The Master’s in Teaching and Learning: expanding utilitarianism in the continuing professional development of teachers in England

The article focuses on the policy rhetoric of the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL). This is a new degree being launched in the summer of 2010 aimed, initially, at teachers who have just joined the profession. The degree presages the aspiration for a Master’s level teaching profession in England. Professional development as conceived in the MTL is continuous rather than continuing and permeating the vision is the language of ‘personalisation’. Teachers will be accompanied on the journey by an ‘in-school coach’. These notions suggest a highly tailored approach to continuing professional development (CPD), with careful attention to the identification of teachers’ needs and close support from a colleague. The article argues that, contrary to this impression, the MTL marks a new and significant step in expanding the utilitarianism of the English education system. The MTL represents a deepening hold on education by the state and a growing scepticism about the value of higher education in the CPD of teachers. It also aspires to a changing culture in schools as the workplace becomes the locus for the CPD of teachers. As other authors have described, the national character of education systems in Europe and in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Asia reflect an increasing instrumentality. The MTL, then, can be seen as part of a global phenomenon; in this case the policy lever of CPD is employed to support performative and audit policy agendas via a rigid accountability system. The MTL also represents a particular form of neo-liberal governmentality where increasing centralisation is ‘masked’ by a ‘simulacra of care’.     

The role of the ‘professional community’ in action research

The article argues that collective learning plays an important role in the practice of teacher research, which has not yet been adequately dealt with in its theory. Lave & Wenger's (1991) theory of ‘Situated Learning’ is examined as an example for a conceptualisation of collective learning. In the concluding section, some provisions for ‘learning in communities’ in the practice of teacher research are discussed. Although the argument is made for the teaching profession, it is assumed that it also has some bearing on action research in other professions.     

School self‐evaluation and the role of a critical friend

School self‐evaluation is receiving increasing attention in England, partly as a result of changes in the Ofsted inspection framework giving greater prominence to what schools can do to speak for themselves. The relationship between internal self‐evaluation and external inspection was a theme in a high profile policy speech made by the Schools Standards Minister, David Miliband, at the North of England Conference in January 2004. As part of a ‘new relationship with schools’ heralded in the speech, Miliband articulated critical friendship in terms of a ‘school improvement partner’. This article draws upon a number of research projects to critique these proposals, especially in respect of the role of a critical friend in school self‐evaluation. Issues discussed include different models of self and external evaluation, the importance of context, and the various ways in which a critical friend can support school self‐evaluation.     

‘Them and us’: Teachers' and tutors' experiences of a ‘new’ professional development course in Greece

The research reported in this paper compares the experiences of twenty‐two secondary teachers and twelve university tutors as they embark on a course of a ‘new’ in‐service professional development programme in Greece, in relation to adult learning. It harnesses a qualitative methodology and draws upon a set of ideas that cohere under the rubric programme development to build up a heuristic guiding research technique and analysis procedure. The analysis focuses on two key parameters of programme development for adults i.e. climate and planning, and on their associated elements. The findings identify the ‘them’ and ‘us’ image that continues to perpetuate the ‘new’ courses and indicate some tentative points that might have implications for the design of the in‐service training of teachers.     

Reexamining technology’s role in learner-centered professional development

The American Psychological Association’s Learner-Centered Principles provide empirically-based approaches to improving teaching and learning. However, in order to facilitate learner-centered, technology-rich instruction to K-12 students, teachers must be afforded opportunities to develop key understandings and skills, rarely evident in most professional development programs. In this paper, we synthesize empirically-based studies and recommendations for teacher learning and propose a learner-centered professional development (LCPD) framework to guide both professional development and empirical work on teacher learning. We describe LCPD components, discuss ways that technology can support LCPD, and highlight implications for research and practice.     

The role of ‘pracademics’ in education and development of adventure sport professionals

Understanding and exploiting the synergy between theory and practice lies at the heart of effective education for outdoor professionals. Accordingly, and in an attempt to stimulate debate, this paper conceptualizes the interaction between theory and practice in the context of the education of outdoor professionals. We identify issues specific to the often separated worlds of practice and academia. While acknowledging those distinct skills and competencies, however, we also explore a mid-role; that of the ‘pracademic’ or scientist–practitioner or practitioner scholar, considering behaviours that may encourage greater collaborative work to inform the process and implementation of the education of outdoor professionals.     

A model of professional development: teachers’ perceptions of their professional development

This research aims to evaluate the manner in which teachers perceive their professional development process. Forty-three teachers from Israeli schools participated in the study. I used a semi-structured interview to understand the teachers’ perceptions about their professional development. The qualitative analysis identified two dimensions that teachers referred to in their professional development stories: the professional development motivation (intrinsic/extrinsic) and types of aspirations (lateral/vertical). Using these dimensions, four ‘professional development patterns’ emerged. Participants’ professional trajectories are described in terms of these patterns: Hierarchically Ambitious, Hierarchically Compelled, the Laterally Ambitious and the Laterally Compelled. This categorisation could serve as an essential tool to help principals and decision-makers analyse teachers’ personal course of professional development. Hence, the categorisation of the teaching staff according to individuals’ professional aspirations could be utilised to design professional development programmes and incentives that would correspond to teachers’ particular needs.     

Teachers’ professional development in Nanoscience and nanotechnology in the context of a Community of Learners

ABSTRACT

This case study focuses on teachers’ professional development in NanoScience and nanoTechnology (NST). In the context of a Community of Learners (CoL), in-service teachers in collaboration with science education researchers, nanoscience researchers and experts from science museums, developed a teaching module. This module integrates NST topics along with aspects of science communication, i.e. development of science exhibits and socio-scientific issues, e.g. ethics regarding the research in this field. The data were gathered over 1-year period by using video recordings and interviews. The Interconnected Model of Professional Growth was used to study the processes that support teachers’ professional change in this context, as they are elicited from their interactions in the CoL. Our findings indicate that the dynamic of teachers’ interactions with colleagues and the mediating processes that impact on their professional learning, are crafted on the basis of the emerged challenges in each phase of module’s design and development. These findings give an insight on teachers’ professional learning as they transfer their professional knowledge regarding scientific topics which are innovative to them, i.e. NST, into their teaching practice. In this respect, this study contributes to research literature relevant to teachers’ professionalisation in order to implement innovations in the classroom.     

A question of trustworthiness? Teachers’ perceptions of knowledge sources in the continuing professional development marketplace in Germany and Sweden

This article aims to investigate teachers’ perception of sources of knowledge in their continuing professional development (CPD). It investigates whether the perceived importance of a source can be related to its trustworthiness. Knowledge sources comprise institutions and colleagues, who produce knowledge for teachers’ development. The issues are examined by analysis of questionnaire studies on teachers’ CPD with a sample size of 711 teachers in Germany and Sweden. The results show that a knowledge source’s trustworthiness is a relevant and significant predictor for its importance in teachers’ CPD. However, the national context in which teachers work also has a considerable influence.     

Maltese primary teachers’ digital competence: implications for continuing professional development

Learning with technology during primary school years will equip students with dispositions to continue learning with evolving technology throughout their lifetime and it is the responsibility of the teacher to develop this digital competence (DC) in the classroom. The aim of this research was to investigate Maltese primary class teachers’ DC and to recommend new training on technology integration in teaching practices. Semi-structured individual interviews with 26 primary teachers (23 females and three males) and the teaching material used in the classroom were the sources of data in this study. Directed content analysis was applied, where a new area in DC, the creation of modes of communication, was revealed. Recommendations for teacher training in the areas of DC are suggested.     

Mentoring and teachers’ professional development in Albania

The role of teachers is becoming increasingly important in advancing student learning outcomes. This article discusses one area that is still in need of significant reform in Albania: the induction and mentoring of new teacher-candidates. Based on a mixed-method study involving 275 Albanian teachers and mentors, it provides insights into the benefits and challenges of current practices. The study identifies a number of key areas in need of improvement, including: the selection of mentors; professional training for mentors; communication among different stakeholders; and overall planning and coordination of mentoring services. These issues are discussed within a wider European policy context that situates mentoring as an important component of teachers’ ongoing professional development.     

Employability and higher education: the follies of the ‘Productivity Challenge’ in the Teaching Excellence Framework

This article considers questions of ‘employability’, a notion foregrounded in the Green and White Papers on the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The paper first questions government imperatives concerning employability and suggests a series of mismatches that are evident in the rhetorics in this area. This summary opens up elements of what I am calling the first ‘folly’ in the field. The second section of the paper considers recent research with individual academics engaged in employability activity. This research suggests another series of mismatches in the aims and outcomes of ‘employability initiatives’ and opens up a further series of ‘follies’ in the day-to-day practices of academics and students’ responses to them. The third section of the paper turns to academics’ reports of student behaviour in relation to the outcomes of their degree. This section develops an argument that relates to the final ‘folly’ associated with the current focus on employability. I argue that students’ focus on outcomes (which at face value suggests they have internalized the importance of employment) is contributing to the production of graduates who do not have the dispositions that employers – when interviewed – say that they want. The highly performative culture of higher education, encouraged by the same metrics that will be extended through the TEF, is implicated then in not preparing students for the workplace.     

Collaboration and self-regulation in teachers’ professional development

This paper describes a professional development model with promise for supporting meaningful shifts in practice. We begin by introducing the theoretical principles underlying our professional development model, with a focus on explicating the interface between collaborative inquiry in a learning community (Lave, 1991, In L.B. Resnick, J.M. Levine, S.D. Teasley (Eds.), Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC; Lave, & Wenger, 1991, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) and teachers’ self-regulated learning. Next, we report on successes and challenges within a 2-year collaborative research partnership. We recount how participating teachers reflected on practice, constructed conceptual knowledge about teaching, and made important instructional shifts. We also detail features of our model that teachers found most effective. We close by discussing our implications for theory and in-service professional development.     

Objects and issues—a Sunday Supplement view of continuing professional development in higher education

This paper draws on the presentation of three online pilot ‘series’ of learning objects aimed at offering university staff convenient updating opportunities around issues connected with e‐learning. The ‘Hot Topics' format presented short themed sets (series) of learning objects to a wide‐range of staff, encouraging sampling strategies to support variable levels of engagement and re‐scheduling within the series which reflects each participants’ personal preferences, time or other constraints. Developed by the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the UK Open University, and delivered using IET's knowledge‐sharing Knowledge Network, this format suggests a new way of facilitating continuing professional development in HEIs, and also offers fresh insights into the consequences of using learning objects for staff development and the difficulties of evaluating staff development activity based on learning objects. This paper is particularly concerned with the consequences of offering choice to the series' participants and more flexible options for dissemination to potential contributors.     

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.