Transcript to the PowerPoint presentation

Keynote address presented at the IPDA annual conference
Aston Business School
Saturday 29th Nov. 2014
by
Linda Evans
University of Leeds, UK

Early 1990s – new journal announced

‘spotted’ a trend – a focus on teacher
development as a field of study

established the Teacher Development
Research and Dissemination Unit at Warwick

Began to examine the concept of teacher
development.
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The evolution of labelling:
◦
◦
◦
◦
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Teacher development
CPD
Professional development
Professional learning
Expansion of the literature base:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A teacher participates in an INSET workshop on gender issues.
A teacher participates in an INSET workshop on gender issues
and evaluates it as having expanded his perspectives on
a TV crime series
one
traditional
gender roles.
AWatching
teacher
participates
in an INSET
A teacher
participates
in an INSET workshop
on gender issues
evening,
a
headteacher
is
prompted
by
workshop
on
gender
issues
and
A
teacher
participates
in
an
INSET
Areturning
teacher
participates
in an
INSET
and, on
to the
classroom, begins
to incorporate
an
incident
in
the
plot
to
question
the
moreworkshop
gender-awareness
into
his
teaching.
evaluates
it
as
having
expanded
his
workshop
on gender
issues
on gender
issues
and, on
she
had
planned
deal
with
aon
Away
GP an
reads
an
article
into
the
Lancet
A GP
reads
article
in
the
Lancet on
bereavement
counselling
perspectives
on
traditional
gender
roles
classroom,
begins
toto
andreturning
onproblematic
the basis ofto
itsthe
content
she
changes
her
approach
junior colleague.
She
bereavement
counselling
and
on
the
counselling
bereaved
patients.
incorporate more gender-awareness
rethinks
her
strategy
for changes
dealing
with
basis
its series
content
she
her
Watching
a TVof
crime
one evening,
a headteacher
is
into
his
teaching
prompted
by an incident
in the
plot to question
the way she
him
approach
to counselling
bereaved
had planned to deal with a problematic junior colleague. She
patients
rethinks her strategy for dealing
with him.
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It’s not just about going on courses.
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For teachers, it goes beyond INSET and CPD.
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It’s not always clearly labelled.
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It can occur anywhere.
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It can occur without our planning or
expecting it:
◦ taking us unawares
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It can occur without our noticing it.
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It may be ‘situated’ (Hoekstra; Lave & Wenger)
It may occur ‘implicitly’ (Eraut)
It may occur through ‘communities of
practice’ (Wenger)
It may be ‘incidental’:
◦ ‘takes place in everyday experience and occurs
without intention, from “doing” and from both
successes and mistakes. People may not be
conscious of it’ (Smylie, 1995)
3 key issues :

How professional development occurs;
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What development is involved;
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What professional development is.
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Much literature that ostensibly addresses this.
A collection of ‘models’ of professional
development.
Their contribution to the knowledge base is
varied:
◦ in terms of elucidatory magnitude and scale.
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Models tend to be conceptual or processual.
Conceptual models vary in relation to specificity
and detail.
Processual models vary in relation to theoretical
contribution.
Atheoretical
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highly contextspecific
simply illustrate
what is likely to
‘work’ in practice
Theoretical
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claim universal
applicability
contextindependent
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Fail to tell us what goes on inside an
individual’s head, in order for her/him to
develop professionally.
Fail to elucidate the ‘micro-level process of
professional development’:
◦ ‘singular unit’ of professional development

Fall short of explaining:
◦
◦
◦
◦
deviance
atypicality
relationality
causality.
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There is a tendency to identify contexts,
circumstances or situations that are typically
conducive for professional development.
A preoccupation with describing contexts where
professional development occurs.
‘To simply identify workplace conditions
conducive to teacher learning is not the same
thing as understanding in greater depth the
complex, potentially interactive functional
relationships of those conditions to learning. It
does not shed light on the interactions between
the work environment and individual cognitive
and psychological states in the learning process.’
(Smylie, 1995)
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‘The majority of [professional development] programs
fail because they do not take into account two crucial
factors: (1) what motivates teachers to engage in
professional development, and (2) the process by
which change in teachers typically occurs.’ (Guskey, 2002)
Guskey’s model of the process of teacher change is
intended to portray ‘the temporal sequence of events
from professional development experiences to
enduring change in teachers’ attitudes and
perceptions’.
Falls short because it fails to illuminate the microlevel professional development process in individuals.
‘Models of teacher professional development have
not matched the complexity of the process we seek
to promote.’ (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002)
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Clarke & Hollingsworth highlight the
limitations of superficial and over-simplistic
path models of teacher professional
development.
Interconnected model of teacher professional
growth
Addresses the ‘why?’ questions that are so
important to understanding the motivation
that prompts professional development:
They ask, ‘What were the mechanisms whereby
change in one of the … dimensions [identified in
their model] triggered change in another?’
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
Clarke & Hollingsworth have made a good job
of closing some of the gaps.
They and I seem to be thinking along the
same lines:
◦ pursuing the same jigsaw pieces of knowledge.

Yet one of my key foci is the cognitive
sequence or process that constitutes ‘microlevel development’
◦ the mental internalisation process.

In this respect, Clarke & Hollingsworth’s
model still leaves a few boxes unticked.

To address this question we need to address:
◦ What development is involved?
◦ What is professional development?

What is it that we are developing when we speak
of professional development?
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

skills?
knowledge?
thinking?
attitudes?
capacity?
understanding?
I like to think that it is people’s professionalism.
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What practitioners do
How they do it
What they know and understand
Where and how they acquire their knowledge
and understanding
What kinds of attitudes they hold
What codes of behaviour they adhere to
What purpose(s) they perform
What quality of service they provide
The level of consistency incorporated into the
above
professionalism
behavioural
component
attitudinal
component
intellectual
component
processual
dimension
perceptual
dimension
epistemological
procedural
dimension
evaluative
dimension
rationalistic
dimension
productive
dimension
motivational
dimension
comprehensive
competential
dimension
dimension
dimension
analytical
dimension
My current ‘umbrella’ definition :
‘Professional development is the process whereby
people’s professionalism may be considered to be
enhanced, with a degree of permanence that
exceeds transitoriness.’
Evans, L. (2014) Leadership for professional development and learning: enhancing our
understanding of how teachers develop, Cambridge Journal of Education, 44 (2), 179-198
professionalism
behavioural
component
attitudinal
component
intellectual
component
processual
dimension
perceptual
dimension
epistemological
procedural
dimension
evaluative
dimension
rationalistic
dimension
productive
dimension
motivational
dimension
comprehensive
competential
dimension
dimension
dimension
analytical
dimension
professional
development
behavioural
development
attitudinal
development
intellectual
development
processual
change
perceptual
change
epistemological
procedural
change
(e)valuative
change
rationalistic
change
productive
change
motivational
change
comprehensive
change
competential
change
change
analytical
change
professional
development
behavioural
development
processual
change
procedural
change
productive
change
competential
change
Behavioural development is:
the process whereby people’s
professional behaviour or
Processual change is about change in relation to the
processes
that constitute people’s
practice – how they ‘do’ or
performance
are modified
‘go about’ things.
with the result that their
Procedural change relates to changes to procedures within
professionalism or
practice.
professional practice may be
Productive
change refersto
to change
to people’s output: to
considered
be enhanced,
how much they achieve, produce or ‘do’.
with a degree of permanence
that exceeds
transitoriness
.
Competential
change involves
the increase or enhancement
of skills and competences.
professional
development
behavioural
development
attitudinal
development
intellectual
development
processual
change
perceptual
change
epistemological
procedural
change
evaluative
change
rationalistic
change
productive
change
motivational
change
comprehensive
competential
change
change
change
analytical
change
professional
development
Attitudinal development is:
attitudinal
development
the process whereby people’s
perceptual
change
evaluative
change
motivational
change
work-related attitudes are
Perceptual change refers to change in relation to people’s
modified
with
the
perceptions,
viewpoints,
beliefs
and result
mindsets. that
their professionalism or
Evaluative change is about changes to people’s professionalor practice-related
values, including
the minutiae
what they
professional
practice
may ofbe
consider important: i.e. what they value.
considered to be enhanced,
Motivational
refers toof
changes
to people’s motivation
with change
a degree
permanence
and levels of job satisfaction and morale.
that exceeds transitoriness.
professional
development
behavioural
development
attitudinal
development
intellectual
development
processual
change
perceptual
change
epistemological
procedural
change
evaluative
change
rationalistic
change
productive
change
motivational
change
comprehensive
competential
change
change
change
analytical
change
professional
development
Intellectual development is:
intellectual
development the process whereby people’s
epistemological
change
rationalistic
change
comprehensive
change
analytical
change
professional-related knowledge,
Epistemological change is change in relation to the bases of
understanding
or reflective or
what people know or understand and to their knowledge
structures.
comprehensive
capacity or
Rationalistic change isare
aboutmodified
change relatingwith
to the extent
competence
the of
and the nature of the reasoning that people apply to their
result
practice. that their professionalism or
professional
practice
be or
Comprehensive change
involves the may
enhancement
increase of people’sto
knowledge
and understanding.
considered
be enhanced,
with a
degree of permanence that exceeds
Analytical change refers to change to the degree or nature of
transitoriness.
the analyticism that people apply to their working lives.
professional
development
behavioural
development
attitudinal
development
intellectual
development
processual
change
perceptual
change
epistemological
procedural
change
evaluative
change
rationalistic
change
productive
change
motivational
change
comprehensive
competential
change
change
change
analytical
change
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Teacher at Rockville County Primary School
At her job interview she asked about remedial teaching
support – she was told that the deputy head, Margaret,
came into classrooms to do small group remedial teaching.
This didn’t happen.
Amanda questioned the headteacher, Geoff, about it.
He referred Amanda to Margaret.
Amanda spoke to Margaret about it.
Nothing happened.
Amanda told Geoff of this.
Geoff said he would mention it to Margaret.
Margaret came and did small group work on one occasion.
She promised to return the next day to continue with it.
Margaret failed to return ever again.
Amanda told Geoff of this.
Nothing was done about the problem.
(Adapted from Evans, L. (1998) Teacher morale, job satisfaction and motivation,
London, Paul Chapman)
‘I didn’t know how to go about broaching this
and so I did it, sort of…generally, in
conversation with Geoff Collins, and he said I’d
only to mention it [to Margaret] and it would be
attended to. Now, I mentioned it and nothing
was done about it. …Nothing was done about it
and so, as time went on, I became more and
more open in what I was saying to him [Geoff]
and less subtle, I suppose.’
‘I began to realise then that…er…it was [just]
me and the children.’
‘Perhaps I was expecting too much of the system…and
yet, in my heart of hearts, I knew that that’s how it
could be…particularly when, in a school like that, there
was so much back-up available. The children could
have been helped more…the staff could’ve been
helped more…and it was more about administrative
expediency – not offending those who were easily
offended.…What I should’ve done…I should’ve asked
for an adviser [to come] in school, and I should’ve
done it through the adviser. Because I understand the
advisory service now, that’s what I should’ve done. I
should’ve asked to see my general adviser, discussed
with the general adviser what the situation was, and
told the general adviser that I was also writing to the
senior adviser.’
Behavioural development:
◦ processual change – the processes that she
adopted in collegial communication and
interaction:
 ‘I became more and more open in what I was saying to
him [Geoff] and less subtle, I suppose’
◦ procedural change – the procedures that she
adopted for dealing with a problem:
 going through the hierarchy in order to express her
dissatisfaction
 accepting self-sufficiency as the best course of action:
 ‘I began to realise then that … er … it was [just] me and the
children.’
Intellectual development:
◦ comprehensive change – she increased her
understanding of the micro-politically-determined
power structure and operational norms that prevailed in
her school:
 ‘The children could have been helped more … the staff could’ve been helped
more … and it was more about administrative expediency – not offending those
who were easily offended.’
◦ comprehensive change – she increased her
understanding of systemic procedures and processes
that she could have used to her advantage, if she had
been aware of them earlier:
 ‘I should’ve asked for an adviser [to come] in school, and I should’ve done it
through the adviser. … Because I understand the advisory service now, that’s
what I should’ve done. I should’ve asked to see my general adviser, discussed
with the general adviser what the situation was, and told the general adviser that
I was also writing to the senior adviser.’
Attitudinal development:
◦ perceptual change - perception of her
own agential capacity and potential for
applying her increased knowledge and
understanding of procedures, and
designated roles and responsibilities, to
initiate change that would impact upon
her professional practice:
 ‘Because I understand the advisory service now,
that’s what I should’ve done.’
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Professional development is: the process whereby people’s
professionalism may be considered to be enhanced, with a
degree of permanence that exceeds transitoriness.
Micro-level development is: the enhancement of individuals’
professionalism, resulting from their acquisition, through a
consciously or unconsciously applied mental internalisation
process, of professional work-related knowledge and/or
understanding and/or attitudes and/or skills and/or
competences that, on the grounds of what is consciously or
unconsciously considered to be its/their superiority,
displace(s) and replace(s) previously-held professional
work-related knowledge and/or understanding and/or
attitudes and/or skills and/or competences.
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Micro-level development is: the enhancement of
individuals’ professionalism, resulting from their
acquisition, through a consciously or unconsciously
applied mental internalisation process, of professional
work-related knowledge and/or understanding and/or
attitudes and/or skills and/or competences that, on the
grounds of what is consciously or unconsciously
considered to be its/their superiority, displace(s) and
replace(s) previously-held professional work-related
knowledge and/or understanding and/or attitudes
and/or skills and/or competences.
What cognitive process does it involve?
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Thomas Guskey thinks not:
‘The uniqueness of the individual setting will
always be a critical factor in education. What
works in one situation may not work in another.
… [R]eforms based upon assumptions of
uniformity in the educational system repeatedly
fail … . The teaching and learning process is a
complex endeavor that is embedded in contexts
that are highly diverse. This combination of
complexity and diversity makes it difficult, if not
impossible, for researchers to come up with
universal truths.’
BUT theory is context-free
 context-independent
 universally applicable
1
2
3
4
Recognition of what is
perceived as a ‘better
way’ (of ‘doing’ things)
Motivation to adopt
perceived ‘better way’
Adoption of perceived
‘better way’
Recognition of workrelated deficiency or
imperfect situation –
something not quite
‘right’
Linda Evans (2014) – work-in-progress
Evaluation and
refinement of adopted
alternative
5
Recognition of new
practice as an
improvement
6
1
2
3
4
Recognition of
work-related
deficiency or
imperfect situation
Motivation to adopt
perceived ‘better way’
(of doing things)
Adoption of perceived
‘better way’
Recognition of what
is perceived as a
‘better way’
Linda Evans (2014) – work-in-progress
Evaluation and
refinement of adopted
alternative
5
Recognition of new
practice as an
improvement
6
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In both models the key component was
‘recognition of a better way’.
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Essential for attitudinal development
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Implicit in intellectual development
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Helpful, but not essential, for what may be
considered behavioural development
‘What seems to occur is that a point of view
works for us, answers our questions, helps us
to operate in life, so we use it until it no longer
does the job it was designed for. We come to
realise that our viewpoints were not pieces of
concrete truth that we discovered and logged
permanently into our minds; they were
practical ways of dealing with what lay before
us, problem-solving devices. And when better
ways of doing and explaining things came
along, we transferred our loyalties to them.’

(Holloway, R. (2005) Doubts and loves: what is left of
Christianity, Edinburgh, Canongate.)
My research agenda for the field:
 What do we mean by ‘professional development’?
◦ How, if at all, does it differ from professional learning?
◦ How does it differ from leadership?
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More conceptual analyses:
◦ conceptual clarity
◦ definitional precision
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… on the part of individual researchers and
practitioners
Unanimity is not the goal.
Discussion and debate will advance the scholarly
dimension of the field.
My research agenda for the field:
 How does professional development occur in
individuals?
◦ Identifying contexts, situations or circumstances isn’t
enough
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What accounts for diversity in responses to what
appear to be the same professional development
opportunities?
◦ Unlocking some of the mysteries of ‘micro-level
professional development in individuals’
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What – if any - patterns and sequences may be
identified in recurring examples of effective
professional development?
◦ Do these hold the key to uncovering what seems to work
best, for most people, most of the time?
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For the field to be taken seriously
To enhance our credibility as researchers
‘The academy judges by the theory and
scholarship emerging from a particular field
and discipline. Can’t be helped, that’s the
nature of academic discourse and its selfconstruction. We stand or fall by the weight
others attribute to our scholarship.’
Chapman, V. L. (2005). Attending to the theoretical landscape in adult education,
Adult Education Quarterly, 55(4).
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Evans, L. (2014) Leadership for professional development
and learning: enhancing our understanding of how teachers
develop, Cambridge Journal of Education, 44 (2), 179-198.
Evans, L. (2013) The professional status of educational
research: professionalism and developmentalism in 21st
century working life, British Journal of Educational Studies,
61 (4), 471-490.
Evans, L. (2011) The ‘shape’ of teacher professionalism in
England: professional standards, performance management,
professional development, and the changes proposed in the
2010 White Paper, British Educational Research Journal, 37
(5), 851-870.
Evans, L. (2008) Professionalism, professionality and the
development of education professionals, British Journal of
Educational Studies, 56, (1), 20-38.
Evans, L. (2002) What is teacher development?, Oxford
Review of Education, 28 (1), 123-137
They have the potential to add precision to:
 analyses of professionalism and professional
development;
 comparisons of professionalism and professional
development.
They may do this by:
 providing more ‘standard’ units of measurement
or representation;
 exposing the presence or occurrence (and
therefore also the absence) of specific elements
or dimensions of professionalism and
professional development.