LEAP ConferenceJuly 2015

Helen Timperley

Professional development to build capability is fundamental to whole school improvement

processesBUT ...

Most professional development is a waste of time in improving

outcomes for young people

Evidence-informed inquiry approaches in which the participants work together implement and test research-based ideas in their own context

Antony Bryk (Carnegie Foundation, USA) Ben Jensen (Learning First, Study of high

performing systems) Linda Kaser and Judy Halbert (British

Columbia – a high performing system) New Zealand

1. Make the work problem-specific and user-centred

◦ Anchor all activity in a specific problem to be solved – demand focus

◦ Examine the problem from the point of view of the user

2. Focus on variation in performance◦ Reducing harmful variation and improving

overall quality in Australia - within school variability a bigger

problem than between school variability

3. See the system that produced the current outcomes That means focusing on your leadership and organisational practices4. We cannot improve at scale what we cannot measureNeed to develop a causal map

– we need to improve a. in order to achieve b. which in turn is essential to c. (with measures for each)

5. Use disciplined inquiry to drive improvement6. Accelerate learning through networked communitiesAll working on solving the same problem

Inquiry – basedCollaborativeLinked and coherent

Takes place over time

Professionally ledThe ‘right’ focushttp://www.learningfirst.org.au

http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/talis.htmTeaching and Learning International Survey

One of the top performing multi-lingual,

multi-cultural systems in the world

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/provincial/education.aspx

Over 300 primary schools in New ZealandWriting: Average gains 2.5 to 3.2 expected

rate over two yearsLowest 20% 5-6 times expected rate

Reading: Average gains 1.5 to 1.9 expected rate over two yearsLowest 20% 3 times expected rate.

Sustained over the three year monitoring period

Focus on Valued Student Outcomes

Worthwhile content

Integration of knowledge and skills

Assessment for professional inquiry

Multiple opportunities to learn and apply

Approaches responsive to learning processes

Opportunities to process new learning with others

Knowledgeable expertise

Active leadership

Maintaining momentumTimperley, H. (2008) Teacher Professional Learning and Development. International Academy of Education. International Bureau of Education. Paris: UNESCO

What kinds of teacher professional

learning and development have a positive impact onoutcomes for students?

Professional learning opportunities

Teachers interpret and use targeted understandings and skills

Teacher outcomes: change in practice no change in practice

Student learning outcomes: improved not improved

Students interpret and use targeted understandings and skills

Student learning opportunities

The Black Boxes of Teacher and Student Learning

▪Formal educational policies/curriculum ▪Prevailing discourses▪School organisation

Wider social context

The professional learning context▪People and practicalities▪Professional learning goals

Responses of diverse teacher learners/communities

Impact on diverse student learners

Content of the professional

development/learning opportunities

Activities constructed to promote the

learning

Learning processes

Mapped 97 international studies

1. Student learning is strongly influenced by what and how teachers teach

2. Teaching is complex and can’t just be an “add on” or “plucking and plonking” others’ ideas.

3. Effective professional development is responsive to the ways teachers learn.

4. Professional learning is shaped by the context in which teachers practice.

Two extremes: Teachers are treated as professionals and left to construct their own learning experiences (often in PLCs)

Experts develop recipes for teaching, teachers given a rationale, shown how, then closely monitoredLearning is more complex than either

of these alternatives

The wrong focus:

The focus is on getting the teaching practice right instead of increasing responsiveness to learners and improving outcomes

What is it that teachers need to learn to make a difference for their students?

Professional learning experiences that focus on the links between

particular teaching activities and the student outcomes desired

Have POSITIVE impacts on those outcomes

Improving student outcomes must be the reason teachers’ engage in professional learning opportunities

Success is determined by impact on students ◦ not changed teacher skills

Teachers must believe that their students can learn faster and better◦ And usually do so when this happens

The knowledge and skills developed are those that have been established as effective in

achieving valued student outcomes

The integration of essential teacher knowledge and skills promotes deep

teacher learning and effective changes in practice

Professional learning opportunities need to deepen knowledge about◦ The curriculum (and relevant discipline content)◦ How to teach it effectively◦ How to assess students’ learning

And to integrate theory and practice◦ A ‘what to do tomorrow’ approach does not work

Information about what students need to know and do is used to identify what teachers need to

know and do

What are the conditions that promote teacher learning in

ways that impact on students?

Like students, teachers need manyopportunities to learn and apply new

information in a trusting and challenging environment

Different approachesare needed depending on whether new ideas are, or are not, consistent with teachers’ existing ideas and assumptions

Teachers working together and focused on student outcomes can help themintegrate new learning into their practice

(but PLCs are not enough)

Expertise external to the group is necessary to:

Challenge existing assumptions about how to teach

Develop new knowledge and skills

Three Fields of Knowledge(Jackson & Temperley, SCSL)

What Is KnownThe knowledge

from theory, research and best

practice

What We KnowThe knowledge of

those involved.What practitioners

know

New KnowledgeThe new knowledge that we can create together through

collaborative work

Experts need to be very knowledgeable in the area of focus;

Need to know how to make the knowledge relevant to the teachers◦ In ways that integrate other principles◦ And promote teachers’ adaptive expertise rather

than routine expertise (more later)

Leaders play a key role in promoting professional learning of their teachers for

the benefit of their students

0.27

0.84

0.42

0.31

0.42

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

5. Ensuring an Orderly andSupportive Environment

4. Promoting and Participating inTeacher Learning and

Development

3. Planning, Coordinating andEvaluating Teaching and the

Curriculum

2. Resourcing Strategically

1. Establishing Goals andExpectations

Effect Size

FIVE DIMENSIONS OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIPDerived from Quantitative Studies Linking Leadership with Student Outcomes

(Robinson, Hohepa and Lloyd, 2009)

Sustainability depends on:◦ Teachers developing strong theoretical

frameworks that allows them to make principled changes to practice

◦ Self-regulatory assessment skills to inquire into effectiveness and answer the questions:

“Where am I going?” “How am I doing?” and “Where to next?”

◦ A plan that develops these ideas over time and across situations

◦ The focus is maintained over a long period of time to deepen learning

Fragmented to systemic thinking

Focus on Valued Student Outcomes

Worthwhile content

Integration of knowledge and skills

Assessment for professional inquiry

Multiple opportunities to learn and apply

Approaches responsive to learning processes

Opportunities to process new learning with others

Knowledgeable expertise

Active leadership

Maintaining momentumTimperley, H. (2008) Teacher Professional Learning and Development. International Academy of Education. International Bureau of Education. Paris: UNESCO

Teachers as adaptive experts (e.g. Hatano & Inagaki,1986; Hammerness et al., 2005; Le Fevre et al., 2015)

Committed to promoting the learning of each student

Constantly seeking relevant knowledge and skills to achieve this

Seeking evidence on the impact of their practice on student learning (social, emotional, academic)

Routine Expertise Adaptive Expertise

Apply a core set of skills with increasing fluency and efficiency

Own beliefs taken for granted and not open to scrutiny

Based on notions of novice to experts – practice makes perfect

Flexibly retrieve, organise and apply professional knowledge

Aware of own beliefs underpinning practice and when they get in the way

Recognise when old problems persist or new problems arise and seek expert knowledge

Routine expertise Adaptive expertise

Assessment and learning are sequential

Assessment reflects student capability

Investigating the impact of teaching undermines professionalism

Assessment and learning are integrated

Assessment is about the effectiveness of teaching

Investigating the impact of teaching is essential to improvement

Routine expertise Adaptive expertise

Improving leadership teaching are separate activities

Systematic evidence not needed because the ‘routines work’

Improving leadership and teaching are integrated

Systematic evidence is essential to improvement because need to know what works for whom