Transcript Developing, articulating, accrediting professional learning Developing, Ruth Heilbronn -articulating, Principles for outcomes accrediting Liz Wright -professional Reading into writing learning Institute of Education, University of London Ruth Heilbronn.

Developing, articulating,
accrediting professional
learning
Developing,
Ruth Heilbronn -articulating,
Principles for outcomes
accrediting
Liz Wright
-professional
Reading into writing
learning
Institute of Education, University of London
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
ning Journey,
Portfolio of written pieces,
Masters Module
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
Professional Learning Portfolio
Assessment is through module components
amounting to 5000 words:
(Secondary 3 /Primary 4)
 Philosophical statement
 A piece of reflective writing on a secondary
subject specific topic
 A piece of reflective writing on a school
policy - wider educational topic)
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
Module aims and learning outcomes
To promote an understanding of the process of learning,
by reflecting on own professional learning;
 To encourage a critical, research and enquiry-led
approach to teaching and learning, which explores the
relationship between practice, policy, theory and
academic debate;
 To support student teachers to articulate their learning;
 To promote collegial relationships which enable
professional dialogue;
SO WRITING SHOULD HAVE INDIVIDUAL VOICE REFLECT THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
JOURNEY….

Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
Briefing student teachers
Learning through the module
is about developing critical
reflection on the practice of
teaching
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
.
Critical reflection….
.
goes beyond accepted ways of thinking and behaving ..
invites alternative ways of understanding (Scott p126 2000)
considers personal experiences within wider socio-historical
and politico-cultural contexts (Hatton & Smith p35 1995)
Critical reflection at M level is long
& wide:
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goes beyond self
draws on others, academic literature, research
sees the wider context
links theory & practice
is long-term
might be transformational (Barnett 1997
p7)..being critical to critical being
 acknowledges that teaching is fundamentally
value laden
Wider perspectives than own
classroom
 Some of the wider issues considered through tutor
group discussions and readings take you beyond our
classroom, your subject specialism, your age phase .
 Beyond an instrumental way of teaching to
understanding underlying values - which means:
Wider perspectives: from the
literature
Scott 2000 p4
 Teacher as technician …. whose primary
function is to develop the skills to put into
practice a set of behaviours determined by
policy-makers……………or……….
 Educationally literate teacher ….who
understands that policy documents, press &
research reports as constructed and
ideologically embedded artifacts
Wider perspectives: from the literature
Moore 2000 p 129, 133
 Competent craftsperson ……reflexive
practitioner
 Not just what and when but why & how….
 How did my past and current experience
of life and work influence me in behaving
in the particular way I did?
reflexivity: locating reflection within wider
personal, social and cultural contexts p112 2004
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
In reflection we are:
Surfacing tacit understandings so that they can be examined,
critiqued, developed and re-framed (Elliot, 1991).
Developing understanding to inform future action
‘There is no stock response that can fit individual
circumstances. Critical reflection on practice, interrogating
aims, purposes, outcomes of particular choices in
particular teaching situations, can be a fruitful source of
knowledge and understanding and support the
development of practical judgement - the ability to respond
flexibly, expertly, in the moment’. (RH)
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
Through critical reflection, developing
one’s own ..
‘practical theories’ (Handal and Lauvas,
1987)
‘strategic knowledge’ (Schulman, 1986)
‘professional artistry’- ‘the kinds of
professional competence practitioners
display in unique, uncertain and conflicted
situations of practice’(Schon, 1987, p. 22).
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
Discourse community...
The importance of participation - sharing
critical understandings with one’s
‘situated learning discourse community’
Reflection as a social endeavour, and
reflection as a distributed process - in which
dialogue is central. Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles &
Lopez-Torres (2003)
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
Centrality of dialogue
. The process of working through one’s understandings
with another person is an important way of learning. It
may be possible for some people to come to these kinds
of understanding on their own. A new teacher may learn
to teach through trial and error or through watching
others, without any professional discussion of the
meaning of what has been observed. However, the
impact of interaction with a more experienced and skilled
person, can help the new teacher to understand her
experience and to develop her capacities as a teacher,
and it mirrors the paradigmatic examples of learning
noted above, in which relationships are fundamental.
(Heilbronn, 2008, p. 116)
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
The Learning conversation
a form of dialogue about a learning experience in which the
learner reflects on some event or activity in the past.
Ultimately, it is intended that people will internalise such
conversations so that they are able to review learning
experiences systematically for themselves, but at the
beginning, the learning conversations is carried out with
the assistance of a teacher or tutor…it is a dialogue on
the process of learning; the learner reflects on his or her
learning with the assistance of a teacher or tutor (Boud
et al., 1985, p. 92).
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
References:
Barnett R (1997): Higher Education: A Critical Business.
Buckingham: SRHE/Open University Press
Boud, D., Keogh, R., Walker, D. (1985), Reflection: Turning
Experience Into Learning. London and New York: Kogan
Page and Nicols Publishing Company.
Carr, D. (2003), ‘Rival conceptions of practice in education
Furlong J, Barton L, Smiles S, Whiting C, Whitty G (2000):
Teacher Education in Transition. Re-forming
professionalism? Buckingham: OUP
Handal, G. & Lauvas, P. (1987) Promoting Reflective
Teaching. Milton Keynes: OUP
Hatton N & Smith D (1995): Reflection in Teacher Education:
Towards definition & implementation. Teaching & Teacher
Education Vol11 No1
Heilbronn, R. (2008): Teacher Education and the
Development of Practical Judgement, London: Continuum
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
References (cont…)
Hoffman-Kipp, P., Artiles, A. & Lopez-Torres, L. (2003) Beyond
Reflection: teacher learning as praxis, Theory into Practice,
42 (3)
Moore A (2000): Teaching and Learning. Pedagogy,
Curriculum and Culture London: RoutledgeFalmer
Moore A (2004): The Good Teacher.Oxon: Routledge
Schon D A (1983): The reflective practitioner: how
professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books
Scott D (2000): Reading Educational Research and Policy
London: RoutledgeFalmer
Sch‫צ‬n, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San
Francisco: Jossey Bass
Schulman, L. (1986) Those who understand: knowledge
growth in teaching, Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14
Ruth Heilbronn. Institute of Education, University
of London.
.
Liz Wright
Reading into writing
Mueller (2006): reading students’ assignments can help
us to understand more about their experiences of
learning to teach - they provide a ‘rich understanding’.
 Often I did not leave my classroom except to go to
the toilet or to go to the staffroom. I had my lunch
there. I did my work there and occasionally I would
cry there. It was a refuge from prying eyes but also it
was my ball and chain…my weaknesses were played
on and my strength of character was really tested.
HN, student teacher 2009
 What kind of writing is this?
 What does it tell us about the student?
 Does writing like this belong on a PGCE course?
[email protected]
Learner stance
 I think doubt is hugely important both morally and
intellectually – it is important to know that one doesn’t
know it all. HC student teacher, 2009
H came onto the course valuing an intellectual approach to teaching.
She became frustrated by the ‘lack of freedom to take control over [her]
learning’. The PGCE course felt ‘intellectually unsatisfying’.
 I want to develop a robust professional narrative and
define my own developing professional philosophy.
RA, student teacher, 2009
R’s theme in her portfolio was ‘learning to learn again’. She had
withdrawn from the PGCE course and then reapplied the following
year.
[email protected]
Learner stance: Between a rock
and a hard place
 I find myself caught between the desire to question
what I am learning and the necessity to just learn
what I am told in order to pass.
 Trainees are forced to try and bleed their creativity
into increasingly small gaps. SD, student teacher, 2009
S’s stance as a learner was a place of contradictions. S felt
demoralised by school experience where he felt ‘a hindrance’ - during
planning meetings his suggestions were met with ‘dismissive gestures’.
[email protected]
Learning journey: questions satisfied
with answers…
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Before starting the course, I had always considered myself as a plumber might
before taking his apprenticeship. I was waiting to be tooled out in everything I
would need to enter my first classroom… I imagined seminars where teachers
would play the part of unruly children and we would be given a series of routine
techniques for dealing with them; in short my questions satisfied with answers...
I had envisaged encountering a library full of books, but expecting them to be
teaching aids, learning materials, children’s books and subject knowledge
development tomes…
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Initial memories of my first week at the institute are of the size of the section of
the library dedicated to reflections on teaching. I had never before considered
that teaching would be such an introspective past-time, with so many questions
that people would need to address.
RO, student teacher, 2009
[email protected]
To…an acceptance that answers will
come
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The reality is that we have been asked to ‘zoom out’ from what we
know about education and view the entire landscape of teaching and
learning from a much more academic standpoint…
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I begin to realise that I am constructing a personal philosophy; just as
questions in the classroom can help children to develop their metacognitive abilities and therefore learn new skills… not just knowledge.
Questions can lead me to a reflective attitude…
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This doesn’t mean that I now have the answers. But it does mean that
I shouldn’t be worried about not having them, and that the answers will
come as my personal (and therefore individual) philosophy as a teacher
develops.
RO, student teacher, 2009
[email protected]
Learning to be a learner
 A big barrier to my learning is my confidence and fear
of failing… when I relax about my learning it becomes
easier for me I am learning to be a learner without
fear of failure. I am finding the PLP module a source
of strength and validity – it is giving me confidence to
be a learner and the confidence to value my own
views. My personal thoughts are being validated by
academic writings. I think that PLP will be the
making of me and of my future pupils….. True
learning takes the external on board but is rooted
within the personal…. RA, student teacher, 2009
[email protected]
Pedagogical framing (Siraj-Blatchford and Sylva,
2004)
 Texts position us as particular kinds of
readers and sometimes the texts that
are given to student teachers are written
solely for an academic audience
positioning student teachers as
outsiders. Burke (2008) has written
about the ways in which particular
authorial voices in higher education are
privileged. LW, 2009
[email protected]
Pedagogical framing (Siraj-Blatchford and Sylva,
2004)
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Texts resonate with student experiences
Writerly texts that invite discussion
Texts that invite meta-cognition
Texts that problematise teacher education
A concern with authorship
A choice of texts
Make selection of course articles a more
transparent process - whose texts are not
made available?
[email protected]
Articles as pedagogic framing
 Alexander (2004) Critical questioning would not have occurred
to me if I hadn’t read this article. SD, student teacher, 2009
 Attard and Armour (2005) I would have been feeling just as
lost as Attard if I hadn’t had a writing community to support me.
MG, student teacher, 2009
 Calderhead (1987) This article on reflection was easy to
understand because Calderhead presents examples which
illustrate his points. TE. student teacher, 2009
 Maynard (2001) This article highlights the critical relationships
and the fact that one’s social context is important as a student
teacher. I gained comfort from reading Maynard’s article which
confronts my fears of teaching being a lonely profession. HN,
student teacher, 2009
 Pearce (2004) I feel the article speaks to the profession in a
way that many academic articles do not. JW, student teacher, 2008
[email protected]
Alexander: wider cultural contexts
 The article highlighted for me the danger of reading
any policy document in isolation and without setting it
within a an overall political and social context… The
article also provided me with a better understanding
of the pressure on teachers to comply with
government policies and initiatives in the current
climate of testing, targets and performance tables,
and it helped me to appreciate some of the factors
contributing to the apparent gap between the
pedagogical theory promoted at university and what I
have observed on school experience…
[email protected]
Cont.
 His article has supported me in realising the importance of
analysing policy and adopting an enquiring stance about why it
has arisen and what the underpinning arguments and evidence
are. It has made me realise that I need to take responsibility for
my own professional learning and for developing my
professional knowledge if I want to respond in an intellectual
way to policies . This will enable me to take a wider perspective
within teaching, to move from being a technicist to a
professional who recognises the social and political issues that
surround teaching and which affect children in school…
NB, student teacher, 2009
[email protected]
Attard and Armour: reflection
 Attard (2005) is on a mission here to get his readers
to see that this type of writing is a way to achieve
professional development… I believe that writing is a
beneficial and effective way of developing personally
and professionally… I commend Attard for his
bravery in expressing his emotions in such a public
manner… The article presents reflection as a
possible solution to reducing the theory-to-practice
dilemma, to better understand oneself and gradually
develop professionally…
[email protected]
cont.
 Throughout the year I have written about my personal
experiences in the teaching environment, shared
them with colleagues both in and out of class and
received their feedback, from which I am able to draw
and elaborate on ideas beyond my own… I know I
would be feeling just as lost and frustrated as Attard
feels had I not had the opportunity of being in a
community where writing, sharing and hearing
others’experiences is accepted and encouraged.
MG, student teacher, 2009
[email protected]
Critical reflection…educationally
literate teacher
 Daly et al. argue that currently reflection is ‘all too often…selfreferential’ and ‘devoid of conceptual and theoretical
frameworks (Daly et al. 2004:101). This is a trap which is very
easy to fall into, as demonstrated by Attard’s use of
autoethnography (Attard and Armour, 2005: 195)… Attard’s egocentric approach to reflection undermines the validity of his
argument that reflection is essential to teacher learning (Attard
and Armour, 2005: 197, 205). Despite the theoretical
engagement of the article, Attard’s personal diary extracts do
not contain any discussion or application of theory; instead he is
reflecting on his emotional journey…
RA,student teacher, 2009
[email protected]
Mok: dangerous discourse
 I would argue that articles such as Mok’s should form
part of the curriculum for the whole course… so that
all students are aware of the research surrounding
their activities. [They would then] be aware of the
choices that are open to them about what direction
their teaching might take and more aware that they
are a valuable resource. This would offset the
negative impression given before first school
experience where of necessity the student teachers
are given strict instructions not to be a nuisance…
[email protected]
Cont.
 In my opinion current political thinking seems to have
come to the conclusion that it is too difficult to train
teachers to be ‘expert’ teachers (Mok, 2005) because
they are then equipped with enquiring and critical
minds but it is preferable to have a group of
compliant production staff who can fulfill targets.
HG - student teacher, 2009
[email protected]
Dangerous discourse within critical pedagogy requires
courage: moving from rhetoric to action
 Without a critical perspective, reality frequently is presented to
students as a given, and underlying conflicts and problems are
barely mentioned (Nieto, 1999)
 Teacher educators, too, will require courage if they are to be
activists in supporting the work of teachers… to work together
with teachers in more powerful alliances (Day, 2004)
 One of the successes of the PLP module has been to
encourage primary student teachers to ask deep and at times
challenging questions. Teacher education has to equip our
students with the courage to think deeply and ask challenging
questions; that must be part of professional learning. The
university should be a good place to do this (Wright, 2009)
[email protected]
Pedagogical choice
 Pedagogical choice enables the students to construct
their own learning journey within the context of a
range of articles.
 Pedagogical choice recognises students as learners
each with their own different starting point.
 Pedagogical choice respects students as learners.
 But… students’ educational journeys in the 21st
century have been journeys of compliance - at first
students do not want choice - they want answers.
[email protected]
UCET Annual Report 2006- debate not answers
 One of the disappointing features of some recent consultation
papers is that they call for specific responses to narrowly drawn
questions rather than seek to generate debate about a set of
proposals. Too often those sponsoring the consultation exercise
are concerned to test the extent to which there is support for a
policy line already adopted rather than to elicit views on a
complex issue.
 UCET's practice is to respond discursively to consultation
papers and is unwilling to have its responses constrained and
reduced to the ticking of boxes. In that way UCET remains true
to its mission of contributing an authentic commentary on policy
developments.
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Gordon Kirk, Academic Secretary to UCET.
[email protected]
References
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Alexander, R. (2004) Still no pedagogy? Principle, pragmatism and
compliance in primary education. Cambridge Journal of Education 34
(1) 7 - 33
Attard, K. and Armour, K.M. (2005) Learning to become a learning
professional: reflections on one year of teaching European Journal of
Teacher Education 28 (2)
Burke, J. (2008) ‘Writing, Power and Voice: Access to and
Participation in Higher Education’. Changing English, 15 (2)
Calderhead, J. (1987) The Quality of Reflection in Student Teachers’
Professional Learning. Journal of Teacher Education 10 (3) 269 - 278
Daly, C., Pachler, N. and Lambert, D. (2004) Teacher learning:
towards a professional academy. Teaching in Higher Education 9(1)
99-111
Day, C. (2004) Change Agendas: The roles of teacher educators
Teaching Education 15(2)
[email protected]
References
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Maynard, T. (2001) The student teacher and the school community of
practice: a consideration of ‘learning as participation’ Cambridge
Journal of Education 31(1) 39 - 52
Mok, Y.F. (2005) A Philosophy of Teaching Practicum: construction of
a personal theory of teaching and learning Teacher Development 9(1)
Mueller, A. (2006) A Teacher Educator’s Fate: Seeking contexts to
engage student teachers in thinking about learning to teach. Studying
Teacher Education 2 (2)
Nieto, S. (1999) The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural
Learning Communities Columbia University: Teachers College Press
Pearce, S. (2004) ‘The Development of One Teacher’s Understanding
of Practitioner Research in a Multi-ethnic Primary School’. Educational
Action Research, 12 (1)
Siraj-Blatchford, I. and Sylva, K. (2004) Researching pedagogy in
English pre-schools British Educational Research Journal, 30 (5)
[email protected]