Conference:
ECER 2008
Network:
Format:
Symposium Paper
Session Information
01 SES 08, Issues in European Teacher Development: Linking Theory and Practice
Symposium
Time:
2008-09-12
08:30-10:00
Room:
B3 313
Chair:
Rosie Anne Turner-Bisset
Contribution
This paper draws on data derived from a recently completed research project funded by the CfBT Education Trust (formerly the Centre for British Teachers) into the importance of effective professional development for teachers and other members of the school workforce. Evaluating the impact of continuing professional development (CPD) was found to be the weakest link in the ‘logical chain’ or the training and development cycle. How outcomes had been improved and the quality of teaching and learning enhanced were not always made clear. Schools were not always clear as to what difference CPD was making or how it made a difference. In part this was because CPD was largely conceived by schools in terms of activities to be engaged in (inputs) rather than as the actual development of knowledge and expertise (outcomes). The question ‘what will happen as a result of this staff development activity, including any changes effected in staff thinking and pupil progress?’ was rarely asked.
The paper will argue for a change in emphasis to encourage a mature approach to thinking about and understanding the quality of the development of school staff. Judging the quality of schools’ arrangements for promoting professional learning may encourage the perception of it as input: something that schools provide rather than the development and learning of their workforce. Staff development needs to be regarded as the change, development and improvement of practice for the benefit of learners and not merely as a series of courses and other occasions or events. Utilising a broader definition of staff development, such as that advocated in this paper, will assist this growth in maturity and help staff development and professional learning in schools.
References
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