Presentation from Rhiannon Moore (Young Lives) and panel discussing teachers' working experiences and capturing data on teachers as professionals, learners and change-makers in low resource contexts

1. Understanding teachers’ working experiences:
capturing data on teachers as professionals,
learners and change-makers in low resource
contexts
A joint Young Lives and RITES/Open University
symposium
Rhiannon Moore
Young Lives
rhiannon.moore@qeh.ox.ac.uk
Alison Buckler
The Open University
alison.buckler@open.ac.uk
Renu Singh
Young Lives
renusab@gmail.com
Eric Addae-Kyeremeh
The Open University
Eric.addae-kyeremeh@open.ac.uk
Jack Rossiter
Young Lives
jack.rossiter@barcelonagse.eu
Chris High
Linnaeus University, Sweden
chris.high@lnu.se
Ben Alcott
Cambridge University
bma27@cam.ac.uk

2.  A recognition of the teacher as knowledgeable and agentive
 A recognition of the importance of context and connections
 A focus on the positives rather than just the negatives
(redressing the deficit discourse)
 A consideration of impact – and in particular impact for
whom?
Four principles for ‘enabling teachers’ through research

3. Can you introduce
your studies?

4. 11/09/2017
4
Using network ethnography (NetE) to examine peer
learning in a headteacher network in Ghana
Eric Addae-Kyeremeh
Eric.addae-kyeremeh@open.ac.uk
@addaekyeremeh
UKFIET
Conference
5-7 September
2017

5. Background
11/09/2017 The Open University 5
Context
• Peri-urban district in Ghana
• Network boundary (one educational circuit comprising 17
headteachers i.e. representing an a whole network analysis of an
organisational unit)
• Mixed methods study (Interviews, observations & Network
survey/census)
Aims
• To explore types of information an advice shared in this peer network
• To examine the flow of information and advice and the extent to
which peer network relationships facilitates professional
development of headteachers (individual and group social capital)

6. @yloxford
@rhi_moore
‘Positive deviants’ in the classroom
Developing measures of teacher attitudes, instructional
environments and professional knowledge for use in
Ethiopia, India and Vietnam
Rhiannon Moore & Jack Rossiter
UKFIET Conference
6th September 2017

7. YOUNG LIVES & LINKED SCHOOL SURVEYS
 Longitudinal survey of children,
their households, schools and
communities running for 15 years
in 4 countries
 Young Lives school surveys:
introduced in 2010
 2016-17 school surveys: school
effectiveness in Ethiopia, India and
Vietnam
• Ethiopia: upper primary (Grades 7-8)
• India: lower secondary (Grade 9)
• Vietnam: upper secondary (Grade 10)
 Around 28,000 children and 1100
teachers (maths & English) within 3
countries

8. SCHOOL SURVEY DESIGN
School effectiveness design:
 Student performance in terms of
progress (rather than cross-sectional
measure)
 The teaching and learning processes that
affect student progress
 The ‘value-added’ of one year of school
To do this, we administered:
 Cognitive tests at beginning and end of
one school year
 Background instruments and psychosocial
measures for teachers and students to
contextualise learning progress

9. YOUNG LIVES TEACHER MEASURES
Construct Measure
Teacher Psychosocial
Measures (focus on
motivation and efficacy)
‘Wellbeing’ scale
‘Relationship with others in the school’ scale
‘Morale and job satisfaction’ scale
‘Equality’ scale
‘Professional Commitment’ scale
‘Efficacy’ scale
Teacher Professional
Knowledge
15 item questionnaire
Classroom Instructional
Environment
‘Engagement and empathy’ scale
‘Awareness and control’ scale
* See Moore & Rossiter, forthcoming for further details of the development of these teacher measures

10. Secondary Teacher Demand & Supply Study

11. Secondary Teacher Demand & Supply Study in 2 States
OBJECTIVES
• To explore factors of teacher
availability
• To review the compatibility of
demand and supply of teachers
• To project subject teacher demand
and supply
STUDY STATES
• Two states (Karnataka &Madhya
Pradesh)selected.
• Karnataka-Classes VIII, IX, X
• Madhya Pradesh-Classes IX, X
DESIGN: Mixed method
• QUANTITATIVE
1) Demand side: Secondary data
analysis of schools and teachers (state
data & UDISE).
2) Supply side: Primary data analysis of
Colleges of Teacher Education
• QUALITATIVE interviews of
1) Schools and principals,
2) School teachers,
3) CTEs & Principals and
4) Teacher Trainee Focus groups
For both Demand and Supply sides

12. Required number of subject teachers
Projected gap or
surplus
-Growth Demand: School Population,
Transition Rates , Number of schools, school
size, expansion plans, transition rates
-Provisioning: Allocation of teachers,
recruitment, retirement, promotions, transfers,
deployment and practices to fill vacancies
including retiring teachers, guest teacher
appointments
-Policy : State Norms covering Secondary
teachers, Service Rules, Planning process to
meet demand of subject teachers
Number of subject teachers available
for recruitment
-Pattern of Subject teacher supply: Total seats in state
institutions of teacher education by subject, Annual Supply of
Successful Candidates by subject, gender and social categories.
-Policies : Admission procedure and reservation (caste,
management quota), allocation of seats by subject
- Existing Resource Pool : teachers available for employment in
state, numbers applying for recruitment and teacher eligibility
test (TET)
- Delays/ Leakages …Teachers passing BEd and not joining
secondary schools, Delays in recruitment due to court orders
Projected gap or surplus
of secondary school
subject teachers
DEMAND ANALYSIS SUPPLY ANALYSIS
Adapted from: Workforce Planning Tool Kit: Supply/Demand Analysis and Gap Analysis, 2007, CPS Human Resource Services
Number of
secondary
teachers by
subject
based on
norms
Current
total
vacancies
by subject
Projected
demand
of subject
teachers
School
Enrolment/
Population
Number of
teachers
available
after
passing
TET,
combined
entrance
tests
Trained
supply of
teachers
by
subjects
in CTC(
Only B.Ed
institutes)
Projected
supply
of subject
teachers
-
+
/
=
-
-
= =
Supply & Demand Study- Analytical Model

13. Visual and
collaborative
methodologies
for capturing
teacher agency
in rural Malawi
Dr Alison Buckler
@AlisonBucklerEd
Dr Christopher High
@Posthelion
https://vimeo.com/123403447

14. How did your research
design value the role of
the teacher?

16. Planning / designing /
conceptualisation
Data
Analysis, output
production and
dissemination
Conventional research sandwich
Photo credit: Steven Groves CC-BY https://flickr.com/photos/8271947@N05/5445838305

17. Voices of Teachers
Work load is heavy, there is too
much correction work and I
have begun to face health
problems due to increased
checking work, which I try to
complete during free periods
Regular teachers must be appointed because guest
teachers teach but they don’t take full
responsibility of children and school. Regular
teachers are held responsible for the result of
children because guest teachers leave the school
on 15th of April, and afterwards regular teachers
are blamed for the results.
Teacher’s are given non-teaching duties, though it
is banned by the department… but teachers are
given duties in the name of Election Census and
some other national interest work. This leads to
further shortage of teachers in schools
When a subject teacher is unavailable
for a long time, children start asking
questions from other subject teachers
and get demotivated as they don’t get
correct and satisfactory answers from
them.. This affects learning
Government
should monitor
and collect
information
about which
school needs
how many
subject teachers
are required and
recruit annually

18. Using network ethnography (NetE) to examine peer learning
in a headteacher network in Ghana
11/09/2017 The Open University 18
• Headteachers as knowledgeable individuals contributed to the design of the
network survey by identifying the primary sources of help and support they
need and provide to each other e.g. how to improve teaching and learning,
how to deal with student discipline and how to deal with underperforming
teachers. The emerging data provides a network map of key actors (most
central headteacher, cliques, isolates, etc.) for these various information
sources in the professional network.
• The headteacher voice captured through the observations and interviews
was crucial in examining the structural web of interrelationships and the
quality of associations and how these afford access to ideas, resources,
learning and influence.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the
world.” Margaret Mead

19. A mixed methods design: Network Ethnography
11/09/2017 The Open University 19
Focussed
ethnography
Network
survey
Focussed
ethnography
Role of headteachers in this
participatory approach
Headteachers determine
the sorts of knowledge and
ideas that are exchanged
(within this bounded
community)
All headteachers in the
educational circuit
participate in the census
Follow up interviews
with headteachers
(data balancing)
• Ideas on how to improve teaching and
learning in the school
• How to help ineffective teachers improve
on their practice
• How to improve student discipline
• New ideas on how to delver the
curriculum effectively
• Advice on career development and
progression

20. Headteacher voices from phase 1
11/09/2017 The Open University 20
“In my circuit there are a lot of
experienced headteachers and we can
share with others and encourage and
motivate each other. We can learn from
each other via headteacher association
meetings as well. Is that what you call
networking?” [H4]
“…to be honest most of my
leadership development has been
90% through my own efforts. I
believe headteachers learn and
develop best when they work with
other headteachers [pause] Group
work and cluster collaboration is
the way forward.” [H5]
“…the headteacher handbook is
useful to some extent but hearing
from other colleagues about their
experiences offer me the best
learning opportunity.” [H6]
“… I feel we as headteachers
learn better when we get the
opportunity to chat about our
challenges and how we have
managed to resolve everyday
problems”. [H6]
“…For me everything is in the
headteacher handbook so all we need is
an opportunity to share our knowledge
and experience with others. There
should be opportunities for new
headteachers to learn from more
experienced ones like me.”

21. TEACHERS ENGAGED THROUGHOUT PROCESS
Teachers invited to
participate in consultation
meetings throughout the
survey design process
Teacher feedback on teacher
and student instruments
collected during piloting
→ amends to instruments
Data collection from
maths and English
teachers within each
school

22. TEACHER MEASURES WITHIN LINKED DATA
Wave 1
outcome
measures
Wave 2
outcome
measures
Value-added by one
year of school
Student background &
psychosocial measures
Teacher background
measures
School context & school
management measures
Head teacher
background measure
Teacher psychosocial
measures
Teacher professional
knowledge measure
Classroom instructional
environment measure

23. What were the advantages of the
use of this research design to
understand and measure teachers’
working experiences? What, if any,
were the challenges or limitations?

24. CONTEXTUALISING TEACHER EXPERIENCES
This research design gave us the opportunity to
contextualise teacher working experiences within
a large-scale quantitative dataset
Some challenges, e.g.
 Contextualising and adapting measures for
developing country contexts
 Limits of ‘self-reporting’
 Interpretation of results – complex measures
But also a lot of advantages and possibilities

25. EXAMPLE: TEACHER MOTIVATION IN CONTEXT
-.4-.2
0
.2.4
Ben Tre Da Nang Hung Yen Lao Cai Phu Yen
Teacher Psychosocial Measure Scores, by Province
Wellbeing Relationships w/ others in school
Morale Self efficacy
-5
05
MoralePCA
-10 -5 0 5
Relationship with others in school PCA
Scores for component 1 Fitted values
Vietnam
Teacher morale & relationship with others in school
 We can look at how different teacher
psychosocial measures vary by factors
such as region
 We can also look at how the different
psychosocial measures relate to each
other – e.g. strong association
between morale and relationship with
others in school
-5
05
MoralePCA -4 -2 0 2 4
Wellbeing PCA
Scores for component 1 Fitted values
Vietnam
Teacher morale & Teacher wellbeing

26. Transition Rate Remain Low
26

27. Secondary School Student Population (%)
Karnataka Schools
7
22
32
26
12
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
<50 50-100 101-159 160-299 >=300
School Population
Madhya Pradesh Schools

28. 11/09/2017 28
What were the advantages of the use of this research
design to understand and measure teachers’ working
experiences? What, if any, were the challenges or
limitations? [including ethical considerations]
The Open University

29. 11/09/2017 The Open University 29
• The benefit of this mixed method approach is that it combines narrative tools of
ethnography with numerical tools associated with SNA to critically explore a
professional network consisting of headteachers of basic education schools in a
district in Ghana.
• The incorporation of interviews and observations (in this approach) offer opportunity to
capture network enactments which are often elusive in quantitative approaches in
SNA and provide the narrative behind network structures.
• A significant challenge for this approach is that it’s quite intrusive and intense and
therefore relies on high level of trust between the researcher and participants.
• Ethical challenges mainly due to the fact the organisational unit (the educational
circuit) chosen could not be anonymised within the district. Everyone knew they were
participating in the study therefore care had to be taken to ensure any data generated
was a true representation of their views. Although individual responses are
anonymised, there are aspect of the analysis that make people identifiable e.g.
gender. To mitigate these challenges, a meeting was held with educational
administrators and all participants to thoroughly discuss informed consent prior to the
field work.

30. Operational field map for Network Ethnography (NetE)
11/09/2017 30
Define
parameters for
study
Initial/exploratory
study
Whole network
study
Data balancing
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
interviews,
observation & field
notes
Follow up
interviews
Census
questionnaire
• Repeated roster with names of
17 headteachers
• Boundaries are known and all
actors are listed
• Each actor has approximately
an equal chance of being
selected
• Fewer concerns about
respondent recall and
accuracy
• Valued and non valued
responses
Headteachers,
circuit supervisors
and district
managers
headteachers

31. Learning and information networks
11/09/2017 The Open University 31
The are no isolates in any of the learning and information networks which means that
information can reach everyone across the network. (albeit with varying degrees of success)
Density
learning and information network Density Total
ideas on how to improve teaching and learning 0.816 222
how to help ineffective teachers improve on their practice 0.75 204
how to improve student discipline 0.723 196
new ideas on how to delver the curriculum effectively 0.596 162
advice on career development and progression 0.665 181

32. 11/09/2017 The Open University 32
Centrality
who do you go to for advice and
new ideas on how to improve
teaching and learning?

33. 33
sociogram for network relations excluding female headteachers sociogram for network relations excluding male headteachers
11/09/2017 The Open University
Roles and positions (e.g. bridgers)
who do you go to for advice and new ideas on how to improve teaching and learning?

34. “Yeah [using the professional kit] you cannot
do filming on your own. You have a group
which is called a crew which depend on one
another. Someone on camera, someone
directing, someone on sound, and if you
have everyone working together, it will all go
alright.
And [the workshop] has made me realise the
same thing applies to working in a school: we
need to be a crew and come together for
planning and action and reflection. I am very
serious about this!”

35. How can findings from this study
be used to inform policy which
sustainably supports and
enables teachers?

36. Using network ethnography (NetE) to examine peer learning in a
headteacher network in Ghana
11/09/2017 The Open University 36
• Research into professional networks has huge potential in the area of school
leadership development particularly in contexts where there are limited
opportunities for ‘formal leadership development’ programmes. By capturing
types of information exchanged and key actors in the peer network,
educational supervisors will have a better understanding of how particular
types of information and knowledge are shared amongst headteachers. The
importance of social connectedness
• The study has the potential to contribute to the understanding of unreported
practices in professional development (PD) amongst headteachers in
Ghana. A focus on what the headteachers believe they learn from each
other and how this happens in their peer network provides some evidence
for a different approach to headteacher PD and collaborative working. This
will help in the planning and delivery of PD programmes for school leaders
particularly headteachers (in-service and pre-service).

37.  Informing policy through helping to understand more about the working
experiences of teachers in schools where more student learning takes
place
 ‘Repeated measures’ data enables us to look at teacher factors in
relation to student achievement levels and student achievement
progress
-100
-50
0
50
100
MathsVA(unconditional)
-100 -50 0 50 100
English VA (unconditional)
Private Aided Private Unaided
State Govt Tribal Social Welfare
Maths and English Value-Added by School Type
IDENTIFYING ‘POSITIVE DEVIANTS’
Above
average
maths
learning
Above
average
English
learning

38. DATA TO EXPLORE WHAT WORKS
 Large and potentially important associations between student-perceptions
of the CIE (‘empathetic and engaging’ scale) and progress in maths
 Predictive power (although more work needed on this)
 CIE tool has potential to be something teachers can use formatively in
their classroom to understand student views of practice
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2 sd lower 1 sd lower mean section 1 sd higher 2 sd higher
Meansectionmathsprogress
Mean section CIE – of ‘Empathetic and Engaging’ scale
Ethiopia: within rural schools, association with ‘empathetic / engaging’ scale

39. “Through this workshop I
have really grown
intellectually. Why do I say
so? Because I used to
answer questions lightly,
but now I think deeply and
I answer deeply. Standing
behind the camera has
opened another chapter
in my mind, and this will
feed into my classroom”

40. “And I have learned more about
how to cooperate with other
people, that is an important part of
teaching, how we can share ideas,
how we can teach each other, how
we can interact… indeed it is good
to cooperate and support one
another. This has also been taken to
class where we have seen teachers
supporting each other while the
other one is doing class
management, and to me this is
really something which is to be
encouraged. Even when the three
weeks are over”

41. Karnataka
• Majority of teachers are teaching in Govt (41%)
and Aided (28%) schools.
• Though the PTR is 21:1, only 5% of all schools
and 7% of govt schools have 5 core subject
specialist teachers.
• 62% schools do not have a single Social Studies
teacher
• 39% schools with no Science teacher
• 36% schools without Maths teacher
• 32% schools without 2 Language teachers
• Subject teacher shortage was most severe
among Private Unaided schools.
Madhya Pradesh
• Almost 2/3 teachers are working in
Govt schools
• Only 55% teachers have BEd/ MEd
• Less than 2% of all schools have 5
core subject teachers (PTR 35:1).
• 57% schools without 2 Language
teachers
• 41% schools without Maths teacher
• 37% schools do not have a single
Social Studies teacher
• 37% schools with no Science
teacher
• Teacher paucity worst in Private
Unaided schools.
Demand Side Key Findings: Schools

42. Impact in the Classroom
• Subject teacher paucity affected both students and teachers
• 40% of interviewed teachers spoke of increased workload due to
teacher shortage. Many of them were teaching extra subjects without
specialization, while others were often substituting ‘missing’ teachers.
• The interviewed Private Aided schools were appointing teachers on
contract basis.
• In the Government schools, guest teachers were appointed through
SDMC who sanctioned the proposal of hiring a guest teacher, if
qualified teachers were not available. The guest teachers were very
poorly compensated and lacked job security.

43. Issue of Small Schools
• Smaller schools have less subject teachers.
• There is a system to appoint teachers to teach “All Subjects” (9% and 66% of workforce
in the two states). These teachers are teaching extra subjects without specialization in
the respective subjects.
• Given large numbers of small size schools the situation of teacher shortage has
reached unmanageable proportions.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
5 Core subjects 2 Languages Maths Social Studies Science
Percent
Proportion of Schools with Subject Teachers
ENR <50 ENR 50-100 ENR 101-159 ENR 160-299 ENR >300

44. Supply Side Key Findings
Karnataka
• A total of 328 Teacher Colleges
• Close to 25,000 teachers are trained
annually
• 60% took up Arts stream
• 65% women
• SC (17%), ST (5%), OBC (60%)
• Subject Specialisation: 65% teacher
trainees took up Social Studies
combined with Language, 18% Science
with Maths, 7% Science combinations.
Madhya Pradesh
• In 2014-15, 567 Teacher Colleges
offered 47202 seats.
• Nearly ¾ seats filled by Arts students.
• 63% women
• SC (16%), ST (8%), OBC (33%)
• Subject Specialisation: 55-58% took up
Language combined with Social
Studies, Less than 15% Maths with
Language, Less than 8% Science.

45. 32228 32796 33125 33177 33125 33058 33029 32876 32790 32702
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
TeacherDemand
Grand Total
Language
Social Sci
Science
Maths
Replacement demand
2 Languages
(32%)
Social Studies
(31%)
Science
(19%) Maths
(14%)
Projection of Population, Enrolment & Teacher Demand Karnataka
2,500,000
2,700,000
2,900,000
3,100,000
3,300,000
3,500,000
Population&
Enrolment
Population (Actual)
Population (Projected)
Enrolment (Actual)
Enrolment (Projected)
GER=85
GER=98

46. Projection of Population, Enrolment & Teacher Demand Madhya Pradesh
42240 43322 44518 45751 46626 47769 48760 49890 50999 52163
42240 42579 43255 43969 44325 44949 45422 46034 46624 47270
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Model 2 Total
Model 1 Total
2 Languages
Maths
Science
Social Sciences
Replacement
TeacherDemand
2 Languages
(58%)
Maths
(15%)
Science
(13%)
Social Studies
(13%)
1,900,000
2,100,000
2,300,000
2,500,000
2,700,000
2,900,000
3,100,000
3,300,000
Population (Actual)
Enrolment (Actual)
Population (Projected)
Enrolment (Projected, Model 1)
Enrolment (Projected, Model 2)
Population&Enrolment
GER=79
GER=88
GER=96

47. Implications for SDG’s
• The paucity of core subject teachers and serious teacher shortage
particularly in small schools needs attention.
• In order to overcome the shortage, many teachers are teaching extra
subjects without specialization.
• Considering the low PTR, it is difficult to conclude that subject
teachers are unavailable for schools. In addition, a large number of
teacher candidates are produced annually.
• The problem seems to be more in the deployment of the current
workforce.
• Careful and systematic planning is critical.