearts + Introvert) 3. Go-getter (Spontaneous + Facts + Heads + Extrovert) 4. Idealist (Spontaneous + Ideas + Hearts + Introvert) 5. Innovator (Spontaneous + Ideas + Hearts + Extrovert) 6. Leader (Planner + Ideas + Heads + Extrovert) 7. Mastermind (Planner + Ideas + Heads + Introvert) 8. Mentor (Planner + Ideas + Hearts + Extrovert) 9. Nurturer (Planner + Facts + Hearts + Introvert) 10. Peacemaker (Spontaneous + Facts + Hearts + Introvert) 11. Performer (Spontaneous + Facts + Hearts + Extrovert) 12. Provider (Planner + Facts + Hearts + Extrovert) 13. Realist (Planner + Facts + Heads + Introvert) 14. Resolver (Spontaneous + Facts + Heads + Introvert) 15. Strategist (Spontaneous + Ideas + Heads + Introvert) 16. Supervisor (Planner + Facts + Heads + Extrovert)

45. One possible cycle of learning for teachers • Do - Observe someone that I admire take a lesson • Review - Think about it and discuss it with them afterwards • Learn - Learn some key techniques for taking this lesson • Apply - Try them out when I take the lesson • Do - Get someone to observe me taking the lesson and give me feedback

46. The Professional Development Cycle Identification of PD needs Analysis of needs Evaluation of impact Planning a PD programme Monitoring it Doing it! Bubb & Earley, 2007

47. Understanding Professional Learning Two types of professional learning • Vertical development – knowing more, getting better • Horizontal development – same knowledge etc but used in lots of new contexts (Williams, 2002)

48. Identifying the Professional Development Needs Given what the new curriculum is trying to do… • list the three main professional development needs that you think need to be addressed for classroom teachers • list the three main professional development needs that you think need to be addressed for department level leaders • list the three main professional development needs that you think need to be addressed for school leaders

49. HELPING TEACHERS TO USE DATA TO EVALUATE STUDENT LEARNING

50. Formative assessment for students Allows them to answer the questions Where am I going? How am I doing? Where to next? Hattie & Timperley (2007)