Teacher Education Curriculum Design for Practical Learning

1. Teacher Education Curriculum Design for Practical Learning Professor Michael S. Totterdell University of Plymouth

2. The Mission of Education The prime mission of education in the modern world is to prepare future generations for a changing world of work and socio-cultural participation. In addition to imparting knowledge and skills, education has a moral and civic purpose.

3. Challenges in Global Culture1 Learning will be the major business of the vocational/professional future of anyone who now leaves school The co-existence of multiple adversities continues to have a cumulative effect on learning opportunities and outcomes New technologies (the digital revolution) are changing the structure and modality of knowledge, its acquisition and its transfer The multicultural nature of current societies constitutes an additional dimension of any modern person’s life and requires growth in intercultural competence along the lifespan 1. See 1. See

4. Accelerated Change Sixteen trends will impact on Education and the Wider Society - these represent both challenges to and opportunities for sustainable learning development.1 Becoming and remaining an effective educator in a diverse, complex and increasingly stratified society involves more than acquiring information and developing skills. It also involves a process of growth and reflection both as individuals and as educators. 1. See Diagram 1: Sixteen Trends that will impact on Education and the Wider Society. 1. See Diagram 1: Sixteen Trends that will impact on Education and the Wider Society.

5. Thesis of Education Reform Societal change world wide is creating a demand for new skills and attributes; Society itself may have changed in its capacity to engender these, leading to pressure on the education system to do more; The means within education needs to be differentiated more and ‘personalised’ to meet more individually determined needs; State provision itself needs to link better with the ‘outside education system’ determinants of learning – the family and the community.

6. Driver 1: Information Technology The use of IT has moved beyond the simple ‘access to knowledge and now knowledge can be created in IT enabled learning communities across distance, organisational boundaries and cultures. Mobile technologies bring new possibilities for learning and, crucially, for the possibility – given their universality – for truly listening to ‘student voice’ and involving young people in their learning. ‘IT literacy is now as important as linguistic and mathematical literacy.

7. Driver 2: Sustainability ‘Schooling for sustainability’ by which we mean addressing issues of global and economic sustainability in formal school settings is linked to governments’ responses to the individualisation of responsibility for economic prosperity and well-being. ‘Eco-literacy connects students to ideas that see them as humans on an interconnected planet. Young people need to understand how human systems interrelate to natural systems so we can build resilient communities and ecologically literate economies.

8. Driver 3: Learning 21st century schooling needs to connect with the sources of valuable learning. Young people do not learn in schools or other organisations. They learn in classrooms and in other face to face locations with their teachers. If we are truly interested in meeting their needs, we need to have educational perspectives and policies that look upward from their (probably highly variegated) experiences, rather than down from their school or ‘organisational level’. We need a focus on education as experienced, not as intended by policy, two very different things.

9. Driver 4: the Priority of the Teacher It is the teacher or educator in the classroom or learning setting that is the biggest source of influence over children, not the level of the school. Indeed, in virtually all multilevel analyses conducted to date, in whichever country or sector, teacher or classroom effects on achievement outcomes are 4 to 5 times greater than school effects.

10. The fundamental error of the School Improvement/Effectiveness Movement School level organisational factors do not appear to be very powerful determinants of anything at all, whether they are size, formal designation, type of school or any other school level variables. In most societies of the world – including the high scoring Pacific Rim and Finnish ones – discussions about education are usually about teaching and curriculum rather than about the school unit. They are therefore linked to the most powerful ‘levers’ associated with student outcomes.

11. Alternative View 1: Effective Classrooms Value-added approaches: School-level differences in value-added are relatively small Classroom-level differences in value-added are large Conclusion: An effective school is a school full of effective classrooms Measure effectiveness in classroom; good teachers get good results

12. Alternative View 2: Teacher Effectiveness Is Key Wide variation in effectiveness: Texas: 3-5 years of good teacher closes achievement gap by low income students Gary: difference of best and worst = one year Substantial evidence that teacher quality is most important part of schools

13. How to get good Teachers? The Research-Informed Proposition There is a gap between the theoretical preparation of teachers and the requirements for ‘new’ skills in practice The missing element in teacher education is how to identify and deal with problems in a concrete settings Solutions are to be found in re-orientating teacher education toward the development of key competencies in subject and educational matters and the provision of practical experiences

14. The Bologna Process: comprehensive curricular reform, compatibility & competences Curricula based on learning outcomes Competences required for professional practice Comparability of degrees Mobility of (educational) workforce Stakeholder involvement and employer engagement

15. Teacher Competencies Key Reference: ‘Common European Principles for Teachers’ Competences & Qualifications’ Teachers ability to reflect on the process of learning should include – subject knowledge, curriculum content, pedagogy innovation, research, and cultural and social dimensions of teaching

16. Defining Teacher Competencies Narrow understanding of ‘theory free’ skills inadequate because too instrumentalist Broader view inclusive of disciplinary knowledge and theory as well as attitudinal dispositions and value stances better suited to integrity of practice Tuning project: ‘Competencies represent a dynamic combination of knowledge, understanding, skills, abilities and values’ Competencies can be fostered, formed & assessed Successful competencies reforms occur where teachers are involved in setting national standards

17. Typology of Competencies for Teacher Expertise Values and child development Subject knowledge, pedagogy and curriculum Understanding of educational system and contribution to its development Self-evaluation and continuing professional development Evidence-based inquiry, applied research and collaborative leadership

18. Curriculum Models4 Fundamental Questions What are aims and objectives of curriculum? Which learning experiences meet these aims and objectives? How can the extent to which these aims and objectives have been met be evaluated? How can these learning experiences be organised?

19. We need to improve student achievement This requires improving teacher quality Improving the quality of entrants takes too long So we have to make the teachers we have better We can change teachers in a range of ways; some will benefit students, and some will not. Those that do tend to involve changes in teacher practice Changing practice requires new kinds of teacher learning and new models of professional development. Designing Teacher Professional Development

20. Looking at the wrong knowledge… The most powerful teacher knowledge is not explicit That’s why telling teachers what to do doesn’t work What we know is more than we can say And that is why most professional development has been relatively ineffective Improving practice involves changing habits, not adding knowledge That’s why it’s hard And the hardest bit is not getting new ideas into people’s heads It’s getting the old one’s out That’s why it takes time But it doesn’t happen naturally If it did, the most experienced teachers would be the best, and we know that’s not so (Hanushek, 2005) We need to create systematic approaches to, and spaces for, teacher learning

21. So what do we need? What is needed from teachers A commitment to: the continuous improvement of practice focus on those things that make a difference to student outcomes What is needed from leaders A commitment to: creating expectations for the continuous improvement of practice ensuring that the focus stays on those things that make a difference to student outcomes providing the time, space, dispensation and support for innovation supporting risk-taking What is needed from the system A “signature pedagogy” for teacher learning

22. A “signature pedagogy” for teacher learning? Monthly meetings of ‘teacher learning communities’ (TLCs) of 8-10 teachers that follow the same structure and sequence Activity 1: Introduction & Housekeeping (5 minutes) Activity 2: How’s It Going (35 minutes) Activity 3: New Learning (20 minutes) Activity 4: Personal Action Planning (10 minutes) Activity 5: Summary of Learning (5 minutes) Peer observations between TLC meetings Run to the agenda of the observed, not the observer

23. and one big idea Use evidence about learning to adapt teaching and learning to meet student needs

24. Learning Continuum in Education Learning, capacity and performance are interrelated 2 Types of Knowledge: Declarative>Procedural>Contextual>Somatic Participation in the Community of Practice: Minimal>Peripheral>Full Interrelated Layers of Learning: Information, knowledge, intelligence, understanding, wisdom & transformation See Diagram 2: The Learning Continuum in Education.See Diagram 2: The Learning Continuum in Education.

25. See Diagram 3: Curriculum design model of new Masters in Teaching and Learning. See Diagram 3: Curriculum design model of new Masters in Teaching and Learning.

26. Shared Principles of Professional Development Positive impact of teacher professional development on outcomes for children and young people to be at the heart of what we do. Willingness to develop innovative and creative approaches to teacher professional development as key to transformational learning. Commitment to developing reflective practitioners who are able to create and utilise effectively evaluative evidence to improve their practice. Recognition of the centrality of partnership between universities, schools and other stakeholders in developing teacher professionalism and valuing the different contributions that each partner can make. Flexible and responsive modes of professional learning which are personalised to address individual and school priorities. Commitment to providing high quality support and development of those with key roles in professional development – in particular school-based coaches and mentors. Commitment to developing sustainable professional learning environments in schools, including appropriate use of on-line and blended learning. Respectful dialogue and principled collaboration between partners in order to develop shared and common approaches that ‘add value’ in meeting the challenges facing schools in the region.

27. Summary Raising achievement is important Raising achievement requires improving teacher quality Improving teacher quality requires teacher professional development To be effective, teacher professional development must address What teachers do in the classroom How teachers change what they do in the classroom Formative practice + Teacher learning communities A point of (uniquely?) high leverage A “Trojan Horse” into wider issues of pedagogy, psychology, and curriculum