This document discusses alternatives to traditional models of professional development (CPD) for teachers. It argues that traditional CPD such as lectures are ineffective as they are decontextualized and disempowering. Only 0-5% of new practices from traditional CPD are enacted in the classroom. Effective CPD is contextualized, personalized, and iterative. It discusses alternatives like lesson observation, modeling, coaching, communities of practice, and developing social capital between teachers. A cloud-based professional development system could enable online collaboration within and between schools to develop high-quality teaching practices.

2. Andy Newell
Managing Director
IRIS Connect

3. Outstanding schools have to have
Outstanding teaching ….
But if traditional CPD is deeply flawed what can
you do?

4. Two ideas whose time has come
The most disadvantaged pupils can make 4 to 6 times their
‘normal’ expected progress when their teachers have been
involved in high quality professional development and
learning
Teacher Development Trust 2012
“Nothing has promised so much and has been so
frustratingly wasteful as thousands of workshops and
conferences that led to no significant change in practice
when teachers returned to the classrooms”
Fullan

5. Traditional CPD?
The most common form
of training attended in 2010 was
listening to a lecture or
presentation
Decontextualised, Depersonalised, Disempowered
If schools are to be centres of Pedagogical expertise, should we not
extend this to be centres of excellence in Andragogy?

6. What is the impact of Traditional CPD?
• less than of CPD 10% effectively embeds new
practice
• and barely 1% transforms existing practice.
TDA
• Joyce and Showers and Edmondson showed
that traditional models of CPD led to between 0
and 5% enactment levels

7. Why hasn’t there been change?
• 37% of schools rarely or never evaluate the impact
of CPD
• Of the rest, only 7% evaluate the impact on student
attainment (3% in secondary schools)
• If the evaluation focus is on the cookies, you will
have nice cookies - Guskey

8. What are the alternatives?

9. If Content is King, Context is
the Kingdom
Teaching
Experiencing
•Being a coach or mentor
Discussing with others •Sharing best practice
We
•Communities of Practice
Enact •Peer Mentoring
Seeing & hearing •Iterative mentoring
•Self Review
•Observing Best Practice
Reading
Lectures
Following David A Sousa – How the Brain Works

10. Organisational learning opportunities (traditional model)
Teaching
Experiencing
Discussing with
others
Learning
opportunities Seeing & hearing
Reading
Lectures

11. What interactions are effective?
Contextualised, Personalised, Iterative
• Modelling
• Observation Lesson Observation
Within Community of practice
• Dialogue

12. Lesson Observation Challenges:
• Obtrusiveness (disturbing the dynamic)
• Subjective
• Expensive / hard to scale
• Debrief issues
• Dual purposed

13. What else is important?
Empowerment:
in high performing education systems ... teachers
embrace and lead reform, taking responsibility as
professionals…
OECD, March,2011

14. What else is important?
Developing Social Capital:
If a teacher’s social capital is just one standard
deviation higher than the average students’ maths
scores increase by 5.7%
OECD, March,2011

15. Developing a high quality teaching profession
A systems model
•Staff collaborating within and across schools
Professionalism at •Staff establishing a cycle of self review and reflection
•Action research
Empowerment the front line •Developing and sharing best practice
•High skill staff coaching and mentoring others
•Coaching – both internal and external
Schools developing •Mentoring
high quality staff •Modelling best practice
•Schools collaborating
Development
Schools identifying •School self review identifying areas for growth
•Identifying and celebrating best practice
areas for •Performance management
development •Quality assurance
External review for monitoring standards, identifying and
Control disseminating national best practice and quality assurance

16. A process model

17. IRIS Connect

18. What are the implications of a cloud
based PD system?
Fundamental difference between web 2.0 and web 3.0
• Web 2 delivers data socially
• Web 3 delivers meaning socially
What does this mean for you?
• Collaboration within and between schools
• Online communities of practice
• Security and simplicity
• Consultants and coaches are able to work with your school over
distance
• INCYTE international