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This article was downloaded by: [Stony Brook University]On: 22 October 2014, At: 13:57Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK
Teacher Development:An international journalof teachers' professionaldevelopmentPublication details, including instructions for authorsand subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rtde20
What do teachers really knowabout work? professionaldevelopment through education-industry linksChris Perry a & Ian Ball aa Deakin University , Burwood, AustraliaPublished online: 24 Feb 2007.
To cite this article: Chris Perry & Ian Ball (1998) What do teachers really knowabout work? professional development through education-industry links, TeacherDevelopment: An international journal of teachers' professional development, 2:1,73-86, DOI: 10.1080/13664539800200038
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13664539800200038
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What Do Teachers Really Know about Work? Professional Development through Education–Industry Links
CHRIS PERRY & IAN BALLDeakin University, Burwood, Australia
ABSTRACT Widespread industry and award restructuring, technological change andcompetency-based approaches to career entry and progression have brought aboutsignificant changes in the Australian (and world) labour market. These changes haveled to changes in expectations of the aims and purposes of education. Importantconnections have been established between education and industry to address thesechanges. Teachers are seen to be vital in not only developing greater understandingabout industry needs and expectations but also in the transfer of thoseworkplace-related skills and competencies to their work with students. Concerns havebeen expressed about teachers’ knowledge and abilities to make this link effectively.This has resulted in a significant focus being placed on teacher professionaldevelopment programmes that increase teachers’ understanding about the world ofwork. The article examines the concept of teachers’ work in terms of itsappropriateness in understanding wider work issues. The article also discusses thevalue added to teachers’ work through an examination of the experiences of teachersinvolved in a year-long industry placement programme. The article concludes that along-term professional development programme such as the Teacher Release toIndustry Programme (TRIP) described here not only builds on teachers’ existing skillsand competencies but more importantly highlights that the skills and competencies heldby teachers are not dissimilar to those required by students for effective entry into theworkforce.
Introduction
Professional development is that which teachers engage in to extend theircompetencies and skills with the intended aim of being more effectiveteachers. One significant area of professional development occurs in thecontext of new relationships that have developed between education andindustry. In these relationships the skills and competencies of teachers areseen to be a vital link in not only developing greater understanding about
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industry needs and expectations but also in the transfer of those skills andcompetencies appropriate to the workplace to their work with students.
This article discusses the value added to teachers’ work through anexamination of the experiences of teachers involved in a year-long industryplacement programme. The Teacher Release to Industry Programme (TRIP)is a collaborative programme that allows selected experienced teachers towork in positions in a range of enterprises for 1 year in order to understand abroad range of emergent industry issues related to students more effectiveentry into the workforce.
Teachers’ Work
The emergence of these new relationships between education and industryhas highlighted a need to examine and attempt to define teachers’ work. Thecurrent debate has focused on the ability of teachers to make these linksbetween education and industry.
The education sector has put some effort into defining teachers’ workin terms of knowledge, attributes and skills required to be a teacher. Forexample, a project conducted in Australia by the National Project on theQuality of Teaching and Learning [NPQTL] has developed a set of NationalCompetency Standards for Teachers. These competencies or skills clearlyimply a judgement of performance, that is, a way of measuring teachers’work. These competencies are listed by NPQTL (1996) as:1. using and developing professional knowledge and values;2. communicating, interacting and working with students and others;3. planning and managing the teaching and learning process;4. monitoring and assessing student progress and learning outcomes; and5. reflecting, evaluating and planning for continuous improvement.Ashenden (1990) states, however, that in the main teachers’ work isill-defined. What is seen as a teacher’s job often becomes confused betweenthe work associated with the role of teacher as instructor and that of teacheras administrator. Teachers are not seen to ‘work’ in the same sense as thosewho ‘work’ in industry. The school is rarely described as a workplace forteachers. Because teachers are not seen as workers, they appear to have littlein common with ‘real’ workers, although this perception appears to bebecoming much more muted as teachers begin to face similar situations toworkers in industry, for example in award restructuring, measurement ofperformance outcomes and, in particular, unemployment.
Whilst Seddon (1990), for example, has made some attempt to defineteachers’ work from a perspective of its similarity to, rather than differencefrom, that of other workers, teachers are not, in general, seen to work in thesame way as do workers in industry. Teachers are seen to be ill-equipped toinstruct students about the roles in workplaces, about an understanding ofthe world of work and about the selection of options available to studentsfor their future work.
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Industry Work
Attempts to define what teachers should be able to do and to transfer tostudents about work have come from models used in industry itself. Thebroad range of workplace competencies appropriate for inclusion intogeneral education have been identified. In Australia three national reports –Finn (Australian Education Council [AEC], 1991), Carmichael (1991) andMayer (1992) – propose ways that competencies could bridge the gapbetween general education and training for the workforce. Competencies aslisted in the latest of these reports (Mayer, 1992), propose what thesecompetencies would look like for education. The competencies outlinedappear in the form of skills, e.g. collecting, analysing and organisinginformation; communicating ideas; planning and organising activities;working with others and in teams; using mathematical ideas and techniques;solving problems; using technology.
The importance of this identification is now recognised by mostindustrial countries. For example, the Conference Board of Canada (1992)has produced an employability skills profile. This profile identifies criticalskills required by the Canadian workforce under the following headings:1. Academic skills, i.e. communication, thinking skills, learning skills;2. Personal management skills, i.e. positive attitudes and behaviours,responsibility, adaptability;3. Teamwork skills, i.e. working with others.The comparison between teachers’ work and industry expectations suggests,then, that teachers’ work may not be very different from ‘industry work’ andthat there may be skills and competencies in common. Clarification of theissues already discussed could be provided by examining the links betweeneducation and industry.
Education–Industry Links
As employers of students leaving the education system, industry has beencalling for changes in education. In part these calls have reflected thechanges that have taken place in society’s perception of the intentions ofschooling. Warwick (1989, p.v) states that in recent years “enormouschanges have taken place in the central purpose of schooling. Schools, thatused to be regarded as the transmitter of a culture now seem to have becomea prime tool toward the transformation of a culture”. That is, whilstschooling was once regarded as promoting education for life, now its primefocus is regarded to be that of promoting education for work (Warwick,1989; Price, 1991). Social, economic and technological changes have led topublic expectation that schools must alter the context in which theypreviously operated. Evidence of this changed perception of the role ofschooling has been exemplified by the expectations placed on education bythe industry sector of society.
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Widespread industry and award restructuring, technological changeand competency-based approaches to career entry and progression havebrought about significant changes in the Australian (and world) labourmarket. As McLennan (1997) notes, the increasing emphasis now beinggiven to competency-based training as opposed to a time-served approach,and the trend toward multiskilled occupations bring with it a need for adifferent type of vocational preparation.
These changes have led to changes in expectations of the aims andpurposes of education. Thus, industry perceives that what has been taught inschools may no longer be relevant to industry and the world of work.Industry argues that schools must place emphasis on the vocationaldimension of their mission so that school leavers are more competent tomake the transition into the world of work and more effective once they getthere.
Programmes Linking Education and Industry
In response to the criticism from industry described earlier and inrecognition of the need to develop closer partnerships between educationand industry, there has been an upsurge of interest in programmes thatencourage cooperation between schools and industry (Lepani, 1993). The“increased recognition of the links between education, internationalcompetitiveness and standards of living has led the business community inmost industrial countries to work more closely with the school sector”(National Industry Education Forum, 1993, p.iii). Thus, industry-educationpartnership programmes have been developed in order to “close thetraditional cultural divide between education and industry” (Warwick, 1989,p. 79) and also make use of the fact that one teacher will have influence on alarge number of pupils.
In Australia, governments and educational authorities have encouragedthe development of programmes that bridge the cultural gap betweeneducation and industry and/or programmes that influence the impact andeffectiveness of the curriculum in schools as it relates to knowledge of theworkplace.
Whilst there has been an increasing recognition of the value ofprogrammes that create links or partnerships between education and industry(Swedish Employers’ Confederation, 1991; National Industry EducationForum, 1993; Hirsch, 1992; the International Partnership Network, 1992;Scottish Enterprise, 1992; Grossman, 1994), the main emphasis of theseprogrammes has been on provision of work placements for school students.There has been less emphasis placed on school-industry link programmesthat focus on teacher professional development. Those programmes that doinvolve linking teachers and industry more often relate to curriculummaterials production and seminar or liaison group discussions with industrypersonnel than they do on focusing on teachers actually working in industry(Paterson, 1990).
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What is next discussed is a program that has as its intent theprofessional development of teachers through industry experience.
Teacher Professional Development in Industry
The Teacher Release to Industry Programme (TRIP) is a well-establishedprofessional development programme running in Victoria, Australia, forteachers employed by the Department of Education. TRIP is a 1-yearprofessional development programme in which selected teachers andprincipals from both the primary and secondary sectors work in an industryplacement for an extended period of time. The major component of theprogramme is a full-time placement in industry for teachers for a period of40 weeks (with some 20-week placements).
The rationale of the programme is to link the culture of education withthe diverse world of work through a full-time professional developmentprogramme that places teachers, who are recognised as crucial to bringingabout change in student outcomes, in industry for an extended period oftime. The broad objectives of TRIP have been developed in the context ofincreasing awareness of the value of stronger and more effective linksbetween industry and education.
Participants in the programme also undertake a postgraduatequalification comprised of placement in industry along with participation ina 2-week induction phase and following the industry placement apost-placement phase of approximately 2 weeks.
University staff (from several universities) act as liaison and supportfor the teachers whilst on placement. University staff also supervise thedevelopment and production by the teachers of a major project related to theworkplace experience. TRIP has operated in Victoria since 1991, each yearplacing approximately 50 teachers in industry (models of this programmealso operate in other states).
The Teacher Release to Industry Programme has been described,investigated and evaluated in a variety of studies and reports. For example,in a substantial long-term study (Perry, 1996), the experiences of a cohort ofteachers involved in the programme were explored in depth. One conclusionfrom this study suggests that while aims of personal professionaldevelopment are being clearly met, the perceptions of and understandingsabout the programme held by school administrators do influence the effectsof the programme on school improvement.
The programme’s objectives (see appendix) clearly indicate TRIP’sintent as a teacher professional development program. The programme as anexample of one linking education and industry is especially significant intwo aspects – (a) its focus on teacher professional development; and (b) itslength of teacher placement.
As noted earlier, industry has placed significant emphasis on acompetency-based approach to the development of the school curriculum.Teacher professional development based on increasing teachers’ experience
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in industry should develop and extend their knowledge and attainment ofcompetencies and skills.
The study reported in this article does not attempt to cover all aspectsof TRIP as professional development. This study reports only on that aspectof the programme that gives information about teachers’ perceptions of thedevelopment of skills and competencies related to work issues.
Teachers’ Experiences on TRIP
Does the long-term experience of the teachers on TRIP allow them, as notedin the programme objectives, to gain “a greater understanding of a broadrange of industry issues, including: industry priorities, managementpractices, the organisation of work and the impact of technologicaldevelopment” and a chance to increase their ability “to impart to students abroad range of work related skills and understandings, and that also reflectindustry’s expectations of students as future employees”?
What happens to the teachers during placement in industry? Whatskills do teachers utilise? How does their knowledge change? Do theybecome more competent professionals?
This article now examines TRIP teachers’ experiences in order toassess the types of skills and competencies gained over the year-longplacement.
Participants in one year of the programme (1995) were requested tocomplete a personal skills and knowledge audit under the heading ‘WhatTRIP has meant to me’. It is acknowledged that this audit identifies gains inskills and competencies from the teachers’ own perceptions. The study thustakes a qualitative approach in order to gain access to the experiences of theparticipants (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
There were three main sections to the audit.1. What skills have I utilised during TRIP? Which of these were refined fromexisting teaching skills? Which are newly developed? Which tasks/jobspromoted the development of these skills?2. What key areas of knowledge, perspectives and understandings have beenenhanced though TRIP?3. What are the likely implications of these gains for: (i) my personaldevelopment, and (ii) my teaching/school role?The audit was conducted during a programme break in September.Participants had been in industry placements since early February of thesame year.
A total of 55 completed audits were returned to the Project Officer foranalysis. This was 86% of the teachers involved in TRIP in 1995.
In presenting the findings of the audit, attention has been given toreporting in the tables only the most frequent responses, i.e. skills reportedby 10 or more respondents. However, because of the diversity of responses,some illustrations of the range of responses are provided. These show how
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participants viewed the enhancement of personal skills and knowledgebrought about from their long-term placement in industry.
Also identified are those skills that were newly developed and thosethat were already part of that teacher’s repertoire.
1. Reported Skills Development during the TRIP Placement
These audit results will be analysed under the a priori headings supplied bythe Project Officer.1.1 Interpersonal. The skills in this area showed a high level of developmentthrough the industry experience. Table I lists those reported by 10 or moreparticipants.
10Working relationships
11Diplomacy
11Conflict resolution
15Assertiveness
23Teamwork/co-operative skills
27Interpersonal communicationskills
32Negotiating skills
Table I. List of chief interpersonal skills developed by participants.
From the data in Table I the range and depth of skills in the interpersonalarea is clearly evident. These range from the skills areas involvingmanagement of change to those dealing with the range of differences inpersonalities found in workplaces. Participants noted that 70% of thestatements about skills related to the fact that they had been refined fromexisting teaching skills, but reported that 24% of skills were newlydeveloped as a direct result of their experience in industry. Among the latterwere skills developed because of new working relationships, the necessityfor new negotiation and assertiveness skills, and the diplomacy needed in anadult environment.1.2 Organisational. Under this heading participants highlighted a variety ofskills but the response pattern was marked by a strong recognition of thechange in time management skills. As indicated in Table II, 42 participantsnoted utilisation of this factor.
10Initiative taking skills
10Filing/indexing skills
11Planning/task prioritising skills
15Conference/meeting skills
42Time management skills
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Table II. List of chief organisational skills developed by participants.
Small numbers of participants showed changes in areas such as the use ofdiaries and record-keeping, and use of follow-up processes.
Of the skills statements listed by participants under this heading 66%were seen as refinements of existing teaching skills and 24% were reportedas being newly developed skills. The main skills that were newly acquiredrelated to the organisation of their own time without the tyranny of theschool timetable, and the new responsibilities in task prioritising andplanning.1.3 Communication. Although Table I showed a significant number ofparticipants indicating development of general communication skills, listsprovided by participants under the heading ‘Communication’ gave morespecificity, as demonstrated by the results shown in Table III.
11Listening and questioning skills
11Training skills in group focus
24Conference presentation/reporting skills
27Verbal skills
30Telephone skills
36Writing skills
Table III. List of chief communication skills developed by participants.
In addition to those listed in Table III, several participants described changesin networking skills and use of fax and email as communication media.
It would seem that most participants saw skills in this area asrefinements from existing teaching skills, 71% compared with 36% whoperceived that their communication skills were newly developed. Theseskills involved presentations and reporting to management, a variety of newwriting skills including skills in writing memos, letters, training manuals,reports, and newsletters, and particular skills in telephone use and technique,including teleconferencing, canvassing, and learning and using new jargon,technical and business language. One respondent recorded that he hadlearned how “to argue with a brick wall” as a new communication skill.1.4 Technical and technological. Given the availability and access tomodern technology in most workplaces where teachers undertookplacements, it is not surprising that 38 teachers reported utilisation ofcomputer skills during the placement. Table IV shows the utilisation oftechnical and technological skills.
16Fax/printing skills
18Typing/word processing skills
38Computer skills
Table IV. List of chief technical and technological skills developed by participants.
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There was a fairly extensive listing of skills in this area reported by smallnumbers of participants. Teachers indicated their increased use of advancedphone systems, increased technical understanding, use of the Internet, aswell as contact with particular examples of more sophisticated software andhardware.
In contrast with other categories. the skills listed here werepredominantly newly developed. Some 69% of skills in this area werereported as newly developed, whereas 35% were perceived to berefinements from existing teaching skills. The majority of these skills relatedto use of computers and sophisticated software packages that includedspreadsheets, databases and presentation packages. It also extended to newskills with regard to use of mobile telephones and voicemail systems. Onerespondent reported his new skill using a forklift, but it is doubtful to seehow this skill would transfer to the classroom.1.5 Management (project, people and self). Under this heading the teachersreported 45 separate categories of skills, which is quite a diverse list, but asTable V indicates, the area of time management was perceived as asignificant element of self-management. There was less commonality inresponse compared with other categories.
10Time management
12Responsibility/authorityskills
16Project management skills
Table V. List of chief management skills developed by participants.
Management of deadlines, planning and costing (budgeting),problem-solving, team building and delegation skills were others areas ofdevelopment reported.
Some 58% of skills in this classification were seen as refinements fromexisting teaching skills and 35% were newly developed. Some of these wereskills in ‘reading’ situations such as watching power plays and recognisingblockers, while others were new competencies in team leadership, changemanagement, developing action plans, performance appraisals andconducting needs analysis.1.6 Other. The inclusion of this category was thought desirable to allowparticipants to express skill areas regarded as important to them. As in theprevious category, a wide diversity of responses was found, with low levelsof reporting in the sample. No response category had more than 10responses. Among the skills reported were those dealing with loyalty, socialinteraction, public relations, paradigm development, flexibility andadaptability and changes in self-confidence.1.7 Tasks/Jobs that Promoted Skills Development. There was a wide varietyof particular elements embedded in the placements that were perceived to beassociated with changes in skill development. Among these were: quality
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training courses, management reviews, writing of procedures, conductinginduction courses, and working with all levels within the organisation.
2. Enhancement of Knowledge, Perspective and Understandings
Respondents highlighted some areas of significant change in knowledge as aresult of TRIP experience. Table VI lists the main areas of this development.
11Understanding of organisations andchange
11Personal abilities
13Realisation of what is available
15Management processes and strategies
20Work ethics/culture/politics
22Greater awareness of industry
Table VI. Main areas of enhancement of knowledge through the TRIP experience.
Specific mention was also made about enhancement of knowledge of rolesin industry, use of technology, relevancy of the curriculum, practices of timemanagement, market sponsorship, use of the media, and influence ofhierarchy on social interaction.
3. Implications of the Gains for Personal Development
Reading the respondents’ statements to this question gives the strongimpression that the TRIP placement in industry has brought aboutsignificant changes in levels of self-confidence. Participation in TRIP seemsto be associated with a process of self-affirmation exemplified by statementssuch as “building my confidence to work in a male dominatedenvironment”; “I’m far better able to negotiate my conditions, what I’ll doand when for the school”; “greater internal strength and appreciation ofwhat I can achieve and adapt to”; “knowledge that teachers have manyskills”; “changes of view about what I can achieve as a person and thevariety of skills I have gained”; and “I’m happier with myself and I amproud to be a teacher”.
There is an element of some responses that illustrates a renewal ofenergy, as well as an increased level of commitment towards working in theeducation sector, e.g. “my self worth has improved and I enjoy working! (fora change!)”; “After a year away from school I am looking forward toteaching with new enthusiasm”; and, “the excitement of having theopportunity to do things that would never be possible in a school”.
A number of respondents noted that the experience had allowed themto enhance their personal curriculum vitae in terms of newly developedskills and new areas of expertise. Some went further and foresaw that theperiod in industry had acted as a watershed, where images of different
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careers had been explored. Several of these changes seemed to recognise theinfluence of the stresses felt by classroom teachers, e.g. “my personal sanityhas been greatly enhanced. Never will I work so hard again for so little”;“recognition that I am skilled and can do many other things”; “answers tothe question about: what (else) is out there?”; and, “knowing what I wantout of my career and life”.
4. Implications of Gains for Teaching/School Roles
Given the nature of the TRIP experience as a professional developmentactivity, it is interesting to read participants’ responses to what were seen tobe likely implications of (gains in skills and knowledge for the return toschools’ agenda.
Several participants made particular mention of developments invocational education and linking the business and education sectors moreeffectively, e.g. “I used this year to understand how my expertise couldbenefit or maybe even improve student pathways, especially in thetechnology areas”; “I have a greater understanding of how students shouldbe prepared for industry”; “ability to reach into lots of different contacts,sponsors, etc.”; “a broader outlook, e.g. that retail is a career option foremployment of students”; “awareness of industry perspectives applicable tocareers”; and, “I’ve gained a good base knowledge of the effects of theAustralian Vocational Training System and its implications for competencybased-training”.
Implications for changes in practice were also documented, e.g.“re-evaluate why I do things”; “longer term planning and focus”; “increasemy computer skills in teaching”; and, “I have had to modify my personalteaching style – perhaps I’m more aware of individual and small groupneeds”.
A changed perspective was also evident in response, e.g. “greaterconfidence in (undertaking) staff development”, “this experience has putthings into perspective. I’m not prepared any more to take on too muchwithin the workplace”, “no longer prepared to settle for less or takesituations as they are”, “broader awareness of the work context andenvironment for the kids and other teachers”, “I have a better understandingof how industry training is changing its focus and how schools can developtheir programmes and create links”, and, “I’m more appreciative of just howinteresting the job of a teacher is – how much variety we have in a day”.
Not everything was rosy as far as some participants were concerned.They foresaw some challenges with the return to school phase, e.g. “I’mconcerned that return to school will lead to a narrowing of focus and lead toa reduced awareness of the outside world. Going from the macro to a microclimate”; “I have discovered that schools do not ‘sell’ themselves or thework they do in industry or the community in general. I’ve broadened myview of the role education must play in society”; “I’ve found that school isnot the centre of the universe and life goes on if I don’t have the bestsporting programme in the southern hemisphere”; “To be more realistic
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about the workload, the commitment and personal drain I’ll give”; “I’mconcerned that all these skills are going to be lost rapidly”, and, “Redefiningwhat a teacher’s role is: e.g. not a repair person, gardener, etc.”
Conclusion
The evidence from this analysis of responses to the audit of personal skillsand knowledge demonstrates that a range of skills has been enhancedthrough the long-term placements. The experienced teachers who undertookthe programme reported on the exercise and development of existing skillsand also some which were newly developed.
The data in Tables I-V indicated that generally most teachers havedeveloped or refined skills such as time management, computer use,negotiation, telephone use, interpersonal communication, verbalpresentation skills, and teamwork and cooperation. Areas such asinterpersonal, organisational, communication, technical and technological,and management of projects, people and self were all represented.
What is of importance and is a focus of this article are the issues theseresponses raise regarding what it is that teachers know and can do, i.e. issuesabout teachers’ work. Except in the case of technical and technologicalskills, all other skills and competencies noted were those that in the mainrepresented already existing skills. The emphasis that most of the teachersplaced on this aspect of the audit was that these were skills that they alreadyheld as teachers and that the TRIP experience had enhanced.
It is clear, and confirmed by other research on TRIP as professionaldevelopment (Perry, 1996) that the experience of being removed from theschool situation gives the teacher an opportunity to see these skills asworthwhile and important.
As Rudduck (1988, p. 206) acknowledges:
The cycles of routine that the rhythms of institutional life seem torequire inevitably lead practitioners to reconstruct each day in its ownimage, making it difficult to step back, and look, even briefly, with theeyes of a stranger.
The TRIP experience has allowed these teachers to step back and look withthe eyes of a stranger, with the result that they see value and worth in theskills they hold as teachers.
A professional development programme such as TRIP has outcomesthat demonstrate that teachers’ work can be seen as ‘real work’. In additionit is clear that teachers have knowledge of, hold and employ the skills andcompetencies that can be imparted to students, i.e. the competencies thatreflect industry’s expectations of students as future employees.
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Correspondence
Dr Chris Perry, Faculty of Education, Deakin University, 221 BurwoodHighway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia ([email protected]).
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Appendix
Objectives of the Teacher Release to Industry Programme
1. To give teachers direct experience of industry through extendedemployment in positions determined by industry.2. To provide teachers with a greater understanding of a broad range ofindustry issues, including: industry priorities, work organisation and theimpact of technological development.3. To increase the ability of teachers to impart to students and the widerschool community, relevant and informed vocational skills, knowledge andunderstandings.4. To provide school students with programmes containing up-to-dateinformation about current industry practices as well as industry’sexpectations of young people entering the workforce.5. To develop the skills of TRIP teachers to act as change agents in schools,school communities. and across the broader educational community.6. To indicate to industry, and to the education community, the various waysin which industry can be a source of information, resources and support forthe educational programmes of the school.7. To encourage education and industry personnel to establish and maintaina diversity of ongoing networks and links between schools and industry –both local and statewide.(From TRIP Teacher Release to Industry programme InformationDocument, Deakin University.)
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