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Are we doing the ‘Right Things’ in Teacher Development?

Are we doing the ‘Right Things’ in Teacher Development?. Chris Farrell, Head of Teacher Development, Centre of English Studies. www.eaquals.org. What are we talking about?. Back to Basics Teacher Development ‘Events’ Practicalities Taking the Next Steps in Teacher Development.

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Are we doing the ‘Right Things’ in Teacher Development?

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  1. Are we doing the ‘Right Things’ in Teacher Development? Chris Farrell, Head of Teacher Development, Centre of English Studies www.eaquals.org

  2. What are we talking about? • Back to Basics • Teacher Development ‘Events’ • Practicalities • Taking the Next Steps in Teacher Development www.eaquals.org

  3. 1. Back to Basics

  4. ‘CPD’ in the Wider World “CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development. It refers to the process of tracking and documenting the skills, knowledge and experience that you gain both formally and informally as you work, beyond any initial training. It's a record of what you experience, learn and then apply” -Jobs.ac.uk The Chartered Institute of Professional Development aims to help “to improve practices in people and organisational development for the benefit of individuals, businesses, economies and society” -cipd.co.uk

  5. But is ‘The Teaching Profession’ Different? • What is ‘best practice’? • Concrete definitions or general ideas? • The fear of ‘corporate speak’!

  6. “Teacher professional development refers to the wide range of learning activities which teachers engage in, individually or collectively, to improve their professional practice and to enhance student learning. This definition includes In-service Training, Continuing Professional Development and Teacher Learning” -asti.ie.

  7. CPD to TD: What is Teacher Development Ur (1998): Coined in 1980s as a separate term from Teacher Training Key Questions: • What it is? • How it is done? • Why it is done? • How it is staged? • Why it is staged like that? • How development is assessed? • Foord (2009): Gradual growth or formation of something; the process of making something better or more advanced

  8. Keith Harding (2009), outlines the key aspects of ‘CPD’: Continuous: It must be in everything you do Responsibility is on the practitioner Needs driven, not ‘one size fits all’ Evaluative, not descriptive

  9. Weston (2014): Deadly sins of TD 1. Passivity: Really effective professional development requires opportunities to implement, evaluate, discuss and refine practice 3. Insularity Teachers alone, Schools alone 2. Superficiality: “If a teaching practice is worth learning, it is worth learning properly” 4. Overconfidence “The worst person to objectively judge the effectiveness of a new idea is the practitioner who is trying it out”

  10. Training or Developing? Ur (1998) and Bolitho (2014) : Pre-set structure vs Developmental Process Transmission vs Personal processing of knowledge Professional Function vs Whole person One-off vs On-going Authoritarian vs Democratic

  11. Richards (2005):TT Goals vs. TD Goals Directly focused on a teacher’s present responsibilities. Short/medium term. Adopting the textbook to match the class Learning how to use Group activities in a lesson Using effective questioning techniques General Growth not focused on a specific job. Growth of understanding of teaching and themselves as teachers Understand how the process of SL Development occurs Understanding how our roles change depending on the learners in the class Developing an understanding of different styles of teaching

  12. 2. Teacher Development 'Events'

  13. Shaun Wilden (2012): Attending or Giving workshops  Observation (Organised, peer, buzz) Event vs Process… • Teaching a range of levels • Doing a teaching or a language course • Creating material • Mentoring • Action research projects • Writing an article or a blog • Attending a conference or an extracurricular event • Reading a teaching book

  14. TD Events in Centre of English Studies • Series of Workshops (approx. 9 every 6 months) • Action Research Groups: • Small groups, 3 month periods • Set focus: Video Obs., Inclusivity, Homework. • Ends with Knowledge Share • Professional Development Groups: • 6-8 Ts. PDG Room (every Friday/Monday afternoon) • Group Leader sets discussion/research topic • Sits for 2 months, discusses several focuses, presents findings • Intended to better inform INSET/AR sessions • Mentoring: • Set programme in summer • On demand at other points

  15. Top Down vs. Bottom Up Institution-led; Needs of the institution put first Teacher-led; Needs of the teacher put first www.eaquals.org

  16. Why Top Down? • The Institution knows best • It gathers the data • It has an ethos and a long term strategy • It has the resources • It is expected www.eaquals.org

  17. Why Bottom Up? • Watkins (2013): By Teachers, For Teachers Model For Teacher Learning: • Reflective • Practical • Non-judgemental • Localised • Empathetic • Collaborative

  18. 3. Practicalities

  19. a. Workshops

  20. Issues with Workshops • Back to out TT vs TD problem: Wallace (1991): training or education is something that can be presented by others; whereas development is something that can be done only by and for oneself’ • AdiBloom (2015): “School leaders should not leave the learning to teachers – they should be actively involved themselves.” • David Hayes (BC): Measurable Impact of TD Events

  21. b. Action Research Groups www.eaquals.org

  22. “Important as a way of understanding and disseminating what teachers can demonstrate about good practice” Anne Burns (2010)

  23. Value of research to the teacher Help Ts notice what Ls really do Create a feedback loop Help Ts consider all the factors in teaching and develop flexibility to tailor their teaching Help with justifying choices Become more independent as learners Keep fresh Move from being a service provider to being an academic Professional/academic competence

  24. Key Concepts Head and Taylor (1997): Knowing-in-action Reflection-in-action Experiential Learning (process, adaptation) Edge (2001) Not someone else’s agenda but an “empowering way of describing the English Teaching professional’s way of working”

  25. Anne Burns (2010a)How do I ‘do’ Action Research? Reflective practice Critical and systematic ‘Problematising’ Teacher is investigator and explorer Deliberate intervention Solid info, not hunches

  26. The long term cycle Burns (2010); Davidoff and van den Berg (1990): 1.plan 2.act 3.observe 4.reflect

  27. Where Top Down and Bottom Up meet? Action Research/Supported Experiment Individual Supported Created Programme For an Organisation For a project Collaboratively-peers or learners? Expert-guided-management?

  28. Gathering Data: the Teacher and the Institution 1. Observations 4. Interviews 7. Video/Audio 2. Questionnaires 5. Diaries 3. Document collection 6. Field Notes

  29. c. Professional Development Groups • Small groups (4-6 teachers) • Meet once every few weeks • Discuss an aspect of their teaching • Group Leader sets the agenda, group together can decide what to focus on for each meeting. • After 2 months there is a Knowledge Share session www.eaquals.org

  30. d. Mentoring

  31. Why Mentor? • The Teacher Journey becomes the Student Experience. Preparatory Training Course Exam ESP 1 to 1 EAP YL GE Adults • Institutional Support? • Self-reflection and self study? • Burn out and Leave the profession?

  32. The Roles of The Teacher Harmer (2001) • Controller • Organiser (engage, instruct, initiate, organise feedback) • Assessor • Prompter • Participant • Resource • Tutor • Observer Harrison and Killion (2007): • Instructional Specialist • Curriculum Specialist • Catalyst for Change • School Leader

  33. “We are all complex amalgams of a range of teacher roles” Jack C Richards

  34. But what perspective are you looking from? • The students? • The institution? • Academic management? • The teacher? • Society? • Agent? • Publisher (and materials developers)? • Accreditation body? And whose perspective is the most important?

  35. Mentor Trap 1! It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance. Thomas Sowell You don’t know everything…maybe the Mentee is right?

  36. Mentor Trap 2!

  37. Evidence? • Is there a mentor programme/system formalised or even ad hoc in your organisation (or in an organisation you have worked for)? • If so, what does the mentor typically have to do (in brief)? • For initial teachers, how long does the ‘mentorship’ period usually last? • On what basis are mentors chosen in your organisation? • In your opinion, what is the point in mentoring: • For the organisation • For the mentee • For the mentor

  38. Key findings • Lack of clarity over the role • Little systematic support/training for ‘mentors’. Mentors are typically ‘readymade’. • Peer to peer ‘informal’ mentoring used (‘buddy system’) • Initial self reflection questionnaires as part of mentoring process • Onus for record keeping, etc. is on the Mentee • Mentor has control but not responsibility • Mentor is ‘first port of call’ for all queries • Mentorship Period (3 months typically) • Mentor Role at end of 3 months? Gatekeeper to further employment?

  39. e. Observations and Self Reflection Kurtoglu Eken et al (2015) need for a “document providing practical guidelines on observation-related professional development (OPD)” • Tools: • Peer Obs and Peer Discussion • Involving Learners • Swapping lessons with Peer Obs/Discussion • Video Obs • Team Teaching

  40. 4. Taking the next steps with TD

  41. i. Is your TD Programme ‘INSPIRE’-ing?

  42. INSPIRE Model (Richardson, Maggioli 2018) www.eaquals.org

  43. Overall Goal • Impactful • Needs-based • Sustained • Peer-Collaborative • In-Practice • Reflective www.eaquals.org

  44. Considerations • Does it make a difference? • Does one size fit all? • Is it relevant? • Is it consolidated, followed up on…? • Does it tackle real issues? • Are practical solutions the end goal? • Is there regular and systematic evaluation? www.eaquals.org

  45. ii. What does the future hold?

  46. BC Future Demand for English in Europe 2025 • Flexible Teachers • Personalised Experiences • Technologically capable • Role of Assessment • Focused Learning (Jobs, etc.) www.eaquals.org

  47. iii. What can the Institution do?

  48. 1. Streamlining Processes (for example: Curriculum Development and Teacher engagement with CFD) 2. Using resource like the Eaquals Teacher Development Framework 3. Ensuring transparency and a feedback mechanism in the TD process 4. Focusing on the INSPIRE ‘checklist www.eaquals.org

  49. iv. What did we do in Centre of English Studies

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