The complexity of professional development paper presented within the seminar, Strains and Complexities in Professional Development, at the Lifelong Learning Institute, University of Leeds, November 20 th 2008 Dr Linda Evans School of Education, University of Leeds, UK

My current quest The professional development process: defining and delineating the process formulating a theoretical model a theoretical model of the process whereby individuals develop professionally

The professional development process in individuals Professional development is: the process whereby people’s professionalism and/or professionality may be considered to be enhanced. What do we mean by ‘professionalism’? What do we mean by ‘professionality’?

Professionality and professionalism Eric Hoyle: professionalism - status-related the institutional component of professionalisation professionality - knowledge, skills & procedures used in one’s work the service component of professionalisation ‘extended’-‘restricted’ professionality continuum

Professionality orientation: teachers ‘Restricted’ professionality Skills derived from experience Perspective limited to the immediate in time and place Introspective with regard to methods Value placed on autonomy Infrequent reading of professional literature Teaching seen as an intuitive activity ‘Extended’ professionality Skills derived from a mediation between experience & theory Perspective embracing the broader social context of education Methods compared with those of colleagues and reports of practice Value placed on professional collaboration Regular reading of professional literature Teaching seen as a rational activity Eric Hoyle, 1975

The ‘restricted’-’extended’ teacher professionality continuum

Professionality and professionalism Professionality is: an ideologically-, attitudinally-, intellectually-, and epistemologically-based stance on the part of an individual, in relation to the practice of the profession to which s/he belongs, and which influences her/his professional practice. Evans, L. (2002) Reflective Practice in Educational Research (London, Continuum) Hoyle (2008) ‘the service component of professionalism’

Professionality and professionalism Professionalism is: the ‘plural’ of professionality; professionality writ large; the amalgamation of individuals’ professionalities. Professionalism is: professionality-influenced practice that is consistent with commonly-held consensual delineations of a specific profession and that both contributes to and reflects perceptions of the profession’s purpose and status and the specific nature, range and levels of service provided by, and expertise prevalent within, the profession, as well as the general ethical code underpinning this practice. (Evans, L. (2008) ‘Professionalism, professionality and the development of education professionals’, British Journal of Educational Studies, 56 (1), 20-38)

Definitions of professional development Professional development is: the process whereby people’s professionalism and/or professionality may be considered to be enhanced. Within this overarching definition, my current definition of individuals’ professional development is: the enhancement of their professionality, 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. (Evans, 2008, work-in-progress)

The professional development process in individuals: the mental internalisation process My focus is ‘micro-level’ development: the ‘singular unit’ of professional development fundamental small scale My focus is not the big picture, exemplified by: a practitioner who experiences dissonance with her current, overall, practice and undertakes to raise her game in general; the newly qualified professional whose induction into the profession involves continuous development My focus is a single ‘episode’ as identified by Eraut (2004, p.251) : ‘when we talk about what we have learned from “experience in general” we are probably referring to our accumulated learning from a series of episodes.’ Eraut, M. (2004) ‘Informal Learning in the Workplace’, Studies in Continuing Education, 26 (2)

The professional development process The process involves enhancing individuals’ professionality. progression along the professionality continuum What does the professional development process in individuals involve?

The ‘micro-level’ professional development process in individuals Recognition of work- related deficiency or imperfect situation 1 Recognition of perceived improved alternative (a better way) 2 Motivation to adopt perceived improved alternative (or better way) 3 Adoption of perceived better way 4 Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative 5 Recognition of new practice as an improvement 6 Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative 5 Linda Evans (2008)

The ‘micro-level’ professional development process in individuals (model 2) Recognition of a better way of doing things 1 Recognition of work-related deficiency or imperfect situation 2 Motivation to adopt perceived better way of doing things 3 Adoption of perceived better way 4 Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative 5 Recognition of new practice as an improvement 6 Evaluation and refinement of adopted alternative 5 Linda Evans (2008) - work in progress

The professional development process illustrated ‘We introduced a pattern whereby students read a paper and then presented their views about the paper. We split the large group into three mini groups of eight and saw each of the three groups for one-third of the two hours. So we saw them in rotation and they had the other two-thirds of that session to prepare the paper for the following Thursday session. And we weren't very happy... we didn’t feel there was enough discussion going on … some of the students weren’t reading the paper in advance, as we’d asked them to. So we decided we needed to look again at that. So this current academic year, for the Thursday slot, we explicitly set it up as debates - still with the mini groups... but we appointed two students from each of the mini groups to speak for a particular motion and two to speak against it, and the others to be witnesses, to interrogate the two sides. And we gave the students the motions for debate at the beginning of the term. They chose which of the ones they wanted to speak to.... That’s been highly successful and I'm quite surprised how successful it's been this year. A lot of the students have said that's been the highlight of their four years here.... That has really forced them to think critically and they've enjoyed it very much and got a lot out of it.’ (Anne, university lecturer)

The professional development mental internalisation process in individuals two processual models: model 1: a deficit-awareness-stimulated professional development process a remedial-focussed process model 2: an unsolicited, ‘responsive’ professional development process an unanticipated professional development process These two processes correlate, to some extent, with Eraut’s (2004, p.250) distinction between: ‘reactive or opportunistic learning that is near-spontaneous’ ‘deliberative learning that is more considered.’ ‘micro-level’ unsolicited or unanticipated professional development (model 2) may occur within ‘bigger picture’ solicited or intentional professional development contexts. Eraut (2004, p. 250): ‘I use the term `reactive learning' because, although it is intentional, it occurs in the middle of the action, when there is little time to think.’

The professional development process in individuals Components: recognition that there’s an alternative a better way ‘encountering’ a specific alternative evaluating the specific alternative recognising the specific alternative as a better way implies recognition of the perceived relative inadequacies of previous practice/views/knowledge etc. adoption of the perceived better way evaluation of the newly adopted practice/views/attitudes etc. as better than what it/they replaced Evans (2008) work-in-progress

Professional development: an ontological model (Evans 2002) Professional Development Attitudinal Development Functional Development Procedural Change Productive Change Intellectual Change Motivational Change

Professional development: an ontological model (2008) (Evans, work in progress) professional development functional development intellectual development attitudinal development procedural change productive change processual change evaluative change motivational change perceptional change epistemological change rationalistic change comprehensive change

Issues for consideration Do the models apply to all elements of professional development? May each element (functional, attitudinal, intellectual) involve a different process? Is there a process that, at the lowest reductionist level, is applicable to all three elements? stimulus to modify professional practice, or related attitudes, knowledge and/or understanding? Should each of the two professional development processes (deficit-awareness-stimulated; unanticipated) illustrated in models 1 and 2 remain distinct and separate?