LEAP Conference July 2015 Helen Timperley

Professional development to build capability is fundamental to whole school improvement processes BUT... Most professional development is a waste of time in improving outcomes for young people

 Evidence-informed inquiry approaches in which the participants work together implement and test research-based ideas in their own context  Antony Bryk (Carnegie Foundation, USA)  Ben Jensen (Learning First, Study of high performing systems)  Linda Kaser and Judy Halbert (British Columbia – a high performing system)  New Zealand

1. Make the work problem-specific and user- centred ◦ Anchor all activity in a specific problem to be solved – demand focus ◦ Examine the problem from the point of view of the user 2. Focus on variation in performance ◦ Reducing harmful variation and improving overall quality  in Australia - within school variability a bigger problem than between school variability

3. See the system that produced the current outcomes  That means focusing on your leadership and organisational practices 4. We cannot improve at scale what we cannot measure  Need to develop a causal map – we need to improve a. in order to achieve b. which in turn is essential to c. (with measures for each) 5. Use disciplined inquiry to drive improvement 6. Accelerate learning through networked communities  All working on solving the same problem

Teacher Professional Learning in High Performing Systems  Inquiry – based  Collaborative  Linked and coherent  Takes place over time  Professionally led  The ‘right’ focus Teaching and Learning International Survey

One of the top performing multi-lingual, multi-cultural systems in the world aspx

Over 300 primary schools in New Zealand Writing: Average gains 2.5 to 3.2 expected rate over two years Lowest 20% 5-6 times expected rate Reading: Average gains 1.5 to 1.9 expected rate over two years Lowest 20% 3 times expected rate. Sustained over the three year monitoring period

Focus on Valued Student Outcomes Worthwhile content Integration of knowledge and skills Assessment for professional inquiry Multiple opportunities to learn and apply Approaches responsive to learning processes Opportunities to process new learning with others Knowledgeable expertise Active leadership Maintaining momentum Timperley, H. (2008) Teacher Professional Learning and Development. International Academy of Education. International Bureau of Education. Paris: UNESCO

What kinds of teacher professional learning and development have a positive impact on outcomes for students?

Professional learning opportunities Teachers interpret and use targeted understandings and skills Teacher outcomes:  change in practice  no change in practice Student learning outcomes:  improved  not improved Students interpret and use targeted understandings and skills Student learning opportunities The Black Boxes of Teacher and Student Learning

▪ Formal educational policies/curriculum ▪ Prevailing discourses ▪ School organisation Wider social context The professional learning context ▪ People and practicalities ▪ Professional learning goals Responses of diverse teacher learners/communities Impact on diverse student learners Content of the professional development/learning opportunities Activities constructed to promote the learning Learning processes Mapped 97 international studies

1. Student learning is strongly influenced by what and how teachers teach 2. Teaching is complex and can’t just be an “add on” or “plucking and plonking” others’ ideas. 3. Effective professional development is responsive to the ways teachers learn. 4. Professional learning is shaped by the context in which teachers practice.

Two extremes:  Teachers are treated as professionals and left to construct their own learning experiences (often in PLCs)  Experts develop recipes for teaching, teachers given a rationale, shown how, then closely monitored Learning is more complex than either of these alternatives

The wrong focus:  The focus is on getting the teaching practice right instead of increasing responsiveness to learners and improving outcomes

What is it that teachers need to learn to make a difference for their students?

Professional learning experiences that focus on the links between  particular teaching activities and  the student outcomes desired Have POSITIVE impacts on those outcomes

 Improving student outcomes must be the reason teachers’ engage in professional learning opportunities  Success is determined by impact on students ◦ not changed teacher skills  Teachers must believe that their students can learn faster and better ◦ And usually do so when this happens

The knowledge and skills developed are those that have been established as effective in achieving valued student outcomes

The integration of essential teacher knowledge and skills promotes deep teacher learning and effective changes in practice

 Professional learning opportunities need to deepen knowledge about ◦ The curriculum (and relevant discipline content) ◦ How to teach it effectively ◦ How to assess students’ learning  And to integrate theory and practice ◦ A ‘what to do tomorrow’ approach does not work

Information about what students need to know and do is used to identify what teachers need to know and do

What are the conditions that promote teacher learning in ways that impact on students?

Like students, teachers need many opportunities to learn and apply new information in a trusting and challenging environment

Different approaches are needed depending on whether new ideas are, or are not, consistent with teachers’ existing ideas and assumptions

Teachers working together and focused on student outcomes can help them integrate new learning into their practice (but PLCs are not enough)

Expertise external to the group is necessary to:  Challenge existing assumptions about how to teach  Develop new knowledge and skills

Three Fields of Knowledge (Jackson & Temperley, SCSL) What Is Known The knowledge from theory, research and best practice What We Know The knowledge of those involved. What practitioners know New Knowledge The new knowledge that we can create together through collaborative work

 Experts need to be very knowledgeable in the area of focus;  Need to know how to make the knowledge relevant to the teachers ◦ In ways that integrate other principles ◦ And promote teachers’ adaptive expertise rather than routine expertise (more later)

Leaders play a key role in promoting professional learning of their teachers for the benefit of their students

FIVE DIMENSIONS OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP Derived from Quantitative Studies Linking Leadership with Student Outcomes (Robinson, Hohepa and Lloyd, 2009)

 Sustainability depends on: ◦ Teachers developing strong theoretical frameworks that allows them to make principled changes to practice ◦ Self-regulatory assessment skills to inquire into effectiveness and answer the questions: “Where am I going?” “How am I doing?” and “Where to next?” ◦ A plan that develops these ideas over time and across situations ◦ The focus is maintained over a long period of time to deepen learning

Fragmented to systemic thinking

Focus on Valued Student Outcomes Worthwhile content Integration of knowledge and skills Assessment for professional inquiry Multiple opportunities to learn and apply Approaches responsive to learning processes Opportunities to process new learning with others Knowledgeable expertise Active leadership Maintaining momentum Timperley, H. (2008) Teacher Professional Learning and Development. International Academy of Education. International Bureau of Education. Paris: UNESCO

 Teachers as adaptive experts (e.g. Hatano & Inagaki,1986; Hammerness et al., 2005; Le Fevre et al., 2015)  Committed to promoting the learning of each student  Constantly seeking relevant knowledge and skills to achieve this  Seeking evidence on the impact of their practice on student learning (social, emotional, academic)

Routine Expertise Adaptive Expertise  Apply a core set of skills with increasing fluency and efficiency  Own beliefs taken for granted and not open to scrutiny  Based on notions of novice to experts – practice makes perfect  Flexibly retrieve, organise and apply professional knowledge  Aware of own beliefs underpinning practice and when they get in the way  Recognise when old problems persist or new problems arise and seek expert knowledge

Routine expertise Adaptive expertise  Assessment and learning are sequential  Assessment reflects student capability  Investigating the impact of teaching undermines professionalism  Assessment and learning are integrated  Assessment is about the effectiveness of teaching  Investigating the impact of teaching is essential to improvement

Routine expertise Adaptive expertise  Improving leadership teaching are separate activities  Systematic evidence not needed because the ‘routines work’  Improving leadership and teaching are integrated  Systematic evidence is essential to improvement because need to know what works for whom