8. Forms and Models of CPD - More than just courses
Planning for staff development needs follows the identification of such needs. A wide range of activities not just courses are appropriate but they need to be planned and resourced with time and other forms of support. Additionally, what has been learned needs to be implemented and this needs to be resourced and supported too. Implementation and follow-up far too often is neglected.
A key feature is the applicability of professional development and its impact on teachers and ultimately the learning and teaching in classrooms and the school. Professional development has to be relevant and to have a noticeable effect. Teachers must be engaged and must feel CPD is relevant and worthwhile because it can take teachers away from their 'day-to-day' routine and they often feel guilty especially if CPD provision lacks quality and focus.
CPD is not just about courses or gaining another qualification. There are a range of possibilities of great value which might include being a member of a working party or committee, visiting another school, work shadowing, observing or working with another teacher - all of these are very valuable staff development activities.
CPD needs to be non-threatening; some topics can be threatening because new and unfamiliar approaches are being considered and may take teachers out of their 'comfort' zones - sometimes this is very necessary if change is to be effected, but CPD planners and managers need to take this into consideration and attempt to create enjoyable learning experiences for colleagues.
Professional development involves working with adults and research indicates that adults learn in different ways but largely prefer interactive ways of learning.
Forms and Models of CPD
Sparks, D. & Loucks-Horsley, S. (1989, Fall). Five models of staff development for teachers. Journal of Staff Development, 10(4), 40-57.
The article can be accessed on the web at:
Five Models of Staff Developmenthttp://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/sparks104.cfm
In the USA, the influential researchers Sparks and Loucks-Horsley (1989) suggest five models that are useful for accomplishing the goals of staff development:
Individually Guided Development:
The teacher designs his or her learning activities. An assumption of this model is that individuals are motivated by being able to select their own learning goals and means for accomplishing those goals. A belief that underlies this model is that self-directed development empowers teachers to address their own problems and by so doing, creates a sense of professionalism.
Observation and Assessment:
Instructional practices are improved if a colleague or other person observes a teacher's classroom and provides feedback. Having someone else in the classroom to view instruction and provide feedback or reflection also is a powerful way to impact classroom behavior. The person observing acts as another set of "eyes and ears" for the teacher. Observers also learn as they view their colleagues in action.
Involvement in a Development or Improvement Process:
Systemic school-improvement processes typically involve assessing current practices and determining a problem whose solution will improve student outcomes. The solution might include developing curricula, designing programs, or changing classroom practice. New skills or knowledge may be required and can be attained through reading, discussion, observation, training, and experimentation. Consequently, involvement in the improvement process can result in many new skills, attitudes, and behaviors.
Training:
A training design includes an expert presenter who selects the objectives, learning activities, and outcomes. Usually the outcomes involve awareness, knowledge, or skill development, but changes in attitude, transfer of training, and "executive control" need to be addressed as well. The improvement of teachers' thinking should be a critical outcome of any training program. The most effective training programs include exploration of theory, demonstrations of practice, supervised trial of new skills with feedback on performance, and coaching within the workplace.
Inquiry:
Teachers formulate questions about their own practice and pursue answers to those questions. Inquiry involves the identification of a problem, data collection (from the research literature and classroom data), data analysis, and changes in practice followed by the collection of additional data. The inquiry can be done individually or in small groups. This model is built on the belief that the mark of a professional teacher is the ability to take "reflective action."
Michael Fullan characterises effective CPD and stresses the need for a positive culture associated with CPD
Michael Fullan, University of Toronto
"If we look at what are the most effective staff development or professional development approaches in terms of what we are talking about it's very clear that courses, although I think they are valuable, are quite limited. If I take as an example one or two teachers who go off on a course get very much excited about the ideas, very much motivated about the ideas and then they go back to a negative culture..."Forms of CPD
CPD includes 'on-the-job' and 'in-house' activities and can take several forms, for example:
Mentoring
Mary describes the experience of being a mentor discussing some of the issues
Mentor ExperienceMentor Experience
Mary Marra, West Dunbartonshire
"I think everybody was a bit worried about how much workload it would be, especially the written side of it - the documentation. We had mentors meetings - regular mentors meetings. We've had less of them this year. I think it's been less of a worry this year, having been through it before. I think the documentation can be onerous..."Adviser Alastair Horne discusses a way of helping to change the culture of English teaching. Collaborative mentoring in the classroom is proposed
Alastair Horne, Angus
"Well you can't just go to them and say, 'this is how you do it', because they won't believe you. It requires quite a major departure from the culture of teaching that exists. Every subject has its own culture and it's perpetuated by children who admire a teacher in a subject..."Using a Consultant or Coach
Gaye Mainwaring, Dundee University
"What was particularly successful in that situation, I think, was the support from SMT. They allowed it to happen; they provided time; they provided cover so that teachers could attend; they actually attended the workshop sessions themselves, so their presence was important. The second thing that was important was the personal commitment of the staff and they could see the relevance of it."Job shadowing or job exchange or secondment
Being a member of a working party, networking and partnerships
Lesley describes a culture of self evaluation associated with partnerships
Lesley Saunders, GTC (England)
"There is an immense need to have a self-evaluative culture but I think that quite often, if not always, that culture is enhanced and activated, if you like, by the input from some external agent..."Conferences
The national press and CPD providers will have details of Conferences available.
External short courses
All the Scottish universities with teacher education Schools or Faculties offering PG programmes of professional development will have details of courses on their respective websites:
Additionally the GTCS website contains useful information on courses and prices:
Courses or activites grounded in Context: crucial to successful CPD
Iain Smith, University of Strathclyde
"A second element in its success was the fact that it was very firmly rooted in what these people are expected to do back in their own schools."Study groups
Quality circles
HE award bearing courses
All the Scottish universities with teacher education Schools or Faculties offering PG programmes of professional development will have details of courses on their respective websites:
School-based activities/workshops
Work-based learning
Action research and using data
Research is an important quality dimension for improving teaching
Lesley Saunders, GTC (England)
"I think I have understood the importance of teachers doing research in a way that I didn't when I was, as it were, a fully paid up member of the research community. Of course there is expertise and specialist knowledge which professional researchers have and which they need to get much better at sharing with the practitioner community..."Lorna Earl describes the importance of data
Lorna Earl, University of Toronto
"What they identified was that there were a number of young people in their school that they really weren't serving very well - and it was a small percentage, it was 20% as compared to the other 80% who seemed very contented. But they used that opportunity to try to find out what it is that was missing for those children what it was that they needed and they used other students, actually, to help them collect the data..."Visits to other schools
A head of department tells how she would have appreciated having had a visit from a critical friend to her department since she herself learned much from observing another department's work
Irene Reid, St Margaret's, Livingston
"I learned by seeing another department we all work in our own wee cocoons sometimes and you are not quite sure what goes on in another department and I did see things that I was able to pick up on, will put into my department in terms of the way my staff work together and the terms, the way we work as a team..."Collaborative approaches and sharing of resources with other teachers departments or schools: - Learning from and working with others
Download this report on the benefits of collaborative approaches to CPD. It considers the exisiting literature on this theme and was supported by the NUT and the GTC (England).
CPD and school development planning
The form of CPD offered or adopted may largely depend on the School Development Plan, needs analysis and existing priorities informed by statutory requirements or the national priorities, budget available, CPD provision available locally and the extent of in-house expertise.
David Martindale faculty head of sciences outlines the strength of individual staff ownership of development
David Martindale, Meldrum Academy
"They develop the unit and they are thinking of what comes next and how they can improve it and evaluate it, and so on..."Nicola Sharkey remarks on the value of both attending CPD events organised and meeting peers
Nicola Sharkey, West Dunbartonshire
"I found the experience really worthwhile. I look forward to the courses and the days out, not only because it's a chance to go and meet up with fellow probationers but I've always found that every one of the courses that I've attended have been really worthwhile. I always come away thinking that there's something I could do better, there's something that I could change..."Whole school focus and smaller issue groups are the ways in which collaborative work is encouraged
Raymond Jowett, Meldrum Academy
"Within the staff forum system, what we have done is we've grouped staff - the whole staff - the teaching staff in the school - into seven groups and they're mixed groups of people from different departments and faculties. Each group is lead by a volunteer member of staff, not a member of the senior management team..."Hughina Naylor PT curriculum describes the CPD culture and cross curricular provision and collaboration
Hughina Naylor, St Margaret's
"In the music department we have also implemented this year sound engineering and production, which has been a terrific success, especially with the boys in the school, and obviously has a knock-on effect on raising attainment in the school..."
Building Capacity, Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
