Transcript The Power of the Internet for Learning

The Roles of School Principals in Teachers’
Professional Development for Implementing ICTE
Paper presented in CITE Research
Symposium 2003
July 5, 2003
Tse Wing Cheung, Alex
Self introduction
Msc. (IT in Education) candidate, HKU
QEF External Reviewer (IT in Education,
Round 4)
QEF Project Leader (IT in Education,
Round 4)
Professional Member/ Member: HKERA,
HKAECT, HKPERA, HKACE, AiTLE, CITE
Chairman, IT Committee, Kowloon
Rhenish School
What do you think about the following
questions?
What are the major obstacles that the teachers
encountered in the implementation of ICTE in
Hong Kong in the past few years?
Do you think that the teachers had successfully
equip themselves to face the challenges coming
from the implementation of ICTE?
Who can play an important role to empower
teachers for implementing ICTE?
In what way such persons can play a strategic
role to empower teachers for implementing ICTE?
In my perspective, they are the school principals
…
Do you think that there is an unbalanced
development in implementing ICTE in Hong
Kong in the past few years?
The five-year strategy in ICTE in 1998 bought
a rapid development of ICTE
Most principals particularly focused on the
installation of infrastructure and hardware
(Law, Yuen, Ki, Li & Lee, 1999)
But technical development should not be the
only focus when implementing ICTE
Principals may ignore a crux of implementing
ICTE: Teacher Professional Development
(TPD)
The importance of TPD in
implementing ICTE
Many literature and researches have
highlighted the importance of TPD in
implementing ICTE
As Cooley states, “successful implementation
of technology is not about equipment but the
empowerment of people.” (Cooley, 1997, p. 74)
Fullan (2001) also believes that in the change
process of implementing ICTE, staff
development is a very important variable
Holzberg (1997) argues that ICTE makes staff
development more essential than ever
The importance of TPD in
implementing ICTE
Benson (1997) states that a successful
implementation of ICTE should include
allocation of adequate time and resources
for staff development
Though TPD is vital in implementing ICTE,
Bennett (1996) argues that few TPDs in ICT
prepare teachers to implement it effectively
and meaningfully in the classrooms
TPD should be one of the major concerns in
implementing ICTE
The importance of the principals in leading
TPD for implementing ICTE
Apart from TPD, various literature and researches
also reflected that principals were also influential
in the ICTE implementation of a school
They played a key role in implementing change in
their schools and the TPD for implementing ICTE
was no exception (Duttweiler, 1987; LaPlant,
1986; Hord, 1992; Yuen, Law & Wong, 2002)
In fact, facing the challenge of implementing ICTE,
Payne and Wolfson (2000) consider that
principals should ensure that their teachers is
able to address it by providing meaningful and
effective professional development opportunities
Since both TPD and school principals are such
important variables in implementing ICTE, they
should obviously be a valuable issue to study
Three key research questions of this study
What are the roles that school
principals play in leading TPD for
implementing ICTE?
Are the roles that school principals
play effective enough to leading TPD
for implementing ICTE?
Are there any obstacles which hinder
school principals in leading TPD for
implementing ICTE effectively?
Perspectives on TPD and In-service Teacher
Training (ISTT)
Over the past few decades, there were radical changes
about the training and development for teachers (WestBurnham and O’Sullivan, 1998)
Perspectives on TPD and In-service
teacher training (ISTT)
What do you think about the
perspectives of principals over the
concept of ISTT & TPD?
Is there an evolution from ISTT to TPD
in implementing ICTE among
principals?
What are the situation in the schools
that they have encountered?
CROP Model
There are many professional literature, which
discuss the roles of principals in leading TPD for
implementing ICTE.
Their essentials are
synthesized a self-constructed model: The CROP
Model
1.1
Catalyst
Defining and communicating vision
School climate developer
Role model for continual learning
1.2 Resource linker
Manpower
Time and Funding
Physical resources
Opportunity, knowledge and skills
CROP Model
1.3 Organizational learning leader
Building learning community
Managing curriculum and instruction
Monitoring student progress
1.4 Process helper
Organizing collective reflection
Holistic and ongoing assessment
Working condition of collegiality
Motivator
Methodology: The research design of this
study
Sampling and selection of cases
The method of purposive sampling is adopted
SITES found that the problems of TPD were
particularly serious among the primary schools
There were 76% of primary school principals, who
believed that the poor TPD was the one of the major
obstacles for implementing ICTE
So, the researcher sets the focus of study to
primary schools level
Eventually, four primary schools were selected
(either the Pilot Schools of Centres of Excellence in
ICTE)
Sampling and selection of cases
For the principals, the researcher
intentionally selected one female school
principal
To guarantee the reliability and validity of
data, the researcher extended the scope of
study to the teachers, who played vital roles
in organizing TPD for implementing ICTE
They included chairman of ICT working
group, a teacher committee member of ICT
working group, IT coordinator, chairman of
TPD working group, curriculum development
coordinator and teacher librarian
Data collection methods by selfconstructed tools
To sharply address the research questions from appropriate
approaches, the researcher selected and designed tailor-made data
collection methods accordingly
Findings
Background information of the schools
The four primary schools in this research
are mainstream schools
Whole-day subsidised primary schools
Either a Pilot School or a Centre of
Excellence in ICTE
The sizes and scales of selected studied
schools are rather similar
Their history ranges from six to thirty years
All the studied schools are well established
They had favourable foundation to develop
mature TPD practices
The general background of the four studied
schools
The ICTE development of the four studied
schools
Pioneers of ICTE
Relatively long experience in hardware and
software setting, operation of ICT working
group, development of school intranet
educational platform, establishment of
computerized central school library,
implementation of TPD and integration of
ICT into curriculums etc.
The hardware, software and infrastructure of
the schools are generally well established
The ICTE development of the four
studied schools
As the Pilot School, P1, P2 and P3 got extra
funding in the developing ICTE
Their computer-student ratios and
computer-teacher ratios are very
satisfactory
Both computers and LCD projectors are
available in all the normal classrooms
Such strong resources background has
undoubtedly laid a favourable foundation for
their implementation of ICTE and its related
TPD
The ICTE development of the four
studied schools
Development of TPD for implementing ICTE
In the initial stage, the major development of
TPD for implementing ICTE mainly focused
on the training of various ICT level
competencies, like BIT, IIT and UIT
The ICT level competencies of teachers
among the studied schools were generally
much higher that requirements of the EMB
For S4, there were 89% of teachers got UIT.
It was 3.5 times over the official
requirements
ICT level competencies of the teachers in
the four studied schools
ICT level competencies of the teachers in
the four studied schools
After a series of training of ICT level
competencies, the schools tried to develop
various school-based TPD programmes or
mechanisms to meet the particular needs of
the teachers for implementing ICTE
These practices include subject meetings,
teacher development days, peers lesson
observations and collective lesson
preparation etc.
The usefulness of the school-based TPD
programmes for implementing ICTE
The usefulness of the school-based TPD
programmes for implementing ICTE
The teachers generally appreciated the
school-based TPD programmes and found it
useful to them
Because these school-based TPD
programmes or mechanisms were generally
pedagogically oriented
EMB training for implementing ICTE
For the external training opportunities of
ICTE organized by the EMB, the teachers
consistently found that the training was not
so useful to them to implement ICTE
A T4 commented that: “these training
overemphasized on computer knowledge
and skills. However, the major concerns of
teachers are the pedagogical
considerations.”
Continuation of SITES
SITES found that 76% of primary school principals
regarded lack of ICT knowledge and skills as the
major obstacles of implementing ICTE
This study found that only 50% of primary school
principals regarded that lack of ICT knowledge and
skills was still a major obstacle of implementing
ICTE
SITES found that 80% of primary school principals
stated that training opportunities were inadequate.
This research found that only while 25% of them
stated that training opportunities were inadequate
Continuation of SITES
SITES found that it was rare that the training
opportunities were pedagogical-oriented in 1999
This study found that all the studied principals
(100%) also agreed that the existing TPD for
implementing ICTE in their schools was mainly
pedagogical-oriented
The background of the studied school
principals
P2 was the only female in this study
Apart from P1, the principals tend to be
“young”
One principal got BIT, two principals got IIT,
one got UIT
Roles of school principals in leading TPD for
implementing ICTE
School climate developer
It is important for the principal to cultivate a
favourable school culture
TPD is a prolonged campaign
P3 had never pressed his teaching staff to use ICT
in daily practice
However, by P3’s prolonged commitment to ICTE,
the use of ICT in the daily practice of instruction had
become well integrated into the culture of S3
The study also found that the principals also deeply
realised that the culture of the school was affected
by the background of teachers
To wipe out the problem of “historical burden”, P1,
P3 and P4 also liked to recruit fresh teachers
Role model for continual learning
TPD is not equal to the one-off training
programmes
It is a process of life-long learning
Apart from P4, the principals could attain IIT
or above ICT competencies levels
In S3, the teachers consistently agreed that
P3’s pursuit of a Master degree had made
him a role model
As a principal, who was close to the age of
retirement, P1 still actively and continuously
participated in various ICT training and
professional development programmes
The principals as the resources linker
Principal may not be an expert as a
catalyst in leading TPD for
implementing TPD
But they usually perform well in
allocating resources for school
development
The principals as the resources linker:
Manpower
the principals had formulated ICT working
groups in the late 1990s to face the
challenges of implementing ICTE
They appointed appropriate colleagues as
members of the ICT working groups and
recruited technical experts as ICT
coordinators and technical assistants
The principals as the resources linker:
Manpower
Though the principals had committed to
manpower allocation for ICT working groups,
not all the principals were aware of the
needs of TPD
There was no teacher in S3 who specialized
in leading TPD
For S4, though a TPD working group existed,
there were only two teachers as committee
members
The principals as the resources linker:
Manpower
The number of members of ICT and TPD
working groups
The principals as the resources linker:
Manpower
Some principals had appointed more teachers to
lead the changes
P4 had appointed five teachers as subject
representatives to lead the implementation of ICTE
in the specific subjects
The lessons that they conducted were cut
The manpower arrangement for prinicpalship
P1 appointed one more vice-principal to share part
of his administrative burden
P1 could be more available to be the pilot of the
school and found that, under such an arrangement,
he was more available to detect the teachers’ needs
for TPD
The principals as the resources linker: Time
P2 set aside one hour or more on each
Friday as “teaching research period” to
encourage teachers to improve their
instructional practices
Each Friday, the lessons of S2 ended earlier
Teachers were free to share dissemination of
various ICT educational resources and
pedagogical strategies
The principals as the resources linker:
Funding
P1 established a special working group,
called Resources Exploration Group,
who regularly worked at applying to
external resources, especially QEF,
EMB, parents and education fund of
the Hong Kong Jockey Club etc., to
raise funding to support school
development
The principals as the resources linker:
Physical resources
Most of Pilot Schools found that their
hardware and software had
comparatively outdated
P1 requested the “old” computers from
the different local universities
Then, he donated the old computers of
the school to students, who were
without a computer at home
The principals as the resources linker:
Opportunity, knowledge and skills
P3 supported his staff to participate
the UIT training by removing the quota
of participants
57% of teaching staff successfully
attained UIT
Many principals tended to rely on the
EMB’s ICT training opportunities for
teachers though found it not useful
The principals as the resources linker:
Opportunity, knowledge and skills
It was sarcastic that most of these principals
questioned the effectiveness of these EMB’s
ICT training opportunities
P1 straightforwardly commented that
focuses of these training were wrong
They overemphasized on the technical
training
He believed that technical training was
important as it could affect the confidence of
teachers to use ICT in daily instruction
Building learning community
TPD is a continual and gradual process
It needs a learning community to
sustain its continuity
The principals worked out various
mechanisms
P4 also had worked out a special
mechanism, called adaptation periods
Building learning community
Teachers teaching the same subject at
the same level met weekly to enhance
their teaching effectiveness by a wide
variety of activities, like sharing of
teaching experience, curriculum
adaptation, production of teaching and
learning resources and collective lesson
preparation etc.
It included four major subjects, like
Chinese, General English, Mathematics
and General Studies
Managing curriculums and instruction
The ultimate objective of TPD should benefit
the students’ learning
It is important for the principals to be aware
of the impact of TPD on the existing
curriculum and on teachers’ daily
instruction
The principals had worked out various multifunctional mechanisms, like collective
lesson preparations, teaching research
periods and collective production of ICT
educational resources etc.
Managing curriculums and instruction
P2 focused the TPD on the pedagogical
application
To achieve it, she motivated the
subject leaders to participate in it
She closely worked with them and
gradually nurtured them as the role
models of good practices in their
respective subjects
Organizing collective reflection as well as
holistic and ongoing assessment
Besides relying on the multi-functional
mechanisms, researcher also found
some good practices
P1 led the school to like ISO 9002
P4 planned to work out an internal
assessment mechanism
Motivator
The principals were successful motivators
P4 spent much time with teachers in
personal interaction, in which he tried to
encourage and challenge them for further
enhancement
A T4 stated that he finally attained UIT
because his principals encouraged him to
attain when they chatted in an elevator
It helped to explain why 89% of teachers in
S4 eventually got UIT even though P4 had
never compulsorily instructed them to do so
Motivator
P1, P2 and P3 encouraged teachers to integrate
ICT in daily instruction by supervising the
technical staff to offer a user-friendly
environment for the teachers
P1, P2 and P4 had worked out administration
questionnaires regularly to investigate the
needs of staff towards TPD, including those for
implementing ICTE
P2 established prize awards for the teachers
who regularly adopted ICT tools in the
classroom
The principals presented the prizes on
important occasions, like graduation ceremony
Effectiveness of school principals in leading
TPD for implementing ICTE
Effectiveness of school principals in
leading TPD for implementing ICTE
Teachers and principal’s consistent
views over the actual roles of the
principals
The roles in which the principals had performed:
Resources provider
(manpower, time, funding etc.) (71%)
Cultivating school culture of learning (58%)
Managing curriculum and instruction (46%)
Motivator (46%)
Defining and communicating vision
The principals of the studied school had
not yet seriously played a role to define
and communicate the vision of ICTE
Not all studied schools had formulated
the vision of ICTE
For those schools who had vision of ICTE,
the formulation of the vision of ICTE
mainly served for preparing documents to
apply for ICTE projects or as a part of
school policy
Defining and communicating vision
Such a so-called vision of ICTE almost
did not have any relationship with the
general operation of the school
Two of the clauses in the vision of ICTE
for S4 were about the students:
“developing student-centred learning
mode” and “implementing effective ICTE
according to students’ needs”
There were no concrete policies or
measures to help the school to achieve
those visions
Defining and communicating vision
Such a vision of ICTE was mainly
formulated by the ICT working groups
In some cases, it was even solely
prepared by the chairman of the ICT
working group
When the teachers were asked about
the vision of ICTE, most of them could
not answer the points which matched
their original documents
Organizing holistic and ongoing assessment
The teachers and principals did not
exercise assessments regularly
Apart from P1’s participation in ISO
9002, the principals just passively
relied on the irregular external
evaluation mechanisms, like QAI
Monitoring student progress
Though the principals generally believed
that the ultimate aim of TPD for ICTE was to
enhance the students’ learning, it was rare
for them to organize serious and systematic
supervision of students’ progress resulting
from the adoption of ICTE
The principals usually monitored the
students’ progress only by informal
observation
Then they vigorously claimed that the
learning motivation of students increased
during the use of ICT
Obstacles of school principals in
leading TPD for implementing ICTE
Obstacles of school principals in leading
TPD for implementing ICTE
Engaging in too many educational
reforms simultaneously
All the studied principals also agreed
It became their major obstacle to
wholeheartedly leading TPD for
implementing ICTE
P3 commented that: “in such an age of
critical educational reforms, there are
numerous needs for TPD of various kinds.
For this reason, I need to keep a balance and
can not overemphasize the need of TPD for
implementing ICTE even though I think that
it is important.”
Too limited resources can make use
The majority of principals also stated that
they had difficulty in allocating the
resources for ICTE and its related TPD
P1 clearly understood that, in the process
of implementing ICTE, teachers should
learn to select, organize, evaluate, and
adapt ICT resources for instruction.
However, P1 found that it was difficult for
the teachers to use appropriate ICT
educational resources to teach
Inadequate support and guidelines from
EMB
Half of the principals considered that
inadequate support and guidelines from
EMB were an obstacle that they faced in
leading TPD for implementing ICTE
Apart from the various ICT level training,
related training curriculum and the ratio of
teachers’ percentage for the specific level
only, the EMB provide almost no guidelines
for the school to organise TPD for
implementing ICTE
Inadequate support and guidelines
from EMB
EMB just encouraged the school to
organise school-based TPD for
implementing ICTE
However, how to organise it and who
should organise is really a question
Low staff motivation
The increasing workload resulting from
implementing ICTE, in some cases, has
created some tensions in the collegial
system
P4 confessed that, in some cases, it
was difficult to reach a balance
between willingness from the
principals and willingness from the
teachers in leading the educational
initiatives
Inexperience in tackling the changes of ICT
Principals found it difficult to deal with
the educational changes of TPD and ICTE
because both of them were something
new
A T4 felt that P4, to a certain extent was
inexperience to implement ICTE and its
related TPD
In the early year of implementing ICTE,
the teachers were engaged in the
establishment of hardware, software and
infrastructure
Inexperience to tackle the changes of
ICT
However, P4 quickly pushed the
teachers to integrate ICT into the
curriculums
Without adequate teachers’ support,
the attempt eventually was ineffective
Data analysis and discussion
Leaders’ three major roles in a LO
A designer of settings in which the five
disciplines are promoted

Team Learning:

Subject meetings, teacher development days,
peers lesson observations and collective
lesson preparation, cooperative production of
ICT educational materials, teaching research
periods, adaptation periods, module meeting
and mass lectures etc
Leaders’ three major roles in a LO
A designer of settings in which the five
disciplines are promoted

System Thinking:
Teacher appraisals did not include the use of
ICT
 Ineffective monitoring on students’ progress
 Fragmented organizational structure of school
 Inadequate holistic and ongoing assessment


Mental model:

There was no complete evolution from ISTT to
TPD
Leaders’ three major roles in a LO
A designer of settings in which the five
disciplines are promoted

Personal Mastery

The teachers equip themselves to fit the
requirements of the school instead of
motivated by shared vision

(The discussion about the principals as “a teacher who fosters
learning for everyone” have integrated above)
Leaders’ three major roles in a LO
A steward of the shared vision
Vision as part of document only
 Vision was formulated by the minority
 No shared vision was found
 Shared vision is the heart of LO
 No shared vision, No LO
 In this regard, the principals were not an
effective leader

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