Continuing Professional Development

1. From Good …to Outstanding…it is not possible to improve outcomes for pupils simply by teaching the curriculum harder and longer; teachers have to strengthen pupil’s pleasure in learning and their self-esteem.James and Pollard, 2010.

2. Course attendance was the main vehicle for professional development in most of the schools … and using consultants to provide in-school programmes of support to tackle a specific need.HMI 2002. Continuing Professional Development … the “cascade” approach was fraught with problems and was perceived by staff as having minimal direct impact on classroom practice. McNamara, Webb and Brundrett, 2010

3. Most teachers were very willing to plan professional development activities. In the main, however, such planning tended to be short term, focusing on the courses to be attended or other development opportunities to be undertaken. It was rarely perceived as part of a longer-term sequence or cycle of activities which would lead from enhancing the skills or knowledge of the teacher to enabling pupils to achieve higher levels of performance.Ofsted 2002

4. Good professional development within the school was a key factor in helping teachers to encourage and assess creative approaches to learning and improve their subject knowledge. Externally produced resources and short training courses had limited impact without local training and continuing in-school support.Ofsted 2010 it seems clear that we can be much more deliberate in organising schools in ways that enhance teacher learning and the learning of other adults. Sergiovanni (2001)

5. James and Pollard (2010) noted that throughout the wide ranging issues it explored, there was one key area of agreement;‘Most projects produced strong evidence that a key to improved learning and achievement by pupils is the learning of teachers’.A collaborative professional environment promoting teacher learning is also supported by the research of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP). How adults learn, and how they develop a reflective learning culture, and how the school becomes a “learning organisation” are essential if the totality of learning is to be the central feature of the school.Davies, 2006 The Professional Environment

6. What tools are available to this professional environment? Dudley explored the lesson study model through the TLRP. The Cambridge Primary Review describes the key outcomes: • Research Lesson Study engages teachers at all levels of experience and sustains their interest over time; • It involves pupils directly in the analysis of teaching; • Leads to innovation in lesson design and improvements in pupil achievements. James and Pollard, 2010 ‘Learning earns the centre stage position because it is a powerful way for the school to adapt, to stay ahead, and to invent new solutions’. (Sergiovanni, 2001).

7. The “Learning How To Learn”project makes these practices explicit: Sustainability depends on professional development that encourages teachers to re-evaluate their fundamental beliefs about learning, the way they structure tasks, the nature of their classroom roles and their relationships with pupils. James and Pollard, 2010 Long term sustainability depends on an environment that not only promotes reflection and collaborative learning and that also builds the capacity of its leaders at all levels. Fullan 2005

8. Leadership of Learning Effective shared leadership will be vital to the continuing progress of the school; leaders at all levels … who proactively and naturally … bring about deeper reform and help other leaders working on the same issues Fullan, 2005 These leaders will need to be given opportunities to achieve if the school is to develop into a successful primary school fit for the 21st century: one that is educationally effective in the short term but has a clear framework … to translate … vision into excellent educational provision … in the medium to long term. Davies, 2006

9. Teachers need to question their accepted ways of working; focussing on a specific issue for school enquiry James and Pollard, 2010 The SPRinG project (Social Pedagogic Research into Group work) implores Group work skills need to be approached developmentally: … practical “relational” strategies, based on principles, provides a successful approach to raising standards and improving behaviour. James and Pollard, 2010

10. Our children are highly task focussed. If we are to truly release their potential, we need to provide them with the opportunities to develop their independence through group collaboration. They will be leaders of their own learning, just as we will be, and we will really be able to afford the claim of leadership at all levels.

11. The New Build.School buildings should inspire learning. They should nurture every pupil and member of staff. Ministerial introduction to the BSF consultation, DfES 2003 • The Steer committee report (2005) reported that building layout had an identifiable affect on children’s behaviour. • It implored schools to develop communal areas as civilised and well-ordered places that offer opportunities for positive social interactions between children and adults. • Lundquist, Holmberg and Landstrom (2000) recognised the impact of noise on children’s levels of annoyance in particular. • It is important for schools to recognise that young children are far moresusceptible to poor acoustic conditions than adults (Elliott 2002) • Children may have different psychological responses to a wide range of environmental factors from adults (Corsi, Torres, Sanders and Kinney, 2002). • ‘School facilities affect learning. Spatial configurations, noise, heat, cold, light, and air quality obviously bear on students’ and teachers’ ability to perform’, M Schneider, 2002.

12. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE 2010) outlined the implications: School buildings will have to become more accessible and adaptable for … the change in learning patterns and the implications of increased ICT use. Futurelab ask two pertinent questions: • ‘What if … we design spaces for learning competences as well as content?’ • ‘What if … most learning was collaborative?’ Tim Rudd et al (2006). If we are to put collaborative learning at the heart of the process, we need to consider how spaces can interact to promote collaborative learning for both teachers and children.

13. The government’s guidance for the Building Schools for the Future programme advocates the: … need to plan for professional development … to ensure they can contribute effectively to, and get the most from, the programme. DCSF (2009). Current research does not address the way in which primary school spaces are interconnected and influence one another, how they are used pedagogically, or how they are managed and maintained. This has meant that a particular learning space has tended to be examined in isolation rather than in the context of the learning environment. Wall, Dockrell and Peacey, 2010

14. Where do we go now? • The Plowden Report (CACE 1967) led the call for a pupil-centred classroom pedagogy. It expounded an approach encouraging group work that it would allow teachers to focus on particular children at any one time whilst others would be occupied on independent collaborative group tasks. • The issue for the school is about how learning is encouraged in these group settings. • Blatchford et al (2010) make it clear that research ‘results show that with-in class grouping, rather than class level organisational grouping initiatives, may have greater potential to raise standards’. It is more important … to prepare pupils to work effectively together, [through] a long term commitment [to] developing relational and other social pedagogic practices [so] pupils respond with improved attainment, classroom behaviours and pro-learning attitudes. Blatchford et al, 2010.

15. There is a reasonable consensus that specific forms of interaction need to be taught to elicit productive collaborative learning; (Barnes and Todd 1977, Chinn and Anderson 1998). • The Learning How to Learn Project offers strong evidence that children’s learning depends upon teacher learning, so developing the professional environment and using these skills as teachers (indeed as any adults involved in the learning of the children) is crucial. • There is strong evidence to suggest that children in this kind of dialogue continue to reflect on the subject matter long after finishing the work (Howe et al, 2005) The needs of the professional environment and the development of a culture of leadership blend seamlessly with the development of collaborative learning with and amongst the children.

16. The SPRinG project would seem therefore to offer insights for the school: • Group-work skills have to be developed. • We cannot just put children into groups and expect them to work well together, particularly when adults can also find it difficult to work with others. • Develop strategies with teachers likely to lead to high-quality, thoughtful group work. • These strategies need to allow teachers the freedom to adapt grouping practices for different purposes and learning tasks. • Adults need to support and guide groups, and monitor their progress, in ways that encourage independence rather than directly teaching pupils. • It is positive in its message that given space and time to develop pupils’ group working skills, teachers can bring about a transformation in the teaching and learning environment. • It encourages the link to the built environment: to be successful, group work must be integrated into overall classroom organisation and management.

17. Summary • …if we are not careful, classrooms may be places where teachers, rather than children, do most of the talking; … where instead of thinking through a problem children devote their energies to trying to spot a correct answer, where supposed equality of discussion is subverted by … a kind of talk which remains stubbornly unlike the kind of talk that takes place everywhere else. Alexander • The Primary Capital Programme is focussed on transforming learning so there is a clear need to consider ‘adopting more adventurous styles and flexible teaching; and implementing more effective collaborative learning between pupils.’ Blatchford et all.

18. Amongst the ten principles for effective learning, the Teaching and Learning Research Project includes: • The overriding impact on pupil learning depends on teacher learning; • the benefits of improving the quality of group work and pupil’s ability to cooperate and collaborate; • the significance of informal learning; • where senior management support innovation it becomes sustainable. Pollard, ‘Professionalism and pedagogy – A contemporary opportunity’

19. Alexander states that: ‘If classroom talk is to make a meaningful contribution to children’s learning and understanding it must move beyond acting out cognitively restricting rituals’. • Can a change to the built environment be the catalyst for a deeper change in the professional environment and encourage a culture of leadership in the school? Given thorough preparation, most emphatically, yes it can.