The Barriers We Don’t See

This powerful short film from Albania illustrates how sometimes, we can’t see the barriers some of our pupils are facing. We talk to them, we may ask them, but they don’t always want to say what is going on in their lives. Family secrets, fear of exposure, fear of ridicule forming invisible barriers that schools and teachers would help overcome if they knew what they were. Sometimes, our pupils themselves don’t even realise that something within their home life is not the norm. Growing up as a carer, or facing regular domestic abuse may be something they expect are experienced by their peers in other families.

For weeks and weeks, Liam didn’t do PE and faced a regular sanction. He claimed he had forgotten his kit. He loved sport and, though he had some cognitive difficulties that could affect his memory, something didn’t ring true. Countless conversations eventually revealed the truth; he had trainers but didn’t want to bring them, as they made his toes bleed. He had outgrown them a year before. He had no other kit. Issuing uniform vouchers, as we did for some families wouldn’t work in Liam’s case, so we bought him a brand new PE kit and a kit bag and told him we had “found it”. He was, needless to say, delighted.

Callum transferred to our school in Year 6 on a managed move. His previous school couldn’t stop him starting fights with other boys and he had constant attendance issues. He had to cycle across town to come to our school everyday and was always late. So we bought him an alarm clock. What his previous school didn’t know was that Callum was the third of 8 boys in his family. His 2 elder brothers terrorised the estate they lived on and so pupils at his previous school used to complain about this to Callum until he lost his temper. His 2 elder brothers were collected everyday and taken to their PRU, leaving Callum to wake up, dress and give breakfast to his 5 younger siblings, whilst their mother was finishing a night shift. His lack of alarm clock meant he was always late.

Mauna lived with her mum, who gradually became disabled and Mauna was her carer. Constantly tired, Mauna was always in school but couldn’t go to friends’ houses, stay for after-school clubs or invite others to her home. She kept her mother’s disability a secret, as she thought that if we knew, we would involve Social Care and she would have to leave her mum.

Alwyn was only ever late on the days when he had been staying at his Dad’s house. It took a particularly skilled and sensitive teacher to establish that one morning, he was late because his Dad was playing a game with him. Later investigations revealed that these games were the least of what had been happening. At the age of 5, Alwyn had no way of knowing that this didn’t happen between all Dads and sons.

All of these children were in the same school at the same time. Only one of them was known to be living with disadvantage. None of them appeared traumatised, depressed or worried about anything, but for some time, we just didn’t know what was going on in their lives. It was only by forming strong relationships with them that they began to feel they could talk to us. They just needed to know that at least one person cared.

So perhaps we need to be more sensitive about dishing out generic sanctions for lateness, for not returning homework, for not having the right kit, for not having a pencil, and just remember, these kids have lives outside of school that may not be conducive to getting everything right.

Names have been changed.

I Thought I Dreamed a Dream of Fear

I thought I dreamed a dream of fear
But one day I awoke
I found the dream I’d dreamed had gone
And found I dreamed of hope

The darkness choked the light around
And filled the room with doubt
Disquiet spread its tendrils through
And stilled the tiny shout

The energy was lost within
The frozen body’s frame
But rooted to the spot it was
And overcome with shame

Time passed, it passed again and still
The petrified remained
Rooted to the spot until
Time became reframed

Engulfing darkness settled there
And permeated through
It settled there and fed the fear
Uncertainty anew

And time passed in its morphing shape
Amorphous, undefined
And fear was present, tangible
Sure-footed, unrefined

Still unrelenting, time passed on
Unceasing in its range
Until one day a tiny shift
A difference, a change

A crack appeared, the fissure grew
Crept in a little light
A little by a little grew
A light to light the night

A flickering, a shimmering
A shift in time moved on
A luminescence, facing fear
Faced it down, and won

Streaming in, it strangled doubt
And bid the darkness go
And in its place it welcomed hope
To mingle with the glow

And what we know and what we don’t
And unknown certainties
And shadows cast upon the truth
Of what we’re meant to see

A little by a little moves
And shifts the fear along
And hope comes in and finds it’s place
And there it does belong

I thought I dreamed a dream of fear
But one day I awoke
I found the dream I’d dreamed had gone
And found I dreamed of hope

Journey – a poem

An Education

The city with it’s dreaming spires
Is beckoning me now
I’m eighteen and my mam aspires
I will do well somehow


Raised in the sticks no airs, no grace
Just good at learning, me
Leaving behind, the last traces
The me I must now be


I had to change my home accent
They laughed when I did speak
I changed my clothes in my attempt 
Of what I then did seek


The need to fit in with my peers
Was how I saw it then
I lost myself amongst the fears
Of fitting in with them


I drew inside, I made the break
Ashamed of who I was
They drew me back, amends to make
My gain was still my loss


Private schools, the students had had
State education, me
I had Support from mum and dad, 
But where was the real me?


Confused I was, lost sense of self
The doctor gave me pills
To stop me shaking, twitching, my health
Descending down the hills 


Looking back, I should have been brave
And kept my self intact
My ego held high, polished and saved
My true real self, in fact


But hindsight is a wonderful state
I wish Id been able that day
To give advice to that Younger mate
And this is what I’d say:


Be a chameleon if you must
To change in social groups 
But keep yourself true, remember just
Don’t jump through all their hoops


Learn their ways, cutlery places,
Remember your ps and qs 
Enough to fit in to their posh spaces
But be very proud of you


You’ll go so far, as you, so far
Just keep your goal in mind
Work hard, stay strong, you’ll be a star
Your destiny you’ll find


They’ll start to love the one you are
As your authentic you
But keep the dreams, aim for the stars
Love you, they’ll love you too


And now they do and I love them
Great friendships through and through
But I almost lost me so remember then
Be your authentic you


Much older now, I’m driving back
To university
Achieved my dreams and having a crack
At being a lecturer, me

A Critical Reflection on the Features of Effective CPD and CPD Leadership

A Review of the Literature

 

Introduction

 

Within the current climate of school budgets tightening and ever-decreasing in real terms, it is of critical importance then, that whenever school leaders allocate finance and resourcing to continuing professional development, the impact is commensurate with student outcomes. “However, schools’ investment in effective CPD currently lags many leading systems, with too much CPD investment not translating to improvements in the classroom. As the nation’s expectations for our children rise, we must ensure teachers can access a rich provision of effective training”, (DfE, 2016). Developing Great Teaching (TDT, Timperley, et al, 2015), set out to review an array of quantitative and qualitative data gathered from international sources, “in order to inform current, high profile policy reviews taking place in England.” This paper aims to summarise the findings, alongside other sources of literature, in order to examine and evaluate effective CPD and its implication for educational settings.

 

School Culture

 

According to Kraft and Papay, (2015), “Our analyses show that teachers working in more supportive professional environments improve their effectiveness more over time than teachers working in less supportive contexts.” They identified six conditions which need to be embedded in a supportive school culture, in order for CPD opportunities to have the greatest impact on pupil outcomes. These are: order and discipline (behaviour for learning); peer collaboration (working together to solve problems); school leadership (supporting); professional development, (provision of time and resources); school culture, (mutual trust, respect, openness); and teacher evaluation (meaningful, constructive feedback). (Kini & Podolsky, LPI, 2016), concur that we need to “create conditions for strong collegial relationships among school staff and a positive and professional working environment”. For CPD therefore, to be an effective and meaningful process, it is crucial for school leaders to ensure the optimal conditions for staff to learn and develop within a supportive environment.

 

Change Management and Research-Based Evidence

Any form of CPD, whether to inform new practice, or to keep apace of changes in educational developments, requires the leadership to undertake careful and constructive change management. This necessitates a vision for the desired outcome; for what needs to be changed or improved. “The vision encompassed an alternative reality for student outcomes and possibilities for curriculum content and pedagogy”, Timperley et al, (2007). She emphasises the need to “engage reluctant participants by putting forward compelling reasons to do so, providing effective content, and engaging teacher theories”. Weston and Clay, (2018), agree: “The starting point needs to be analysis of student needs, with the key question: “what do we need to learn to empower our staff to help our students, families and community even more effectively?”. Engaging staff with questions such as these is essential rationale underpinning change management in order that teachers understand and accept the need for change. Hindley, (2019), suggests that leaders seeking successful change management might consider the five key change beliefs summarised by Hauth (2015); discrepancy (all staff members being able to embed new processes); appropriateness, efficacy (belief in successfully changing processes being possible), Headteacher support, and valence (staff members believing they will benefit from the change).

Teachers need compelling evidence in order to “buy in” to the vision for change. “Great schools pursue evidence-based practice and are always curious to find out more about what really works” Woods, Macfarlane, and McBeath, (2018). With school leaders and teachers, themselves being mindful of teacher workload, it is crucial that teachers are not bombarded with half-baked new initiatives that lack the weight of evidence. With the additional likelihood that CPD is likely to be linked to appraisal targets, staff need to be convinced that any new CPD is likely to lead to better outcomes for themselves and those they teach.

 

Externally Provided or School-Lead CPD?

Reviewing the literature on the issue, it is clear to note that researchers have grappled with the question of whether internal or externally-provided CPD is the most effective. Timperley et al (TDT, 2015), assert that “too often ‘CPD’ is viewed narrowly as attending courses or listening to stale talks”.

Kraft and Papay (2015) found that “Studies find that professional development is most effective when it provides teachers active learning opportunities that are intensive, focused on discrete skills, aligned with curriculum and assessments, and applied in context.” Kennedy (2016), worries about the problem with “enactment”, the mis-match between teachers putting into their own context something they have been taught externally. Weston and Clay, (2017), assert that “In successful schools, performance management and CPD are fully integrated”. “Great schools give time and attention to planning well-crafted whole-staff CPD programmes”. The consensus amongst the research is that whilst externally-provided CPD can be useful, it is likely to be more effective as a whole-school initiative, driven by the need for change, a collegiate culture and careful coaching.

Mary Kennedy (2016), would agree with the need for school-based collaboration. Her concern around the problem of enactment is likely to occur, she says, when teachers learn and espouse a new action, yet continue through habit, to deliver another. She also suggests “we also need to pay more attention to the people who provide PD”, and that “many of the less effective programs were large-scale programs that relied on intermediaries—coaches or small group facilitators”. These problems would be less likely to occur within a whole-school collegial approach to CPD.

 

Collaboration and Collegiality

Cordingley, (2007), argues that whilst we need to be cautious about any definitive interpretation of research into CPD at the time, what can be agreed upon, is that successful implementation of CPD occurs with “sustained mentoring and coaching, and often by also setting up mechanisms to help teachers collaborate with, and support, one another.” Teachers working in collaborative groups should be encouraged to “embed collaborative learning and the development of shared understanding and goals within the professional learning process.” (Cordingly, 2015). The suggestions are that whole-school CPD can be better implemented through “structured peer observation, use of video, collaborative action research, collaborative work scrutinies and/or structured research lesson study, so that formative evaluation of whether CPD and CPDL are working can be evidence informed.”

The Teacher Development Trust advocates Lesson Study as a useful form of collaborative inquiry, with groups of teachers working together to identify common challenges, analyse relevant data, and test out instructional approaches. The idea behind this approach is that such systematic, collaborative work will increase student learning.

School Leadership

In its Standards for Effective CPD, the DfE outline five key ideas for effective CPD; 1) a focus on improving and evaluating pupil outcomes; 2) should be underpinned by robust evidence and expertise; 3) should include collaboration and expert challenge; 4) should be sustained over time and the fifth: 5) MUST be underpinned by school leadership. Not only can school leadership provide the expert challenge, the mentoring, coaching and monitoring, but effective CPD can only exist within the right school culture, as discussed above. (para. 2). Johnson, Kraft and Papay (2011), highlights this: “teachers’ collegial interactions are made possible by a principal who encourages them to work together, ensures that they have time to do so, and brokers their relationships.” Developing Great Teaching suggests that there should be an interlinkage between CPD and performance appraisal and that effective performance review discussions have a focus on how teacher learning and pupil learning are interacting in order to boost pupil outcomes. Clearly such systems must be put into place and led by school leadership.

Robinson, V, (2009), identifies three key capabilities of effective leaders: “1. Applying deep educational knowledge 2. Complex problem solving 3. Building relational trust – taking people with you”. It is important to note that whilst school Headteachers and Principals are likely to be leaders of culture and vision, all senior and middle leaders are just as likely to be key drivers of effective CPD and may themselves possess Robinson’s three capabilities. To conclude this section then, quality leadership for and of CPD is essential in order for it to be impactful on pupil outcomes.

A Word of Caution

In the educational context, not only do problems exist in the potential pitfalls in introducing new CPD programmes in schools (lack of adequate implementation, skills of CPD providers, alignment, impact-measuring, enactment), but there are potential problems related to research and the body of literature with regards to CPD. Many of the research studies, despite analysing quantities of data and research, are quick to acknowledge discrepancies across subjects, effect sizes, methods, locations and so on. On a micro level, CPD which is successful in New Zealand, for example, might not translate with similar impact in a school in the UK with a less supportive culture. There is another important caution highlighted in Developing Great Teaching: “very few rigorous studies examine school-led CPDL. Rigorous evaluations have tended to focus on formal programmes that are designed and delivered by external bodies, rather than by schools themselves.” This has implications for the current context; as budgets are tightening, more CPD is becoming school-based and school-led.

Conclusions

Despite the cautions and potential pit-falls, it is possible to draw out some overall conclusions regarding effective CPD. The TDT in its umbrella report of existing research concurs with this view as seen here. (pp 12-13). School leadership needs to create and share the vision for the CPD, build the healthiest culture for it to flourish and support teacher practitioners in their collaborative learning. It needs to be strongly evidence-informed and responding to need. Teachers must be guided to work in collaboration with each other through research, inquiry, implementation, openness and relational trust, with careful mentoring, coaching, and interleaving of learning in a supportive environment of high expectations for all teachers and all learners.

Word Count: 1601

 

Bibliography

DfE, (2016) DfE strategy 2015-2020 World-class Education and Care [online] at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508421/DfE-strategy-narrative.pdf Accessed 7th April, 2019

Cordingley, et al, (2015), Developing Great Teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development

 

Cordingley, et al, (2007), Continuing Professional Development (CPD) What do specialists do in CPD programmes for which there is evidence of positive outcomes for pupils and teachers?

 

Hindley, B., (2019), CPD: Ensuring Everyone is on Board, SecEd [online] at; http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/best-practice/cpd-ensuring-everyone-is-on-board Accessed 8th April, 2019

 

Johnson, S, Kraft, M and Papay, J, How context matters in high-need schools: The effects of teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their students’ achievement, Project on the Next Generation of Teachers Harvard Graduate School of Education June 29, 2011

Kennedy, M (2016), How Does Professional Development Improve Teaching? Article in Review of Educational Research, Vol. 86, No. 4, pp. 945–980

Kini, T and & Podolsky, A, (2016), Does Teaching Experience Increase Teacher Effectiveness? A Review of the Research, Learning Policy Institute [online] at: https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product files/Teaching_Experience_Report_June_2016.pdf Accessed 10th May, 2019

Kraft, M, and Papay, J, (2014), Can Professional Environments in Schools Promote Teacher Development? Explaining Heterogeneity in Returns to Teaching Experience Brown University Education and Evaluation Policy Analysis, Volume: 36 issue: 4, page(s): 476-500

Papay, J and Kraft, M, (2015), Developing Workplaces Where Teachers Stay, Improve, And Succeed, Albert Shanker Institute [online article] at:  http://www.shankerinstitute.org/blog/developing-workplaces-where-teachers-stay-improve-and-succeed Accessed 5th April, 2019

Timperley, H., et al, (2007) Teacher professional learning and development. Best evidence synthesis iteration (BES). Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education

Weston, D, and Clay, B, (2018), Unleashing Great Teaching: The Secrets to the Most Effective Teacher Development, Routledge, London, UK

Woods, D, Macfarlane, R, and McBeath, D, (2018), The Nine Pillars of Great Schools, John Catt Publishers, Ipswich, UK.

A New Humanities-Rooted Curriculum for 2019 Onwards

In redesigning our new curriculum for 2019, we began the process with History; with a long chronology that reaches from 15000 BC to the present day. Next, we overlaid matching geographical concepts, followed by RE and Citizenship, including Values. We aim to design a curriculum which is meaningful.

This was partly in response to Ofsted’s emphasis on Intent; the acknowledgment that “a curriculum that is ambitious and designed to give all learners……the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life” (EIF 2019), but mainly because we know it to be true. We firmly believe that teaching the humanities:

  • Helps us understand others through histories, beliefs and cultures
  • Fosters social justice and equality
  • Enables us to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of the world
  • Fosters empathy, creative thinking and creates critically-informed citizens

Deeply embedded into our curriculum are Values and P4C (Philosophy for Children), which together enable pupils to critically analyse their understanding and response to concepts, ideas, moral and spiritual questions. We aim to prepare our pupils not only for the next stage in their education, but for life; we want them to grow into adults with robust mental health, who are able to make a positive contribution to the world in which they live. Only through a strong humanities-rooted curriculum are we able to give them the necessary cultural capital and informed critical thinking that they need in order to fulfil this.

Our other subjects are interlaced with the Humanities; woven into them. Cognitive psychology and neuroscience inform us that the most effective and embedded learning occurs when new ideas, facts and concepts are laid on top of something we already know. Learning is connected.  Knowledge organisers are now considered the norm in schools because we know that the best learning; of facts, ideas, vocabulary and concepts happens when connections are made. Learning English, science, music and art within the context of an historical period or a geographical location makes it more meaningful. We will paint an historical time-line along our corridor walls so that everything is interconnected.

So we are going back to the humanities, at last. We are giving our children the cultural capital and all  the enquiry, empathy and critical thinking that they need in order to become informed and useful citizens of tomorrow’s world. We believe it is our moral imperative.

Tracey Smith is Headteacher of New Marston Primary School in Oxford