Transforming Education in the Context of Change

1. TEACHER EDUCATION AND TEACHER DEVELOPMENT IN A CONTEXT OF CHANGE Serbia November 2012 Professor Graham Donaldson CB University of Glasgow

2. Propositions • Relentless drive to improve educational quality will continue • The twenty-first century learner is different • The twenty-first century teacher has to be different • We need new ways of approaching career-long learning • That requires a sophisticated concept of leadership • School improvement starts and ends in the classroom

3. Relentless Drive for Educational Improvement • School education is one of the most important and contested policy areas for governments across the world. • Evidence of relative performance internationally has become a key driver of policy. • Human capital in the form of a highly educated population is seen as a key determinant of social justice and economic success. • The pace and character of social, economic and technological change has profound implications for how we conceive education in the future.

4. States and individuals need high levels of education for future economic, social and personal wellbeing • Innovation is integral to educational quality - create the future not recreate the past • Models of governance and change need to be dynamic and promote alignment ↓ RE-EXAMINE APPROACH TO AND RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHING / LEADERSHIP / CURRICULUM / ACCOUNTABILITY

5. Successful 21st Century Learners • Deep knowledge • Strong core skills • Can change, adapt, transfer skills • Skills to access information, as well as retain it • Persistent, resilient, able to manage impulse • Have learned how to learn and want to learn • Strong interpersonal/ intrapersonal skills • Responsible, global citizens • Secure in their values

6. What do we mean by ‘quality’? • Qualifications? • Destinations? • Basics? • Wellbeing? • Capacity to learn? • Desire to learn? • Educated Person?

7. Lessons from High-Performing Systems • Clarity of purpose – values and curriculum • High expectations of achievement • Enabling all young people to achieve their potential • Emphasis on early learning • High quality teachers • Culture of professional learning • High quality leadership at all levels • Outward looking – open to but not beguiled by innovation • Intelligent accountability • Reflective and self-evaluative

8. Fall and Rise of Teacher Agency? • Early focus on expansion of provision – more = better/strong teacher agency • 1960s - Alphabet soup curriculum reform • Standards movement - measurement mania • School effectiveness • Curriculum specification • Professional conspiracies – competition & inspection • Teachers Matter - “It’s the teacher, stupid” • ?????????

9. It’s the teachers stupid! • Overall, the research results indicate that raising teacher quality is vital for improving student achievement, and is perhaps the policy direction most likely to lead to substantial gains in school performance • Students of the most effective teachers have learning gains four times greater than the learning gains of the least effective teachers ( Sanders and Rivers 1996)

10. Moving from being taught by an average teacher to one of high quality leads to an improvement which is roughly equivalent to the effect on learning of reducing class size by 10 students (Rivkin et al 2001) • Differences among teachers explain up to 23% of the variation in student test score performance that is potentially open to policy influence (Rockoff 2004)

11. Teachers Matter The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers (McKinsey & Co 2007)

12. Teachers Matter but… “For commitment to flourish and for teachers to be resilient and effective, they need a strong and enduring sense of efficacy…They need to work in schools in which leadership is supportive, clear, strong and passionately committed to maintaining the quality of their commitment.” Day et al ‘Teachers Matter’ OUP 2007 quoted in Hargreaves & Fullan ‘Professional Capital’ Routledge 2012

13. Teachers and change 85 percent are resistant to change what works for them; ten percent are willing to change to be more efficient; and five percent are willing to try new innovations. Hence the moves to use accountability, government pressure, compulsion and the stick rarely change the conceptions or lens of teachers. Hattie ‘Visible Learning ’ 2009 Routledge

14. And much teacher knowledge is Tacit Intuitive Situation bound Chance Wikman (Teacher Education Policy in Europe 2010)

15. We need teachers who - have high-levels of expertise – subject, pedagogy and theory have secure values – personal and professional accountability for the wellbeing of all young people take prime responsibility for their own development but also see themselves as and act as part of a team see professional learning as an integral part of educational change engage in well-planned and well-researched innovation are outward-looking and seek partnerships

16. AND See themselves as having these values and capacities AND Are seen by others to have these values and capacities

17. How do we do it? Select and develop high quality people A continuum of teacher learning – framework of standards intellectual integrity relevant reflective collegiate researchaware Relentless focus on impact on young people’s learning.

18. Teacher Standards should- capture characteristics of high quality teacher establish a common language of quality provide a key reference point for teacher education – pre and post qualification act as an incentive for career-long professional growth provide a basis for evaluating progress look credible to an experienced teacher contribute to embedding innovation help align policy and practice

19. If “the quality of education cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” then the prime task for leadership is to build the capacity of and maximise the impact of those teachers, individually and collectively.

20. Leadership Distributed – attitude not roles/not followership Clear moral purpose/vision – social justice Relentless pursuit of high quality Respect for evidence Continuous learning – lead learner Communication/empathy Outward looking Capacity building

21. Policy frameworks for teacher evaluation • Most countries (16/21) have policy frameworks for teacher evaluation in place • Completion of probation: 11/21 • Performance management: 13/21 • Registration: 6/21 • Reward schemes: 3/21 • Where teacher evaluation is not regulated nationally, it may still occur informally at the local or school level Forthcoming OECD Review 2012

22. Reference standards • All but two countries that have policy frameworks for teacher evaluation also have central standards to guide evaluation • For the completion of probation, most countries use central standards, sometimes complemented by description of duties / code of conduct • For performance management purposes, the use of school level rules, regulations or development plans as reference points for teacher evaluation is also common • For registration, central standards or particular registration standards; graduate profile in one country Forthcoming OECD Review

23. Standards in Netherlands Standards of professional competence Dutch law defines 7 standards of professional competence for Dutch teachers: - pedagogically competent (safe learning environment) - competent in terms of subject matter (contents and didactics) - competent in interpersonal relations - organizationally competent - competent in teamwork - competent in cooperation with school environment (parents) - competent in reflection and development

24. Netherlands – Two categories of Skills Basic skills: The teacher clearly explains the subject matter The teacher creates a task- oriented learning environment Pupils are actively involved in the classroom activities Complex skills The teacher: tailors the lessons to various needs tailors the assignments to various needs tailors the available time to various needs monitors the progress of pupils systematically

25. NetherlandsRick Steur SICI 2012 Central concept: • The professional space for the teachers • The use of professional space by the teachers

26. Summary of current policy context in Scotland Supporting and challenging Improvement

27. Scottish Teacher Reform Programme ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’ (Donaldson 2010) Entry qualifications New degrees – practicum reconceptualised Continuum of professional learning – Standards Professional review Masters level profession University engagement Leadership college Aligned policy Strong partnership approach

28. ATEPIE PROJECT • Addressing the key issue – teacher capacity • Reference framework for teacher standards • Partnership across the region • Drawing on best international practice • Attention to dissemination • Inclusive development process

29. Big Messages for Policy Build on the past but do not be imprisoned by tradition Gearing and traction – focus on what matters If it’s not happening in the classroom, it’s not happening (Elmore) Teaching capacity – professional standards School culture of aspiration, initiative, enquiry and impact on learning Leadership focus on people and culture Policy alignment