Aspects of professional learning; a new framework for student reflection Rachel Lofthouse & Roger Knill, School of Education, Communication & Language Sciences, Newcastle University TEAN Conference 21 st May 2010

Our context 36 week M.level PGCE: ◦ bridging practice, theory and research Students work towards QTS standards and Ofsted ITT grading: ◦ tracking and evidencing standards TDA directives regarding ITT curriculum: ◦ overcrowded programme, increasingly content heavy

Our role PGCE course tutors Designing and managing the student experience Working in partnership with school mentors and other subject tutors Assessing student progress (professional and academic)

Our focus Focus on the professional learning journey; QTS as one element Personalised professional learning within a common programme and partnership framework M.level assignments focusing on ◦ Reflection on professional processes enabling a developing understanding of subject pedagogy ◦ Development of practitioner enquiry approaches within the context of placement schools and own classroom

Our dilemma How to create coherence across the diverse demands and aspects of the PGCE Looking for ‘sense-making tools’ which can allow students to find relationships between their practical experience, their reflection and the academic elements of the programme

Our 3 year enquiry To develop a model of professional learning that is derived from evidence of the outcomes of professional learning experiences To make this model accessible to student teachers so that it can be used as the basis of personal reflection and professional dialogue To determine how and whether the model can be used as a pedagogic tool to stimulate greater student teachers’ metacognitive awareness of the processes and outcomes of their professional learning

Year 1 Students reflected on their use of video-recording Thematic review of written questionnaire responses and assignments Comments were coded and categorised Regularly occurring themes and relationships Described a number of aspects of professional learning, as conceived by the student teachers

Year 2 8 aspect model offered to students as a means through which to reflect on their experiences during the PGCE Students produced two annotated diagrams using model - exemplified elements of their experience and considered its impact Diagrams used as the basis of one-to-one progress tutorials with the students

Year 3 – in focus Stage 1: Students were asked what their personal objectives were for the course. Responses mapped onto the eight aspects of professional learning and fed back to the group. Stage 2:Stage 3:

Understanding of, and ability to focus on, the ‘significant others’, in this case the students Acquiring professional confidence and identity Ability to evaluate own practice Willingness & ability to take action to develop own practice and solve problems Critical ‘user’ engagement with relevant theory, research and policy Understanding of how ‘practice’ evidence can be collected and analysed Constructive engagement in professional dialogue with other practitioners Development of reflective attitudes and skills 8 Aspects of Professional Learning To engage students and get them interested in Geography Become an inspirational Geography teacher Have a better idea of how to cope with difficult situations To be able to brush off the bad days and learn positively from them Organised and confident in the classroom To increase my knowledge of how children learn To feel like I am improving & see progression To be effortlessly confident in front of a class Stage 1: Personal objectives for PGCE

Year 3 – in focus Stage 1:Stage 2: Students worked in groups to review first placement experience and identify what activities and processes had enabled them to make progress in each of the 8 aspects of professional learning. Thematic review, Stage 3:

Reported key experiences related to 8 aspects model Interpretation of emerging themes Undertaking the core tasks of a teacher (planning, teaching, assessing, differentiating) Working with others; peers and mentors Feedback from others Self-reviewing & enquiry processes Students respond positively to ‘getting on with the job’ and start to problematise the role of teacher Significance of routines (such as mentor meetings, reflective training journals) Meeting the challenge of M.level enquiries The importance of feedback loops (from pupil learning, mentoring, self-evaluation) and taking action Stage 2: Review of first placement

Year 3 – in focus Stage 1:Stage 2:Stage 3: Students worked in groups to construct concept map illustrating the relationships between the 8 aspects of professional learning as experienced part way through long placement. Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis.

Development of reflective attitudes and skills (13) Understanding of, and ability to focus on, the ‘significant others’, in this case the students (9) Acquiring professional confidence and identity (14) Willingness & ability to take action to develop own practice and solve problems (6) Ability to evaluate own practice (13) Critical ‘user’ engagement with relevant theory, research and policy (6) Understanding of how ‘practice’ evidence can be collected and analysed (8) Constructive engagement in professional dialogue with other practitioners (9) Stage 3: Relationships between aspects of professional learning

Development of reflective attitudes and skills (13) Acquiring professional confidence and identity (14) Ability to evaluate own practice (13) Constructive engagement in professional dialogue with other practitioners (9) Understanding of, and ability to focus on, the ‘significant others’, in this case the students (9) Understanding of how ‘practice’ evidence can be collected and analysed (8) Willingness & ability to take action to develop own practice and solve problems (6) Critical ‘user’ engagement with relevant theory, research and policy (6) Number of links made to other aspects Stage 3: Relationships between aspects of professional learning

Examples of strongly related aspects Student comment Ability to evaluate own practice Understanding of how ‘practice’ evidence can be collected and analysed Having evidence to evaluate has provided better evaluations and has helped provide evidence for reflection Constructive engagement in professional dialogue with other practitioners Development of reflective attitudes and skills From reflecting on own practice we start to see good aspects of practice in others. This promotes dialogue between practitioners. Acquiring professional confidence and identity Understanding of, and ability to focus on, the ‘significant others’, in this case the students In first placement you are mostly focussed on yourself as a teacher and developing your professional identity, but in the Long Placement you have more of an idea of yourself as a teacher so you plan for the students more and take them into account increasingly in your lesson. Stage 3: Relationships between aspects of professional learning

Thinking about professional learning Eraut (2007): Importance of informal learning: asking questions, getting information, locating resource people, listening and observing, reflecting, learning from mistakes, giving and receiving feedback and use of mediating artefacts. Lave and Wenger (1991): Learning is a function of the activity, context and culture in which it occurs. Learners, such as student teachers, thus become involved in a community of practice which embodies certain beliefs and behaviours.

8 Aspects of Professional Learning Starting to describe the ‘model’ as a tool (Wall et al., 2010) Its function varies according to the intent of the user (tutor, individual student or group of students ) Functions include: ◦ teaching, interaction, feedback, framing

References Eraut, M. (2007) Learning from other people in the workplace, Oxford Review of Education, Vol. 33 (4), pp Lave, J. & Wenger, W. (1991) Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wall, K., Hall, E., Baumfield, V., Higgins, S., Rafferty, V., Remedios, R., Thomas, U., Tiplady, L., Towler, C. and Woolner, P. (2010) Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 4 and Learning to Learn in Further Education, Campaign for Learning: London