Brief No: 429 June 2003 ISBN 1 84478 006 6

TEACHERS PERCEPTIONS OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

David Hustler, Olwen McNamara, Janis Jarvis, Mary Londra, Anne Campbell Institute of ducation, Manc!ester Metropolitan "niversity# and Jo!n Howson, ducation Data $ervices%
Introduction Following the launch of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) strategy Learning and Teaching: a strategy for professional development (Df!!" #$%&''$)( the )nstitute of !ducation at *anchester *etropolitan +niversity( in colla,oration with !ducation Data -urveys( were commissioned to conduct ,aseline research into teachers perceptions of CPD. Key Findings *ost teachers were satisfied with their CPD over the last / years. 0ey features of worthwhile CPD were perceived relevance and applica,ility to school%classroom settings( and negative feelings were especially associated with one si1e fits all standardi1ed CPD provision (eg much 2ew 3pportunities Fund (23F) )CT funded provision)( which did not ta4e account of teachers e5isting 4nowledge( e5perience and needs. During &''$ most CPD was focused on teaching s4ills and su,6ect 4nowledge( and was led predominantly ,y school staff. Few teachers too4 part in CPD activities such as research( secondments( award ,earing courses or international visits( ,ut these were highly valued ,y participants. 7lthough thin4ing a,out CPD varied in relation to school conte5t and career stage( most teachers wor4ed with traditional notions of CPD (such as courses( conferences( )2-!T days). Financial cost (perceived and%or real)( distance from training opportunities( and wor4load (the last especially for older teachers)( were important inhi,itors on access to CPD. *ost teachers felt that the principle drivers for CPD activity over the last / years had ,een school development needs and national priorities and that these had ta4en precedence over individual needs. *ost teachers accepted as reasona,le that there should ,e a ,alance ,etween system (school and national) CPD needs and individual needs. 8owever( they felt that personal%individual interests( however( now needed more prioritisation with additional opportunities for professional control and self9regulation. 7ttitudes to CPD were shaped ,y comple5 interrelationships ,etween local structural and cultural factors (within and ,etween schools) and teachers career stage( age and su,6ect affiliations. 8owever( the status( 4nowledge( and approach of the CPD coordinator (and the -enior *anagement Team (-*T) more generally) could radically effect( positively or negatively( teachers attitudes towards and understandings of CPD.

Background and Aims Learning and Teaching: 7 strategy for professional development (DF!!" #$%&''$) was devised in consultation with the :eneral Teaching Council (:TC) to ensure that teachers were given more opportunities for relevant( focused( effective professional development( and to place professional development at the heart of school improvement. The strategy defined CPD as activities;that increase the s4ills( 4nowledge and understanding of teachers( and their effectiveness in schools and also promotes continuous reflection and re9e5amination of professional learning. This includes( ,ut goes well ,eyond( training courses and a wide variety of other on and off9the96o, activities. The CPD strategy developed the government s recognition of the vital role of teachers in raising standards in the :reen Paper Teachers *eeting the Challenge of Change (Df!!: <%$&%=>) and the associated central aim to engender a strong culture of professional development. The strategy set out a num,er of ways in which CPD would ,e enhanced in the long term( including the need to carry out ro,ust and relia,le research and evaluation into professional development opportunities and their impact on teaching and learning to provide evidence of successful practice . The first phase of this programme of research was to underta4e a ,aseline survey of teachers attitudes to( e5perience of and access to( professional development. The overarching aims of the research were to: provide a ,aseline of teachers previous e5perience of CPD( their current attitudes and their future e5pectations" facilitate su,se?uent monitoring of the impact of the CPD strategy on

teachers e5perience( e5pectations"

attitudes

and

inform the :overnment s CPD strategy and investment over the ne5t few years.

Methodology The fieldwor4( involving a ?uestionnaire survey and a case study phase( too4 place ,etween Fe,ruary and @uly &''&. The ?uestionnaire focused on )2-!T and CPD activities underta4en during &''$( and more general CPD e5periences underta4en during the previous five years. 3ver &(/'' teachers in primary( secondary and special schools returned their ?uestionnaires and their profile closely matched that of the teaching force as a whole (Df!-( &''&). Case study visits were made to a sample of && schools across the country. )n addition to augmenting the survey data the central product of the case studies was a series of CPD pen9portraits of individual teachers. The empirically grounded pen9portraits were anonymised and fictionalised and were intended to provide additional insights into inter and intra school factors and the interrelations with individual career stage%type orientations to CPD. They may also serve to provo4e thin4ing a,out CPD within the profession at various levels. Further Details on the Findings CPD: School Cultures There were some areas of contradiction and variation regarding how teachers thin4 of CPD( suggesting that the CPD strategy (involving a significantly new way of thin4ing a,out CPD) is only 6ust ,eginning to ,ite. )t is clear( from the case study evidence( that this is not 6ust a matter of individual teacher variation and that

CPD cultures varied across and within schools. )t was apparent that some schools and su,groups%departments within schools had developed ?uite sophisticated and effective professional development learning communities( others 6ust as clearly had not. The conte5t of school( L!7 and region had a considera,le degree of influence on perceptions and e5perience of CPD as well as access to CPD( ,ut this is not 6ust an issue to do with si1e or location of school and could operate at a very localised level. Despite good systems within a school generally( orientations to CPD were often crucially shaped ,y the department one happened to ,e a mem,er of( or the su,6ect or age range responsi,ility( or the particular mi5 of career stages within a school su,9 group.

The CPD coordinator role was ,oth crucial and often underdeveloped in terms of support. )t was clear that many CPD coordinators (and associated -*T colleagues) could ,enefit from professional development if they were to relate effectively to the CPD strategy am,itions regarding interrelating system needs and individual needs. CPD: Age and Career Stage Clear general differences appeared ,etween younger%early career stage teachers and older%late career stage teachers. *any older teachers( across the phases( seemed to accept that CPD could not relate to their individual professional needs. *any younger teachers and 2ATs( saw systemic CPD needs as reasona,le in the main( ,ut also saw and hunted down more personal CPD opportunities. )n addition( younger teachers displayed a ,roader understanding of and attitude towards CPD. Professional Rele ance and Being a Professional -ome teachers negative attitudes towards CPD stemmed from a feeling that their particular su,6ect interests were never centre stage . Positive feelings a,out CPD (for all ,ut the late career teachers) were ?uite often associated with a reasona,ly clear sense of career progression possi,ilities( to which CPD opportunities had ,een and could ,e lin4ed. The materials suggest that positive general feelings towards CPD cannot ,e disentangled from more positive views a,out ,eing a mem,er of a profession( and the sense that in some part at least teachers have a say in their own professional development.

CPD: Balance and CPD Coordination -ome schools had achieved a good interrelationship ,etween system and individual needs. Case study materials made it clear that certain pro6ect rich schools( involved in a large range of initiatives( had greater resources to allocate to dedicated or general CPD activity. 8ere the atmosphere and resources provided a much more vi,rant set of individually motivating and career9enhancing CPD possi,ilities( which also related to school needs. There was also within school variation (eg ,etween departments) and in these cases CPD cultural isolation was more invisi,le. )n many schools a compliant culture had emerged (or ,een fostered)( which led teachers to avoid pressing for their particular professional needs.

Im!lications for Action The conceptualisation of CPD in the government s CPD -trategy( and associated initiatives( needs more effective mar4eting to teachers and dissemination within schools. *id and later career teachers in particular( need to ,e made more aware of the ,roader( life long learning( characteristics of CPD which the -trategy is promoting( and the associated individual CPD opportunities which this reformulation ,rings with it. -chools and government should colla,orate in lin4ing the renewed emphasis on teachers professionalism with scope for professional control( self9regulation( and choice regarding CPD activity. *any head teachers and CPD coordinators need professional development in order to understand how interrelationships ,etween structural% cultural and career stage factors impact on staff CPD needs and attitudes. :overnment should address the cumulative factors that can impede positive CPD activity in small geographically isolated schools. -chools must ,e helped to improve their needs identification processes for staff( and account must ,e ta4en of individual teachers career moves and routes. *any later career stage teachers could ,e made more aware of the availa,le CPD possi,ilities. Teachers who are ,etween B and C years into teaching may re?uire particular support regarding how CPD can relate to their future professional directions.

*ore resources need to ,e ring9fenced ,y government for personal%individual CPD and for those activities where school needs and individual needs can ,e clearly interrelated. The matter of how ,est to ensure effective CPD evaluation and accounta,ility re?uires serious attention( ,ut approaches to this must ,e ,uilt on the concern for ,alance in the CPD strategy( and not dominated solely ,y system level targets.

Copies of the full report (DDB&=) 9 priced EB.=/ 9 are availa,le ,y writing to Df!Pu,lications( P3 Fo5 /'/'( -herwood Par4( 7nnesley( 2ottingham 2:$/ 'D@. Che?ues should ,e made paya,le to GDf!Priced Pu,licationsG. Copies of this Desearch Frief (DFB&=) are availa,le free of charge from the a,ove address (tel: '>B/ C' &&& C'). Desearch Friefs and Desearch Deports can also ,e accessed at http:%%www.dfes.gov.u4%research% Further information a,out this research can ,e o,tained from De,ecca Dylatt( C-( Df!-( -anctuary Fuildings( :reat -mith -treet( London -H$P <FT. !mail: re,ecca.rylattIdfes.gsi.gov.u4