The document discusses innovative practices in teacher professional development (PD) that address the changing needs of educators, particularly in overcoming barriers like time constraints and lack of support. Key areas of focus include empowerment through collaborative learning, digital delivery, and partnerships with social organizations, showcasing 30 examples of effective PD models. The study highlights the need for further research on the impact of these innovations on teachers' practices and student outcomes.

1. Emerging, innovative practices of
Teacher Professional development
How are the changing needs addressed?
Riina Vuorikari, Pan Kampylis
Unit B.4 Human Capital & Employment
Tallinn, September 2018
SLIDES at: https://www.slideshare.net/vuorikari/

2. The European Commission’s
science
and knowledge service
Joint Research Centre

3. Outline
Vuorikari, R., Kampylis, P. (2018). Emerging, innovative practices
of teacher professional development addressing the changing needs.
A. Context, aim of the study and the research question
B. Presentation of Results with some examples
C. Take away message

4. Context
Teachers are busy folks. There are many professional and personal
demands for their time. How can PD fit in?
Our research question: What kind of PD practices have emerged as
a "workaround" to overcome the known barriers and to meet the needs?
Needs for PD:
• 57% ICT skills for teaching
• 48% Teaching for diversity
• 41% Student counselling and behavioural issues
• 40% Teaching transversal, soft and future skills
Barriers:
• 51% conflicts with the work schedule
• 48% lack of incentives
• 48% lack of support from employer
• 44% of teachers consider PD activities expensive

5. Method
An exploratory, descriptive study based on desk research and
interviews. 30 examples with the wow-factor – 6 case studies.
• Summer 2017- summer 2018, a shallow-but-wide look on emerging
practices of teacher professional learning and PD experiences in Europe and
beyond
• Framework underpinning the analysis by Darling-Hammond et al., 2017
© Cambridge University Press

6. Outline
Vuorikari, R., Kampylis, P. (2018). Emerging, innovative practices
of teacher professional development addressing the changing needs.
A. Context, aim of the study and the research question
B. Presentation of Results with some examples
C. Take away message

7. Focus of innovation, i.e. the workarounds
• Innovation in PD that focuses on the school as a learning
organisation
• Innovating PD through empowering learners and organisations
outside of school
• Innovative forms of delivering the PD
• Innovative partnerships to create the PD
• Innovating PD through teacher networks
• Innovating PD through degree programmes
Check
the paper
annex!

8. Features
• Multiple actors in the school
• PD takes place onsite in school
• Time set aside to collaborate,
team-teach, peer-observe
• Coaching support (by external or
internal one), peer mentoring
• One learns how to collaborate with
colleagues in thier own context
(curriculum, resources)
• Proven models that work elsewhere
(e.g. Lean-manufacturing, Sinus for math)
Workarounds
• Fitted into the work schedule
(demands time allocation by
school head)
• Supported by employer
• No need to commute
1. Innovation in PD that focuses on the school
as a learning organisation

9. Features
• Often focus on transversal skills through
hands-on
• To learn how to teach them, one
first needs to experience it
• Empowering learners to exercise agency
• Student become teachers to others,
mentor fellow students
• Disruptive models of PD
• Shadow a student-challenge
• Pedagogical hackathons
• Pop-up school
Workarounds
• PD topics are those that teachers
say they need: future skills,
student counselling
• Teachers learn by experiencing it
first-hand ("eat your own dog food")
2. Innovating PD through empowering learners and
organisations outside of school

10. Features
• Digital delivery still a novelty and new
forms emerge, e.g. MOOCs, micro-
learning & nano courses
• Lots of variations in length and depth of
the content to match teachers time-
constraints
• Blended learning re-invented:
• Traditional online courses mixed with
onsite in-school practical hands-on
periods with authentic tasks
• A reflective session to review the
experience and what was learnt
Workarounds
• Digital delivery helps avoid conflicts with
work schedule
• Hands-on sessions in class add a
component of active learning, help
transfer knowledge into practice and
root PD in one's own context
• Reflective sessions with experts and
colleagues allow teachers to solicit
feedback
3. Innovative forms of delivering the PD

11. Features
• Social partners, e.g. philanthropy,
foundations
• As (accredited) providers of PD
• Creating content of PD
• Partnering-up
• Industry involved, but in "our own"
terms
• For teachers by teachers:
teacher entrepreneurial activities
generating (social) value for the
community
Workarounds
• Social partners can offer
privileged PD topics and bring in
new perspectives
• Teacher micro-entrepreneurs
reinvent career paths within
teaching profession
4. Innovative partnerships to create PD

12. Features
• No more traditional "online only"
networks but ones that start blending
digital and physical activities in the
professional context – "the best of both
worlds"
• Teacher networks, supported by social
networks such as Twitter and FB groups,
start to be supported/organised by
education authorities, not only by
informal networks
• Micro-learning opportunities through
Twitter and TeachMeets offer informal
ways of learning that emerging research
shows teachers find of use and satisfying
Workarounds
• Micro-learning can help to make
time for PD within otherwise busy
work schedule
• Support for teacher networks
start emerging by school heads
and ed authorities – making the
best out of top-down and bottom-
up
5. Innovating PD through teacher networks

13. Features
• Degree programmes in tertiary
education start reinventing themselves
to better answer to teachers' PD needs
• Programmes mix non-traditional topics
and include those that are not part of
traditional teaching degrees
• Programmes also mix more traditional
academic work with online and active
hands-on experiences
• Not all qualification programmes are
accredited through traditional methods
Workarounds
• Traditionally rigid degree
programmes add appealing topics
to their offerings by offering
"non-traditional" or "private
degrees"
• Foundations start offering
stipends for their degree
programmes to help financing
6. Innovating PD through qualification programmes

14. Outline
Vuorikari, R., Kampylis, P. (2018). Emerging, innovative practices
of teacher professional development addressing the changing needs.
A. Context, aim of the study and the research question
B. Presentation of Results with some examples
C. Take away message

15. Yes, we are starting to see
some changes
• In our study, we have shown that there
are emerging new models and features
of teacher professional development and
learning that can go around the
known barriers of teacher PD and
thus better address the needs of
teachers in today's society.
• We have labeled them in 6 areas based
on the main focus of innovation.
• Many overlapping features between
these labels, so some examples contain
many of these features.
But…
• These features and models are not
necessarily very known yet by
providers of teacher PD, they are not
streamlined in current offerings, and not
at scale yet.
• Many examples are offered outside of
"official" PD provision with no
accreditation or other support
mechanisms – is that a problem?
• Their impact of these features on
changing teachers' classroom practices
and enhancing student learning
outcomes need more research.
So, how are teachers' needs addressed in terms
of better organised PD offerings?

16. Future work on Teacher PD in the JRC
• JRC will publish a report with 1-page
descriptions of all 30 examples and first
analysis of the main features (by end 2018)
• Case studies with more in-depth analysis and
recommendations will follow
• The reports will feed into discussion among
educational policymakers and education
authorities to inspire change for more
excellent teaching and learning in the
future!

17. Have you come
across PD with
a wow factor?
Contact, comments, questions: Riina.Vuorikari@ec.europa.eu