Listening to teachers’ talk about CPD: a multi-national case study

Alex Kendall, Adrian Kacian, Andrea Kybalíková, Vlasta Cabanová, Pierre Vignes, Victor Cavaleiro, Dina Pereira, Phil Taylor

PaCTT Project

• Birmingham City University• University of Beira Interior, Portugal• Capa Anatolio Teacher Training School, Turkey• National Institute for Training and Career

Development in Education (NIOKSO),Bulgaria• Novancia Business School, Paris• University of Zilina Slovakia

Project Objectives

• To achieve a better understanding of approaches to CPD in each of the countries

• To identify and share examples of good practice

• To develop a framework for effective practice

Project Activities• Strand 1 - Mapping • Strand 2 – E-survey (snap-shot of 12

months) • Strand 3 – Interviews with teachers• Visiting schools and colleges• Idea exchange & case studies

Outputs

• Searchable project wiki- Mapping- Templates- Data- Processes

• Report Framework

e-Survey Overview

• Opportunity sample.• Responses so far, as of 2nd Feb 2013: Bulgaria (437),

Slovakia (210), UK (148), France (40), Portugal (28), Turkey (48).

• Mostly female – 83%.• Mostly teachers of 11+ year olds – 72%.• Most have over 10 years teaching experience – 63%.• Data are therefore limited, however…• Some interesting patterns are emerging.

0% 50% 100%

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Postgraduatecertificate

Non-graduate teacher

Other

What type of teaching qualification do you have?

Bulgaria

Slovakia

UK

Portugal

France

Turkey

Interview dataGrounded theory approach• Inductive• Multiple sources of data – including individuals who do not

share a common culture• Data collection, coding and analysis occur concurrently• Researcher enters the field & discovers the main concerns of

participants and the way they resolve these problemsInterviews in each country• Bulgaria, Portugal, Slovakia complete and included in analysis• Turkey in transcription, UK collected this week, France

February

High level coding so far

• CPD decision making• Conceptualisations of teachers/teaching/students• High Value Learning• Low Value Learning• Impact of CPD• Modalities of CPD• Motivators• Relationships with ITT• Spaces and Places

Motivators

Internal

Self esteemPleasure from

seeing students enjoy lessons.

Never stop working to improve myself.Desire to be a good

role model.

External

SalaryGetting credits

Keep up-to-date with new strategies and innovations.

Pressure from within the school/local authority/government.

Response and feedback from students.Competition from other sources of information.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Bulgaria

Slovakia

UK

Portugal

France

Turkey

To what extent can you take control of your own professional education, or is it defined for you?

I have full control ofmy professionaleducation

My professionaleducation is negotiatedwith my employer

My employer definesmy professionaleducation

Motivators

‘…I think every teacher should be interested in innovations in teaching and implementation of interesting methods in the classroom because the time in which we live is very dynamic and requires new approaches to ways of teaching and we need to understand the needs of the

students...’

High value learning 1

Macro level community of practice – benefits of working with others (other countries):• major importance of EU/US programs to foster

mobility/training between teachers that will impact on the teachers’ role and standardisation of patterns

• keep up to date• establishment of networks• establishment of comparative analysis between

different types of schools

High value learning 2

Macro level community of practice/sharing:• exchange experiences personal & professional• discuss new methods & strategies• training other teaching methodologies

exchange good practices

High value learning 3

Micro level community of practice – immersion:• major importance of ‘job shadowing’, observation,

teaching practice• immersion into school practice• introduction of IT tech in the educational processMacro becomes micro:• importance of EU projects for teachers to experience

different methodologies abroad and train colleagues and implement them

0% 50% 100%

Reading educational books,journals or magazinesEducational videos or TV

programmesUse of web sites and online

resourcesSocial networking (face-to-face

or online)

Discussion with colleagues

Drop-in to peers' lessons

Other

Which of the following informal professional educational activities do you engage in?

Bulgaria

Slovakia

UK

Portugal

France

Turkey

Low Value Learning• Abstract teaching of theory

‘Which portion of your CPD is devoted to practical experiences? … All education comes through example, so must not to give a negative example in your CPD being a

dry theoretical academic experience.’• Learning not important, relevant or applicable to practice

‘Did you bridge the theory with practice?’• Not learning ‘on the job’ ‘Do not forget to implement the key teacher competences in

your CPD

Impact

LongitudinalityDissemination

Evaluation Promotion

Immediate application

Immediate applicationMAKE SURE some practical teaching ideas are included in the CPD activity

• Teachers consider immediate application• Of CPD activities a vital aspect of the impact• They appreciate training activities that are put into practice right away so

that they can see their effect

‘… you see the result right away. If they like it, they like it. If they don’t they, “I don’t like it, it’s stupid!”’

• They like small practical activities that suggest ideas they implement in their work

‘… the outcomes were more practical. It was a good quality.’• Discussions on teaching practice are liked as they show the teachers small

things they can change to improve their work

‘We talk with them, have ideas, and you can use it in our work.’

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It impacted on the way I understandmy role as a teacher

It impacted on the way I work with mystudents

It updated me on policy changes

It updated my teaching skills orcompetencies

It enabled me to collaborate withothers

It made me aware of new initiatives

It informed me about new research orideas for teaching

It impacted on my subject specialistknowledge

Other

Features of most valuable professional education

Bulgaria

Slovakia

UK

Portugal

France

Turkey

LongitudinalityThink about the future

• Long-term impact of learning and CPD is something teachers consider when thinking of impact.

‘I mean, the reward is always there…’• Quite often you don’t appreciate whether something is

important for you but it proves to have a long term effect• Students also understand what teachers have told them at

a later stage of their lives‘Everything person manages to learn can be very important at

some point even though, in the beginning, it might look like useless.’

Dissemination, evaluation and promotionReturn on investment

• When considering impact and dissemination of CPD activities we inevitably come to the price of the training courses

• In times of limited budgets in education and not only you have to do your best to share the knowledge with fellow teachers at school

• Evaluation and promotion are to be based on students’ achievements or level

‘So during the meeting we should actually tell teachers what we have learned during this training, and what is new, what we are

going to use and apply in our school.’

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Self

Employer

National agency

Other

Who funded most valuable professional education?

Bulgaria

Slovakia

UK

Portugal

France

Turkey

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Lack of time due to workload

Lack of funding

Lack of information

Lack of support frommanagers/employerLack of suitable

opportunities/providers

None

Other

What do you see as the main barriers to your professional education, if any?

Bulgaria

Slovakia

UK

Portugal

France

Turkey

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

No dissemination

Verbal report

Written report

Special meeting

Other

How do you disseminate or cascade your formal professional education to workplace colleagues?

Bulgaria

Slovakia

UK

Portugal

France

Turkey

Modalities

• Bolt-on approach• Integrated approach• Formal• Informal• Research/enquiry focused

Next Steps

• Completion of interviews in Paris in Feb 2013.• Further analysis of interview transcripts.• Production of a Framework Tool for CPD. • Dissemination of project in Sofia, Bulgaria in

Jun 2013.• A new project building on PaCTT - European

Electronic Co-operative Community of Practice for the continuous professional (EE-CCOP.