Perceptions of the educational elite on the purpose of a national framework of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers in Scotland[1]

Scotland, in common with many other countries, has seen a growing focus on teachers' CPD over the past few years, resulting in the development of a national framework. This paper explores the perceptions of key stakeholders as to the fundamental purpose of the national CPD framework, through analysis of interviews with elite figures in Scottish education. The paper works from the premise that while there has been general agreement from stakeholders that the framework is a positive development, there has been no one agreed articulation of its purpose. The paper concludes by raising questions about the lack of clarity amongst key stakeholders as to the fundamental purpose of the CPD framework and the resulting implications in terms of reviewing its success or otherwise. These implications are considered within the context of the power dynamics, both national and international, influencing the development of CPD policy in Scotland.     

How teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching relate to their continuing professional development

Teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) can improve teacher quality and teaching practice, yet teachers differ greatly in the extent to which they engage in CPD. In extensive research into which factors affect teachers’ participation in CPD, the effects of teachers’ beliefs have received limited attention, despite their strong influences on people’s working and learning. Teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching in particular influence their teaching practices. Does a comparable relationship exist between these beliefs and teachers’ own learning or participation in CPD? To explore this relationship, 260 Dutch secondary school teachers completed a survey that focused on the teachers’ student-oriented and subject matter-oriented beliefs, as well as on teachers’ updating, reflective and collaborative activities. Because teachers’ characteristics reflect both belief dimensions, this study relied on cluster analysis, which revealed three distinct belief profiles. These results indicated that teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching relate to their participation in CPD: the more a teacher’s profile is student oriented and subject matter oriented, the higher his or her participation in CPD. The results have implications for enhancing teachers’ reflections on their beliefs about learning and teaching, in conjunction with participation in CPD.     

Teachers’ views on research as a model of CPD: implications for policy

Teacher research has been identified as a transformative model of CPD. However, as illustrated in the OECD’s TALIS study, while teachers recognise the benefits of classroom enquiry for their own work, their participation in it is low. This paper examines the possible reasons for this discrepancy by considering the views of Irish teachers surveyed during a CPD needs analysis. The data were collected using a national online survey, with both open-ended and closed-ended items, which sought teacher views on different aspects of their engagement in CPD. Following a pilot study, invitations to participate were emailed to all recognised primary and secondary schools throughout Ireland, resulting in a convenience sample of 496 teachers, comprising 227 primary teachers and 269 secondary teachers. The results suggest that the extent to which CPD enables teachers to undertake enquiry that is relevant is key in the minds of teachers. The availability of support for undertaking research, as well as practical issues such as time and cost, are also crucial considerations.     

“Feeling is First” in ECE Science and Mathematics

This paper explores the concept of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers in Scotland in an education system undergoing change. It considers the curricular and political changes which affect the nature of CPD considered appropriate and relevant for teachers. This article reports on one small‐scale qualitative study into award‐bearing CPD at masters level in a unique scheme known as Chartered Teacher Studies. This is a new, alternative route for Scottish teachers to gain professional recognition and financial reward for continuing to practise, rather than seeking promotion through a management route. This small‐scale, preliminary exploration of the views of teachers who have completed the programme to masters level found that teachers perceived that their studies had a positive impact on their learning, increased their understanding, their commitment to linking theory with practice through research and raised their confidence in developing pedagogy. It is recognised that the outcomes cannot be widely generalised, as it considers only one cohort of students in one institution. However, since it is widely recognised that CPD for the teaching profession is an essential facet in improving education practice, the issues explored in this paper may be of interest to an international audience.     

Developing collaborative approaches to enhance the professional development of primary mathematics teachers

This research project promoted a collaborative model of professional development between lead teachers from three schools, supported by a project coordinator and a researcher from a local university. Each lead teacher worked with their head teacher to design, lead, and evaluate an innovative, personalised, and school-based mathematics continuing professional development (CPD) programme in their school. University staff helped to facilitate project meetings across the schools and monitored impacts within each school. Professional development meetings, involving all teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) from the schools (n?=?55), were designed to encourage a whole-school approach. The project also provided structured opportunities for the lead teacher to work with colleagues in the classroom, for example, through lesson observation and/or collaborative teaching. The outcomes from this project confirmed that collaborative models of CPD, as opposed to transmission, formal training, and ‘top-down’ models, were welcomed by teachers and head teachers – some of whom reported early indications of improvements in student performance. Commenting on what constitutes the most effective forms of CPD, there was a reiteration of the importance of combining peer and external support through a collaborative process.     

Taking teachers' continuous professional development (CPD) beyond reflection: adding shared sense-making and collaborative engagement for professional renewal

While reflection continues to be promoted as a central feature of teachers' continuous professional development (CPD) activities in Scotland and elsewhere, a wider debate across professions and national boundaries has opened as to how reflection might be re-conceptualised to restore its social and critical dimensions. This paper seeks to contribute to this debate, arguing that drawing ideas from the literatures on both reflection and communities of practice provides a sounder foundation upon which to build CPD activities that are likely to support professional renewal than that provided by either concept by itself. In particular, the authors draw on their participation in a number of Scottish research and development projects to focus on shared sense-making and collaborative engagement as activities that can enhance reflection. The paper concludes with a set of design principles for CPD activities.     

Contesting continuing professional development: reflections from England

This paper argues the competing ways in which continuing professional development (CPD) is currently practised in schooling settings in England is a product of the complex social conditions within which teachers work and learn, and teachers’ efforts to make sense of these conditions. Specifically, the paper draws upon research into the teacher learning practices, and conditions of practice, of a group of 18 teachers from one inner-city comprehensive secondary school in the British Midlands. To make sense of competing approaches to CPD within the school, the paper analyses these teachers’ experiences in light of Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of social practices as contested. The research reveals competing approaches to teacher CPD in relation to the management of teachers’ CPD, the focus upon improving test scores and the modes of learning in which teachers participate. The paper shows how conflicting pressures and demands in the context within which teachers work, and teachers’ responses to these demands, contribute to contested practices in and across these domains, both arising from and resulting in what is described as a ‘hybridised’ habitus. The research gestures towards the need to cultivate conditions conducive to more educationally oriented, critical, situated and collaborative CPD.     

Vocational knowledge in motion: rethinking vocational knowledge through vocational teachers’ professional development

The paper presents empirical data to consider some of the current debates concerning the nature of vocational knowledge taught in Further Education colleges to students following craft, vocational and occupational courses. The concept of ‘knowledge in motion’ and workplace learning theories are employed as a conceptual framework to examine the continuing professional development (CPD) activities of vocational teachers. This is used to shed light on the ways in which teachers use CPD as a means of accessing and transporting vocational knowledge from occupations to classrooms. Empirical data were gathered through questionnaire, in-depth interviews and participant observation. The findings are presented around five themes: (1) the range of CPD engaged with by vocational teachers; (2) the limitations of propositional, explicit knowledge; (3) engaging with and capturing tacit knowledge; (4) managing the temporality of vocational knowledge; and (5) networking within and to the occupation. Findings suggests that vocational knowledge is distributed and networked and this conceptualisation makes visible some of the ways teachers are able, through CPD activity, to transport vocational knowledge from occupations to classrooms.     

Profiling teachers' continuing professional development and the relation with their beliefs about learning and teaching

This exploratory study investigates the relationship between teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) and their beliefs about learning and teaching, in a Dutch secondary education context. Two hundred sixty teachers participated in a survey focused on teachers' updating, reflective, and collaborative activities, as well as their student- and subject matter-oriented beliefs. A cluster analysis produced three distinctive CPD profiles, reflecting relatively low, medium, and high participation in the three CPD activities. The greater teachers' participation in CPD, the more student oriented those teachers are. These findings have strong implications for fostering teachers' participation in CPD and encouraging their student orientation.     

Blending the CoI model with Jigsaw technique for pre-service foreign language teachers’ continuing professional development using Open Sim and Sloodle

This study seeks to investigate the effect of pre-service foreign language teachers’ interactions on their continuing professional development (CPD), using a theoretical instructional design framework consisted of the three presence indicators of a Community of Inquiry (CoI) model and the Jigsaw teaching technique. The investigation was performed through a case study with thirty-five (n = 35) teachers who participated voluntarily in three consecutive tasks, by blending Sloodle as a free plug-in via the three-dimensional (3D) multi-user virtual world Open Simulator (Open Sim), with the purpose of creating virtual learning environments. A mixed-method research was conducted to be measured pre-service teachers’ engagement, using a validated CoI model questionnaire proposed by Arbaugh et al. (2008) for collecting the quantitative data, and secondly their opinions for participation, achievements, abilities and difficulties, when studying collaboratively with their peers for gathering the qualitative data, after finishing several learning tasks. The study findings indicate that collaborative practice-based tasks in synchronous communication modes, such as group work, team effort, instructor’s or peer feedback and consolidated learning material in a 3D multi-user virtual environment have enhanced the learning experience for more meaningful outcomes. The highest mean scores were adequately addressed to the teaching and social presences, indicating that pre-service teachers were enough satisfied due to the easy expression of proposals and the sense of freedom for exchanging ideas/opinions with their colleagues. This study contributes on the fundamental issues of cooperation, socialization, retention and attendance rates rising among teachers’ interactions with the respect to empower not only their CPD, but also their management and learning responsibilities, based on the affordances that a 3D technology-enhanced environment can provide.     

Teachers’ Continuing Professional Development and Higher Education

This paper presents and analyses data gathered from a survey of teachers in a range of secondary school English departments. It seeks to establish the ways in which teachers perceive their subject knowledge Continuing Professional Development (CPD) needs and the ways in which they would like to engage with Higher Education (HE) English as part of their CPD. It also explores teachers’ reasons for wishing to undertake such study, and the ways in which they believe such studies could contribute to their development. Finally, it goes on to consider some of the constraints on CPD and the possible implications of this for Higher Education Institutions. The interface between schools and HE has, historically, been limited. However, engagement in CPD is one of the most significant ways in which dialogue between secondary and HE teachers of English can be fruitfully established.     

Teacher identity construction across the curriculum: promoting cross-curriculum collaboration in English-medium schools

This article reports on a qualitative study that explored the prospects for the promotion of collaborative relationships between English as a Second Language (ESL) and content teachers in Hong Kong. At the time of the study, the eight participants, four content teachers and four ESL teachers, were all teaching in English-medium secondary schools in Hong Kong. The study drew upon interview data to examine how the participants' construction of teacher identities can shape possibilities for collaboration between ESL and content teachers. The paper begins by discussing some of the key issues in promoting collaboration between content and ESL teachers, then draws upon the works of Wenger and Fairclough to describe a framework for understanding the construction of teacher identity in practice and in discourse. The framework is applied to reveal the major challenges facing the promotion of collaboration between content and ESL teachers. Implications for institutional change that might promote these collaborative relations are also discussed.     

Continuing professional development: pedagogical practices of interprofessional simulation in health care

The increasing complexity of health care practice makes continuing professional development (CPD) essential for health care professionals. Simulation-based training is a CPD activity that is often applied to improve interprofessional collaboration and the quality of care. The aim of this study is to explore simulation as a pedagogical practice for the CPD of health care professionals. Specifically, the study focuses on how a professional development activity, the simulation, is enacted to support interprofessional collaboration and learning. A practice theory perspective is used as the theoretical framework. In this, the professional practice is conceptualised as being embodied, relational and situated in sociomaterial arrangements. Ten introduction and reflection sessions following interprofessional full-scale manikin-based simulations with professionals were video-recorded. The recordings were analysed following a stepwise qualitative collaborative approach developed for the purpose. The key findings suggest that the professional competence activity is enacted and interconnected with and governed by historical traditions of institutional teaching practices as well as simulation practices. Despite the intentions of team and interprofessional training, the institutional teaching and simulation practices constrain and hinder the intended outcomes of professional development in interprofessional collaboration.     

Facilitating university teachers’ continuing professional development through peer-assisted research and implementation team work in China

ABSTRACT

Chinese university EFL teachers face challenges in teaching English writing effectively. On one hand, a lack of teaching strategies, heavy workload, and inability to meet students’ increasing expectations are driving them to seek continuing professional development (CPD) and adopt new pedagogies, e.g., peer assessment. On the other hand, their urgent need for CPD is overlooked by university administrators, who provide few opportunities for English teachers’ CPD in China. To help Chinese university EFL teachers to step out of the dilemma, the research proposes a CPD model, i.e., peer-assisted research and implementation team work. The model is characterised by its simultaneity with self-initiated research, instant communication of problems, implementation of strategies, and collaborative reflection of ideas with three major stages, i.e., problem identification, collective research and exploration, and pedagogy implementation and reflection. The findings show the model successfully contributes to Chinese teachers’ changing attitudes towards using peer assessment in the writing class. The model is of great practical value in improving teachers’ CPD collectively with minimal external help. The model can be widely promoted with modifications to cater teachers’ different CPD needs.     

Where are we at? An empirical study of levels and methods of evaluating continuing professional development

Continuing professional development (CPD) is increasingly becoming recognised as important for all professionals in order to maintain and develop their competence. Many professions, especially in the health field, require evidence of CPD in order for professionals to be granted continuing registration as practitioners. Given its accreditation as well as developmental uses, it is important that CPD is evaluated. The present study examines the usefulness of a hierarchical model for the evaluation of CPD for teachers. The data were derived from a sample of 223 CPD coordinators and 416 teachers from a randomly selected sample of 1000 schools in England. Questionnaire data were analysed using Rasch modelling. The results suggest a reasonable fit with the model, with participant satisfaction being the most commonly evaluated outcome while participants' use of new skills and student outcomes were the least likely to be evaluated, together with value for money according to teachers only. The implications for teachers' CPD are discussed.     

Towards accomplished practice in learning skills for science (LSS): the synergy between design and evaluation methodology in a reflective CPD programme

This study was carried out in the framework of continuous professional development (CPD) programmes following a CPD model aimed at promoting ‘accomplished practice’ involving: pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and scholarship of teaching. Teachers were asked to bring evidence about their practice. The context was related to the ‘Learning Skills for Science’ (LSS) programme, which advocates the explicit incorporation of high‐order learning skills into science school curricula. The main goal of the study was to test the evidence‐based LSS CPD model by investigating the impact of its related CPD programmes on participating teachers. The impact relates to teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning skills, teachers’ LSS practice, and their professional influence in the educational system. As part of the evaluation method, we developed a criterion‐based diagnostic tool and a visual representation, designed to assess a teacher’s professional profile and progression according to dimensions of ‘accomplished practice’. The diagnostic tool can be adjusted and tailored to different CPD domains. Results indicated that requiring teachers to bring evidence from practice and students’ learning enabled us to follow teachers’ progress and succeeded to improve their performances towards accomplished LSS practice. The results exemplify a synergy between CPD designed activities and the ongoing evaluation of its impact.     

The impact of school-based continuing professional development: views of teachers and support professionals

Evaluating the impact of school-based continuing professional development (CPD), as with any other kind, is not without its challenges. This article reports on an evaluation of a CPD programme which was established to support implementation of a new primary school curriculum in Ireland. It examines what can be learned by comparing the views on the likely impact held by the teachers participating in the CPD and the support professionals providing it. The results show that both groups were very positive about the likely impact. However, support professionals anticipated a greater impact than the teachers themselves on teachers’ knowledge and implementation of the new curriculum. Likely explanations for these divergent views are discussed. The article highlights the importance of building in mechanisms within CPD to enable both teachers and support professionals to consider together the impact on an ongoing basis, and to use the available evidence formatively to inform planning for CPD. Incorporating a focus on impact in CPD is likely to become even more important in the years ahead given that teachers themselves are increasingly playing a greater role in decisions about what CPD is undertaken.     

The Ultimate Beneficiaries of Continuing Professional Development Programs: Middle School Students’ Nature of Science Views

The effective continuing professional development (CPD) programs primarily aim to have an impact on teachers’ knowledge bases, beliefs, and views and their classroom practices, which rationally lead most of the researchers to investigate those changes on teachers primarily. Although neglected, the interrelationship between CPD programs and students is considered complex, and CPDs ultimately aim to have an impact on students’ views, too. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to survey the changes of middle school students’ views of the nature of science (NOS) by providing a large-scale CPD to their teachers and, in other words, identify the impact of CPD on ultimate beneficiaries, namely students. In this study, 10 science teachers’ data and, in the first phase, 481 and, in the second phase, 422 students’ data and the changes in their NOS views were analyzed. Results showed that the students’ and teachers’ NOS views changed positively. For the impact of teachers on the students’ views, the teachers’ prior NOS knowledge, years of experience, and the number of implemented activities were found to be the influential factors for the transmission of NOS views.

     

Inquiry Resources Collection as a Boundary Object Supporting Meaningful Collaboration in a Wiki-Based Scientist-Teacher Community

Different interpretations of scientific inquiry exist between the two different communities of scientists and science teachers. Thus, in order to achieve a successful partnership between science teachers and scientists in establishing effective communities of practice, the framework for instructional practice in teacher professional development needs to be carefully designed. To respond to this challenge, we developed the Inquiry Resources Collection (IRC), which offers a wiki-based inquiry resource collection developed by scientists to support novice science teachers?? inquiry lesson design. The collaborative managing and sharing of knowledge in a professional development program via a wiki environment is the key to developing a practical resource for novice teachers teaching scientific inquiry. Based on our reflection of data gathered during 4?years of our project, we invoked the ideas of boundary objects and reflective apprenticeship between scientists and teachers to design the IRC.