professional development for the teachers, school leaders, curriculum ... in an online world: school education action plan for the information economy ..... Education 1999a), however, argues that it is not feasible to transfer any ...... Free Press. ..... Intermediate. http://www.tki.org.nz/r/ict/pedagogy/best_practises_e.php ...
Making better connections Models of teacher professional development for the integration of information and communication technology into classroom practice
Making better connections Models of teacher professional development for the integration of information and communication technology into classroom practice
A project funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training
© Commonwealth of Australia 2001-06-21 This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source and no commercial usage or sale. ISBN 1-875864-38-5
A Report to the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training by Toni Downes, University of Western Sydney Andrew Fluck, University of Tasmania Pam Gibbons, Australian Catholic University Ralph Leonard, Australian Council for Computers in Education Caroline Matthews, University of South Australia Ron Oliver, Edith Cowan University Margaret Vickers, University of Western Sydney Michelle Williams, Australian Council for Computers in Education
Managed and published by Australian Curriculum Studies Association Australian Council for Computers in Education Technology Education Federation of Australia University of Western Sydney
This project was funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training.
Designed by Angel Ink, Canberra Printed by Goanna Print, Canberra
CONTENTS
Executive summary Advice and recommendations Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Definitions of terms used in the report
3 9 9
1.2 Background
10
1.3 Methodology
13
Chapter 2 Teacher development — an overview
15
2.1 Current approaches to pre-service teacher education
15
2.2 Current approaches to continuing professional development
18
2.3 Implications for effective teacher development for the use of ICTs in classrooms
22
Chapter 3 Framework for researching teacher professional development for the integration of ICTs into classroom practice
23
3.1 The goals of integrating ICT into the classroom
25
3.2 Multiple roles of ICT
29
Chapter 4 Models of pre-service teacher education
31
4.1 Models of pre-service teacher education which address ICT integration
32
4.2 Effective practice regarding the use of ICT in pre-service courses
33
4.3 International programmes and initiatives
35
4.4 What is happening in Australia?
38
4.5 Conclusion
40
Chapter 5 Models of continuing professional development
CONTENTS
1
43
5.1 Models of systemic continuing professional development programmes
44
5.2 What is currently happening internationally?
45
5.3 Continuing professional development in Australia
48
5.4 Issues
56
5.5 Conclusion
58
III
Chapter 6 Measuring the effectiveness of teacher learning for ICT integration
59
6.2 Continuing professional development programmes
66
Chapter 7 Barriers and critical success factors for effective teacher learning
73
7.1 Lack of systemic attention to sustained work-based teacher development
73
7.2 Funding
74
7.3 Time
75
7.4 Links between pre-service teacher education and educational systems
76
7.5 Conclusions
77
Chapter 8 Advice and recommendations
IV
59
6.1 Pre-service teacher education programmes
79
8.1 Pre-service teacher education
80
8.2 Systemic continuing professional development programmes
81
8.3 Phase 2 of the project
82
References
83
Appendices
99
CONTENTS
Appendix A:
Project personnel
100
Appendix B:
Methodology
101
Appendix C:
Instrument for pre-service questionnaire
104
Appendix D:
Respondents to the teacher education survey
110
Appendix E:
Framework used for consultations regarding continuing professional development activities
111
Appendix F:
The increasing role of ICTs in the delivery and support of CPD
113
Appendix G:
Tapped In: an example of an online community
117
Appendix H:
Australian examples of most common CDP strategies
119
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report represents outcomes of the project “Models of Teacher Professional Development for the Integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into Classroom Practice”, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). The key elements of the report are: •
metrics for measuring the effectiveness of professional development and pre-service models in terms of delivery and outcomes for teachers and students;
•
a map of all identified professional development and pre-service models;
•
a list of barriers and critical success factors for effective integration of information and communications technology in teaching and learning; and
•
recommendations for Phase 2 of the project; regarding present and future teacher development activities in Australia, both pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development; including the future teacher development needs of the schools sector, in relation to the integration of ICTs into classroom practice.
The Report provides an overview of ICT in teacher education from both an Australian and an international perspective. In its process, the Report has drawn on a number of information sources including a comprehensive review of the literature on this topic, interviews and meetings with key stakeholders in teacher education and in continuing professional development, questionnaires and surveys and face-to-face forums. In the forum, experts came together to provide the researchers with advice and information to inform their data gathering, data analyses and interpretation processes. The Report begins by considering the changing context of ICT use in the wider community, both commercially and socially, and the consequential impact on school systems. The issues of teacher development are addressed by examining a broader view of teacher development in Chapter 2 and then focusing more closely on teacher development for use of ICTs in classrooms in the subsequent sections of the Report. Chapter 2 presents an overview of teacher development through a detailed discussion of pre-service teacher education (PTE) and continuing professional development (CPD). The discussion outlines the various approaches that are currently used to provide education and training, and explores the unique characteristics of the PTE and CPD settings. In the PTE setting, the impact of teacher supply and teacher quality are considered, as is the role of the professional practicum experience and the involvement of such stakeholders as universities, TAFE and schools in the pre-service training process. In relation to continuing professional development, the Report describes the variety of trends and approaches that are apparent and discusses the factors impacting on quality and outcomes. The chapter goes on to compare and contrast the various delivery formats by which CPD is presented. It concludes by discussing the complexity of designing effective systemic strategies for teacher education programmes.
1
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Chapter 3 provides a framework that identifies four distinct types of ICT related activity in contemporary educational settings. These are presented as: •
an object of study for the acquisition of ICT skills as an end themselves;
•
a tool for learning to enhance students’ abilities to deal with the existing curriculum;
•
an integral component of broader curricular reforms that change not only how students learn but also what they learn; and
•
an integral component of the reforms that alter the organisation and structure of schooling itself.
The chapter provides an overview of the concurrent emergence and development of these ICT uses in schooling. It attempts to deal in a meaningful way with the convergences and divergences that have resulted from the attempts made locally and overseas to deal with pre-service and in-service teacher development for the different applications. Chapter 4 explores the forms of learning experience that pre-service teachers face in their courses and programmes. This is done through a discussion of the literature describing initiatives and outcomes at both the local and overseas level. The chapter discusses the effectiveness of the various practices and draws on findings from various studies to argue the forms of the more successful programmes. A detailed description is provided of the use of ICTs in pre-service teacher education in Australia and several examples are given of innovative projects. The chapter reports the results of an Australia-wide survey of the use of ICT in teacher education undertaken as part of the project. The general findings suggest that while pre-service teachers receive considerable exposure to, and experience with, ICTs in their training, they receive limited experience in actual classroom use. This means that large differences exist between what is learned about ICT in their training and what is able to be practised in field placements. Chapter 5 provides comprehensive data on the forms of continuing professional development being undertaken throughout Australia and the rest of the world. The chapter describes a list of possible systemic professional development programmes and discusses international trends in this area. It presents the results of a comprehensive survey undertaken in the project of the CPD offered through Australia by key stakeholders. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the apparent disconnectedness between pre-service and continuing professional development and the difficulties that this separation brings. The need for partnerships and collaboration between the school and university sectors in the provision of these forms of training is argued and recommended. Chapter 6 discusses strategies associated with measuring the effectiveness of teacher education programmes, with a particular focus on the learning achieved by teachers in the programmes and courses. A number of different forms of assessment are discussed, as are initiatives throughout Australia and overseas countries. In the main, the chapter draws the conclusion that while the majority of organisations tend to recognise the need for effective assessment measures, few are able to report the use or successful outcomes with measures that do more than simply describe the learning processes involved. The chapter concludes with discussions of the various forms of evaluation reported in Australia and the observation that difficulties associated with measuring outcomes in meaningful ways often lead institutions and organisations to avoid such activities. As a result very few courses and programmes appear able to provide any direct measures of quality outcomes.
2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Chapter 7 discusses the barriers and critical success factors for effective learning in pre-service and professional development teacher education programmes. The principal barriers are identified as funding, time and a lack of linkages. The literature and experience of this project consistently revealed a problem of insufficient funding being made available for programmes in this area to keep abreast with the technological advances. The lack of funding limits both the scope and form of teacher development and is seen as a critical factor impeding success in this area. In terms of time, the project identified this scarce entity as presenting one of the greatest challenges to effective professional development. This trend was apparent across all sectors and is an area that needs attention in the development of any teacher education programme or course. Finally, the project identified a clear lack of connection and linkage between pre-service and in-service teacher education in areas associated with ICTs. The chapter concludes with the suggestion that ICT professional development models are complex and need due recognition by system leaders. The models need to have an adequate mix of strategies based on known principles of effective professional development and to recognise the barriers that are presented by the limited conceptual attitudes towards pedagogy, curriculum and the profession. The need for significant reform across the board is argued and the need for partnerships is reiterated in light of the separation that was observed to exist between the stakeholders and professional development provided for pre- and in-service settings. Chapter 8 provides advice and recommendations which are also detailed below.
Advice and recommendations Teacher development is a complex matter. In pre-service teacher education within Australia, there are significant political, theoretical and practical issues surrounding current moves to reform teacher education (Ramsey 2000). A key focus of these reforms is in the area of professional experience and partnerships with education systems, particularly in regard to school reform. These general issues need to be taken into account when discussing models and measures of effectiveness of strategies related to the integration of ICTs into teacher education. Similarly in the area of continuing professional development, there is much evidence that traditional forms of professional development are not really effective in creating improvements in student learning. The emerging consensus on what is effective professional development would require significant structural changes in education systems and in schools. It is not simply a matter of devolving funds and responsibilities to schools. The very nature of the teaching profession as being practice ‘behind closed doors’ mitigates against moves to school-based collaborative teacher development. Furthermore, the degree of complexity and the required time for lasting development to occur will always make the systemic implementation of effective practice difficult. It is important that all stakeholders realise that neither ‘online learning communities’ nor ‘online professional development’ can provide quick fixes for the complexities of continuing professional development. While ‘learning communities’ come up over and over again as a necessary condition for effective and sustained teacher development, they are not an easy solution, nor one that should stand alone as a major strategy. Rather, they should be an integral part of the sustained school-based teacher inquiry approach where their special contribution is to support and extend the local networks by offering connections and resources from outside the school or district. Similarly, online professional development does not hold any magic. There is no simple or easily affordable answer to the complex matter of designing effective systemic strategies for effective teacher education programmes in this field.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
The final important understanding to come from the literature and the consultations is the pressing need for significant collaboration and coordination between pre-service teacher education, continuing professional development and systemic and school reform. The lack of coordination is the greatest barrier to the effective use of ICTs for teaching and learning in schools. To make the most of the significant investment in teacher learning, to date, all the critical enabling factors need to be aligned. The following recommendations flow from these understandings and the more detailed statements at the end of Chapters 4, 5 and 6 about effective models and measures of effectiveness. The recommendations are divided into two sections: pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development. The recommendations in the pre-service section specifically address the issue of bridging the gap. In both sections, the issue of measures of effectiveness are addressed in the focusing and measuring capability section and the models of effective systemic strategies in the developing capability section. The final section addresses Phase 2 of the project, which is designed to begin the conversations at the school and systems levels about ways forward, and in particular about ways of supporting effective strategies for focusing, measuring and developing capabilities at the school, institutional and systemic levels.
Pre-service teacher education Focusing and measuring capability Governments, systems and teacher education institutions and professional associations work collaboratively to develop:
4
•
a national set of ICT in education standards for beginning teachers that address three of the four types of integration: skills, changing pedagogies, changing content and curriculum frameworks. Sufficient detail is needed to allow teacher education institutions and employing authorities to set standards for graduation and for employment. These standards need to be based on desired student learning outcomes and also form part of a continuum with advanced standards for experienced teachers.
•
a national set of institutional and programme capabilities that address the capacity of the institution, programmes and staff to provide the appropriate learning experiences so that graduates will achieve the beginning teacher standards. These capabilities will be framed around embedding the development of effective use of ICTs for teaching and learning within the professional experience components of programmes through creating or strengthening partnerships between teacher education institutions and systems and schools. These capabilities can be a guide for self-evaluation and for accreditation purposes.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Developing capability Governments, systems and teacher education institutions and professional associations work collaboratively to develop: •
institutional support and infrastructure, and the capacity of Deans/Heads of Schools to understand the complexity of effective technology integration and the various enabling factors that need to be addressed;
•
the knowledge and skills of teacher educators, many of whom remain unconvinced of the importance of the integration of ICT in their own teaching and learning;
•
appropriate pre-service teacher education curriculum and pedagogies so that student teachers have ample opportunities to develop, plan, implement and evaluate its use in their own teaching and learning, and to use ICTs with children in classrooms and online in a variety of teaching and learning situations;
•
partnerships between teacher education institutions, school systems and local school districts in regard to professional experience that integrates the use of ICTs for teaching and learning and professional support;
•
partnerships between teacher education institutions, school systems, local districts and schools such that the expertise within the university, the school and the student teacher cohort can be combined in projects that lead to the enhancement of student learning outcomes and teacher development within schools with regard to the use of ICTs for teaching and learning;
•
regulatory processes to allow limited online teaching as valid parts of professional experience programmes.
Mechanisms and incentives •
National consultation and education of key stakeholder groups such as AVCC, ACDE, MCEETYA, MCEETYA Information and Communication Technologies in Schools Taskforce (ICTST), systems and school leaders regarding the findings and recommendation of this report.
•
National funding for research and development of Standards for beginning teachers and for teacher education institutions/programmes.
•
National forum of teacher educator and senior systems personnel in regard to sharing effective practice, innovations and developing frameworks for partnerships.
•
National funding be provided to a number of consortium, one from each state and territory to develop, trial and evaluate forms of partnerships between universities, systems and schools that address issues of system reform of school, teacher education programmes and the continuing professional development of teachers for the purpose of improving student outcomes through transforming teaching and learning environments with ICTs for students, student teachers, practising teachers and teacher educators.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Systemic continuing professional development programmes Focusing and measuring capability Governments, systems and teacher education institutions and professional associations work collaboratively to develop: •
coherent agendas around the integration of ICTs in schooling, which lead to the development of benchmarks re students’ learning outcomes, standards for beginning and advanced teachers, standards for school-based and system-level capacity and for teacher education programmes and institutions to support the student outcomes … and the linking of professional development strategies to these benchmarks and standards.
Developing capability Systems in collaboration with governments, teacher education institutions and professional associations develop: •
More effective system-wide strategies for continuing professional development for the effective use of ICTs for teaching and learning which are based on known principles of effective teacher development. For example, CERI (1998) indicates effective professional development needs to be: –
Experiential, engaging teachers in concrete tasks that illuminate the process of learning and development;
–
Grounded in inquiry, reflection, and experimentation that are participant-driven;
–
Collaborative and interactional, involving a sharing of knowledge among educators and a focus on teachers’ communities of practice with support from both inside and outside of setting (Hawley & Valli 1999);
–
Connected to and derived from teachers’ work with their students (Hawley & Valli 1999);
–
Sustained, ongoing and intensive, supported by modelling coaching and collective problem solving around specific problems of practice; and
–
Connected to other aspects of school change (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin 1996) integrated with a comprehensive change process (Hawley & Valli 1999).
•
System-wide strategies to include school-based teacher inquiry projects that focus on improving student learning, or curriculum development activities or teaching projects which embed CPD in the daily work of teachers;
•
Coordinated training investments with administrative decisions, particularly in relation to school staffing, the professionalisation of their staff, and the allocation of ICT resources, the development of curriculum frameworks and system regimes of assessment;
•
Strategic opportunities for research, development and the sharing of resources and effective practice in regard to teacher development and the effective use of ICTs for teaching and learning.
Mechanisms and incentives
6
•
National funding for the research and development of student, teacher, institutional and system standards (taking account of the complex debates around standards and related issues).
•
National funding for research and development around systemic use of curriculum and teacher project/sustained inquiry and teacher research approaches to professional development — what factors for success/barriers … and the role of professional learning communities to support these school-based approaches.
•
National collaboration in regard to development and use of professional development resources.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Phase 2 of the project Maintain the legacy of the research phase Within Phase 1 of the project, a database for the literature review was created. Ongoing support for the integration of ICT and a portal for resources and research can be provided by extending the existing database website and maintaining the currency of the literature review with ongoing additions and creating sections related to specific topics. The ‘collections’ mechanism within EdNA Online should be reviewed as a potential mechanism for such maintenance so that a focus PD resource for the integration of ICT can be situated within EdNA Online. Consideration should also be given to the interaction between such a resource and other EdNA Online related sites such as the ‘Leading Practice’ site. Develop a support network targeted at specific audiences related to PD The outcomes from the research in Phase 1 of the project have provided advice regarding the major strategies to create effective professional development for teachers regarding the integration of ICT and the formation of a support network for that purpose. It must be stressed that the network described here is a human network of interaction and contribution that is facilitated by the online environment. Such a network should not attempt to duplicate nor replace existing infrastructure networks and services. It must add value to, and where appropriate, integrate existing networks and facilities. For this reason, collaborative partnerships and a staged model of developing the network is an essential strategy. The research within the Report and other evidence gathering in Australia suggest that the advancement of ICT integration will be dependent on specific sections of the education community. In order to achieve a desired outcome of increased integration of ICT it is necessary to foster interaction between several specific sections in all Australian jurisdictions, targeting those staff who: •
have duties related to systemic PD programmes;
•
are school leaders and in-school ICT coaches;
•
are leaders of professional associations; or
•
are teacher educators.
This interaction should have an initial focus on specific activities that are priority issues in the short term or near term for this composite community. Several of the items identified in the recommendations above regarding pre-service and systemic CPD programmes are suitable candidates for such activity.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
7
SUMMARY
8
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
1.1
CHAPTER 1 Introduction
This report represents one of the major outcomes of the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) funded project “Models of Teacher Professional Development for the Integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into Classroom Practice”. The project consists of a research activity (Phase 1) and the subsequent development of a support network (Phase 2). The key elements of this report from Phase 1 are: •
metrics for measuring the effectiveness of professional development and pre-service models in terms of delivery and outcomes for teachers and students;
•
a map of all identified professional development and pre-service models;
•
a list of barriers and critical success factors for effective integration of information and communications technology in teaching and learning;
•
recommendations for Phase 2 of the project; including the future teacher development needs of the schools sector, in relation to the integration of ICTs into classroom practice.
1.1
Definitions of terms used in the report
Teacher development is used in this report as an all-embracing term. It includes the continuum from pre-service teacher education (PTE), the induction of beginning teachers, and the continuing professional development (CPD) of existing teachers. It covers all activities, formal and informal, where individuals learn about and reflect on the practice and theory of teaching. Pre-service teacher education (PTE) refers to the formal programmes provided by academic units with universities or equivalent institutions in other countries. For example, in the United States, universities and colleges of education provide pre-service teacher education programmes. Continuing professional development (CPD) refers to any activity that develops existing teachers’ professional skills, knowledge and expertise. Systemic professional development programme refers to an overall coordinated system-level strategy of professional development for the teachers, school leaders, curriculum developers, head office and district personnel and other professional staff within its employ.
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
9
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
1.2
1.2
Background
Our world is rapidly becoming one in which information and communication technology (ICT) and digital information are core ingredients of everyday activities. A wide range of technologies for handling information in digital formats has emerged in the past fifteen years. Initially, these were distinct: numerical analysis, word processing, digital scanning, e-mail, and finally, the Internet. Now, they are converging at an accelerating pace. The impact of that convergence is reflected not only by the products and services in daily use but also in the alliances and mergers that occur in the commercial world as companies position themselves to take advantage of emergent revolutionary applications. In the context of globalisation, the growth of the information economy and rapid social change, it is increasingly evident that many forms of contemporary activity not only involve the incorporation of ICT but, more importantly, are also premised on the expectation that ICT is integral to both life and work. A transformed workplace In almost all industries the nature of work has undergone transformation, especially work that involves creating, accessing and using information. The working environments of the finance, retail and manufacturing industries have witnessed far-reaching changes that were totally reliant on the ability of ICT to enable new forms of information access and use. The crucial common element to the changes across various industries is that workers were not merely given new tools to apply to their existing work but that the operational functions and the organisational structures of the workplace itself were significantly altered. Understanding knowledge In parallel with this workplace revolution, we are now witnessing significant changes in our understanding of knowledge itself: how new knowledge is created, what is important to know, how new information is obtained, and how people learn. In recent years it has become evident that the processes of knowledge construction themselves are now being transformed by ICT use. University researchers in the key disciplines are using a wide range of new information and communication technologies — not only high-speed computers, but also CAD software, GPS systems, and communications systems that allow the aggregation of data from multiple sources around the world. These new techniques make it possible for researchers to open up previously unexplored topics, and are, in effect, changing the content of the disciplines. The impact on the education system The new communications and information technologies are contributing to significant changes in how communities function and interrelate at the local, national and global levels. In such an environment, where the nature of work, as well as that of knowledge and communities, is being radically altered, it has become necessary to rethink the fundamental axioms that determine expectations and behaviours of daily life. Over the last ten years, education systems in Australia have pursued, in varying degrees, policies and strategies to ensure that their students, teachers and schools obtain benefits from the application of ICT to teaching, learning and administrative processes. However, they have basically done so without seriously challenging whether the purposes and functions of schooling itself need to radically change in order to prepare students for this very different world.
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CHAPTER 1: Introduction
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
1.2
Underlying many of the moves to apply the information and communication technologies to education has been the fairly narrow focus of attuning education systems to the global impacts and trends of ICT. This imperative has been acknowledged and emphasised in significant documents such as the Strategic Framework for the Information Economy (National Office for the Information Economy 1999). That document envisaged an Australian future where the ‘education and training system aids the development of a citizen body which can confidently take advantages of the benefits of online technology’. In response, Australian school education systems have collaboratively developed Learning in an online world: school education action plan for the information economy (Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs 2000b), which defines the following School Education Goals for the Information Economy: All students will leave school as confident, creative and productive users of new technologies, including information and communication technologies, and understand the impact of those technologies on society. All schools will seek to integrate information and communication technologies into their operations, to improve student learning, to offer flexible learning opportunities and to improve the efficiency of their business practices. (p. 3) Goals such as these can be found in most systemic educational policies around Australia. While the language and form might vary, they all point toward the use of the new technologies being the imperative. The focus of systems has been to develop strategies to achieve these goals across all the years of schooling. The critical factors A number of national and international reports clearly identify the critical factors for a more comprehensive and effective integration of ICT into schools. Learning in an online world (Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs 2000b) speaks of: •
people
•
infrastructure
•
content and services
•
supporting policies
•
enabling regulation.
Although other reports (CEO Forum on Education and Technology 1997; Meredyth et al. 1999) use slightly different language and frameworks, the message is the same: there is a set of inter-related factors that all need attention in order to ensure the effective application of ICTs in schools. This issue of needing a balance of the critical components to ensure maximum outcomes has also been recognised in other sectors of the economy. A commonly identified set of interdependent components is governance, infrastructure, curriculum and training.
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
1.2
The current situation In recent years, within the education sector, considerable efforts have been applied to governance, both within the individual Australian jurisdictions and as a national collaborative action through the Education Network Australia (EdNA) process. Simultaneously, increased resources for infrastructure in schools have been provided by the states/territories and systems. Recently, attention has also been directed to the need to develop a wide range of curriculum applications and resources. Through the Schools Online Curriculum Content Initiative (http://socci.edna.edu.au), all states, territories and the Commonwealth of Australia have begun to plan an initiative that will, over time, generate online curriculum content for Australian schools. One area that has yet to see significant national collaboration and coordination is the preparation of beginning teachers and the professional development of practising teachers who need to have the necessary attitudes, knowledge and skills to apply ICTs to their daily professional activities. Within individual government and non-government education systems there have been a wide variety of initiatives in the area of continuing professional development. Similarly within many of the teacher education institutions there have been numerous initiatives and projects that focus on the application of ICTs to the delivery of and use within teacher education programmes. An Australia-wide mapping initiative (McCrae et al. 2001) has examined professional development activities that are either supported by systems, schools or arranged through the initiatives of individual teachers. This exercise has provided valuable insights into what is actually happening across the systems and among teachers, while giving some guidance about ICT-related initiatives, activities and needs. Preliminary analysis of the data from this mapping exercise indicates that professional development and training in relation to ICT use is a very high priority for systems and for individual teachers. The Commonwealth Government is providing $76 million for teacher professional development through the Quality Teacher Programme and information technology is one of the programme’s six key focus areas. This project, “Models of Teacher Professional Development for the Integration of ICT into Classroom Practice”, is another aspect of a beginning national strategy. The new issues While this report focuses on the specific task of identifying effective strategies and approaches for preservice teacher education and continuing professional development, it also raises a fundamental issue for education systems at the national and systemic level: “Professional development for what?” In asking this question, it is argued that the education sector should not overlook the lessons to be learned from the other sectors of the economy. Australia’s retail, banking and manufacturing industries did not simply give workers new tools and train them in their use; on the contrary, they involved the whole industry in a radical re-appraisal of its fundamental goals and modes of operation. Likewise, education systems may need to go further than simply training teachers in basic IT skills. One of the fundamental questions is whether in an information economy, the core activity of schools should continue to be the mere transmission of knowledge. In the new environment we are entering, schools are increasingly engaging in the generation of knowledge, and education is becoming an enterprise where “apprentice knowledge workers” (students) and “expert knowledge workers” (teachers) work together generating new knowledge in the context of complex tasks. Such a re-appraisal of the purposes of schooling leads to numerous questions about curriculum content, pedagogies, assessment methods, and the structure and organisation of schooling. This view, which is more fully canvassed in Chapter 3, recognises that ICTs are changing the contexts in which teachers do their work in quite fundamental ways.
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CHAPTER 1: Introduction
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
1.3
1.3
Methodology
In Phase 1 of the project, a multi-method research approach was used, drawing on a variety of data gathering and analytical techniques. The major activities within the project methodology were: •
Literature review
•
Environmental scan
•
Consultation with the education community
•
Survey of teacher education
•
Analysis
•
Content analysis
•
Meta-analysis
•
Experts’ forum
A detailed description of the methodology is contained in Appendix B.
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
13
SUMMARY
14
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
2.1
CHAPTER 2 Teacher development — an overview
In examining teacher development with regard to ICTs, it is important to contextualise the work within the broader frame of what is known about effective teacher learning in pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development. In the early years of innovation with ICTs and schooling, the impetus came from enthusiasts within schools and ICT specialists within systems. It has only been in recent years that the curriculum development professionals, the training and development specialists and school leaders have begun to play key roles in the development of system-wide and school-wide strategies. In pre-service teacher education, the shift from the specialists to the institutional leaders has been even slower (ISTE 1999). By providing this broader framework, this chapter creates a more critical lens to analyse the issue of teacher development for the integration of ICTs. The two phases of teacher development, pre-service teacher education (PTE) and continuing professional development (CPD), are treated separately in this report, reflecting their separate treatment in policy and practice, although it is considered essential that the two should, in future, be treated as coherent parts of a single continuum. One of the major findings of this study is that scarce teacher education resources are, in effect, being under-utilised through the lack of coordination between PTE and CPD activities.
2.1
Current approaches to pre-service teacher education
The recent NSW review of teacher education (Ramsey 2000) clearly outlines historical movements in Australia that serve to shape the current context of teacher education. In Australia in 1973, responsibility for teacher education shifted from the states to the Commonwealth. This shift placed teacher education in the newly formed Colleges of Advanced Education sector. In 1988, as part of a restructuring of higher education, the Colleges of Advanced Education were integrated into the universities. Within this new structure, teacher education became the responsibility of individual universities. It is significant that as the locus of control changed, the states have found that their capacity to control, or even influence, the supply or the quality or the nature of teacher education graduates has diminished significantly. Currently in Australia, the preparation of teachers is solely the responsibility of the universities. However, as funding constraints have affected universities, many teacher education faculties have found that their needs are not highly placed in terms of their university’s funding priorities. In 1998, the Australian Council of Deans of Education published a document outlining the key elements of a beginning teacher’s competencies. However, given the autonomous nature of universities and the highly competitive environment in which they now operate, there has been little attention given to the needs of the teaching profession.
CHAPTER 2: Teacher development — an overview
15
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
2.1
This situation contrasts with the clear visions for teacher education that are evident overseas. In the US, ‘voluntary’ standards are defined through the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (http://www.ncate.org/standard/programstds.htm) and in the UK, a more ‘compulsory’ approach is taken by the Teacher Training Agency. These agencies provide a mechanism for national standards, national programmes and national evaluations of teacher education. No such mechanisms exist in Australia. Some of the common issues identified in the literature are summarised and discussed in the following sections.
2.1.1 Teacher quality There is clear indication throughout the literature of an increase in demand regarding teachers’ knowledge and skills in contemporary society. In the US, these issues are at the front and centre of the debates around ‘standards’ and ‘accountability’ (Tom 2000). The first steps in the standards movement were carried out by the national subject matter associations as they generated standards for teaching and learning in particular subject matter areas. However, by the mid-1990s standards implementation was increasingly being merged with the demand for greater accountability. Most US states and school districts have implemented new student achievement tests, some have started to test teacher education graduates and even currently practising teachers, and there is also a move to impose greater controls on the content and processes of teacher education (Tom 2000). NCATE also plays a significant role in this process. NCATE has developed standards that can be applied to teacher education institutions that seek national accreditation. In this sense, adoption of the NCATE standards is voluntary. However, once these standards have been adopted by several of the more prestigious universities this creates an incentive for other universities to demonstrate that they are up to the required standard. Recently, NCATE has moved towards ‘performance-based accreditation’ where institutions will be required to provide evidence of graduate competence using data from both internal and external sources (Wise 1999). In the UK there has been a similar move towards ‘standards’ for initial teacher education, but through different approaches and in different contexts. Consistent with the US, the issue of standards is not confined to initial teacher education, but includes all stages of teacher development. The first set of ‘standards’ for initial teacher education was produced in 1997 by the Teacher Training Agency (TTA). They used familiar headings, but the degree of detail was conspicuous. These standards were precise and prescriptive; the competencies specified needed to be developed and also had to be assessable (Furlong 2000). In effect, these standards were helping to define the content of teacher education curriculum. At the same time, there were definite moves in the UK to develop national teacher education curriculum in the areas of English, Mathematics, Science and information and communications technologies (Department for Education and Employment 1997, 1998a). In both countries there is much discussion and criticism of these movements, particularly in regard to increasing political control of the teaching profession. There are also serious and ongoing arguments about whether standards can be generic or need to be aligned with the teaching of particular discipline areas (Steinberg 1998).
16
CHAPTER 2: Teacher development — an overview
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
2.1
In Australia, at least at the moment, the work around standards for the profession remains within the hands of the profession. Development and research is being carried out by education academics and the various professional associations such as the Australian College of Education, the Australian Curriculum Studies Association and a number of the peak key learning area teacher professional associations. It is important to note that most of this work is not being given attention by employing authorities or by the profession in general. However, very little of the Australian work has focused on initial teacher education. As already mentioned, the Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE) produced the National Standards and Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education (Australian Council of Deans of Education 1998). However, these have remained marginal to most debates about quality of teacher education in Australia, and there has been little follow-up to this work and no assessment of its impact. The recent Review of Teacher Education in New South Wales (Ramsey 2000) takes up the issue raised by the ACDE report and advocates that a standards-based accreditation system for teacher education programmes should be implemented. Importantly, it argues that a professional body should have the carriage of developing and managing the standards and the accreditation processes.
2.1.2 The role of professional experience The essential role of the practicum or field experience in teacher education is emphasised throughout the literature (Ramsey 2000). The Ramsey review speaks of “placing professional experience and related learning at the centre of teacher education” and “designing the teacher education curriculum so that it illuminates and is illuminated by professional experience, based on changes occurring in schools” (Ramsey 2000, p. 58). The main concepts are that professional experience needs be reconceptualised, that professional experience time be increased and that it be a shared responsibility between schools and universities. In the UK and the US there have been a number of approaches to these partnerships (Burstein, Kretschmer, Smith & Gudoski 1999; Furlong et al. 1994; Valli & Cooper 1999). Within Australia, the increasing use of an ‘Internship’ model of professional experience at the final stages of teacher education programmes and recent trials of site-based teacher education provide examples where these concepts are already being explored (Hatton & Harman 1997; Sinclair 1997). Within the UK and the US these notions have been taken much further through the wide-spread use of school-based teacher education programmes in the UK (Barton 1996) and the formation of Professional Development Schools (PDS) in the US (Newman & Moss 1997). According to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, Professional Development Schools go beyond school-based teacher education in that “their mission is professional preparation of candidates, faculty development, inquiry directed at the improvement of practice and enhanced students’ learning” (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education 2001, p. 1). While many of the features of a PDS may be desirable in any clinical education setting, there are some core commitments that are specific to the PDS: •
an environment that integrates adult and children’s learning;
•
parity for university and school partners on all issues of practice and policy in the PDS;
•
the simultaneous renewal of the school and the university. The work that goes on in a PDS is new work jointly done by the university and school faculty.
While these new directions are vital to the improvement of initial teacher education programmes in Australia, it is important that they are placed in the context of the continuing problems that the universities have in funding professional experience — particularly in regard to the payment to teachers and in finding suitable placements in schools for student teachers.
CHAPTER 2: Teacher development — an overview
17
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
2.2
2.1.3 Partnerships of stakeholders The literature emphasises the importance of education stakeholders working in partnership in relation to teacher education (Jung 2000; Lieberman 2000; Ramsey 2000). Within Australia, the Ramsey review talks about the responsibility for preparing competent teachers being shared by universities, the TAFE system and schools, built on contractual partnerships with well-defined roles. Such partnerships also address another theme emerging from the general teacher education literature: linking education and school reform. This move stems from the concept that teacher education and school should not be treated separately. The Report of the Review of Teacher Education NSW quotes the American Federation of Teachers College-School Task Force on Student Achievement — Closing the Circle: Making Higher Education a Full Partner in Systemic Reform: Colleges and universities train our public school teachers and construct the nation’s research into teaching and learning. Through their admissions policies, colleges and universities exert a powerful influence on the content of the public school curriculum and on the course taken by students who aspire to a college education. For school reform to work, higher education must become a full partner. For higher education to advance, schools must become stronger. (Ramsey 2000, p. 56) These partnerships go beyond but encompass those that have been established around professional experience. They include building teacher education into reformed models of schooling, conjoint appointments between education systems and universities. They also include partnerships with businesses and community organisations. The move to partnerships with systems and schools, and the linking of teacher education to the reformed models of school within the generic literature, provide clear signposts for institutional and systemic thinking around ways to improve the quality of graduates in terms of their use of ICTs in classroom practice. Furthermore, it is not difficult to see, that partnerships that embody the principles of Professional Development Schools could well provide ‘the meeting place’ where both schools and universities, both practising teachers and teacher educators, could combine their expertise for the benefit of both the students in classrooms and the student teachers. In the ICT context, it would be conceivable that teacher educators, teachers, student teachers and students might collaborate on authentic tasks that further develop the knowledge and understanding of all groups about the effective use of ICTs for the enhancement of student learning outcomes.
2.2
Current approaches to continuing professional development
There is a significant body of literature on approaches to and issues that surround the continuing professional development of teachers. Within the literature the concept is variously referred to as staff development, in-service training, professional development, and continuing professional development. There are a number of well-established international journals dedicated to this area as a field of study, as well as journals that focus on continuing professional development in specific levels of education or areas of study. From these journals and other sources of data emerge a number of major trends and findings related to continuing professional development in general and in relation to ICTs and education. One of the continuing themes recurring in the literature is that patterns of system-level resource allocation tend to favour a training model over alternative models that the literature argues or demonstrates are more effective in the long term. This is so despite ample evidence that traditional models are ineffective and wasteful (CERI 1998; Hawley & Valli 1999). Alternative models are often messy, more difficult to account for, and longer in duration, but more effective in reform processes (Little 1994; Smith 1999). Non-adoption of ‘messy’ models which are difficult to account for and require time to demonstrate results underlines the highly political nature of much systemic policy. 18
CHAPTER 2: Teacher development — an overview
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
2.2
Major trends in the literature focus on the four main areas. Each of these is present below.
2.2.1 Professional development and school/educational reform •
Professional development needs to be integrated with a comprehensive change process that deals with the full range of impediments to and facilitators of student and teacher learning (CERI 1998; Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin 1996; Hawley & Valli 1999).
•
There is a reciprocal relationship between individual and organisational development (Connolly 1998; Cook 1996; Little 1994; Fullan 1991; Hawley & Valli 1999).
•
There is a need for balance: individuals should design their professional plans to fulfil their school’s needs; schools should meet individual as well as whole faculty needs in pursuing professional development (National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996).
•
Professional development programmes need to build an infrastructure to promote and sustain teacher learning and instructional improvement over the long term in order to generate organisational changes and sustain teacher change (Fontaine 2000b; O’Day, Goertz & Floden 1995).
2.2.2 Teachers as professionals/life long learners/ members of professional learning communities •
Effective professional development is: –
Rigorous, sustained and adequate to the long-term change of practices; (National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996); is sustained, ongoing and intensive, and supported by modelling coaching and collective problem solving around specific problems of practice (CERI 1998);
–
Directed towards teachers’ intellectual development and leadership (National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996);
–
Designed and directed by teachers, incorporates the best principles of adult learning and involves shared decisions designed to improve the school (National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996);
–
Experiential, engaging teachers in concrete tasks of teaching, assessment, observation, and reflection that illuminate the process of learning and development (CERI 1998);
–
Grounded in inquiry, reflection, and experimentation that are participant-driven (that is, learners take responsibility for posing questions and exploring answers) (CERI 1998);
–
Collaborative and interactional, involving a sharing of knowledge among educators and a focus on teachers’ communities of practice rather than individual teachers, with support from both inside and outside of setting (Hawley & Valli 1999) (CERI 1998).
•
Professional development requires adequate time for inquiry, reflections, and mentoring and is an important part of the normal working day, week, and year of all teachers (CERI 1998; National Education Commission on Time and Learning 1994; National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996). It also involves rethinking the work and working conditions of teachers, and their professional roles and responsibilities.
•
There is a positive correlation between teacher professionalism (teacher as learner, teacher as researcher) and improved student learning outcomes (Coughlin & Lemke 1999; Davis 1999; Delannoy 2000; Groundwater-Smith 1998; Smith 1999).
CHAPTER 2: Teacher development — an overview
19
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
2.2
In response to many of the issues identified by CERI and NFIE such as sustainability, immersing PD in teachers’ daily work, developing the teacher as researcher, there is now recognition of the role of communities to support teacher learning. These communities bear various titles in the literature: learning communities, teacher communities, communities of practice, teacher networks, research circles. There is a growing body of literature on these roles and issues surrounding their use. In summary, it is noted at this point that professional learning communities are: easy to set up but difficult to sustain (Lieberman 2000); need particular conditions if they are to operate effectively (Hough & Paine 1997; Grossman 2000); work best at the local level (site-based communities); and are less likely to succeed when dispersed and virtual (Schlager 2000). Online learning communities are attracting much attention in the literature. One of the more successful online learning communities of teachers is Tapped In. Appendix G: contains a description of Tapped In.
2.2.3 Professional development and student learning outcomes •
20
Effective professional development: –
Is connected to and derived from teachers’ work with their students; provides opportunities for teachers to develop a theoretical understanding of the knowledge and skills learned (CERI 1998; Hawley & Valli 1999);
–
Helps teachers and other school staff to meet the future needs of students who learn in different ways and who come from diverse cultural, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds (National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996);
–
Fosters a deepening of subject-matter knowledge, a greater understanding of learning, and a greater appreciation of students’ needs (National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996).
•
In the context of systemic reform, teachers are now expected to achieve better student outcomes in relation to defined areas of knowledge. CPD for teachers now reflects the need to demonstrate how new pedagogical approaches can be used in practice in relation to specific topics and subject-matter areas. Modelling new “pedagogies” in non-specific and decontextualised ways has been demonstrated not to work (US Department of Education 1999a).
•
Professional development is not just about learning to do things differently, but about agreeing to do so (CERI 1998). Teacher resistance to change is not just about lack of skills and understandings. Professional development needs to challenge teachers’ existing frames of reference, but also to provide evidence that it is focusing on improving outcomes for students (Carney 1998; The Regional Alliance re Maths and Science 1998).
•
While the relationship of Professional Development to student learning is complex, it is not random or chaotic. Factors can be identified, and the influence is clear. Guskey and Sparks (1996) have developed a model to explain the relationship (see Figure 1, section 6.2). This model illustrates the importance of a systemic approach to PD, where there is a clear focus on explicit student learning outcomes and where context and process variables are attended to at the same time as the professional development (Guskey 2000).
•
Guskey and Sparks (1996) argue that their model (see Figure 1) can help explain the impact of professional development on student learning. The Eisenhower Project Report (US Department of Education 1999a), however, argues that it is not feasible to transfer any particular model of CPD to another location because there are always too many intervening variables at the local level.
CHAPTER 2: Teacher development — an overview
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
2.2
2.2.4 Professional development and new technologies There is increasing attention being given to the role of new information and communication technologies in continuing professional development. Areas of use attracting attention include: the use of multimedia to provide structured learning experiences around video-based case studies of learning environments, the use of productivity tools to support teachers planning and engaging in their own or collective projects, the use of telecommunications to provide channels of communication for networking and mentoring, facilitation and support, and the use of online professional development courses and online curriculum projects that have PD embedded within them (Marx, Blumenfeld, Krajcik & Soloway 1998; Office of Education and Technology, US Department of Education 1995). At this stage there is little empirical or theoretical evidence to support the extensive claims about the effectiveness of the use of such media (Sparks 2000). It is likely that the use of appropriate media/technologies is but one of the many characteristics of effective CPD. Literature on effective ways to use ICTs in CPD is relatively scant. Given the context of this report the literature around professional learning communities and the increasing role of ICTs in the delivery of all forms of CPD is more fully outlined in Appendix F. The ICT specific CPD literature supports all of the major thrusts of the generic literature. A review of this literature by Brand (1997) provided the following list of principles: •
Time. Teachers must have time to acquire and transfer knowledge and skills in technology to the classroom (Boe 1989; Hawkins & MacMillan 1993). Schools have not yet determined what kind of training and practice time is necessary in order for teachers to effectively integrate technology into the curriculum (Harvey & Purnell 1995).
•
Take into account varying needs. When designing staff development sessions on technology, individual differences and strengths must be taken into consideration (Boe 1989; Browne & Ritchie 1991; Shelton & Jones 1996).
•
Flexibility of professional development opportunities. Staff development in technology should not be based on a “one size fits all” philosophy.
•
Provisional support. The provision of a person or team with experience in both technology and curriculum can assist in matching staff development to school/district goals (Kinnaman 1990).
•
Collaborative development. Effective technological development of teachers takes place in a collaborative learning environment. Peer coaching and modelling have been most effective in transforming knowledge and skills gained in workshops to implementation in classroom practice (Browne & Ritchie 1991; Kinnaman 1990; Persky 1990).
•
Remuneration and teacher recognition. Teachers may need to be provided with incentives and recognition in order to motivate them to acquire new computer skills (Kinnaman 1990). Research from the business sector supports this.
•
Sustained staff development. Computer-related professional development must be ongoing and systematic (Kinnaman 1990). One shot workshops are ineffective.
•
Link technology and educational objectives. Training in technology must have a pedagogical focus. Guiding teachers to think about the curriculum helps them to address how to integrate technology (Guhlin 1996; Persky 1990).
•
Intellectual and professional stimulation. The model of staff development which is used for technology must put the teacher/learner at the centre of the process. Meaningful contexts for learning must also be considered (Stager 1995).
•
Clear administrative message. Administrators must support teachers’ training in technology with action. As Boe (1989) has argued, an information-based society requires a new vision of teaching and associated expectations for staff development.
CHAPTER 2: Teacher development — an overview
21
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
2.3
More recently at the APEC Forum, the US Department of Education argued that PD in technology should be ongoing, intensive, and an integral part of a teacher’s regular work day… not separate from but integrated into efforts to improve teaching in various subject areas and across the curriculum, part of whole school reform process (US Department of Education 1999c). Overall, the literature provides clear messages about the relationship between the strategies and purposes of effective continuing professional development in relation to the use of ICTs in education. The key message can be summed up using the words from the recent Commonwealth Government document Teachers for the 21st Century: Making a Difference; professional development is effective “where it is identified and implemented within the school context to meet the needs of their teachers and students, for the continuous improvement of professional practice”. Central to the effectiveness of such an approach is “the support provided from educational systems and schools to embed professional development effectively into conventional work practices” (Commonwealth of Australia 2000, p. 11).
2.3
Implications for effective teacher development for the use of ICTs in classrooms
The issues raised in this brief overview clearly indicate that effective teacher development in regards to the use of ICTs in classrooms requires systemic and institutional attention to the interconnectedness of specific strategies for: •
preparation of student teachers in the use of ICTs in classrooms to the broader issues of quality and standards, the changing role of professional experience and the strengthening of relationships between the stakeholders;
•
professional development for ICTs use in classrooms to the broader issues of school reform (professional development embedded in teacher daily work), teachers’ sense of professionalism (teachers as learner/researchers connected to a community, ongoing, based in daily work, connected to student outcomes) and a clear focus on student learning outcomes.
This notion of interconnectedness provides weight to the notion that systems and institutions should direct their focus to outcomes that clearly link the use of ICTs in classrooms to broader school or institutional reform issues. In this way both the purposes and the effective practices are embedded in the notion that schools need to change in order for the effective learning of teachers and of students and thus the effective use of ICTs for such learning. Furthermore, it identifies the possibility that clear links are needed between the notion of effective learning for student teachers and more broad reform of teacher education institutions and programmes themselves. This is a significant finding, because to date most of the literature in the field of ICTs and teacher education focuses on discussion of the relative effectiveness of the separate subject or the infusion model.
22
CHAPTER 2: Teacher development — an overview
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
CHAPTER 3 Framework for researching teacher professional development for the integration of ICTs into classroom practice Stated briefly, the goal of this Report is to answer the question, ‘How can the professional development of teachers and educational leaders facilitate the integration of new technologies into classroom practice?’. More specifically, it asks ‘What models of teacher professional development exist, in Australia and around the world, to support the integration of information and communication technologies into classroom practice?’ and ‘What advice does the current research literature provide about which of these models are most effective for this purpose?’. These questions are more complex than they might at first appear. Some educational technology enthusiasts tend to promote the use of computers in the classroom as if using the technology was an end in itself. From this perspective, a ‘good model’ of professional development is one that simply leads more teachers to use more technology more often. Some of the earlier programmes for continuing professional development espoused this relatively simplistic position. The goal was to promote the increased use of computers across the curriculum. Continuing professional development programmes were organised around this goal; provided that the evaluations showed that the programme resulted in greater use of information technologies in classes other than computer studies classes, the programme was considered to be successful (Becker 1986; Pelgrum & Plomp 1991; Vickers & Smalley 1995). The purpose of this chapter is to establish a framework that provides a more substantial approach to goal-setting and programme evaluation. The first task is to clarify the goals and purposes of educational technology by asking ‘What educational outcomes do schools and systems hope to achieve by increasing the extent to which ICTs are integrated into classroom practice?’ From the information gathered in response to this question it is evident that, in Australia as well as overseas, educators are promoting ICT use in classrooms for several distinct reasons. These include: •
Type A: encouraging the acquisition of ICT skills as an end themselves;
•
Type B: using ICTs to enhance students’ abilities within the existing curriculum;
•
Type C: introducing ICTs as an integral component of broader curricular reforms that are changing not only how learning occurs but what is learned;
•
Type D: introducing ICTs as an integral component of the reforms that alter the organisation and structure of schooling itself.
23
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Of these four types, the first and the second are relatively easy to accept. Parents, politicians, and community leaders are prepared to support the use of ICTs provided that the purpose is to either provide specific computer-related skills, or use computers to enhance students’ abilities to deal with the preexisting curriculum. Who would complain if computer-enhanced pedagogy leads to improved student results on the current collection of tests that Australian students face? However, parents, politicians, community leaders, and even some educators tend to respond cautiously when changes in the school curriculum are called for, and all react even more warily when fundamental changes in the nature of schooling are proposed. Thoughtful educators are aware of the dangers associated with discarding the traditional skills of memorisation and practice that are such a time-honoured part of schooling. At the same time, it is necessary to acknowledge that if today’s children are restricted to acquiring only the knowledge and skills that served us well in the 20th century, they will not be well prepared for the 21st century. The current period of rapid change cannot be passed off as an aberration. The knowledge economy, the global market, new technologies, new and emerging occupations and professions, organisational change, diverse communities and complex cultures are all here to stay. Educators in every state and territory are facing difficult challenges in responding to the curricular implications of these changes. In Queensland, this challenge has led to the development of the New Basics Project, which explicitly aims to prepare students for the year 2010 and beyond. In that project, the profound changes to economic and civic life listed above are regarded as “aspects of an emerging world that must be taken seriously as objects of study. They should be the focus of debate, data analysis and collection, higher-order thinking, and basic skills building” (Education Queensland 2000, p. 2). No one expects the Queensland curriculum in 2010 to be easier or less demanding than it is today; on the contrary, an increase in the intellectual rigour of students’ work is an explicit goal of the New Basics Project. Four distinct types of information and communication technology activity in education were presented as a framework earlier in this section. The effectiveness of any teacher development model will depend to some extent on the goals which the system wants to achieve through ICT use, so a clarification of the goals associated with educational technologies is an essential first step. The second step leads to an examination of the research on teacher development, asking ‘What are the key factors involved in delivering more effective teacher development programmes, not only in the field of technology, but more generally across all curriculum areas?’ The final issue is ‘How can one know which models of teacher development are most effective?’ Answers to this question are sought by examining the literature on recent trends in the evaluation of teacher development programmes. The purpose of this chapter is to bring together some of the separate pieces of the puzzle — arguments about the role of ICT in school education; current thinking about effective methods of continuing professional development for teachers; and research on how teacher development programmes might be evaluated. It is important to examine how these separate ‘pieces’ interact. If the interactions among the pieces were simple and linear, one might begin by identifying the ‘best’ goal statement for educational technology, then find the teacher development model that represents the ‘best fit’, add in a cutting-edge approach to evaluation, then conclude this tidy package.
24
CHAPTER 3: Framework for researching teacher professional development for the integration of ICTs into classroom practice
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
3.1
Unfortunately, the task is not as simple as that. There are multiple goals for ICT at the national, systemic and institutional levels, so there cannot be a single goal statement that represents ‘best thinking’ in this field. One tends to assume that the arrows on the strategic planning chart should move forward from goals to methods to outcomes, but sometimes they run backwards as well. That is, lessons from the research on what constitutes effective teacher development can feed back to influence thinking about what the most appropriate goals for ICT integration might be. One lesson to be learned from the literature on continuing professional development is that there is a growing emphasis on linking CPD with improvements in student outcomes. Teacher development that is embedded in the curriculum and integrated with the assessment of student learning is considered far more likely to lead to changes in teacher practice than teacher development programmes that are conducted as isolated exercises (Sykes 1999). These ideas — which come from the professional development literature rather than from the educational technology literature — suggest that one of the criteria for evaluating professional development models in the ICT field should be to ask whether the programme is explicitly designed to help teachers use ICT to improve student outcomes. In effect, the arguments presented in this chapter help to focus on what should be sought, and also provide a counter-balance against the possibility that the search might look only towards the past — towards what already exists and is already proven — as systems look for models of teacher development that will serve best in the future. In an empirical sense, the only professional development models that can be reported on at this point in time are those that have already been put into practice, implemented, evaluated, and written up. In this rapidly changing field, such luxury rarely exists. From the Australian Education Council’s 1985 report to the present, every effort that researchers have made to evaluate the role of new information technologies in education, has essentially represented attempts to focus on a rapidly moving target (Australian Education Council 1985). As education systems design new models for delivering teacher professional development for the integrated use of information and communication technologies, they need to take account of what is known from research on existing models, while simultaneously anticipating the challenges that are just around the corner.
3.1
The goals of integrating ICT into the classroom
Almost 20 years have passed since the pioneers in this field proposed that the new information technologies should have a key role in the school curriculum. The earliest approaches focused on technology skills as an end in themselves, and in many schools and systems, Computer Science was introduced as a new school subject. Not long after, the focus shifted toward emphasising the computer as a pedagogical tool for improving learning (OECD 1987). Currently, there are indications that the focus is shifting once again.
3.1.1 ICT as an object of study Given the imperatives of the knowledge economy, it is important that education systems are attuned to the global impacts and trends of ICT. In Australia, Learning in an online world: School education action plan for the information economy (Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs 2000b) argues that all students must leave school as confident, creative and productive users of information and communication technologies. Confidence in the use of information and communication technologies is an essential prerequisite for developing the skills young people will need for employment in the knowledge economy. The capacity to access data from multiple sources, to review it critically and to discriminate what is reliable and what is not reliable will be fundamental for many at work, and for all who hope to function as active and responsible citizens in the 21st century.
CHAPTER 3: Framework for researching teacher professional development for the integration of ICTs into classroom practice
25
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
3.1
3.1.2 ICT as a tool for learning A considerable amount of research has been conducted over the past twenty years in an effort to ascertain whether new technologies can function as a tool for enhancing student outcomes. Much of this research has focused on problems and topics which are difficult for students but which are central to the subject matter of the school curriculum, and much of it has reported positive results (Mann et al. 1999; Perkins et al. 1995). For example, in the 1980s, Bob Tinker and his team at TERC (http://www.terc.edu) plugged motion sensors and temperature probes into computer ports. After some experimentation they produced direct graphical representations of physical phenomena, in real time, on computer screens. This ‘hands-on’ approach to the physics of motion has proved a resounding success; it has now even been adopted by the NSW Board of Studies as the ‘standard method’ for teaching this topic in HSC Physics. Whether one turns to science, to mathematics, or to literacy, the story is the same. When careful software development is combined with the key elements of a good implementation plan (teacher education, adequate ICT resources in schools, and supportive educational leadership) substantial learning gains can be achieved. For example, over a ten-year period, in several large US states, significant efforts were made to infuse ICT into public schools. These efforts were carefully evaluated and reported in what has become known as the Milken Family Foundation study (Mann et al. 1999). The results are particularly compelling: the researchers found that clear gains in literacy and numeracy resulted from this innovation, and they concluded that these gains were achieved more cost-effectively than in other interventions such as class size reduction. In the UK, the focus is on when to use and when not to use ICTs for teaching and learning (Teacher Training Agency 1998). ICTs are available for supporting approaches where the classroom pedagogy remains largely unaltered but, depending on teacher and school preference, ICTs are also available to support where the pedagogy is radically altered. In the former case, teachers remain very much ‘in charge’ of their classrooms, in the traditional didactic sense. For example, teachers may prepare classroom presentations using Powerpoint software and a laptop computer that they are encouraged to take home. Presentations such as these represent a convenient substitute for chalk-board work, and in some cases, go far beyond what might be achieved by this ‘old’ technology. In another example of a similar approach, a teacher may link the laptop to a projector and take the class through an interactive exploration of a useful website. These didactic applications are in many ways at the ‘conservative’ end of the spectrum. In them, information and communication technologies are ‘integrated’ into classroom use, in the sense that teachers in a wide range of subject-matter areas are using new technologies, yet the pedagogy remains much the same as in the past. At the more ‘radical’ end of the spectrum, one finds examples where the teacher is more of a coach than an instructor, where the students are actively engaged in gathering data, aggregating their data with those gathered by other students, and making meaning of the results. They are writing to students on the other side of the globe about their findings, and seeking opportunities to engage with local political leaders regarding the implications of their work. In classrooms where this happens, children are becoming ‘apprentice knowledge workers’. Information and communication technologies are, in these projects, integral to pedagogy. Educators argue that the integration of technology into classroom practice also supports a wide variety of modes of student learning. As student populations become more diverse, this goal increases in importance. There is mounting evidence that communication technologies and computer applications can be used to allow students to learn in ways that are congruent with their abilities, cultural backgrounds, learning styles or special needs. For example, recent work in Western Australia indicates the use of electronic student portfolios can improve the quality of interaction between the school, students and Aboriginal families in remote communities (Celebration Conference 1999).
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CHAPTER 3: Framework for researching teacher professional development for the integration of ICTs into classroom practice
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
3.1
Whether the purpose is to improve literacy and numeracy scores, make difficult subjects more accessible, or make learning more inclusive in recognition of the growing cultural diversity of learners, all the approaches referred to above are ones in which ICT becomes a ‘tool for learning’ rather than an object of learning. When technology is defined in this way — as a pedagogical tool — the goal of teacher development is to help teachers use appropriate technologies in their classrooms across all curriculum areas. Embedded in the language used to describe this approach is the assumption that ICT is basically a useful pedagogical tool — a tool that can improve learning or change how learning occurs, but leaves the content — what is learned — relatively unchanged. Within Australia, this approach is clearly reflected in recent changes to various curriculum frameworks that school systems have developed. For example, in South Australia the new curriculum frameworks elevate ICT to a higher level of prominence and include communication alongside literacy and numeracy.
3.1.3 ICT as integral to both subject matter and pedagogy In 1996, the OECD published the results of a six-year study of key innovations in science, mathematics and technology education (Black & Atkin 1996). The study, aptly titled Changing the Subject, summarised the common features of 26 major national projects in this field. The projects that were reviewed had been conducted in 13 countries, including Australia, Canada, the US, Japan, and several European countries. ICTs were a key component of many of these projects. Almost all the innovations described in the report awarded a critical role to some combination of technologies such as new software applications, graphing calculators, multi-media resources, and new communications networks that are used to link students over considerable distances. New curriculum content and new approaches to learning are both integral to these innovations. As the authors note, this poses a formidable challenge for teachers (Black & Atkin 1996). The traditional assumptions about learning in the classroom are deeply rooted in pedagogical practice. For example, the assumption that effective learning begins with memorisation, followed by practice exercises designed to develop familiarity with a concept or theory. Traditional learning also begins with abstract principles, leaving the business of practical applications to a later stage. In the innovations described in Changing the Subject, these assumptions were often overturned. For example, as information and communication technologies were used to bring the outside world into the classroom, the students’ work generally became more strongly connected with important community problems such as acid rain or waste disposal. Students also learned through an initial focus on realistic problems, as in the ChemCom curriculum, which teaches year 11 and 12 chemistry by beginning with industrial applications and ‘mapping backwards’ to the underlying theory. Students and teachers involved in other projects found that the demands of interacting across international boundaries (for example, through the National Geographic Kids Network) created a need for much more clarity and precision in their written work than they were accustomed to. The benefits of these innovations are amply documented by the OECD’s authors. Yet at the same time they stress that ‘to achieve [these benefits], teachers will have to change almost every aspect of their professional equipment. They will have to reconsider themselves entirely: not only the structures of their material and their classroom techniques, but even their fundamental beliefs and attitudes concerning learning’ (Black & Atkin 1996, p. 63).
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
3.1
3.1.4 ICT as integral to the reform of schooling: pedagogy, content, and the organisation and structure of schooling In the past 20 years, across many nations, there has been some fundamental rethinking of schooling, of the profession of teaching and the nature of curriculum. In the US, this questioning has generated a strong ‘centralising’ movement focused on standards and accountability, but it has also supported significant movements for school reform. It has only been in the last five years or so that connections have been made between the school reform movements and the use of information and communication technologies in education. With this connection, ICTs are becoming integral to fundamental changes in the nature of schooling; these changes encompass curriculum and assessment frameworks, modes of school organisation, the nature of the work students and teachers do together and the teaching profession itself. The US Department of Education recognised this when it linked the use of new technologies to school reform in the research project Technology and Education Reform (Office of Educational Research and Improvement, US Department of Education 1998). In its report it spoke about the role of ICTs in facilitating: •
student learning through involvement with authentic, challenging multidisciplinary tasks;
•
new roles for students and teachers;
•
the professionalisation of teachers;
•
the creation of a culture that supports inter-related learning, both in the classroom and beyond the school walls.
To date, these types of changes in Australian schools have been most visible in Australia in individual technology-rich schools such as MLC and Bendigo College in Victoria and project schools such as Navigator and Discovery Schools in Victoria and South Australia. Internationally, the ACOT schools project is a well-researched and reported example of effective school reform and ICT integration. Other examples found in the literature refer to individual schools or educational settings where other aspects of schooling are also being challenged in computer-rich learning environments: for example multi-age, multidisciplinary teams of students working together (Papert 1999). Alongside these ICT focused reforms, there are now examples of projects where school reform is the main agenda but ICTs are considered integral to the process. In the Coalition of Essential Schools Network, ICTs are seen as a key strategy in achieving the fundamental goals of school reform (Muncey & MacQuillan 1993). “When Essential schools plan backwards from their goals, they see technology as a tool, not an end,” says David Niguidula, who has worked for several years with technological issues at the Coalition of Essential Schools. “Member schools are usually striving to break down the professional isolation of teachers, to reach and challenge kids at very different levels, to assess student progress in rich and concrete ways — all things that technology can greatly help achieve” (Coalition of Essential Schools 1994). In Australia, the New Basics project in Queensland (Education Queensland 2000) envisages simultaneous and inter–related changes in the nature of the tasks that students undertake, the literacies and technologies they are expected to master, the curriculum frameworks and the assessment regimes that structure their daily work, and the roles of students and teachers. All of these examples provide clear frameworks for understanding the interconnectedness of school reform and role of ICTs in changing what is learned and how it is learned. This concept is taken even further when challenging the notion of how schools are internally structured (Riel 1997) and whether schools will continue to exist in their current form or be replaced by multi-age community learning centres in the foreseeable future (Beare 1997). The challenge for education systems is to bring together the various strands of their work, on school improvement, on quality teaching and learning and on the effective integration of ICTs to support student outcomes.
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CHAPTER 3: Framework for researching teacher professional development for the integration of ICTs into classroom practice
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
3.2
3.2
Multiple roles of ICT
Each of the four types of use described above has emerged on the educational landscape at different times and in response to different needs in various countries and systems. In some countries there has been, to some extent, an evolutionary succession from one approach to the next. In others, strategic plans have been put in place to move schools toward a particular approach. It is important to note that the progressive evolution from the first type to fourth is one in which ICT seems to be acquiring additional educational roles over time without shedding any of its previous roles. Thus, in some areas of the curriculum, ICTs are clearly seen as an essential pedagogical tool, yet at the same time, the idea that students should know something about the technology itself continues to be a relevant objective. In the quantitative disciplines, the emphasis is now shifting towards a view of technology as integral to the subject matter itself. In some curricular areas and in some schools, all three types are espoused simultaneously. In the schools and networks of schools described under the fourth category, ICT has become integral to the reform of schooling itself. The simultaneous existence of these four types complicates the task of assessing models of teacher professional development. It is difficult to say which models of teacher professional development best support the integration of ICTs into educational practice without at the same time clarifying which aspects of ‘integration’ are on the agenda in any particular school or system, because •
the first type tends to mean that ICT skills are added into the school programme through a separate ICT subject, while teachers’ practices in other subjects remain unchanged.
•
the second type focuses on integrating ICTs into the daily work of all teachers; in some cases teachers’ existing pedagogical approaches and classroom behaviours remain the same, while in others, ICT use tends to change the pedagogical approaches the teacher employs.
•
the third type is clearly transformative at the classroom level: it changes content as well as pedagogy (what students learn as well as how they learn).
•
the fourth type is transformative at the systemic level, leading to changes in the organisational and structural features of schooling as well.
Each approach has its place — that is, the literature indicates that distinctly different models of teacher professional development exist, and that these tend to be associated with different approaches to defining what is required from ICTs. Each approach reflects a distinctly different world view — not just differing views about how ICT might be used in classrooms, but differing views about how children in this latest generation learn, how knowledge is created and used, and what roles parents, teachers, and schools will need to play in this environment if today’s children are to participate as effective citizens and workers in tomorrow’s world. Because of this, these four types cannot and do not translate to either a pathway to systemic change or a continuum for a focus for teacher development. They represent four different ways of thinking about the framework of use. When type A is examined carefully however, it is possible to identify that where there are successful instances of the achievement of type A in schools and systems there have been significant systemic and school reforms in terms of the development of new curricula, changes to the ways schools are organised (the existence of computer laboratories, Intranets, specialist teachers). That is, success at type A is co-incident with a wide range of school and systemic reform. It is possible that the lack of achievement of types B and C across systems stems partly from the lack of acknowledgment that to achieve types B and C (use with existing pedagogies and changing pedagogies and changes to the content that is taught) there needs to be significant attention to the interconnectedness of systemic and school reform and the effective integration of ICTs. This could lead to the argument that unless systems and schools focus on type D outcomes, they will not be able to achieve large scale success at types B and C.
CHAPTER 3: Framework for researching teacher professional development for the integration of ICTs into classroom practice
29
SUMMARY
30
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
CHAPTER 4 Models of pre-service teacher education
A variety of models exist for pre-service teacher education. These models have different purposes and outcomes, reflecting the historical period in which they were developed and the broader political, financial, social and educational contexts in which they were applied. Changes to the traditional models of teacher education over the last ten years in Australia, have mainly focused on: •
extension of the graduate entry programmes to include a Masters of Teaching component, which at times extends the duration of this programme to two years;
•
slow but steady elimination of the three years–plus experience– plus –one year model, to a straight four-year model.
Within these two types of programmes there are emerging some changes to the mix of on-campus coursework and school-based professional experience. Two major changes have been the move to: •
internships, which are usually situated in the final year or semester of the programme;
•
site-based models, where student teachers’ understanding and skills are developed from practice, rather than learnt on campus and applied in practice during professional experiences.
Both of these approaches reflect a significant movement in the thinking about the role of professional experience, from a position where existing knowledge and skills are applied and refined to one where the professional experience combined with reflection and enquiry are the basis for the development of understanding and skills. In the US, this approach has led to collaborative partnerships between teacher education institutions and local school districts to form Professional Development Schools.
31
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
4.1
4.1
Models of pre-service teacher education which address ICT integration
Within the various undergraduate and graduate entry teacher education programmes within Australia and overseas, the strategies listed in Table 1 are used in various mixes within any one institution to create an institutional/programme model for the integration of ICTs into teacher education. Table 1: Models of ICT integration in teacher education programmes A.
Separate ICT subjects — skill acquisition
B.
Separate ICT subjects — curriculum/pedagogy
C.
Diffusion — modelling and use across course (with integration across various subjects)
D.
ICT Electives — skill acquisition
E.
ICT Electives — curriculum/pedagogy
F.
Face-to-face use with children expected as part of learning experience or assessment tasks within particular subjects
G.
Online use with children expected as part of learning experience or assessment tasks within particular subjects
H.
Planning, teaching and evaluation of use of ICTs for learning expected as part of professional experience requirement
I.
Modelling by classroom teacher expected as part of professional experience
J.
Online interactions with students in schools for projects/learning — virtual practicums
K.
Online interactions with teachers/professional communities as part of core learning experiences
L.
Partnerships with schools so that student teachers, classroom teachers and teacher educators engage in inquiry or development projects around the use of ICTs for teaching and learning
32
CHAPTER 4: Models of pre-service teacher education
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
4.2
4.2
Effective practice regarding the use of ICT in pre-service courses
A number of studies have sought to explore the efficiency and efficacy of the various models used in preservice teacher education programmes. The purpose of these explorations has usually been to discover aspects of best practice that could be used to guide and inform future course development. Each of the elements of any particular model offers some form of advantage to programme developers but carries some overheads; for example, the separate subjects tend to provide a means to identify skills acquisition and supports settings where accreditation of skills is necessary. On the other hand, separate subjects tend not to provide the opportunities for teacher education students’ modelling across a range of subject matter and across a range of different teacher educators, and rarely lead to integration within professional experiences in schools or other educational settings. A number of studies in the US in the past few years have highlighted deficiencies in the use of separate ICT subjects as the dominant strategy for pre-service teachers. NCATE conducted a review in 1997 of technology in teacher education and concluded that the institutions were making the same sorts of mistakes that schools had made years earlier in focusing on technology as an addition to the curriculum requiring special classes and subjects rather than seeing it as a tool that could be applied across all areas of the teacher education programme (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education 1997). Other reports from the US at the same time served to reinforce these ideas by noting that while introductory ICT subjects have become common in teacher education programmes, subjects providing skills for the integration of ICT into teaching and learning were far less evident (International Society for Technology in Education 1999). The bulk of the literature supports the notion of integrated approaches being superior to separate subjects of instruction in terms of student teachers being able to make meaningful use of ICT in their teaching experiences. Oliver (1994) describes a study in which beginning teachers’ uptake of computers was compared against the form of ICT training they received in their pre-service courses. Teachers who were exposed to an approach where learning about ICT was integrated into other coursework subjects were found to more closely model this form of computer use in their own teaching. The research in this area, however, is not always conclusive. Sherry (2000) describes a study of pre-service teachers’ attitudes to computers and ICT skills across a two-year school-based teacher training programme. Significant changes were found in computer skills and attitudes towards computers. Computer skill acquisition was not necessarily influenced by the integration of ICT into coursework subjects nor separate ICT subjects. Robertson (1997) championed the benefits of permeation, and surveyed 44 UK teacher education institutions to gauge its effectiveness. This infusion occurred more in ‘numeric’ subjects such as Geography, Mathematics, Science and Technology than in other subjects. However, concerns were expressed about the efficacy of this method, since the pre-service teachers did not build upon this experience during practicum placements. Stuhlman (1998) and Stuhlman and Taylor (1999) describe a project in which technology applications were integrated into a series of subjects in a teacher education programme. The students were provided with models and opportunities to practice integrating technology into their teaching in practical settings. Research on the outcomes revealed that the students who were exposed to technology-infused coursework espoused more constructivist orientations in their actual teaching and were more confident in their abilities as teachers than others who experienced the conventional course without the technology component. Not surprisingly they also were found to be more comfortable than their counterparts with using technology and with their abilities to integrate technology into their teaching.
CHAPTER 4: Models of pre-service teacher education
33
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
4.2
In a study of ICT development through the use of student placements in schools, Johnson-Gentile, Lonberger, Parana and West (2000) used students’ self-perceptions of their ICT skills development from participation in a course where ICT use was integrated and practised in classroom settings. The students were asked to rate their prior ICT use, attitudes and specific instructional skills before the programme and again afterwards. The responses showed “remarkable gains in confidence using the instructional skills” (p. 105) and provided the researchers with strong, albeit informal, evidence of the usefulness of the approach as an instructional setting for the pre-service teachers. The capacity of ICT-based teaching and learning to support constructivist learning settings resonates throughout the literature describing integrated forms of technology usage in teacher education programmes. Nicaise and Crane (1999) describe a study where students learned educational theory by designing and creating a hypermedia chapter for a textbook they were developing. The study provided many examples of the advantages of this form of learning setting in terms of the opportunities for learning that were supported, both of ICT skills and knowledge and the subject of learning theory. The authors reflected in their conclusions on the need in such settings for teachers to be prepared for students to demonstrate different learning outcomes as a consequence of the different learning paths they have taken. The study found that the approach was successful in developing students’ skills and knowledge across the broad areas intended. Outcomes such as increased reflection in the learning process, pluralistic settings and transferable knowledge were apparent but not empirically proven in the study. Studies of the outcomes of pre-service ICT programmes frequently demonstrate high-level gains when the focus of the learning is with ICT rather than on ICT. Bennett, Hamill, Naylor, and Pickford (1997) describe a study in which pre-service teachers worked with children and computers in classrooms. The authors found that until the teachers had worked with children, their interests and concerns had only been equipment and hardware related. Through their activities with the children they developed an interest in pedagogy and their thinking moved to the important issues of technology use as an enhancement for student learning. The findings reinforce the notion that learning to use ICT in teaching is favoured by the forms of knowledge construction activity usually achieved through complementary rather than direct instruction in ICT, and where the focus is on use with children in classrooms. The forces that are influencing the use of ICT in teacher education courses mirror those that have seen ICT become commonplace in schools across the world. In much the same way as writers have argued the need for a process of infusing ICT into classrooms, the bulk of the literature describing the needs of pre-service teacher education in this field suggest an infusion approach. The infusion approach involves the integration of ICT for the express purpose of improving sustained curriculum outcomes (McLaughlin 1998). Likewise Bielefeldt (2000) recommends integration and argues the need in teacher training institutions for faculty staff development with ICT and ICT use in field placements. Blanton, Moorman, and Woodrow (1998) suggest a range of strategies for the use of computer-based telecommunications in pre-service teacher education as a means to support student learning and to connect teacher education with everyday teaching practice. The use of ICT in teacher education should be as a result of a pedagogical rather than a technological decision (Brand 1997). The recent national survey by the Milken Exchange on ICT in teacher education in the US (International Society for Technology in Education 1999) provides further evidence for approaches that include high levels of ICT integration and application into all facets of teacher education programmes. In this comprehensive study of the models of teacher education and outcomes in relation to teachers’ capacities to make meaningful use of ICTs in classroom settings, the findings showed moderate correlations between the number of hours of integrated ICT instruction and desired outcomes in terms of abilities to make meaningful use of ICT for education. The number of hours of formal ICT instruction did not correlate with skills development, a finding which led the team to argue the need for integrated activities ahead of formal instruction. The study also found that the integration factor, a measure of the extent to which ICT skills and ICT use during training, was the best predictor of the other scores in the study. 34
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REFERENCES
APPENDICES
4.3
Recommendations from the Milken Exchange study (International Society for Technology in Education 1999) argue the need for ICT instruction to be part of all subjects and activities, particularly field experiences within the teacher education programme rather than as stand-alone subjects. The report argues strongly for the need for students to have opportunities to apply and practise ICT activities in their field placements under qualified supervision. Strategies suggested as being able to support such outcomes include a more concerted effort by faculty within teacher education programmes to model and integrate technology in their own instructional programmes and for professional agencies and the institutions themselves to develop exemplars and cases of this form of application to guide and inform contemporary teacher education practice. NCATE (1997) argues that essential conditions for effective teacher preparation programmes are shared vision, access, skilled educators, professional development, technical assistance, content standards and curriculum resources, student-centred teaching, assessment, community support and support policies.
4.3
International programmes and initiatives
There has been a range of initiatives in other countries in relation to the use of ICTs in teacher preparation programmes. Three of these initiatives — in the Netherlands, UK and the US — are discussed below. The Netherlands In 1997 the government of the Netherlands introduced a national programme to stimulate the further integration of ICTs into teacher education programmes. The programme was based on a vision of the role of education in an information society and on teaching and learning for the future which clearly identified a shift to more student-oriented learning. The programme involved a double track strategy. Funds were allocated to two different groups of projects; those that aimed to improve existing practices, and those that were prepared to explore new arrangements of the teaching and learning of student teachers, teachers in schools and/or students in schools. Plomp, Brummelhuis and Drent (2000) describe this approach as a “Care” and “Courage” strategy. The Care component recognises the need for teacher education programmes to prepare student teachers for the classrooms of today, the Courage component recognises the need to prepare student teachers for education as it might emerge in the future. Key features of this national programme were as follows: •
The programme did not prescribe what the teacher education institutions should do. It provided a vision and resources to stimulate experimentation of emerging practices.
•
The action plan was based on the cooperation of all stakeholders in education. All agencies were expected to interact: teacher education colleges, schools, support institutions such as National Innovation Centres, the National Institute for Curriculum Development, and the National Institute for Test Development, universities, education publishers, business and industry.
Early evaluation of the programme questioned whether the teacher education colleges had sufficient innovative capability to realise their plans and indicated that the vast majority of projects ended up as “Care” projects (Plomp, Brummelhuis & Drent 2000).
CHAPTER 4: Models of pre-service teacher education
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
4.3
The UK In the UK, the national approach to developing the use of ICTs in teacher education is significantly different. It is a highly prescriptive programme with very tight accountability guidelines and no extra funds. It seems fair to say, that using the terminology of the Netherlands approach, the focus is “care”, in the sense of, focusing on the integration of ICTs into existing practice in teacher education programmes, and into existing classroom teaching practice. Also, the UK education sector has a complex framework of regulations that provide the context for school education and hence teacher education. The structure of education depends upon three interlocking processes. The first is the national curriculum, set by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). The second is the Office for Standards in Education, which hosts the inspection service for schools. The third is the divided responsibility for pre- and in-service teacher training of the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and the QCA. In the case of ICT, training in these two areas has taken parallel tracks, with the introduction of statutory requirements in 1998 (http://www.dfee.gov.uk/circulars/4_98/summary.htm) for all pre-service teachers. Table 2 summarises the intent of the pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development. Table 2: Intent of pre-service teacher education in relation to ICTs Outcome
Rationale
Software description
Teaching example
Trainees must be taught
Speed and
Talking word
Aural feedback in response
how to decide when,
automatic functions
processors
to writing
and when not to use ICT
Graphing software
Deciding the best form to present results of a traffic survey
Capacity and range
Mathematics
Getting instantaneous
tutorial software
feedback on progress
Texts from CD-ROM
Comparing writing styles
and Internet
along a timeline
Athletics records from
Discuss the implications
CD-ROM and Internet
of measuring time to increasing accuracy
Provisional nature
Word-processing
of information in ICT
Change font size, highlighting key words to support reading
environments Interactive nature of ICT Trainees must be taught
Effectiveness rather than
how to decide how to use
for classroom discipline
ICT effectively to achieve
Avoiding ICT for lower-
subject-related objectives
Mathematical
Visualisation of how many
simulations
things can be halved
Word-processing
Drafting and composition, not copy-typing
level thinking tasks Preparing equipment properly Balancing presentation
Word-processing
Track changes between drafts
CD-ROM
Use effective search methods
and content Structuring pupil’s work
for a specific target Having high expectations Making links between ICT use, subject matter and everyday life
36
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APPENDICES
4.3
It is clear from this list that that the UK goal is indeed focused on the application of ICTs to existing classroom pedagogical practices and curriculum frameworks. There is no evidence in the documentation that the student teachers are also being asked to question or reflect on their own teaching methods, or on how to use ICTs to transform teaching methods to reflect those more closely allied with learnercentred or knowledge construction approaches. Guidance for pre-service and in-service teacher educators is available in the form of subject-based guides for each area of the national curriculum and the sectors. Rather than prescribing precise areas of the curriculum where teachers should be integrating technology, the approach is to suggest ways of making decisions about ICT use. Therefore the guides refer to training teachers to take account of the speed and automatic functions of ICT; for instance, in Physical Education to quickly and efficiently obtain scores at sporting fixtures or in Science for immediate graphing of experimental results (Teacher Training Agency 2001a & b). While there has been some generic monitoring of the national initiatives that prescribe the standards, content and outcomes of teacher education in the UK (Campbell & Husbands 2000; Teacher Training Agency 2001), little has been said about the use of ICT in subject teaching. The TTA (2001) report did mention that evidence from the New Opportunities Funds (NOF) providers of ICTs suggests that there is still much disquiet about the expertise of many newly qualified teachers. The USA In the US, like the Netherlands, the national Government does not direct what should happen within teacher education programmes. Its influence is felt through the nature and level of funding of national projects. The current major teacher education project is the Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) project (US Department of Education 1999b). This project awards grants to support the transformation of teacher preparation programmes into 21st century learning environments. It recognises that teacher education institutions are at various levels of readiness to meet this challenge; hence, it provides three very different types of grants: Capacity Building, Implementation and Catalyst grants. •
Capacity Building grants support consortia that are initiating programmes to effectively integrate new technologies into teacher preparation programmes. Approximately 70 new Capacity Building grants ranging up to $200,000 a year were awarded each year in 1999 and 2000.
•
Implementation grants support consortia that are initiating significant organisational changes to transform teacher preparation programs into 21st century learning environments. Approximately 65 new Implementation grants ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 a year and averaging $350,000 a year for three years were awarded each year from 1999.
•
Catalyst grants support consortia that provide technical assistance and statewide, regional, or national leadership for the transformation of teacher education with modern learning technologies. Approximately 15 Catalyst grants ranging from $500,000 to $700,000 a year and averaging $600,000 a year for three years were awarded each year from 1999.
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APPENDICES
4.4
The content focus of the projects ranged across the following areas: •
Bridging the Digital Divide: Improving Digital Access
•
Significant Dissemination Component
•
Faculty Professional Development
•
Online Delivery or Distance Learning for Pre-Service Teachers
•
Create Learning Communities
•
Project or Problem-Based Learning
•
Teacher Certification/Credentialing Policies
•
Teacher Technology Standards or Assessments
•
Significant Mentoring or Coaching in the Application of Technology for Pre-Service.
As part of the PT3 programme, there were substantial projects focusing on strategies and tools for evaluating the effectiveness of teacher education programmes in terms of the use of ICTs to improve and transform learning (US Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service 2000b). An evaluation of 10 of the programmes was undertaken and reported (US Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service 2000a). Outcomes from the studies revealed several approaches being used. In the majority of cases, the consortia involved collaboration by the partners on a major activity. Another form was where the partners worked individually on small parts of a large project and the third form involved partners working individually on small and often disconnected projects. The findings from the study revealed that in the main, the consortia planned and undertook activities that sought to enhance the ability of different participants in the pre-service teacher training process. This tended to lead to different approaches being used for different groups rather than developing more flexible and generic approaches that might be useful across the groups. The study also found that evaluation typically focused on the outcomes of the projects themselves rather than explorations of more widespread results such as organisational or teacher change. These findings appear to be in close accord with the patterns observed in the activities and progress of teacher training among Australian universities.
4.4
What is happening in Australia?
There are a significant number of initiatives in regards to the integration of ICTs into pre-service teacher education programmes within Australia. Generally these are at the institutional level and are initiated by ICT education academics. Descriptions of these initiatives are regularly published in local and international conference proceedings and journals. As part of a 1999 APEC workshop, some of the Australian initiatives were show-cased at: http://www.cmec.ca/international/forum/csep.Australia.en.pdf. Examples of recently published case studies of these innovations are Le Cornu and White (2000), Finger and Torrisi (2000), Nanlohy and Munns (2000), Newhouse (2001), Romeo (2000), and Smith and Finger (2000). A review of publications basically paints a picture of the three and four-year courses, having a combination of separate subjects and varying degrees of infusion across the programmes, and in some cases the offering of an elective major sequence of study for student teachers who wish to specialise. In some of these courses, there are also innovations in the area of course delivery, online teaching and learning, the development of CD-ROM based resources and the use of ICTs to communicate with and support students and supervising teachers during professional experience. Two examples of the latter initiatives are as follows.
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CHAPTER 4: Models of pre-service teacher education
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
4.4
•
Integrating Information Technology into Teaching is a web-based multimedia package which has been produced on CD-ROM to support the incorporation of over an hour of video interviews in which teachers talk about their use of ICTs for teaching. The materials have been developed within a problembased learning framework in which users work through one or more of four problems dealing with issues surrounding the integration of ICTs into teaching in a primary school context. Each problem is presented as a series of tasks and is supported by resources on the CD-ROM and extensive help. Feedback is provided in the form of sample responses prepared by cooperating teachers. The materials (without most of the video) can be viewed at: http://www.usq.edu.au/users/albion/pblweb. Development was supported by funding from the DETYA National Priority Reserve Fund and the materials have been made available to all Faculties of Education in Australia (Albion 2000).
•
At the University of South Australia, Rosie Le Cornu and Bruce White undertook a study of the perceptions of student teachers regarding the use of e-mail as a form of communication between student teachers and university mentors during their final practicum in the four year Bachelor of Education course. The study found that e-mail could be used effectively for this purpose, but more importantly, “the availability of ICT provides the opportunity for those involved with teacher education to re-examine and re-think their beliefs and practices for the practicum” (Le Cornu & White 2000, pp. 11–12).
What is not evident in the literature is the degree of institutional support and leadership at the Dean/Head of School level for these initiatives, the degree of integration into professional experience programmes across programmes, the initiatives or lack thereof in the graduate entry one/two year programmes or the existence of any collaborative programmes with local educational systems or school districts. What is evident, however, is that these projects would fit into the category of “care” innovations: none could be considered to fit the PT3 description of ‘transforming teacher education into 21st century learning environments’.
4.4.1 Survey of pre-service teacher education As part of the data collection process of this project, a survey was sent to all Australian universities. Some of the above questions were addressed in that survey. There were two parts to the survey, a section for the head of the academic unit, and sections for the course coordinators of the various programmes. Results of the head of academic unit survey Twenty heads of academic units (Schools, Departments or Faculties) returned the survey, representing 900 academic staff and 21,246 students (ETFSU). The responses were characterised by high expectations, but low achievement. While 90% of the sample regarded it as extremely or moderately important for their faculty/school to have in place strategic plans and resource allocation policies promoting the use of ICTs in their teacher education programmes, only 70% of the institutions actually had them in place. Similarly, while 75% expected all teacher education staff to integrate technology in the teaching of their subjects only 38% reported their staff actually doing so on a regular basis and only 40% of the institutions had in place rewards or special recognition for such integration of ICTs. Across all institutions only 8% of staff were identified as having clearly focused research interests or special qualifications related to the use of ICTs for education.
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
4.5
Results of the course coordinator survey Fifty course coordinators returned their targeted survey, representing a range of under-graduate and post-graduate teaching programmes. In terms of the lens developed in a previous section, the majority of ICT involvement was with operational skills and integration into existing practice rather than transforming pedagogies and/or content or situating its use within education reform. Student teachers were expected to use ICT for their own learning, for assignment work, and for communications in an average of 82% of their studies. Despite these high levels of expectation, ICT skills development was only reported as being part of the course core in 64% of returns, with additional training available as electives in 60% of courses. The survey did not collect data that shed any light on what strategies or expectations the remaining 36% of courses that did not include ICT skills training employed. It could be that in these courses students are expected to acquire these skills in a variety of other ways, such as pre-entry, informally or not at all. In terms of ICT pedagogic skills, ICT integration modelling was perceived as being some part of 80% of methods courses, but only an average of 8% of courses could say this was true of most of the methods section. The extent of this permeation was judged to be substantial in only 19% of courses. While 82% of respondents reported their courses developed some specific strategies that helped student teachers plan and organise the integration of ICTs into teaching and learning, the percentage of courses that had specific requirements within the professional experience programmes was much lower. In 66% of the courses school experience placements were arranged with classroom ICT use as a consideration and in 56% of courses, students were required to reflect upon its use in the teaching situation. In 32% of the courses, students use online methods to tie together community, school and university matters but online interactions with children (virtual practicums) were only reported as being some part of school experience placements in only one programme. An area that is rapidly expanding in all teacher education programmes was the use of online teaching and learning within the various programmes. For 82% of the course coordinators, online teaching and learning was a part of the coursework in their programmes. Finally, 58% of courses were reported as requiring student teachers to demonstrate competence in relation to pedagogical uses of ICTs in classrooms prior to graduation, mostly through the presentation of a portfolio within a particular subject or subject strand within a programme.
4.5
Conclusion
The surveys indicated that a substantial amount of work is done in teacher education to ensure student teachers gain both personal skills and pedagogic approaches to using ICT in the classroom and in just over half of the cases examined, students are required to demonstrate competence in the latter sphere as a condition of graduation. However, the surveys also reported that a great deal of difficulty was encountered in presenting student teachers with valid and meaningful examples of ICT classroom use as part of their school experience. In the survey, course coordinators commented upon the large difference between what was learned about classroom applications of ICT in the university setting and what was practised in field placements. Such comments reflect the learn on campus, practice in field placement approach to student teacher learning.
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CHAPTER 2
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CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
4.5
As far as training for virtual schooling was concerned, many of the elements for developing student teachers’ online learning skills appeared to be present. Student teachers were found to be using online activities in a variety of ways in their pre-service programmes. In a number of instances institutions were using online technologies to support and encourage communication between university and schools. However, there was little evidence of students receiving the necessary training to become teachers in this medium, and very little recognition was given to this kind of school experience being a legitimate professional experience, in the same way as face-to-face teaching is legitimate. At the Forum, much of this data was presented to the participants and a number of discussions were held around the trends and issues in teacher education. The main issues that emerged related to the need to further develop: •
institutional support and infrastructure, and the capacity of Deans/Heads of Schools to understand the complexity of effective technology integration and the various enabling factors that need to be addressed;
•
the curriculum and pedagogies of the various teachers education programmes so that student teachers have ample opportunities to observe effective use or participate in developing effective use; to plan, implement and evaluate its use in their own teaching and learning, and to use ICTs with children in classrooms and online in a variety of teaching and learning situations;
•
partnerships between teacher education institutions, school systems and local school districts in regard to professional experience that integrates the use of ICTs for teaching and learning and professional support;
•
the knowledge and skills of teacher educators, many of whom remain unconvinced of the importance of the integration of ICT in their own teaching and learning;
•
partnerships between teacher education institutions, school systems, local districts and schools such that the expertise within the university, the school and the student teacher cohort can be combined in projects that lead to the enhancement of student learning outcomes and teacher development within schools;
•
regulatory processes to allow limited online teaching as valid parts of professional experience programmes.
Overall, it is clear that in Australia, despite the hard and innovative work of many teacher education academics, ICT is not effectively embedded throughout university programmes. In line with the types of integration presented for school education, it might be worth considering that such integration is just not possible in the absence of systematic reform of teacher education itself. In that sense, the “Courage” approach of the Netherlands and the PT3 programme’s emphasis on transformation of teacher education might be a path that Australian governments, teacher education and education systems programmes and schools need to seriously consider.
CHAPTER 4: Models of pre-service teacher education
41
SUMMARY
42
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
CHAPTER 5 Models of continuing professional development
Across the literature there appeared to be five main sets of processes that individual teachers use for their own development. Table 3 presents these processes. It draws heavily from the work of Sparks and Loucks-Horsley (1989). Table 3: Types of continuing professional development processes available for an individual Types of CPD
Possible strategies
Self directed learning
Informal learning — self Informal learning — group Participation in professional teacher association
Development through observation and feedback
Formal process as part of employment conditions Self-initiated for purposes of development
Involvement in development/improvement process
Curriculum development Project development Training for leadership in project Whole school improvement
Courses
Short courses, seminars, workshops
Serial courses
Serial courses with in-school components Summer institutes Accredited University courses
Sustained Inquiry/teacher research/action learning
Within school — whole school focus Within school — group project Across schools — project focus
While these models serve the purpose of best describing the options available from the prospective of an individual, they do not describe the complexity or range of options for systems. For this reason, the project team developed models of systemic professional development programmes.
43
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.1
5.1
Models of systemic continuing professional development programmes
Using the details from various case studies reported in the literature and from consultations with systems themselves, Table 4: Models of Systemic Professional Development Programmes was developed. The table lists the various strategies (A–G) and infrastructure components (H–O) that make up systemic programmes. Table 4: Models of systemic continuing professional development programmes Professional development strategies A.
Sponsorship programmes for self-directed formal professional development
B.
School-based/focused programmes
C.
Single event programmes
D.
Serial courses
E.
Curriculum development or teaching projects
F.
Professional learning communities projects
G.
Sustained inquiry/teacher research projects
Infrastructure components H.
Central and advisory services
I.
Teachers’ centres
J.
Navigator/Lighthouse Schools offering mentoring, practicums, courses
K.
Allocation of specialist staff to schools — PD coordinator
L.
Development and provision of resources
M. Provision of hardware to teachers N.
Partnerships with teacher education institutions around practicum and induction of beginning teachers
O.
Recognition and certification of learning/expertise
No empirical or theoretical research was found that addressed the issue of optimal mixes of strategies at the national/systemic level. Combinations of strategies depend on purposes and various political and resource constraints.
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CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.2
5.2
What is currently happening internationally?
The APEC conference in Toronto in 1999 provided an excellent opportunity to compare the CPD frameworks of a number of countries with which Australia has associations. Perhaps the most striking conclusion from the workshop was the spread of these activities in the Australian national context, compared with the relatively nationally coherent programmes presented by other countries.
5.2.1 New Zealand ICT policy in the school sector in New Zealand has been formed both by central government projects (such as the ICT/PD Schools Project) and local implementation initiatives. The National strategy Interactive Education: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy for Schools was launched in 1998 (Ministry of Education 1998). The ‘vision’ related to improving learning outcomes, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of educational administration and developing partnerships with communities. The improving student outcomes focused on both ICT as an area of study (Type A) and as a tool to support all other seven essential learning areas (Type B). There is some hint of Type C and D outcomes through statements such as “increase students’ control of the learning situation” and “remove limits on the time and place of learning” (Ministry of Education 1998). The overall strategy covers key areas such as increasing administration efficiencies through the use of ICT, teacher training, support structures and equipment provision. A significant part of the strategy was that “all initiatives are put out to tender and are delivered by contractors on behalf of the Ministry of Education” (Ministry of Education, New Zealand 1999). The objectives of the professional development programme were to: •
increase the use of ICT in teaching and learning;
•
develop activities which integrate ICT and meet important learning outcomes of the New Zealand Curriculum;
•
develop printed and digital resources that show successful examples of the use of ICT in teaching and learning;
•
use ICT to meet a variety of administrative needs;
•
develop systems and strategies for technical support of ICT;
•
develop integrated policies and sustainable development plans for ICT.
The professional development programme consisted of two major strategies: leadership development and the establishment of ICT Professional Development Schools. The leadership development consisted of opportunities for all principals attending a one–day workshop in ICT planning and leadership skills. They were given a Learning Technologies Planning Guide as well as templates for preparing ICT plans for their schools. Over 2300 principals attended in that year, with workshops for new principals planned for the years 2000 and 2001 (Ministry of Education, New Zealand 1999b). The Professional Development School initiative, while sharing the name of the major movement in the US to integrate teacher education and school reform, is in no way related to the goals or strategies of the US Professional Development School (PDS) movement. The Professional Development Schools won tenders from the government to provide leadership and professional development for the schools in their geographical regions. They were also responsible for providing resources for Te Kete Ipurangi (the Online Learning Centre). Twenty-three ICTPD schools or groups of schools throughout New Zealand were selected at the end of 1998 with another 28 in 2000 to provide leadership for teaching and learning with ICT.
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.2
Each of the ICTPD schools was given NZ$115,000 for each contracted year to use for the employment of appropriate facilitators as well as teacher release. Over the three years of the strategy the ICTPD schools worked closely with over 600 other schools. The total cost of this programme to the end of 2000 was NZ$3.7 million. The programme proved popular with more schools applying for funding than was available. A three-day conference for all the directors and facilitators taking part in the ICT/PD Schools Project was held from 7–9 February, 2001 (Billowes 2001). The wide variety of CPD approaches was discussed, with mentoring proving popular (Madsen 2000) and clustering occurring around the common ideas of management, facilitation, information literacy and technical aspects. At this stage, there are no published evaluations of the professional development programme. Overall the national strategy could be described as Type B with some elements of Type C. The professional development programme for principals focused on a single event workshop, and the school component involved a mixture of strategies delivered locally or within schools.
5.2.2 Hong Kong National initiatives in the area of ICTs in education in Hong Kong relate to the vision that was expressed as: Our school education needs to see a paradigm shift — from a largely textbook-based teacher-centred approach to a more interactive and learner centred approach ... IT can play a catalyst role in the transformation of school education in such a direction. (Education and Manpower Bureau 1998, p. 1) The consultation document Information Technology Learning Targets (Information Technology Learning Targets Working Group 1999) outlined the objectives for the various stages of schooling, the implementation methods and assessments. The delivery methods contrast with those of many other nations, forming a discrete set of course units within the curriculum, rather than being integrated into the main subject areas. These courses spanned the full age-range of students in schools, through both the Universal Basic Education (Primary 1 to Secondary 3 classes), and the Senior Secondary Education (Secondary 4 to Secondary 7 classes). However, it was planned for these learning targets to become comprehensively integrated in the new school curriculum in the future (ibid, p. 11). The Primary level class course units concentrated on the use of office productivity tools and the use of the Internet (ibid, p. 20). The Secondary course units in Computer Literacy used a modular approach, covering Computer Systems, Information Technology and Programming. Overall, the planned curriculum framework for information technology concentrated on application programmes and technology-specific skills. The consultation document suggested that assessment of the learning targets could be incorporated into collaborative project assignments in a contextualised environment, indicating that non-IT themes might make this task more relevant to student needs. In terms of the Report’s four types of outcomes, the Hong Kong vision is clearly directed at type A. To match these school curriculum requirements, a well-defined national CPD programme was developed. It involved 80,000 teachers being trained in technical and pedagogical skills. The cost was estimated at HK$514 million. The four levels of competency were to be established as a graded certificate system administered by an independent assessment organisation. Schools would have teachers at each of the four levels. The estimated training requirements for each level are set out in Table 5.
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CHAPTER 4
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APPENDICES
5.2
Table 5: Estimated Training Requirements for Levels of Teacher Competency Level
Example skills
Estimated training requirement
Basic
Word processing, web-access, running curriculum software
18 hours
Comfortable
Use IT tools and Internet teaching resources in lesson preparation and teaching
30 hours
Competent
Resolve simple technical problems, create on-screen teaching resources
60 hours
Creative
Select IT equipment, evaluate computer managed instruction systems,
120 hours
advise colleagues on ICT in the school, draw up IT plans
over 2 years
The funds associated with training teachers to the various levels were distributed to schools. Schools were advised that up to the level of ‘competent’, they could choose from a variety of approved providers or provide the training themselves. It was envisaged that the training at the ‘creative’ level would be provided by the Government through tertiary institutions. In all cases the professional development strategy was assumed to be formal training courses. By 2000, government policy objectives included a commitment to “maximise the benefits of IT in education to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning” (Education and Manpower Bureau 2000). ICT infrastructure grants had enabled 63% (605) schools to install a minimum number of computers. All secondary and 90% of primary schools had Internet access. More than 31,000 teachers (75%) had completed ‘Basic’ IT training, with future provision for a further 54,000 training places at various levels of competency. An education portal site, the HKeducationCITY.net, was launched in August 2000. More advanced training was offered by the Centre for Information Technology in School and Teacher Education (CITE) at the University of Hong Kong, with a combination of conventionally taught courses and also the Self-directed Learning with Information Technology Scheme (SLITS). One hundred and sixty-five graduates from 20 schools were recruited to participate in groups of four on self-directed topics. Each group was assigned a teacher to act as a facilitator through the process with 20 experts invited to provide expert advise to the students at critical moments of the students’ work (Law 1999). Overall, the Hong Kong national programme focused on Type A and by 2000, Type B outcomes. The dominant professional development strategies were single and serial courses.
5.2.3 USA In the US, because of constitutional arrangements, Federal activity can only influence, not determine, state and school priorities, but this influence is directly related to fiscal arrangements. Funding into the area of technology in schools outstripped other educational funding by 400% between 1997–2000, thus providing a strategic framework for ICTs in schooling. The number of programmes, and the range of strategies defy description. Suffice to say that there is a wide mix of strategies at all levels. Some of the recent innovations include: •
collaboration of teacher educators and teachers in school districts to integrate computers into the curriculum so that student teachers can intern in classrooms with technology-rich curriculum;
•
online learning communities;
•
interactive web sites with resources, discussion groups;
•
rich databases which provide expertise, teaching advice providing relevant and reliable information complementing actual school mentoring programmes. (US Department of Education 1999c).
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APPENDICES
5.3
Some of the more recent strategies and approaches have yet to be evaluated in terms of their effectiveness, yet many US states and districts are looking to these strategies to solve some of the outstanding issues in the field of CPD.
5.2.4 UK Recent initiatives in the professional development of teachers in the UK come from the New Opportunities Fund (NOF). The programme shares its framework with the Pre-service Sector and was described in Section 4.3. Commercial and educational organisations and institutions tendered for the right to register as accredited providers of training. Importantly, in the brief, the professional development, was labelled ‘out of school hours’ training. This led to the development of significant amounts of resources materials for professional development, including CD-ROM-based and online materials. Funds were distributed to schools, and schools within the framework of an overall strategic plan, worked with accredited providers to develop and implement a professional development plan for the school. Early feedback about the programme suggests that the most common model for professional development was mixed mode one-off or serial courses. In some cases there was also within-school support, but this was not common. The training was contracted out to registered training organisations. An interview with Keith Brumfit, the TTA project manager revealed that whilst a quality assurance scheme was put in place to monitor training organisations, there was no ab initio measurement of teacher responses. However, the Inspection System was expected to provide an effective commentary upon the effectiveness of the training in classrooms of participating schools. He emphasised the criteria of success as not being reflected by the total amount of student computer use, but rather by the quality of teacher decisions as to the appropriateness of ICT deployment within their classes. An important characteristic of the UK programme is its emphasis on subject teaching. In this context, ICT is deployed within the rationale of providing better educational opportunities to students which are rooted in the curriculum area. There is no attempt (as in previous iterations of the national curriculum) to describe generic ICT skills of teachers or student modes of use. Instead, a series of subject guides has been produced, and teachers participate in training according to their subject or sector specialisation. This was found to be an important issue in presenting the skills requirements to teachers, and getting them to accept the training initiative.
5.3
Continuing professional development in Australia
While there was a significant collection of published research literature on approaches to pre-service teacher education in Australia, there was very little published literature with references to research or to continuing professional development within Australia, particularly at the systemic level. System-level documentation consisted of descriptions on websites, reports, and other forms of marketing and information materials used to disseminate information about the system strategies. In order to gather information to establish the forms of CPD activities currently being undertaken and the scope and extent of these activities, the researchers conducted interviews with representatives from the Departments of Education and the Catholic Education Offices throughout the country, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA) and the Australian Principals Associations Professional Development Council (APAPDC). Officers were interviewed to determine the forms of CPD currently being used within their systems, the levels of success being achieved and to identify factors that were seen to contribute to, or to impede success, in promoting ICT integration within schools. 48
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APPENDICES
5.3
There has been a trend in recent years for systems to move from centralised organisation of CPD activities to school-based approaches which are funded, managed and implemented to meet local needs. In such systems, schools make their own decisions about the scope, forms and extent of CPD undertaken by their teachers. In this regard, some are approaching CPD in an holistic fashion where there is a focus on student learning outcomes for which ICT can be a catalyst and efficient means of support. In many other instances, schools are relying on short courses, often held in-house, to meet the immediate needs of their teachers. Many of these focus on the acquisition of ICT skills for teachers. The devolution and the sheer number of projects and activities being undertaken in relation to ICT in schools across the various sectors has made it difficult to gain an oversight of the actual CPD being undertaken. For example, new curriculum developments are seeing ICT as integral parts of teaching and learning and not as separate entities as has been the case in previous years. There is often a blurring of responsibility and roles and CPD in ICT is occurring in many different ways and often in ways unknown to different groups within the same organisation. Mindful of these conditions and constraints, the interviews revealed a number of discrete forms of CPD in use in a variety of ways throughout the school systems in Australia and a number of approaches to infrastructure for teacher development. The following section provides brief summaries of these and their use within the various systems.
5.3.1 Systemic strategies re continuing professional development The following section provides a summary of the various strategies employed by educational systems that were identified through the literature or through consultations with systems. The strategies are divided into two groups as per Table 4: direct CPE strategies (A–G) and infrastructure components (H–O). A: Sponsorship programmes for self-directed formal professional development Three systems reported use of this strategy within their mix of systemic strategies. The research team’s knowledge about the history of systemic professional development indicates that most systems have sponsored self-directed formal professional development at various times and encouraged informal professional development to develop the professionalism of teachers in their system. However, it was clear from the consultations that this strategy was not a central component in any system’s overall strategy, nor do systems direct significant amounts of funds towards this strategy generally, or in relation to ICT programmes. B: School-based/focused programmes The strategy appeared to be one of the dominant strategies in place, not just because it was a preferred strategy per se, but because the broader political and resource framework in systems, has seen a significant shift in the last 10 years of funds away from central initiatives to schools. A number of the consulted educators spoke of its popularity in terms of perceived advantages such as being more receptive to school-based decision making, its ability to target specific training needs and its apparent costeffectiveness. The research team’s understanding of school-based initiatives was that while this model of schoolfunded activities for professional development was the most common, it was the model that provided systems with the least direct control over the standard, style and subject matter of school-based professional development except where funds from systems were directly targeted to specific initiatives. The collected data suggested that most school’s professional development allocations were inadequate, not meeting demands and that quality of professional development was patchy. They also reported that there is an emerging trend for schools to accumulate their professional development allocations to fund a school-based professional development coordinator and that the success of the coordinator’s influence depended on the experience and dispositions of this person to promote and implement quality change. CHAPTER 5: Models of continuing professional development
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5.3
A number of systems reported the use of more broadly based forms of CPD organised and directed centrally and provided in a systematic fashion for schools. For example, the TILT Plus programme in NSW provides school principals with training in the scope and nature of systemic courses and resources, through which they can choose the most appropriate to their school situation. The training package clearly indicates that schools are expected to engage in strategic planning around the integration of ICTs into their school. This enables principals to be selective with the programmes and activities they choose for their staff. These forms of CPD were frequently reported to the researchers as being effective in terms of their delivery processes and outcomes achieved. At the time of the Report, there were no evaluation data that reported on the extent of school-based planning and linkages between school plans and professional development programmes selected. The provision of resources for technology planning was common across all systems. Most systems provide published guides and other resources to support school-based planning. What seemed to be lacking were the levels of resourcing needed for sustained teacher learning and for organisational change. For example, there were no specific guidelines or resources related to effective school-based professional development, nor resources available to facilitate the use of curriculum/teaching projects or teacher inquiry projects which embedded professional development in the daily work of teachers. There were also no easily identified policy or resource frameworks that addressed central issues for effective school-based professional development. For example, the professional development activities are rarely woven into the daily work of teachers as they collaborate in planning, teaching and reflecting (CERI 1998; NFIE 1996). Furthermore, there were no easily identified policy or resource frameworks with linkages to whole school reform (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin 1996). C: Single event programmes Most systems reported various forms of single events as a means for in-service professional development. The most common forms of single event included full-day or half-day school-based courses and workshops, or local, district or statewide workshops or conferences. Four state and four non-state systems nominated conferences as a significant part of their professional development strategy. Each of the state systems nominated that conferences enabled celebrations of initiatives and provided opportunities to showcase best practice to the community, especially the education community. Two systems rationalised systemic conferences as an opportunity to share information with teachers and tell a consistent story. One described the conferences as a chance to demonstrate to parents and the community that ICT activities in state schools were substantial and of high quality. Non-state systems provided different rationales. One nominated that systemic conferences promoted an atmosphere of progressiveness and that boundary-pushing and risk-taking were admired by the system. Two nominated that conferences promoted leadership. One nominated that systemic conferences were seen to be legitimate, authentic and a closer-fit to needs because of the label. Some reasons were common to both systems and included sharing expertise, hoping for ripple effects, awarding leaders in public forums and taking advantage of key speakers. In the main, the forms of single event CPD sessions reported were run in a face-to-face mode and involved experts and informed others providing instruction and guidance to participants. This form of CPD was seen to be used extensively in instances where CPD was a school-based initiative and where schools played a large part in such devolved settings in determining and planning (and funding) their own CPD programmes.
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CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
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APPENDICES
5.3
While the majority of the single event CPD courses were run in a face-to-face mode, there are examples of courses now being offered using various forms of technology, for example, online through QSITE in Queensland, through videoconferencing in regional Victoria, through CD-ROM and online programmes in TILT and TILT Plus in New South Wales. Overall, single event CPD appeared to be popular among the systems for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the main advantage of this approach is its ability to be run quickly, efficiently and economically. Many of the reported examples involved school-based activities with staff providing the leadership and training. In instances where schools are responsible for their own professional development budgets, such forms of professional development are very attractive. This popularity existed in the face of a significant body of knowledge that one-off training courses are in many regards ineffectual in terms of having an impact on teacher practice, organisational change and student learning outcomes (CERI 1998; Hawley & Valli 1999; Miller 1998,). Importantly, in Australian systems, one-off courses were only one of a wide range of strategies. Cognisant of the many criticisms, systems have built into their programmes a range of strategies to address these problems. These strategies include combining courses or workshops with in-school support, having school-based components, and creating ongoing networks for participants. However, there was little evidence that systems worked with school-based staff who are responsible for professional development within their schools to further develop their understanding of the role and appropriateness of single courses (whether school-based or external to the school). With much of the initiative now resting with in-school personnel, systems need to address the professional development of the staff making within-school decisions i.e. the middle management of the school. D: Serial courses Eight systems reported that serial courses with multiple components and modes were a significant part of their professional development strategy, especially for supporting and developing ICT leadership. A composite serial model begun in Queensland has been adopted with modification three times in some states and Catholic systems. In two states, programmes were linked to teacher standards initiatives. Three systems reported that serial courses, especially those developing ICT leaders, have produced trainers and mentors who were used in subsequent programs. Not all states aimed serial courses at leadership groups. Three systems stated that knowledge of hardware and software was a primary outcome of courses for ICT novices, while two others targeted beginning ICT users with Internet usage for professional and curriculum uses. Two systems cited that their principal goals were about causing a paradigm shift amongst ICT leaders and novices and that long-term serial courses with online content and activities, mentors and exemplary practices supported their aims. Part of the data collection process sought to explore the extent to which delivery strategies for CPD incorporated the use of communications technologies and modelled the very practices that were the focus of the training programme. Although the majority of the examples provided involved face-to-face instruction, there were a number of examples given where online and other technologies were used to support and deliver the training. The data collected from the participants in the surveys and interviews suggested that the use of such technologies to support and foster CPD was not wide spread. Interestingly, these technologies are perhaps the focus of many of the courses being run and the evidence suggests little modelling or leading by example is happening in this regard. Reference to the strategic use of Education Network Australia (EdNA Online) in the systematic delivery of CPD was noticeably absent.
CHAPTER 5: Models of continuing professional development
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.3
E: Curriculum development or teaching projects No system reported this strategy as a major component of their professional development programme. Two systems provide opportunities for teachers to host curriculum projects with web-based support for teachers and some very limited online interaction. Some systems acknowledge telecommunications curriculum projects on their web sites but do not as part of their professional development strategy. The research team noted that use of telecommunications curriculum projects as a model for helping engage teachers in professional development about online learning was adopted by some learning technology specialists in schools, professional development managers and some district advisers and that when systems did not provide projects and communities for teachers to join they used Australian and international projects as target communities and activities. F: Professional learning communities Two small systems promoted the value of face-to-face networks as a professional development model and cited that after-school meetings were a low cost option and enabled systems to provide teachers with information and support. Generally however, systems did not describe networks, professional association activities or online communities as a major component of their system-wide programmes. The issue of online solutions though emerged in two systems who referred to the value of online courses they are currently hosting to help teachers build support networks. The research team’s experience is that a small number of teachers use the online communities from professional associations, Oz-TeacherNet, EdNA Online and other educational community groups which provide ways for teachers to share ideas, seek help, develop partnerships for activities and maintain professional knowledge. In professional associations, online activities complement the networking begun at meetings, events, conferences and workshops. The research literature identified professional learning communities, also known as communities of practice, as powerful and supportive environments where teachers interact with each other, in a process of self-improvement and mutual improvement of their professional practices. The success of these communities seems to be dependent on a clear, well-articulated and shared purpose which is focused on student learning, and in which teachers are engaged in collaborative activity to that end (Lieberman 2000; McLaughlin & Talbert 1993; Newman & Wehlage 1995). There are also cautions in the literature. These include: •
Professional learning communities are easy to set up but difficult to sustain (Lieberman 2000) and need particular conditions if they are to operate effectively (Grossman, Wineberg & Woolworth 2000; Hough & Paine 1997). Lieberman (2000) notes that successful, sustained learning communities pay particular attention to building relationships and developing shared goals and understandings, take into account the daily pressures of teaching, and are clearly focused on teaching practice. Lasting, successful communities are also marked by their maintenance of “a balance between inside knowledge (the experiential knowledge of teachers) and outside knowledge (knowledge created by research and conceptualisation)” (Lieberman 2000, p. 223). The need to involve members in a variety of activities reflecting their purposes and changing needs is also identified.
•
Professional learning communities work best at the local level (site-based communities); they are less likely to succeed when dispersed and virtual (Schlager, Fusco, & Schank 2000).
In terms of the other key professional development strategies, learning communities seem best suited to exist around particular curriculum development projects, teaching projects or sustained teacher research projects.
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.3
G: Sustained inquiry through teacher research projects Of the various continuing professional development strategies that the research literature strongly recommends, this strategy is the least common undertaken as a major component of systemic professional development programmes in relation to ICTs within Australian systems. The research literature continually affirms that teachers learn best by focusing their attention on their own practices, trying new techniques, getting feedback, and observing and talking with fellow teachers in a supportive school environment (CERI 1998; Lewis 1998; Miller 1998; NFIE 1996). Teacher inquiry is an extended form of this type of ‘reflective practice’ in that it involves teachers in investigating questions immediately relevant to their practice, honours teachers’ knowledge, and involves teachers in ‘within-school’ or ‘outside-school’ networks that provide new ideas and support (Check 1998, p. 17). Check (1998) argued that teachers have found that small working groups and larger networks are essential aspects of teacher inquiry. There were few examples in either the ICT or general CPD literature where systems have supported this approach to professional development. Check (1998) describes three examples: in Georgia it is used for a student learning project, in Wisconsin as a vehicle for statewide curriculum reform, and in Massachusetts teacher inquiry networks are a key feature of the Accelerated Schools programme. Teacher inquiry as a form of professional development is more commonly supported by teacher professional associations and other educational funding bodies. In particular, some school reform movements in the US, particularly the Coalition of Essential Schools, use this approach as a major strategy (http://www.essentialschools.org/). Given its strong link to facilitating school reform as well as classroom reform, it seems an ideally placed systemic strategy for those systems focusing on Type D outcomes.
5.3.2 Professional development infrastructure Education systems in Australia have put significant resources into infrastructure for networking and hardware. There are also range of infrastructure strategies directed at supporting schools and teachers in regard to continuing professional development. From the list of professional development infrastructure components (H–O) identified in Table 4, there are four strategies that have been used in several states and territories. Central and regional based support services There are still centralised groups within many of the education systems in Australia that broker, and often provide, CPD for teachers, and in particular CPD in ICT. These include such groups as: •
The Educational Computing Unit in Tasmania;
•
Officers with the Department of Education, Training and Employment in Victoria who plan and design CPD programmes for ICT;
•
The Learning Technologies Project and the Technology School of the Future in South Australia;
•
The Learning and Development Foundation in Education Queensland;
•
The Training and Development Directorate in the NSW Department of Education and Training; and
•
The Curriculum Unit, Catholic Education Office Sydney.
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.3
Most systems included the use of district advisers in recent history to support ICT roll-outs to schools. More recently this model is less prevalent with only seven systems indicating roles for small numbers of advisers. There is evidence that schools, valuing the expertise and intensity of this model, are now appointing school-based personnel to work in this model. The members of the research team, who have observed the various adaptations of this model by systems and schools, pointed out that the success of a district facilitator model was dependent on the capacity of the district advisers to undertake leadership across schools and share the expertise they developed as they undertook their roles. Systems which cycle classroom teachers through advisory positions each year or so lost the expertise and wisdom they gained. Further professional development for these people and constructing a network to sustain them contributed to their ability to continue leading their schools. School-based advisers in particular are in danger of becoming insular and less able to develop further leadership potential. Lighthouse Schools The use of Lighthouse Schools as a means for professional development has been used in various settings throughout the country over the past five years. This form of professional development involves the establishment of schools with exemplary programmes and resources with the view to providing exemplars and cases for other schools and teachers to follow. A number of the systems shared their experiences with Lighthouse Schools during the data collection. The various systems indicated they emphasised different elements within the model when implementing initiatives within their states and that their rationales varied. Common elements of Lighthouse Schools involved opening up schools for visits from teachers and to host specific professional development programs (practicums). Although two systems indicated that Lighthouse Schools demonstrated whole school change in situ, most systems had specific stories to share. For example, three systems had used Lighthouse Schools to specifically demonstrate classroom layouts and suitability of hardware platforms. Two others had supported Lighthouse Schools because of the initiatives of vendors. One had talked of developing “classrooms” for others to visit. Two systems indicated that Lighthouse Schools were aimed at specific good teachers in the system and sharing their exemplary practice though visits, work shadowing and mentoring while two systems indicated the primary role of Lighthouse Schools was to promote progressive attitudes and systemic initiatives. Two systems indicated that Lighthouse Schools provided professional development venues for the system. Three systems indicated they had developed initiatives to provide schools with incentive to become leading practice schools and two others had indicated that when schools began to self-select as leading practice or Lighthouse Schools, they promoted them as such without directly supporting them. Two systems indicated they had provided seeding funds for development of Lighthouse Schools and had expected these schools to develop business or other strategic plans to create a sustaining entity. These two systems emphasised that they interpreted Lighthouse Schools as an example of schools becoming professional development providers while one other system specifically criticised this view of Lighthouse initiatives. One system mentioned it was a good idea for schools to begin hosting professional development programmes for teachers from other schools as revenue raising activities. While Lighthouse Schools have been, and continue to be seen as effective supports for ICT professional development programmes in education, there are some systems beginning to question their benefit to the wider system. The total message that is conveyed by Lighthouse Schools and ‘Best Practice’ sites is the most important issue for some systems. Instances where a specific focus may be exemplary but limited to an individual teacher’s classroom within a school have been viewed as contradicting the more sustained approach of whole school integration of ICT. Such a contradiction was a factor in discontinuing the Leading Practice Classrooms Network in Victoria.
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.3
Provision of hardware for teachers Eight systems indicated that a hardware provision programme was a major component of their professional development strategy. Two indicated their programme was exhaustive, aiming at every teacher while others aimed at specific communities or small numbers of teachers, both believing that teacher ownership of machines and access was a major factor in encouraging quality learning technology activity in schools. Salary sacrifice options were available in two state systems. Providing second hand computers for teachers was implemented in one state system with limited success. Technical support for teachers was cited as an issue in multiple systems. Catholic systems had limited experience of developing strategies to provide teachers with machine access or ownership. One system had provided computers to every staffroom in the system to promote the diocesan expectation that teachers would use computers for administrative, preparation and professional tasks and that the intranet initiative was a strongly supported project. One system stated that providing machine access created a need for ICT professional development on a scale unlikely to occur any other way. The activities that were reported in this category indicated a range of different strategies supporting the schemes. Some schemes were supported by significant subsidies while others left the onus for purchase with the teachers. Some schemes were linked to professional development requirements for which the teachers were responsible while the Western Australian project provided both the computer and the CPD at no cost to the teachers. Feedback from these projects has been very positive in terms of the anticipated success levels and it seems that such approaches which encourage teacher ownership and use of ICT could become commonplace across all systems and sectors. Recognition and certification of skills and prior learning Three state systems described capabilities or competencies in ICT use in education and constructed professional development initiatives around developing and demonstrating capabilities. In two systems, one state and one non-state, links to TAFE workplace assessment programs have been implemented and teachers may apply for recognition of prior learning.
5.3.3 The mix of strategies across Australian systems As detailed above, there was significant variation between systems. This was not so much in terms of the actual strategies used but more in relation to the relative priority given to various strategies and infrastructure elements. For instance, the South Australian Department of Education, Training and Employment place major emphasis on their Technology School of the Future, Discovery Schools and Discovery Network Teachers programme, and Principals’ Development programme. In NSW the major emphasis is the TILT and TILT Plus programmes. All systems recognise the importance of school-based programmes, and during the consultations pointed out how the various systemic strategies linked to school-based development. However, the very nature of devolved responsibility and resources, makes it difficult for systems and others to develop any sense of the quality of programmes and outcomes within the schools. The Real Time Study (Meredyth et al. 1999) provides some insights into what is happening inside Australian schools in 1997–98). While the study did not provide any clear indication of what type of outcomes school-based programmes were generally focused on, it did provide specific information about the nature and extent of professional development. Their findings (Chapter 7) indicated that: •
access to within-school professional development varies across systems, types and size of school, and location;
•
professional development generally focuses on acquisition of ICT skills and classroom use; and
•
most common modes are formal large group instruction, small tutorial groups, workshops, demonstration and peer modelling, and individual tutorials with instructors.
CHAPTER 5: Models of continuing professional development
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.4
Notably absent among the professional development strategies, are curriculum development and teaching projects and sustained teacher inquiry: the very strategies deemed most effective by the cumulative body of professional development literature.
5.4
Issues
During the consultations and Forums a number of issues were raised that related to the continuing professional development of teachers and school leaders. These are discussed below.
5.4.1 Professional development for leadership and planning The surveys of the systems conducted in this project also sought to explore the scope and extent of professional development for ICT leadership and planning. In the interviews, the respondents were asked to indicate if there were specific examples within their systems of CPD targeted towards administration and management personnel that would help them to plan and lead ICT integration and application within schools and systems. Examples of these forms of CPD being provided included: •
In South Australia, the Principals’ Development programme is a new initiative focusing on three components; personal competence, school change and curriculum outcomes. The complete course involves a total of 13 course-days, offered in a modular fashion with related but discrete elements. Up to six course-days, depending on the school size, are provided as an entitlement to schools.
•
In Tasmania, there have been a number of cases of CPD courses in the Government sector mainly in the form of single events designed to provide CPD for leaders in the school and TAFE sectors. In conjunction with the Principals’ Institute, the Educational Computing Unit in Tasmania has also run three-day ICT leadership courses for principals in the state.
•
In the ACT, several programmes for leaders have been run including some for principals of state schools. Formats have included keynote speakers from overseas.
•
In Tasmania, the Catholic Education Office has provided CPD for ICT coordinators but not for principals and administrators. It sees CPD for leadership and training as an important issue to address in the future.
•
In Queensland the Catholic Education Office runs single events for learning technology leaders in the expectation that they will initiate and support activities in their own schools. The CEO supports such activities as principals’ conferences.
•
In Queensland, schools choose the emphases they place on their directions and strategic plans. While schools could choose to target ICT as a priority, systemic initiatives tend to be followed due to such pressures as performance reviews of principals and success of the set initiatives. Some discouragements exist to limit activity outside the priorities set by the Department.
•
In NSW the Catholic Education Commission has run a Technology Forum in 1999 and 2000 to provide CPD for the CPD trainers.
•
In NSW there are elements of the TILT Plus programme that overlap with the State’s Leadership strategy. Within these programmes, there are a range of resources, and a mixed mode delivery serial course “Leadership and Technology in Education” available for school leaders across the state (www.oten.edu.au/qltech).
The evidence provided from the interviews suggests that within most systems, CPD for leadership and planning in ICT tends to be far less strategic and far less focused than CPD for teachers. There was no real evidence of whole scale systemic approaches to create a culture of change within the important decision and policy makers to lead ICT adoption and use into mainstream teaching and learning practices.
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CHAPTER 5: Models of continuing professional development
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.4
5.4.2 Collaboration One aspect of the delivery of CPD that was explored in the data collection process was the extent of collaboration and cooperation between the various systems in any aspect of CPD design, development or delivery. The investigation hoped to discover ways in which this might be being achieved to provide efficiencies and economies that could influence over all successful achievement of CPD objectives. With this in mind, the participants were asked to indicate how they were collaborating in their CPD activities. The following list summarises the salient aspects of their responses and the various forms of collaboration that were reported: •
The Western Australian Education Department cooperates in some CPD activities with a number of groups including universities, the Catholic Education Commission, EdNA, the Curriculum Corporation and with interstate Departments of Education. The activities involve cooperation in the delivery of courses and programme sharing.
•
In NSW there were high levels of collaboration reported between major stakeholders of CPD within the state in the process of resource development. There was interactivity reported between universities, professional associations and private providers in CPD delivery.
•
In South Australia, the government sector collaborates with the Computers in Education Group of South Australia (CEGSA), a professional association, and stipulates that its Discovery Network Teachers conduct sessions at the CEGSA state conference.
•
In the NSW Catholic Education Commission, collaborative activities occur between teachers and schools within the system in the delivery of CPD but few connections appear to exist with outside groups. Projects and activities with outside groups tend to occur on a fee for service basis and with universities and training groups in the provision and conduct of CPD.
•
In Tasmania collaborative activities in the government sector extended mainly to cooperative activities with the Catholic Education Office. Other involvements and associations involved activities such as materials sharing and participation in curriculum projects.
•
The Tasmania Educational Computing Unit reported a number of collaborative activities including running courses for professional associations and involvement in the delivery of pre-service teacher education programmes.
•
The CPD programmes delivered by the Education Department in the ACT are custom-made and as such tend not to involve collaborations with others. Some connections were noted to exist with outside groups and organisations.
•
The Catholic Education Office in South Australia reported instances of cooperation including visits to government schools and consultation activities with others in the development of curriculum frameworks.
•
The Victorian Department of Education provided a number of examples of cooperative activity with external groups including some sharing of its materials and programmes, connections with such groups as ACOT and university evaluation projects.
Within Australia, there are many people and groups seeking very similar aims in the planning, organisation and development of CPD in relation to ICT in schools. There is a large amount of development of resource materials, course design and course delivery across a broad range of topics for many groups within the education sector. There appears to be a high degree of collaboration occurring within groups and systems. Despite the plentiful opportunities for collaboration and the capacity of technology to connect and support such activities, low levels of collaboration and cooperation appear to occur between groups and systems. The various systems tend to work independently on the majority of CPD projects and activities.
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
5.5
5.5
Conclusion
If the initiatives of the government and non-government systems are taken together, they represent an enormous investment in ICT-related continuing professional development over the last five years in Australia. However, the effects of this aggregate investment are far weaker than they ought to be. Such a statement is neither a criticism of the excellent professional development work that individual systems are undertaking, nor a criticism of those programmes within schools that are doing their best to develop ICT skills in their teachers and students. Rather, the problems lie in what still needs to be done:
58
•
The development of coherent agendas around the integration of ICTs in schooling (in terms of the four identified types in Chapter 3), with serious consideration being given to the development of benchmarks re students’ learning outcomes, standards for beginning and advanced teachers, standards for school-based and system-level capacity to support the student outcomes… and the linking of professional development strategies to these benchmarks and standards.
•
Greater attention at the systemic level to provide resources and policy frameworks to support approaches to professional development that is based on the agreed principles of effective CPD. For example, CERI (1998) indicates effective professional development needs to be: –
Experiential, engaging teachers in concrete tasks that illuminate the process of learning and development;
–
Grounded in inquiry, reflection, and experimentation that are participant-driven;
–
Collaborative and interactional, involving a sharing of knowledge among educators and a focus on teachers’ communities of practice with support from both inside and outside of setting (Hawley & Valli 1999);
–
Connected to and derived from teachers’ work with their students (Hawley & Valli 1999);
–
Sustained, ongoing and intensive, supported by modelling coaching and collective problem solving around specific problems of practice; and
–
Connected to other aspects of school change (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin 1996); integrated with a comprehensive change process (Hawley & Valli 1999).
•
The introduction of specific systemic strategies to improve the quality and accountability of schoolbased development programmes, with particular emphasis on school-based teacher inquiry projects that focus on improving student learning, and using curriculum development and teaching projects activities, with the concomitant systemic work needed to create time and opportunities within a teacher’s working day to collaborate and reflect on practice.
•
The coordination of training investments with administrative decisions, particularly in relation to school staffing and the allocation of ICT resources, the development of curriculum frameworks and systemic regimes of assessment. In particular moving beyond the act of embedding ICT into existing curriculum to the act of transforming curriculum frameworks (both pedagogies and content).
•
Strategic opportunities being taken up through collaborative and cooperative activities between the systems, and between systems, schools and teacher education institutions.
CHAPTER 5: Models of continuing professional development
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
6.1
CHAPTER 6 Measuring the effectiveness of teacher learning for ICT integration
Measuring the effectiveness of teacher learning is a complex issue as it goes beyond questions of what and how teachers learn, to questions of how teachers develop and apply their skills and knowledge through their teaching practices in their classrooms, and what impact their behaviour has on student learning in their classrooms. These questions are even more complex when asked in the context of pre-service teacher education, because of the lack of control that conventional teacher education programmes have over the circumstances of professional experience, induction and the first years of teaching.
6.1
Pre-service teacher education programmes
With the separation of pre-service programmes from induction and beginning classroom teaching experience, it is very difficult for pre-service teacher education programmes to measure the effectiveness of their work beyond the end of the teacher education course. In the absence of direct measures of effectiveness, teacher education programmes and their related accreditation agencies develop quality control processes around three main strategies: •
institutional self-reports about programme characteristics at times of accrediting or reviewing programmes as measured against voluntary or mandatory standards;
•
formal demonstration of programme characteristics at times of accrediting or reviewing programmes as measured against mandatory standards;
•
measurement of competencies at graduation (tests, portfolios, exit interviews, self-reports) measured against institutional, course or employer requirements.
The mix of strategies varies across countries and systems. In the UK, the quality control mechanisms are imposed through accreditation regulations on teacher education programmes by the Teacher Training Agency (TTA). At present, the strategies involve formal demonstrations (through inspections) and the measurement of competency at graduation. In the US, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education is a voluntary organisation with a voluntary set of standards for institutions that seek national accreditation. At the state or local level, there are often mandatory course requirements, and more recently the measurement of competencies at the point of employment. In Australia, there is no national approach. Generally major employers or, in states with teacher registration boards, professional bodies control the quality of courses through accreditation processes that involve institutional self reports.
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SUMMARY
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CHAPTER 4
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CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
6.1
6.1.1 Quality of pre-service teacher education programmes in regard to preparing teachers to use ICTs for teaching and learning Many of the trends and practices that exist in relation to the overall quality and effectiveness of teacher education courses are also being applied to the specific area of evaluating the quality or effectiveness of teacher education programmes in relation to preparing teachers to use ICTs for teaching and learning. Notwithstanding such formal and informal measures, one popular way that attracts much media attention, and thus the attention of politicians and employers, is newly qualified teachers’ selfperceptions about their levels of confidence and competence for using ICTs for teaching and learning in classrooms. These measures taken by themselves are often used to make judgements about the effectiveness of teacher education programmes in relation to ICT use in education. The problem with such an approach is that, used in isolation, it actually tells employers and teacher educators very little. It is rarely used in relation to how confident and competent newly qualified teachers feel about teaching reading, managing behaviour in the classroom, or interacting with parents and the community. It is also rarely situated in the context of the support and access issues surrounding the current workplace of the recent graduate.
6.1.2 Current international initiatives in evaluation re ICT In the United Kingdom, the Department for Education and Employment, through the Teacher Training Agency, use two strategies to measure compliance with its requirement for the training of new teachers (Department for Education and Employment, UK 1998b). These strategies are the formal demonstration of programme characteristics at times of accrediting or reviewing programmes as measured against mandatory standards and the measurement of competencies at graduation through a computerised Graduate Teacher ICT testing programme (Teacher Training Agency 2001b). At the time of writing this report the first strategy has already been implemented but the second had yet to be implemented. In the United States, there are initiatives contained within the US Department of Education’s Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) to review current instruments that are being used to evaluate the technology proficiency of teacher education programmes (US Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service 2000a). The purpose of the review was to identify a possible methodology for a national evaluation strategy. The review found two sets of measures, those that measure graduate proficiency and those that measure programme capability. Measures of graduate proficiency in the US The report listed the following instruments as currently in use in various institutions and states in the US to measure graduate proficiency: •
online exams
•
portfolio assessments
•
performance assessment
•
interviews
•
self–assessment instruments.
All measures of graduate proficiency used either the ISTE standards or State standards as their basis for developing content. The ISTE standards have five main components:
60
•
Basic Technology Competency
•
Software Competency
•
Ethics Competency
•
Basic Integration Competency
•
Advanced Integration Competency.
CHAPTER 6: Measuring the effectiveness of teacher learning for ICT integration
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
6.1
As would be expected, measuring technology and software competencies was a much easier task than measuring the basic or advanced integration competencies. Particular instruments, such as the online exam and the performance assessments were more able to measure technology and software competencies, while the portfolio assessments allowed students to demonstrate a broader range of skills including the advanced integration competencies. The final recommendation, taking into account cost and ease, was a two-tier national evaluation strategy. Online exams would be used to give a broad overview of technology knowledge and proficiency. Portfolio or performance assessment, with a smaller sample, would be used to give a more in-depth view of pre-service teachers’ abilities to integrate technology into the curriculum. Although most states in the US are creating standards for technology competencies guided by NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education), only nine require trainee teachers to pass a technology-related exit exam before graduation. Measures of programme capability The report found that while the School Technology and Readiness (STaR) instrument (CEO Forum on Education and Technology 2000) is excellent for institutions to use in self-assessing their capabilities it could not easily be used as an evaluation instrument at the national level. The main difficulty was that important terminology is left undefined, and the exact meaning and measurements of skills and programme capacities are not made explicit. This would mean that teacher education institutions at a similar level of technology integration may interpret the standards differently and assess themselves at different levels1. Notwithstanding, the difficulty of using it as a national assessment instrument, the STaR chart could guide institutional improvement processes because it provides a broad range of indicators that could be assessed by institutional leaders. The key standards are reproduced in Table 6 below: Table 6: Teacher preparation STaR chart. A self-assessment tool for colleges of education Early
Developing
Advanced
Target
Some clear goals
Continuous
Strategic planning around
University — Campus leadership 1.
Strategic planning
Minimal;
incorporating technology
limited goals
improvement
technology for dynamic growth of the institution
2.
Funding for technology
Below most
Equals most
Equals top
SCDE technology funding
in SCDE
other campus
campus
2–3 campus
ranks within the top
programmes
programmes
programmes
programmes on campus and is given a priority in fundraising efforts
3.
Technology appropriately
25% of courses
50% of courses
integrated in courses in all departments
75% of courses
Whenever appropriate; all courses throughout campus integrate technology to support learning
1
The report became available after the research team had used a modified version of the STaR chart with a sample of Australian teacher education institutions. Not surprisingly, the main finding in regard to the useability of the instrument was that the meanings were unclear and thus allowed for multiple interpretations.
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APPENDICES
6.1
Table 6 continued Early
Developing
Advanced
Target
25% of facilities
50% of facilities
75% of facilities
Advanced technology
Campus infrastructure 4.
Access to advanced technologies in
access provided for
campus-wide facilities
all programmes and departments
5.
Campus-wide faculty
Limited
Some
development and
Plentiful and
Just in time, just what’s
accessible
needed in training and
technical support
support for all programmes and departments
Schools/Colleges/Departments of Education (SCDEs) — Leadership 6.
Funding for technology
No budget
Modest budget
Substantial
Adequate funding to
internally and via
line item
line item
budget line item
support all target tech goals
fundraising
7.
Hiring, tenure and
Limited
Growing
Continuous
investments
investments
reinvestments
Limited grants
Targeted
Aggressive
and fundraising
fundraising
fundraising
Not a factor
Priority
Rewarded
Multiple faculty incentives
promotion of faculty
support technology
with technology research
integration and research
and teaching expertise 8.
Programme guided by
Standards
Meets
Exceeds
Programme is a model for
NCATE or equivalent
not met
standards
standards
other SCDEs in alignment
technology integration
with and going beyond
standards
professional standards for technology integration
9.
Partnerships with
Limited
Some
K–12 schools around technology
Two-way flow
Partnerships built around
of expertise
common K–16 vision for technology in education
Few outreach
Growing outreach
Extensive outreach
or inservice
and inservice
and inservice
programme
programme
programme
SCDE infrastructure 10. Access to advanced technologies in SCDE facilities
11. Faculty development
12. Technical support
62
Less than 25%
50% of
100% of
The right technology is
of facilities
facilities
facilities
there, when and where
Equipment
Equipment
Continuous
it’s needed for teaching
5+ years old
3–5 years old
upgrades
and research
Few workshops
Many workshops
Multiple forms
Formal and informal
Mentoring peer or
training and mentoring
student assistance
available to all faculty with
Limited content
Content
Integrated
incentives for application
integration
focuses
with goals
in teaching and research
No training
Training
Generous training
incentives
incentives
incentives
Takes
Takes place
Takes place
Tech support
several days
next day
same day
available 24/7
CHAPTER 6: Measuring the effectiveness of teacher learning for ICT integration
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CHAPTER 6
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CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
6.1
Table 6 continued Early
Developing
Advanced
Target
Basic skills
Intermediate
Advanced
All coursework built on
integrated technology
course
skills and courses
integrated skills
research on optimal uses
to enhance learning
25% of methods
50% of methods
courses
of technology to enhance teaching and learning
SCDE curriculum 13. Coursework that
14. Use of online resources
and content
and content
Most methods and
courses
courses
content courses
Few courses
Many courses
Most courses
Whenever appropriate
to support learning
courses integrate online
opportunities
resources and collaborative technologies to enhance learning opportunities
15. Technology in field
25% of field
25% of field
75% of field
Criteria for field
experiences and
experiences
experiences
experiences
experiences around best
student teaching
Optional for
Optional for
Required in
practices in teaching
student teaching
student teaching
student teaching
with technology
100% at
100% at
100% at
All faculty are at the
of technology to enhance
entry or
adoption or
adaptation or
appropriation or invention
teaching and research
adoption level
adaptation level
appropriation level
level in using technology
Faculty — Competence and use 16. Understanding and use
for research, teaching and meeting professional goals Students — Competence and use 17. Understanding and
50% use
75% use
100% use
All graduates meet
use of technology to
technology well
technology well
technology well
the highest standard
maximise student
in lessons
in lessons
in lessons
of technology teaching
learning
and products
and products
and products
expertise, are sought after
50% meet
75% meet
100% meet
for this skill and become
performance-
performance-
performance-
technology leaders in
based
based
based
their schools
competencies
competencies
competencies
50% enter
75% enter
100% enter
classroom ready
classroom ready
classroom ready
to teach with
to teach with
to teach with
technology
technology
technology
Alumni — Connections 18. Connection with the SCDE for continuous
Occasional,
Regular,
Aggressive,
Targeted programme of
unfocused
focused
targeted
connections with graduates
growth
CHAPTER 6: Measuring the effectiveness of teacher learning for ICT integration
benefiting SCDE and alumni
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SUMMARY
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CHAPTER 2
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CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
6.1
The STaR chart offers institutions an explicit tool with which to evaluate their effectiveness in integrating technology. Two groups of leaders — the leadership of the entire institution and the leadership of the school, college or department — match their existing provisions against the rubric. Typically an institution will be more competent in some areas of teacher preparation than others. The chart is intended to help institutions initiate discussions and plan their future goals in the technology education of their staff and students. The idea is that the institution or individual unit works towards an optimal level of teacher preparation for classroom use of technology. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has aimed to promote more effective use of technology in teacher education programmes based on research that found that teacher education institutions have not trained faculty to use technology effectively and have not invested sufficiently in technical support to maintain high quality technology programmes. NCATE, in conjunction with ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) has developed and ratified standards and performance indicators for teachers, and technology performance profiles for teacher preparation (NETS for Teachers Project 2000). Teacher education institutions that seek NCATE accreditation must demonstrate how information technology is integrated throughout their curricula, instruction, practicum experiences, clinical practices, assessments and evaluations.
6.1.3 Current initiatives in Australia Currently there are no national initiatives in Australia to evaluate the effectiveness of teacher education programmes in relation to preparing student teachers to use ICTs for teaching and learning. At the national level, the Australian Council of Deans of Education produced in 1998 National Standards and Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education (Australian Council of Deans of Education 1998). These standards included reference to ICT capabilities that address personal, professional and pedagogical applications using the following statement: “Graduates should have an understanding of and ability to use appropriate technologies, particularly information technology: •
to facilitate learning;
•
for record-keeping and other administrative tasks; and
•
for professional interaction.”
Furthermore the standards also say: ...they should have a thorough knowledge of how the new learning, information and communication technologies can be used in their particular curriculum levels and areas, including as a means of enhancing interactions between people and as a means of engaging and interrogating sources of information, argument and ideas. They should be able to evaluate software, and develop strategies for managing classrooms that use new technologies. They should be familiar with current information storage and retrieval systems and technologies, and have the capacity to develop competency in new systems and technologies as they emerge (pp. 15–16).
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REFERENCES
APPENDICES
6.1
While these statements could provide a starting point for further work in the area of graduate capability, in their current form they do not provide sufficient detail and definition to measure graduate capability. Furthermore, the report, per se, has no regulatory status and there has not been any follow-up to ascertain the way the teacher education institutions or employers have used the Standards. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a number of teacher education institutions use these standards. For example, along with the Victorian Department of Education’s Learning Technologies Capabilities Statement, the standards form the basis of Monash University’s ICT components of their teacher education courses (Romeo 2001). Initiatives within states/territories At a state/system level, there were a number of initiatives that generate specific standards for teacher capabilities. These include the broad set of teacher competencies embedded within the Tasmanian Department of Education’s Graduate Certificate in Education (Department of Education, Tasmania 2000); the Minimum Standards-Learning Technology, which were negotiated as part of the 1997 round of Enterprise Bargaining (Education Queensland); and the Victorian Department of Education’s Learning Technologies Capabilities Statement (Department of Education, Employment and Training, Victoria 2000). However, the NSW Department of Education and Training is the only system to specifically address Beginning Teachers with their Computer Proficiency for Teachers Report (NSW Department of Education and Training 1997). The NSW Department of Education and Training report outlined competencies required of beginning teachers. New graduates should be competent in five categories of skill which are basic operations, information technology, evaluation of software, pedagogical issues, values and ethics. Recommendations were that all graduates demonstrate minimum proficiency in all five categories, that universities incorporate all the required proficiencies into their programmes by the year 2000, that systems use the computer proficiencies as a basis for training and development, and that agencies employing graduates include the computer competencies in the criteria for employment. The research team could not find any evidence that there has been any follow-up, nor any review in 2000 to see if the recommendations have been implemented. Initiatives within individual institutions Within individual teacher education institutions in Australia formal measures of student learning exist in the grades awarded for particular subjects and through assessments of student performance during school-based professional practice sessions. In many instances, the assessment within these subjects and professional experiences are based on state standards for beginning or practising teachers. Through this process these students demonstrate to the institution their capability against existing standards. As far as the researchers can determine, there are no employer requirements re demonstration of ICT-related capabilities at the point of employment.
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APPENDICES
6.2
6.2
Continuing professional development programmes
It is difficult to ask, “Which models are most effective?” without first asking, “What do we mean by ‘effective’, and does this depend on the particular context? Does it depend on the learning goals or outcomes that the school or the system has established?” In the research literature, some teacher development models are found to be ‘effective’ simply because they produce measurable improvements in the ICT skills of those teachers engaged in the teacher development programmes. This method of evaluation ignores the classroom context and focuses on the teachers’ skills alone. A more rigorous level of evaluation involves asking whether participating teachers used the new ICT skills in their classrooms. At this level, the researcher might also look for evidence of pedagogical improvement — that is, the researcher might ask whether the quality of the teachers’ pedagogy has been improved by the use of ICT. In this view, an ‘effective’ professional development model is one that leads to the use of ICT and may also lead to improved pedagogical methods, even if the curriculum content remains unchanged. Other researchers might argue that ‘effective’ teacher development should actually lead to measurable improvements in student learning outcomes. They ask, for example, whether students have become more adept at solving calculus problems, whether they can interrogate primary-source databases in history, and whether they are able to gather environmental data, share it online with other students, and debate alternative interpretations of the aggregated findings. Finally, researchers might ask, has the teacher development led to sustainable organisation change that supports and facilitates changes in teachers’ behaviours and improvements in student learning. Guskey’s (2000) five different levels of evaluation, while coming from a different perspective, provide a model that can take account of the above questions. Guskey’s five levels are participants’ reactions, participants’ learning, organisational change and support, participants’ use, and student learning outcomes. When Guskey talks about organisation change and support, he is arguing that this needs to happen in order for the participants to be able to apply their new knowledge and skills to their workplace. For the purposes of this report the authors argue that a sixth level exits. This level is participant’s use of new knowledge and skills within their own locus of control. That is, use in ways that do not challenge current workplace structures, policy or practices. Within the areas of ICT use in education, it is not difficult to identify a range of applications of new ICTs knowledge and skills, particularly in the personal and professional arenas that do not challenge current practice and policy. Even in the area of applying new knowledge and skills to classroom practices there are many examples of use that would not challenge current practices; for example, children’s use of the word processor as a publishing tool. The need for organisational change and support comes when the new knowledge and skills are embedded in pedagogical frameworks that challenge current practice; for example using online collaborative, multidisciplinary problem solving projects in a secondary school with rigid timetables, traditional curriculum divides and a transmission model of teaching and learning as the dominant practice. Table 7 is a revised version of Guskey’s model which takes account of this distinction between the factors that a teacher can control and those that they cannot.
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APPENDICES
6.2
Table 7: Levels of evaluation of Professional Development (adapted from Guskey 2000, Five Critical level of PD Evaluation) Evaluation strategy
Types of measure
Participants’ reactions
Exit surveys Lapsed time surveys Focus groups
Participants’ learning
Exit surveys Lapsed time surveys Tests/other forms of demonstration e.g. portfolios
Participants’ use of new knowledge and skills
Exit surveys
(within own locus of control)
Lapsed time surveys External measures — Observations, student feedback
Organisational change and support
All — stakeholders — leadership Team, teachers, support staff Students, parents, community Surveys, focus groups etc
Participants’ use of new knowledge and skills (within broader context)
Exit surveys Lapsed time surveys External measures — Observations, student feedback
Student learning outcomes
Tests/other forms of demonstration Student surveys Parent surveys
The sixth level is the ultimate goal of any teacher learning. The professional development literature clearly indicates that for professional development to be effective it needs to be clearly directed to identified student learning outcomes (CERI 1998; National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996). Notwithstanding these two statements, the issue of being able to directly link improvement in student outcomes in a particular location to a specific strategy or instance of professional development is problematic. As mentioned in Section 2.2.3, the Eisenhower Project Report (US Department of Education 1999a) argues that it is not feasible to transfer any particular model of continuing professional development to another location because there are always too many intervening variables at the local level. Guskey and Sparks (1996) have developed a model that explains the relationship between professional development and student learning. This model is presented in Figure 1. Given the complexity of the relationship, it is easier to see how it is possible for research findings to find on the one hand that “the extent to which teachers have participated in recent, intensive professional development programmes” is one of the key factors that explain differences in comparable rates of student achievement (Hill 1997, cited in Commonwealth of Australia 2000 p. 11) while on the other hand, it is not possible to judge the effectiveness of a particular type or instance of professional development by measuring student learning outcomes.
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SUMMARY
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APPENDICES
6.2
Figure 1. Guskey and Sparks’ 1996 model of the relationship between professional development and improvements in student learning ADMINISTRATOR Knowledge and practices
POLICIES on curriculum,
CONTENT
organisation,
Characteristics
textbooks, School culture, clinical
PROCESS
QUALITY
Variables
of professional
discipline,
supervision, coaching,
attendance,
evaluation
grading, etc.
development CONTEXT
TEACHER
Characteristics
Knowledge and practices IMPROVED STUDENT LEARNING Parent conferences,
OUTCOMES
student-led conferences, guided homework
PARENT
PARENT
Education
Knowledge and practices
Measuring the effectiveness of systemic or national professional development programmes is more complex than measuring that of a single programme or project. The complexity demonstrated within Guskey’s model would be significantly increased, as it would be near impossible to separate out the professional development programme from the other systemic or national initiatives in the areas of infrastructure, content and services and supporting policies. The Internet and bibliographic searches did not reveal any published models of systemic or national evaluations. There were published evaluations of aspects such as a particular CPE programme or project, but none that attempted to address the totality of a systemic or national strategy either at the general level or in relation to ICTs. Where nations or systems seek to benchmark systemic characteristics or achievements the following strategies are commonly employed: generic statistics relating to teacher behaviour, student outcomes, or level of resourcing. At times some links are made between levels of professional development. For example, the National Center for Education Statistics, 2000 report indicates that teachers with more that 30 hours of professional development use computers more than their counterparts with less professional development (National Center for Education Statistics 2001). In relation to the published literature of case studies of particular professional development initiatives at school, district or project level, most have evaluated the project at the participant response or participant learning levels (Di Mauro & Jacobs 1995; Discovery School Programme 1999; Parker & Bowell 1998; Peterman, McGillivray, & Frantz 1998; Wetzel, Zambo & Buss 2000).
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APPENDICES
6.2
6.2.1 Current international evaluation strategies and initiatives At the end of 2000 there were reports that programme-wide evaluations were in progress in the UK in relation to The New Opportunities Fund programme, and in New Zealand in relation to the ICT Professional Development Initiatives launched in 1998. Neither the findings nor the methodologies were able to be made known to the researchers. There are two main trends in the published international literature in regard to measure of effectiveness: •
a move now towards focusing on participants’ learning as defined by published standards/ capabilities and measured by self report or demonstration through tests or performance.
•
a focus on the general increase in teacher use as a general measure of the effectiveness of national/ systemic programmes.
Each of these are discussed below. A number of well-developed sets of standards, in terms of teacher capabilities and student capabilities (International Society for Technology in Education 2000; Coughlin & Lemke 1999; The CEO Forum on Education and Technology 2000) are being published and used in a variety of educational setting and systems. There are also examples of institutional and system standards, in terms of curriculum and infrastructure and support (CEO Forum on Education and Technology 1997). What seem to be missing are standards for system capabilities and system leader capabilities across the various functions of systems. There are some systemic standards for access to hardware, software, infrastructure and in-school support, and even in some cases CPD provision, but little if any attention re the capability of the designers of curriculum frameworks and assessment and evaluation regimes. In the US, there are a growing number of national surveys of teachers’ use, often collected along with data that allows conclusions to be drawn about the relationship between professional development and teacher use (National Centre for Educational Statistics 2000; Merydith et al. 1999; Smerdon & Cronen 2000). These studies generally find a positive correlation between the amount of PD and ICT use in the classroom. There needs to be some caution, however, in using this correlation as evidence to support the expansion of CPD programmes. In Smerdon and Cronen’s study (2000) there was an intervening variable: that teachers who felt better prepared to use ICTs were more likely to use them and that teachers who felt better prepared had had more CPD than their counterparts. The caution comes from the possible interpretation that it could be that teachers who feel more prepared to use ICTs were also more prepared to go out and seek more opportunities to learn about new technologies. This caution is further reinforced by the results from Riel and Becker’s (2000) study. Their study involved 4000 US teachers and was concerned with their educational background, teaching philosophy, instructional practices both with and without computers. They found that particular types of teachers generally engage in more CPD and also generally use computers more. Riel and Becker identify four types of teachers: •
teacher leaders (who place high value on sharing their knowledge with their teaching colleagues);
•
teacher professional;
•
interactive teachers;
•
private practice teachers (who demonstrate little or no engagement with professional dialogue or activities beyond those mandated).
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APPENDICES
6.2
They found that computer use was linked to the degree of professionalism of the teacher. The study found that teacher leaders and teacher professionals were more likely than private practice teachers and interactive teachers to: •
have made and continue to make higher investments in their own education;
•
promote knowledge construction rather than engage in direct instruction;
•
develop instructional practices, both with and without technology, that are theoretically tied to their constructivist philosophy;
•
use computer technology for teaching and learning;
•
integrate computer technology into their classrooms in ways that support meaningful thinking and involve collaborative project work and the sharing of ideas with their peers.
The amount, nature and type of CPD was not the issue, the key factor was the professionalism of the teacher. This leads to the difficult question “How do you develop effective CPD for teachers who choose not to engage professionally?” It also points to the need for forms of CPD that are embedded in teachers’ daily working lives, in their schools and in their careers: as an expectation which is both recognised and rewarded.
6.2.2 Current evaluation strategies and initiatives in Australia Generally Australian education systems seem to be well organised when it comes to the evaluation of particular professional development programmes that focus on ICTs and education. There were many examples provided in the consultations, found in documents and spoken about at the project’s Experts’ Forum where particular initiatives were evaluated in terms of participant perception of the quality of the activity and/or their perception of its benefit in terms of personal learning, or application in classroom settings. Some examples are as follows:
70
•
The five Module Course in Tasmania is evaluated against outcome achievements and teachers’ use online forms to provide the Educational Computing Unit with feedback on course outcomes. No actual measures of integration and classroom use are found in the assessment procedures.
•
An independent evaluator was commissioned to review aspects of the Tasmania Flexible Delivery Project. The evaluation was undertaken through interviews with the principals, teachers and students at six of the pilot schools. The evaluation explored the strategies used by teachers to implement ICT into their teaching, the learning experiences of the teachers as well as the students and the impact of the project on the schools and the staff.
•
TILT programmes in NSW collect base data on teachers entering. The results show changes in many teachers’ use of ICT and forms of software and applications being used over time. Use data has been collected up to six months after the course. Two longer term evaluations have been undertaken and reported by Murray & Mow (2001).
•
A comprehensive review has been undertaken of the impact of the laptop intervention in Victorian schools. The preliminary report looked at the extent of the uptake of laptop computers by teachers and sought to explore factors limiting teachers’ use and application. Data were collected from 79 schools through surveys, concerns-based questionnaires, focus group discussions and online journals. A number of strategies were undertaken to overcome impediments that were identified in the preliminary report and a more detailed report is due for release in the near future.
•
In Tasmania, a number of strategies are suggested as part of an overall evaluation process to assess the success of CPD programmes, including instrument used to assess participant skills, organisational change is demonstrated by larger numbers of participants in courses and peer feedback used to provide assessment of CPD success.
CHAPTER 6: Measuring the effectiveness of teacher learning for ICT integration
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APPENDICES
6.2
There are also evaluation strategies in use that focus on participants’ development as defined by published standards/capabilities and measured by self report or demonstration through tests or performance or on actual use in schools and classrooms. •
Education Queensland has developed a four-strand definition of learning technology which provides a means to specify minimum standards in teacher competencies. Teachers participate in school-level standards testing. The Department collates the number of teachers who have achieved these standards. Standards beyond level one are due for release soon. To test if teachers have achieved minimum standards, schools use a variety of strategies: interviews about portfolios and curriculum units, prescribed portfolio contents, direct observation of teaching and learning activities by peers or the standards coordinator in the school, peer use of checklists for technical skills and professional development about learning technology for other teachers. Other data are also collected. This includes, parental satisfaction surveys on ICT in schools conducted by district officers and data gleaned from Annual Reports, principals’ performance reviews and district collation of data.
•
In Tasmania the Catholic Education Office has set benchmark levels of ICT competency as conditions for pay awards. However there seems to be no direct link between these and specific CPD programmes within the system.
•
The Sydney Catholic Education Office conducts an annual audit within its schools to develop details of the use of ICT in the classroom. Again, there seems to be no direct link between these and the specific CPD programmes within the system.
•
In NSW and Victoria, the Auditor General has conducted a review of the outcomes of ICT programmes in government schools and in Western Australia such a review is in progress.
•
In Western Australia, there was an audit in 1999 conducted by the Education Department of the use of LT and ICT in schools. The audit explored the levels of ICT use and attempted to quantify levels of ICT integration in the curriculum.
Although most of the above did not involve actual assessments of outcomes against standards or benchmarks, there are a number of examples of benchmark levels provided in the plans and policies of some systems against which performance can be measured. For example in Western Australia, the Education Department has produced a framework for the Implementation of the Learning Technologies in WA Government Schools which provides benchmark figures against which progress in a number of areas can be measured and reported including levels of ICT planning, integration and use of ICT, staff capabilities, educational resources, hardware and connectivity. The benchmark figures describe progressive stages in implementation strategies but do not extend to statements or measures of students’ learning. No formal assessment has been undertaken to measure progress although target levels have been set across all the categories.
6.2.3 Conclusion The feedback gained from the interviews suggests that most systems are cognisant of the need to assess outcomes but in the main, the forms of assessment being used are able only to provide measures of success of the procedures in place. There were few examples of evaluation procedures which sought to ascertain, at a systemic level, success in CPD programmes as evidenced by the real goals of the activity such as organisational change, high levels of integrated ICT use in teaching and learning and/or enhanced student learning outcomes. These outcomes are difficult to measure and there were few examples of systems using deliberate or intentional strategies that might provide answers to direct questions of the quality of outcomes.
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APPENDICES
6.2
What is noticeable with Australia, as compared to the UK or the US, is the lack of clear standards or benchmarks for student outcomes, teacher behaviour, school capabilities, teacher education institutional capabilities and education system capabilities, that collectively focus on an agreed set of outcomes. While, it might be argued that at least there is national agreement on outcomes, they are not in sufficient detail to allow system, institutional and school leaders to clearly identify whether they are focusing on one or more of the types identified in Chapter 3.
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APPENDICES
7.1
CHAPTER 7 Barriers and critical success factors for effective teacher learning
It is crucial to recognise the complexity of identifying barriers and success factors for effective teacher learning that arises from the differing ‘levels’ at which these factors operate. What may be a critical success factor for an individual PD event may be irrelevant at any one of a school, learning community or systemic level. Beyond the isolation of specific barriers/success factors, there must also be recognition that these factors will vary between individual strategies and will be different again in terms of the best mix of strategies. In this regard it is not surprising that system representatives would identify a different set of factors from school leaders or teachers. When asked to identify critical barriers/success factors, different stakeholders are likely to provide micro-responses. A self-perpetuating cycle of barriers is frequently identified as a barrier to effective change including such concrete factors as lack of adequate access to technologies, lack of bandwidth, lack of relevant online content, lack of time and, always, lack of funding to address these specifics. Review of literature and studies of best practice however extend such responses to conclude that barriers/success factors are interrelated: attention to just one factor has little chance of bringing about even minimal change; ‘quick-fixes’ have little prospect of success. With the acceptance of the notion that future planning must simultaneously incorporate numerous success factors comes the task of identifying the ‘best mix’ of strategies for a particular purpose and context. Whatever the mix, it is essential that any professional development ‘package’ be internally consistent and interconnected and demonstrates an understanding of the changing nature of teachers’ work as being concerned with knowledge construction and its use within discipline areas.
7.1
Lack of systemic attention to sustained work-based teacher development
One of the greatest barriers to effective professional development is the absence of the conditions for effective, ongoing professional development built into the daily working lives of teachers. Much of what is known about the principles of effective teacher development has been learned by studying effective schools and programmes that have achieved sustained teacher change and student learning outcomes (National Foundation for the Improvement of Education 1996). Having been derived retrospectively, they do not however necessarily identify a sufficient set of independent variables for bringing about effective teacher development in other contexts.
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APPENDICES
7.2
A review of literature in 1997 by Brand identified the following factors as being significant for successful staff development in educational technology (Brand 1997). Those relevant to systemic policy include: •
Time. Teachers must have time to acquire and transfer knowledge and skills in technology to the classroom (Boe 1989; Hawkins & MacMillan 1993; Kinnaman 1990). From the generic literature, it is evident that this includes time within the working day to inquire, reflect, and experiment (CERI 1998).
•
Flexibility of professional development opportunities. Staff development in technology should not be based on a “one size fits all” philosophy.
•
Remuneration and teacher recognition. Teachers may need to be provided with incentives and recognition in order to motivate them to acquire new skills (Kinnaman 1990).
•
Sustained staff development. Computer-related professional development must be on-going and systematic (Kinnaman 1990).
•
The link between technology and educational objectives. Training in technology must have a pedagogical focus. Guiding teachers to think about their curriculum helps them to address how to integrate technology (Guhlin 1996; Persky 1990).
•
Intellectual and professional stimulation. The model of staff development which is used for technology must put the teacher/learner at the centre of the process (Stager 1995).
•
Clear systemic message. Administrators and school leaders must support teachers’ training in technology with action. As Boe (1989) has argued, an information-based society requires a new vision of teaching and associated expectations for staff development.
More recent literature adds further factors to the above list (Dexter, Ronnkvist, Anderson 2000; Graham & Martin 1998; Leigh 2000; Scrimshaw 1997): •
timely technical, user and curriculum support with instructional perspective being pivotal in the coordination of support;
•
culture, leadership and resources that support the notion of the workplace as the place of teachers’ learning;
•
access to technology for personal and professional use: for practice and for connecting with relevant learning communities and resources;
•
curriculum frameworks and assessment regimes that are consistent with the goals of the professional development.
In the context of identifying critical success factors, reference is again made to the findings of CERI (1998) which are of utmost pertinence to the consideration of critical success factors at a systemic policy level. Related to the provision of effective professional development are issues to do with time and funding.
7.2
Funding
As mentioned earlier, it was impossible to gather data from systems about overall spending on professional development targeted at the integration of ICTs in classrooms. Data reported by the OECD (CERI 1998), indicates that there are inherent problems in attempts to determine whether resources allocated to funding teacher training and development are adequate or are productively deployed. In addition, project consultations with states and systems in Australia in relation to training and development specifically for ICT, clearly identified a range of issues associated with the allocation of global PD budgets rather than budgets for specific PD and an increasing move towards local level decision making.
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APPENDICES
7.3
Through the consultations and supported by the literature (CERI 1998; Meredyth et al. 1999), however, it was evident that a range of factors influence funding decisions that relate to ICT. The most important of these is the clear priority to provide appropriate infrastructure, hardware and software in sufficient quantities. There are significant differences between states, systems and individual schools as to student/computer ratios and individual teacher access to computers. Importantly, these costs are substantial and recurrent. They will continue to take a large slice of any systemic or institutional budget. The NSW Auditor General’s Report (NSW Department of Education and Training 2000b), one of the few public documents that comments on levels of actual and relative expenditure, clearly indicates that current levels of funding for professional development are insufficient relative to funds on infrastructure, hardware and software. According to Forum participants, current level of CPD funding is inadequate and often results in less effective forms of continuing professional development being used.
7.3
Time
Teachers, researchers, and policymakers consistently indicate that the greatest challenge to implementing effective professional development is lack of time. Teachers need time to understand new concepts, learn new skills, develop new attitudes, research, discuss, reflect, access, try new approaches and integrate them into their practice; and time to plan their own professional development (Cambone 1995; Corcoran 1995; Troen and Bolles 1994; Watts and Castle 1993). Cambone (1995) points out that teachers, as adult learners, need set-aside time for learning (e.g. workshops and courses); time to experience and digest new ideas and ways of working; and, as other literature points out, time for inquiry reflection and analysis within their workplace (CERI 1998). Time is also a significant budgetary issue, when it involves funding teachers’ time to participate in PD activity (CERI 1998). States and sectors have differing expectations as to the use of school time or personal time for PD. Increased allocation of funding is necessary if ‘teacher relief ’ is required to enable teachers to participate in any PD activity. The issue of whether PD is a State, system, school or personal responsibility is not resolved and is an issue that has industrial as well as professional implications. A major theme in Prisoners of Time, the National Education Commission on Time and Learning report (1994), is that U.S. students and teachers are victims of inflexible and counterproductive school schedules. School schedules do not normally incorporate time to consult or observe colleagues or engage in professional activities such as research, learning and practising new skills, curriculum development, or professional reading. Typically, administrators, parents, and legislators view unfavourably anything that draws teachers away from direct engagement with students. Indeed, teachers themselves often feel guilty about being away from their classrooms for restructuring or staff development activities (Cambone 1995; Raywid 1993). In China, Japan, and Germany, however, time for collegial interaction and collaboration are integrated into the school day (NECTL 1994). Also, in many Asian schools, which generally have large class sizes, teachers teach fewer classes and spend 30–40% of their day out of the classroom, conferring with students and colleagues or engaged in other professional work. In the Australian context, the provision of reserved time for professional development (including passive activities such as reflection and collegial exchange) and building such time into the workplace cannot be approached in isolation nor by decree. Although time is consistently identified as a crucial key to successful professional development (or, more often, lack of time identified as a barrier), the mere provision of time alone is unlikely to eventuate in significantly changed practice in the use of ICTs. Importantly, the provision of time for ICT professional development must be one component of multifaceted planning. More crucial still is the recognition that the provision of time must accompany a major redefinition of the nature of teachers’ work.
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7.4
7.4
Links between pre-service teacher education and educational systems
The lack of linkage between pre-service teacher education and educational systems creates a cycle of difficulties for any innovation or change within the education sector. On the one hand, the teacher education programmes find that the schools in which their student teachers undertake their professional experience, do not have the resources, expertise or classroom practices that support student teachers becoming competent and confident in that area. On the other hand, employers find that new qualified graduates do not have the necessary skills and understandings that are required for effective teaching in their schools and classrooms. Often this dilemma is characterised as a chicken and egg situation, where one cannot happen without the other, but neither can ‘be first’ without the other. New thinking is needed if there is to be any resolution of the serious and recurring problem which extends well beyond the area of the integration of ICTs for teaching and learning. In the UK, there are attempts to address this problem, through the establishment of school-based teacher education and tight controls on the curriculum of teacher training institutions. While there is much controversy surrounding both these moves, there is little evidence that the approach is actually providing an effective solution. In the US, there are no such National moves, but there are projects and approaches that show potential to address these problems. One of the approaches is that of the Professional Development Schools (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education 2001). According to NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education), Professional Development Schools (PDS) have distinct characteristics. “They are a learning environment that supports candidate and faculty development within the context of meeting all children’s needs. PDS partners are guided by a common vision of teaching and learning, which is grounded in research and practitioner knowledge. PDS partners share responsibility for professionals and students; they blend their expertise and resources to meet their shared goals. PDS partners hold themselves accountable, and they are accountable to the public for maintaining high standards for P–12 students, candidates, faculty, and other professionals. In order to accomplish their goals, PDS partners create new roles, responsibilities, and structures; they utilise their resources differently. Finally, PDS partnerships are committed to providing equitable learning opportunities for all, and to preparing candidates and faculty to meet the needs of diverse student populations. Professional Development School partners work together over time, building relationships and commitment to their shared goals. They develop new strategies, roles, and relationships to support their work. Together they move to institutionalise their partnership so that it is supported and becomes part of their institution’s expectations. At the most advanced stages of development, PDS partnerships influence policies and practices at the district, state, and national levels.” (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education 2001, p. 1) It is not difficult to see, that PDS could well provide ‘the meeting place’ where both schools and universities, both practising teachers and teacher educators could combine their expertise for the benefit of both the students in classrooms and the student teachers. In the ICT context, it would be conceivable, that teacher educators, teachers, student teachers and students might collaborate on authentic tasks that further develop the knowledge and understanding of all groups. Whatever the mechanism or strategy, Australian education systems and teacher education providers need to create strong partnerships to solve the problem of the gap between pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development.
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7.5
7.5
Conclusions
The main messages from the discussion of success factors and barriers is that at the systemic level it is critical that system leaders: •
give due recognition to the complexity of the task of designing a systemic ICT professional development model, clearly linked to an accepted vision, incorporating some or all of the four types of outcomes.
•
ensure that any systemic ‘mix’ of professional development strategies are based on known principles of effective professional development that target student learning; are internally consistent, and interconnected with curriculum frameworks, assessment strategies and support for school-based teacher learning through teacher research projects, curriculum development and teaching projects.
•
recognise that limitations in political and conceptual attitudes towards pedagogy, curriculum, the profession, and the nature of schooling override all other barriers to effective change.
•
acknowledge that bringing about effective professional development for the use of ICTs in education is a matter of significant reform across the board which demands an attitude of openness to reform within the teaching profession, unions and employers.
•
frame professional development for ICTs within a package of curriculum reform, pedagogical reform, and a redefinition of the teaching profession as one of knowledge generation.
Also critical to effective change for the use of ICTs in education is the bridging of the gap between preservice teacher education and continuing professional development. In the context of reform of the teaching profession, consideration should be given to models which allow the creation of partnerships between pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development. Such partnerships between schools and universities need to be developed in the context of rethinking the roles of, and relationships between, student teachers, classroom teachers and teacher educators in the generation of knowledge using ICTs in classrooms.
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CHAPTER 8 Advice and recommendations
Teacher development is a complex matter. In pre-service teacher education within Australia, there are significant political, theoretical and practical issues surrounding current moves to reform teacher education (Ramsey 2000). A key focus of these reforms is in the area of professional experience and partnerships with education systems, particularly in regard to school reform. These general issues need to be taken into account when discussing models and measures of effectiveness of strategies related to the integration of ICTs into teacher education. Similarly, in the area of continuing professional development, there is much evidence that traditional forms of professional development are not really effective in creating improvements in student learning. The emerging consensus on what is effective professional development would require significant structural changes in education systems and in schools. It is not simply a matter of devolving funds and responsibilities to schools. The very nature of the teaching profession as being practice ‘behind closed doors’ mitigates against moves to school-based collaborative teacher development. Furthermore, the degree of complexity and the required time for lasting development to occur will always make the systemic implementation of effective practice difficult. It is important that all stakeholders realise that neither ‘online learning communities’ nor ‘online professional development’ can provide quick fixes for the complexities of continuing professional development. While ‘learning communities’ come up over and over again as a necessary condition for effective and sustained teacher development, they are not an easy solution, nor one that should stand alone as a major strategy. Rather, they should be an integral part of the sustained school-based teacher inquiry approach where their special contribution is to support and extend the local networks by offering connections and resources from outside the school or district. Similarly, online professional development does not hold any magic. There is no simple or easily affordable answer to the complex matter of designing effective systemic strategies for effective teacher education programmes in this field. The final important understanding to come from the literature and the consultations is the pressing need for significant collaboration and coordination between pre-service teacher education, continuing professional development and systemic and school reform. The lack of coordination is the greatest barrier to the effective use of ICTs for teaching and learning in schools. To make the most of the significant investment in teacher learning, to date, all the critical enabling factors need to be aligned. The following recommendations flow from these understandings and the more detailed statements at the end of Chapters 4, 5 and 6 about effective models and measures of effectiveness. The recommendations are divided into two sections: pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development. The recommendations in the pre-service section, specifically address the issue of bridging the gap. In both sections, the issue of measures of effectiveness are addressed in the focusing and measuring capability section and the models of effective systemic strategies in the developing capability section. The final section addresses Phase 2 of the project, which is designed to begin the conversations at the school and systems levels about ways forward, and in particular about ways to support effective strategies for focusing, measuring and developing capabilities at the school, institutional and systemic levels.
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8.1
8.1
Pre-service teacher education
8.1.1 Focusing and measuring capability Governments, systems and teacher education institutions and professional associations work collaboratively to develop: •
a national set of ICT in education standards for beginning teachers that address three of the four types of integration: skills, changing pedagogies, changing content and curriculum frameworks. Sufficient detail is needed to allow teacher education institutions and employing authorities to set standards for graduation and for employment. These standards need to be based on desired student learning outcomes and also form part of a continuum with advanced standards for experienced teachers.
•
a national set of institutional and programme capabilities that address the capacity of the institution, programmes and staff to provide the appropriate learning experiences so that graduates will achieve the beginning teacher standards. These capabilities will be framed around embedding the development of effective use of ICTs for teaching and learning within the professional experience components of programmes through creating or strengthening partnerships between teacher education institutions and systems and schools. These capabilities can be a guide for self-evaluation and for accreditation purposes.
8.1.2 Developing capability Governments, systems and teacher education institutions and professional associations work collaboratively to develop: •
institutional support and infrastructure, and the capacity of Deans/Heads of Schools to understand the complexity of effective technology integration and the various enabling factors that need to be addressed.
•
the knowledge and skills of teacher educators, many of whom remain unconvinced of the importance of the integration of ICT in their own teaching and learning.
•
appropriate pre-service teacher education curriculum and pedagogies so that student teachers have ample opportunities to develop, plan, implement and evaluate ICT use in their own teaching and learning, and to use ICTs with children in classrooms and online in a variety teaching and learning situations.
•
partnerships between teacher education institutions, school systems and local school districts in regard to professional experience that integrates the use of ICTs for teaching and learning and professional support.
•
partnerships between teacher education institutions, school systems, local districts and schools such that the expertise within the university, the school and the student teacher cohort can be combined in projects that lead to the enhancement of student learning outcomes and teacher development within schools with regard to the use of ICTs for teaching and learning.
•
regulatory processes to allow limited online teaching as valid parts of professional experience programmes.
8.1.3 Mechanisms and incentives
80
•
National consultation and education of key stakeholder groups such as AVCC, ACDE, MCEETYA, MCEETYA Information and Communication Technologies in Schools Taskforce (ICTST), systems and school leaders regarding the findings and recommendation of this report.
•
National funding for research and development of Standards for beginning teachers and for teacher education institutions/programmes.
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8.2
•
National forum of teacher educator and senior systems personnel in regard to sharing effective practice, innovations and developing framework for partnerships.
•
National funding be provided to a number of consortium, one from each state and territory to develop, trial and evaluate forms of partnerships between universities, systems and schools that address issues of system reform of school, teacher education programmes and the continuing professional development of teachers for the purpose of improving student outcomes through transforming teaching and learning environments with ICTs for students, student teachers, practising teachers and teacher educators.
8.2
Systemic continuing professional development programmes
8.2.1 Focusing and measuring capability Governments, systems and teacher education institutions and professional associations work collaboratively to develop: •
coherent agendas around the integration of ICTs in schooling, which lead to the development of benchmarks in regard to students’ learning outcomes, standards for beginning and advanced teachers, standards for school-based and system-level capacity and for teacher education programmes and institutions to support the student outcomes… and the linking of professional development strategies to these benchmarks and standards.
8.2.2 Developing capability Systems in collaboration with governments, teacher education institutions and professional associations develop: •
More effective system-wide strategies for continuing professional development for the effective use of ICTs for teaching and learning which are based on known principles of effective teacher development. For example, CERI (1998) indicates effective professional development needs to be: –
Experiential, engaging teachers in concrete tasks that illuminate the process of learning and development;
–
Grounded in inquiry, reflection, and experimentation that are participant-driven;
–
Collaborative and interactional, involving a sharing of knowledge among educators and a focus on teachers’ communities of practice with support from both inside and outside of setting (Hawley &Valli 1999);
–
Connected to and derived from teachers’ work with their students (Hawley & Valli 1999);
–
Sustained, ongoing and intensive, supported by modelling coaching and collective problem solving around specific problems of practice; and
–
Connected to other aspects of school change (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin 1996) integrated with a comprehensive change process (Hawley & Valli 1999).
•
System-wide strategies to include school-based teacher inquiry projects that focus on improving student learning, or curriculum development activities or teaching projects which embed CPD in the daily work of teachers.
•
Coordinated training investments with administrative decisions, particularly in relation to school staffing, the professionalisation of their staff, and the allocation of ICT resources, the development of curriculum frameworks and system regimes of assessment.
•
Strategic opportunities for research, development and the sharing of resources and effective practice in regard to teacher development and the effective use of ICTs for teaching and learning.
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8.3
8.2.3 Mechanisms and incentives •
National funding for the research and development of student, teacher, institutional and system standards (taking account of the complex debates around standards and related issues).
•
National funding for research and development around systemic use of curriculum and teacher project/sustained inquiry and teacher research approaches to professional development — what factors for success/barriers… and the role of professional learning communities to support these school-based approaches.
•
National collaboration in regard to development and use of professional development resources.
8.3
Phase 2 of the project
8.3.1 Maintain the legacy of the research phase Within Phase 1 of the project, a database for the literature review was created. Ongoing support for the integration of ICT and a portal for resources and research can be provided by extending the existing database website and maintaining the currency of the literature review with ongoing additions and creating sections related to specific topics. The ‘collections’ mechanism within EdNA Online should be reviewed as a potential mechanism for such maintenance so that a focus PD resource for the integration of ICT can be situated within EdNA Online. Consideration should also be given to the interaction between such a resource and other EdNA Online related sites such as the ‘Leading Practice’ site.
8.3.2 Develop a support network targeted at specific audiences related to PD The outcomes from the research in Phase 1 of the project have provided advice regarding the major strategies to create effective professional development for teachers regarding the integration of ICT and the formation of a support network for that purpose. It must be stressed that the network described here is a human network of interaction and contribution that is facilitated by the online environment. Such a network should not attempt to duplicate nor replace existing infrastructure networks and services. It must add value to, and where appropriate, integrate existing networks and facilities. For this reason, collaborative partnerships, and a staged model of developing the network is an essential strategy. The research within the Report and other evidence gathering in Australia suggest that the advancement of ICT integration will be dependent on specific sections of the education community. In order to achieve a desired outcome of increased integration of ICT it is necessary to foster interaction between several specific sections in all Australian jurisdictions, targeting those staff who •
have duties related to systemic PD programmes;
•
are school leaders and in-school ICT coaches;
•
are leaders of professional associations; or
•
are teacher educators.
This interaction should have an initial focus on specific activities that are priority issues in the short term or near term for this composite community. Several of the items identified in the recommendations above regarding pre-service and systemic CPD programs are suitable candidates for such activity.
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Roberston, J. (1997). Does Permeation Work? Promoting the Use of Information Technology in Teacher Education. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 6(2), pp. 169–184. http://www.triangle.co.uk/jit/pdf/06-2-jr.pdf [11/11/2000]. Roberts, J. & Pacey, L. (1999). Integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s). Through Teacher Professional Development. Report Prepared for the Council of Ministers of Education. Canada, Toronto: Council of Ministers. Roddy, M. (1999). Using the Internet to Unite Student Teaching and Teacher Education. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 7(3), pp. 257–270. Romeo, G. (2000). Learning Technologies: What are Education Students Learning about the use of Technology in the Classroom. In G. Romeo et al. (Eds). Australian Computers in Education Conference (ACEC2000) Proceedings Learning Technologies, Teaching and the Future of Schools [CD ROM]. Melbourne: Computing in Education Group of Victoria and Briter Solutions. Romeo, G. (2001). Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) at Monash University. An unpublished submission to the project. Ronnkvist, A., Dexter, S. & Anderson, R. (2000). Technology Support: Its Depth and Breadth. Paper presented at American Education Research Association annual meeting, April 2000, New Orleans, L.A. http://www.crito.uci.edu/tlc/findings/technology-support/ [7/4/2001]. Russell, G. (2000). Implications of the 1999 DEETYA Report for Professional Development in Learning Technology. Presented at ACEC2000 Learning Technologies, Teaching and the Future of Schools. Melbourne 6–9 July, 2000. http://www.cegv.vic.edu.au/acec2000/paper_ref/g_russell/paper16/index.htm [4/2/2001]. Schlager, M.S., Fusco, J. & Schank, P. (1997). TAPPED IN: A New On-line Teacher Community Concept for the Next Generation of Internet Technology. In CSCL ’97, The Second International Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning. Toronto, December. Schlager, M.S., Fusco, J. & Schank, P. (2000). Evolution of an On-line Education Community of Practice. In K.A. Renninger & W. Shumar. (Eds). Building Virtual Communities: Learning and Change in Cyberspace. New York: Cambridge University Press. Schmidt, D. (1998). Technology and Teacher education: Preservice Teachers can make a Difference. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 14(2), pp. 2–3. School of Education, University of Nottingham. (1998). Multimedia Portables for Teachers Pilot Project Report. British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. Scrimshaw, P. (1997). Building a Learning Profession: Professional Development and Training. In Preparing for the Information Age: Synoptic Report of the Education Department’s Superhighways Initiative. London. Department for Education and Employment. Scrimshaw, P. (1997). Teachers’ Professional Development: Executive Summary, Appendix 4. In Preparing for the Information Age: Synoptic Report of the Education Department’s Superhighways Initiative. London. Department for Education and Employment. Selinger, M. (1996). Beginning Teachers Using Information Technology: The Open University Model. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 5(2), pp. 253–270. Selwyn, N. (1998). A Grid for Learning or a Grid for Earning? The Significance of the Learning Grid Initiative in U.K. Education. Journal of Education Policy, 10(2). 100280, pp. 1–9. Selwyn, N. (2000). Researching Computers and Education — Glimpses of the Wider Picture. Computers and Education, 34(2), February, pp. 93–101. Shelton, M. & Jones, M. (1996). Staff development that works! A tale of four T’s. NASSP Bulletin, 80(582), pp. 99–105. Sherry, A.C. (2000). Expanding the View of Preservice Teachers — Computer Literacy: Implications from Written and Verbal Data and Metaphors as Freehand Drawings. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 8(3), p. 187. Simpson, M., Payne, F. & Munro, R. (1999). Using Information and Communications Technology as a Pedagogical Tool: Who Educates the Educators? Journal of Education for Teaching, 25(3), pp. 247–262.
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Sinclair, C. (1997). Diversity and difference in school-based teacher education: Snapshots from home and abroad. Refereed conference proceedings of the 27th Annual Australian Teacher Education Association, Yepoon, Qld. Slowinski, J. (2000). The Gap Between Preparation and Reality in Training Teachers to Use Technology. http://horizon.unc.edu/TS [11/11/2000]. Smerdon, B. & Cronen, S. (2000). Teachers’ Tools for the 21st Century. The National Center for Educational Statistics. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Smith, P.V. (1999). Managing Continuing Professional Development to Support School-Based Target Setting. Journal of Inservice Education, 25(1), pp. 85–96. Smith, R. & Finger, G. (2000). The conventional model of teacher education — Changing IT. The Practising Administrator: Official Journal of the Australian Council for Educational Administration, 22(2), pp. 22–24. Smith-Hornung, C. & Bronack, S. (2000). Preparing technology-based teachers. Professional lessons from a K–12/University collaborative. TechTrends for Leaders in Education and Training. The Magazine of the Association for Educational Association for Educational Communications and Technology, 44(4), pp. 17–20. Smyth, J. (1995). Teachers’ work and the labor process of teaching: Central problematics in professional development. In T.R. Guskey & M. Huberman (Eds). Professional development in education: New paradigms and practices. New York, N.J.: Teachers’ College Press. Somekh, B., Whitty, G. & Coveney, R. (1997). IT and the politics of institutional change: Using information technology effectively in teaching and learning. London and New York: Routledge. Sparks, D. (2000). Asking tough questions about electronic professional learning. http://www.nsdc.org/library/results/res5-00sparks.htm [23/7/2000]. Sparks, D. (1998). Using technology to improve teaching and staff development: An interview with Kathleen Fulton. Journal of Staff Development, 19(1) Winter 1998. http://www.nsdc.org/library/jsd/fulton191.html [4/1/2001]. Sparks, D. & Loucks-Horsley, S. (1989). Five models of staff development. Journal of Staff Development. 10(4), http://www.nsdc.org/library/jsd/sparks104.htm Sprague, D., Kopfman, K. & de Levante-Dorsey, S. (1998). Faculty development in the integration of technology in teacher education courses. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 14(2), pp. 24–28. Stager, G.S. (1995). Laptop schools lead the way in professional development. Educational Leadership, 53(2), pp. 78–81. Stein, S.J., McRobbie, C.J. & Ginns, I. (1998). Introducing technology education: Using teachers’ questions as a platform for professional development. Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, Adelaide. Steinberg, A. (1998). Will teachers open their doors to change? In R. Tovey (Ed.). Harvard Education Letter. Focus Series 4. Professional Development, pp. 22–25. Cambridge, M.A.: The Gutman Library. Steinberg, D. (2000). Closing the school-technology gap: School-wide collaboration and computer integration. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, New Orleans, L.A. Strudler, N. & Wetzel, K. (1999). Lessons from exemplary Colleges of Education: Towards a model of technology integration. Educational Technology, Research and Development, 47(4), pp. 63–81. Stuhlman, J. & Taylor, H. (1999). Preparing technically competent student teachers: A three year study of interventions and experiences. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 7(4), pp. 333–350. Stuhlman, J. (1998). A model for infusing technology into teacher training programs. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 6(2/4), pp. 125–140. Swetman, D.L. & Baird, W.E. (1998). Sustained support for Science and Math teachers’ use of microcomputers. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 14(4), pp. 13–18. Sykes, G. (1999). Teacher and student learning: Strengthening their connection. In L. Darling-Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds). Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice, pp. 151–179. San Francisco: Josey-Bass Inc, Publishers. Tasmania Department of Education, Professional Learning Services Branch. (1999). Discover VET in schools: Flexible delivery report. http://www.discover.tased.edu.au/teachers/practice/learntech/flexdelivery/ [2/1/2001]. 94
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Tasmania Department of Education, Professional Learning Services Branch. (1999). Discover VET in schools: LearnScope Project 1999. http://www.netlearn.discover.tased.edu.au:8900/public/discovervet/index.html [2/1/2001]. Tasmania Department of Education, Professional Learning Services Branch. (2000). Online professional development 2000 programme. http://www.discover.tased.edu.au/netlearn/support/dev2000.html [31/12/2000]. Taylor, T. (1998). An Australian Case Study in Partnership: Rural Decline, the Unstable Curriculum and Grassroots Professional Development. Journal of Inservice Education, 24(2), pp. 347–366. Teacher Training Agency. (1998). The use of ICT in subject teaching — Expected outcomes of the New Opportunities Fund ICT Training Initiative for teachers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. http://www.canteach.gov.uk/publications/community/ict/nof/tta00_05.pdf [3/2/2001]. Teacher Training Agency. (1999). National Skills Tests: A guide for trainee teachers. London, U.K. http://www.canteach.gov.uk/support/skillstest/ict/index.htm [3/2/2001]. Teacher Training Agency. (2000a). QTS Skills Tests: Postponement of the introduction of the QTS skills test in Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Teacher Training Agency. (2001). Monitoring and review of DfEE Circular 4/98. An update. http://www.canteach.gov.uk/info/itt/requirements/498update_feb01/index.htm [20/2/2001]. Teacher Training Agency. (2001a). Using information and communications technology to meet teaching objectives in Physical Education. London, U.K. http://www.canteach.gov.uk/info/library/ICT_booklets/secpe.doc [20/2/2001]. Teacher Training Agency. (2001b). The use of information and communications technology in subject teaching: Identification of training needs — Secondary Science. London, U.K. http://www.canteach.gov.uk/info/library/ICT_booklets/secsci.doc [20/2/2001]. Tearle, P., Davis, N. & Birbeck, N. (1998). Six case studies of information technology-assisted teaching and learning in higher education in England. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 7(1), pp. 51–70. The Advisory Unit: Computers in Education. (1998). The RM G7 Report 1998: ICT provision in schools. Oxford: RM. The National Lottery. (1998). The new opportunities fund. http://www.culture.gov.uk/lottery/webnof.html [12/4/2001]. The Regional Alliance for Mathematics and Science Education. (nd.). What the literature is saying about professional development. http://ra.terc.edu/alliance/TEMPLATE/regional_networks/cia/profdev/pdmemo.html [31/12/2000]. Tisher, R. (1987). Australian research on the practicum during the last decade. South Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 15(1), pp. 81–92. Tom, (2000). Teacher education reform in the United States: Thrusts, assumptions, and implications. Paper presented at the International Symposium: Review of Teacher Education in NSW. Faculty of Education, University of Sydney, January 2000. Topper, A., Gillingham, M., Ellefson, N. & Worthington, V. (1997). Teacher professional development on the World Wide Web: The LETSNet web site and teacher learning. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 13(4), pp. 25–33. Tovey, R. (Ed.). (1998). Harvard Education Letter Focus Series No 4. Professional Development. Cambridge, M.A.: President and Fellows of Harvard College. Tripa, R. & Chagas, I. (2000). Project work in continuous teacher education on ICT. In D. Benzie & D. Passey (Eds). Proceedings of the Conference on Educational Uses of Information and Communication Technologies. pp. 302–306. Beijing. Troen, V. & Bolles, K. (1994). Two teachers examine the power of teacher leadership. In D.R. Walling (Ed.). Teachers as leaders: Perspectives on the professional development of teachers, pp. 275–286. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation. ED379283.
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Tytler, R., Smith, R., Grover, P. & Brown, S. (1999). A comparison of professional development models for teachers of primary mathematics and science. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 27(3), pp. 193–213. U.K. Government. (1999). Connecting the learning society: National grid for learning. U.K. Government’s Consultation Paper with foreword by Tony Blair. Underwood, J. et al. (1994). Integrated learning systems in UK schools: Final report. Leicester: Leicester University/NCET. University of Illinois. (1999). Teaching at an internet distance: The pedagogy of online teaching and learning. The Report of a 1998–99 University of Illinois Faculty Seminar. U.S. Department of Education. (1999a). Designing effective professional development: Lessons from the Eisenhower Program — Executive summary. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Under Secretary, Planning and Evaluation Service. http://oeri2.ed.gov/te. U.S. Department of Education. (1999b). Preparing tomorrow’s teachers to use technology (PT3). U.S. Department of Education, Office of Post Secondary Education. http://www.ed.gov/teachtech/ [23/11/2000] and http://www.pt3.org/ [23/11/2000]. U.S. Department of Education. (1999c). Professional development and the integration of information and communication technologies in teaching and learning U.S.A. Prepared by Linda G. Roberts and Ray Myers, Office of Educational Technology, and Mariann Lemke, International Affairs. Washington, D.C. U.S. Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service. (2000a). Case studies: First set of visits. Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3). http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/higher.html#pt3 [3/3/2001]. U.S. Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service. (2000b). Evaluating the technology proficiency of teacher preparation programs’ graduates: Assessment instruments and design issues. Final report. Preparing tomorrow’s teachers to use technology (PT3). http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/higher.html#pt3 [3/3/2001]. U.S. Department of Education, Planning and Evaluation Service. (2000c). Preparing tomorrow’s teachers to use technology (PT3). http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/higher.html#pt3 [3/3/2001]. Valdez, G., McNabb, M., Foertsch, M., Anderson, M., Hawkes, M. & Raack, L. (1999). Computer-based technology and learning: Evolving uses and expectations. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. http://www.ncrel.org/plan/cbtl/toc [11/11/2000]. Valli, L. & Cooper, D. (1999). Professional preparation and development. In C. Major & R. Pines. (Eds). Teaching to teach. New partnerships in teacher education. Washington, D.C.: National Educational Association. Vannatta, R. (2000). Evaluation to planning: Technology integration in a school of education. Journal of Technology in Teacher Education, 8(3), pp. 231–246. Verdisco, A. & Navarro, J. (2000). Costa Rica: Teacher training for education technology. Inter-American Development Bank. TechKnowLogia, November/December, 2000. http://www.TechKnowLogia.org [11/11/2000]. Vickers, M. & Smalley, J. (1995). Integrating computers into classroom teaching: Cross-national perspectives. In D. Perkins, J. Schwartz, M. West & M. Stone Wiske. (Eds). Software goes to school: Teaching for understanding with new technologies. New York: Oxford University Press. Ward, P. (1998). Innovations and research in professional development in vocational education training: Literature review. A research report commissioned by the Professional Development Network, Training and Development Directorate, N.S.W. Department of Education. Wasser, J., McNamara, E. & Grant, C. (1998). Electronic networks and systematic school reform: Understanding the diverse roles and functions of telecommunications in changing school environments. Presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual General Meeting. Watson, D. (Ed.) (1993). The impact report: An evaluation of the impact of information technology on children’s achievements in primary and secondary schools. London, U.K.: King’s College London (for the Department for Education). Watts, G.D. & Castle, S. (1993). The time dilemma in school restructuring. Phi Delta Kappan 75(4), pp. 306–310.
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Wetzel, K., Zambo, R. & Buss, R. (2000). Professional development for transformative teaching with technology in K–8 classrooms. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 16(2), pp. 15–20. Willett, J. & Lynch, H. (1998). Vocational Education Coordinators Online (VECO): An online community making a difference. An evaluation of the VECO project of the Australian Student Traineeship Foundation in partnership with Aussie SchoolHouse. pp. 1–10. Williams, D., Coles, L., Wilson, K., Richardson, A. & Tuson, J. (2000). Teachers and ICT: Current use and future needs. British Journal of Educational Technology, 31(4), pp. 307–321. Williams, M. & Price, K. (2000). Teacher learning technology competencies. Journal of Australian Educational Computing, 14(2), pp. 6–41. Wise, A. (1999). Standards or no standards? Teacher quality in the 21st century. http://www.ncate.org/specfoc/preparation.htm [11/11/2000]. Wood, D. (1998). The UK ILS evaluations: Final report. Coventry, UK: British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. Yelland, Nicola. (2000). Book review: H. Smith, Opportunities for ICT in the Primary School. British Journal of Educational Technology, 31(1), pp. 86–92. Yildirim, S. (2000). Effects of an educational computing course on pre-service and in-service teachers: A discussion and analysis of attitudes and use. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 32(4), pp. 479–495. Zachariades, E., Jensen, S.J. & Thompson, A. (1995). One-on-one collaboration with a teacher educator: An approach to integrate technology in teacher education. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 12(1), pp. 11–14.
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APPENDICES
A: Project personnel B: Methodology C: Instrument for pre-service questionnaire D: Respondents to the teacher education survey E: Framework used for consultations regarding continuing professional development activities F: The increasing role of ICTs in the delivery and support of CPD G: Tapped In: An example of an online community H: Australian examples of most common CDP strategies
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APPENDIX A Project personnel Steering Committee during Phase 1 (October 2000 to June 2001) Mr Greg Cox
Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs2
Ms Jan Gough-Watson
Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
Ms Susan Gurr
Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
Mr Neil Jarvis (Chair)
Education Department of Western Australia, representing the EdNA Schools Advisory Group
Dr David McKinnon
Charles Sturt University, representing the Australian Council of Deans of Education
Mr John Pettit
NSW Department of Education and Training
Mr Vince Summers
National Catholic Education Commission
Dr Vivienne Teoh
Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
Mr John Travers (Deputy Chair)
SA Department of Education, Training and Employment, representing the EdNA Schools Advisory Group
Dr Sue Trinidad
Curtin University, representing the Australian Council of Deans of Education
Ms Louise Wells
Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
Project Management Consortium Australian Curriculum Studies Association (represented by Ms Joan Warhurst) Australian Council for Computers in Education (represented by Mr Ralph Leonard) Technology Education Federation of Australia (represented by Mr Ian Webb) University of Western Sydney (represented by Dr Toni Downes)
Research Team Toni Downes, University of Western Sydney Andrew Fluck, University of Tasmania Pam Gibbons, Australian Catholic University Ralph Leonard, Australian Council for Computers in Education Carolyn Matthews, University of South Australia Ron Oliver, Edith Cowan University Michelle Williams, Australian Council for Computers in Education Margaret Vickers, University of Western Sydney
2
100
At the time of the activity, the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs was the funding body for the project. It is now the Department of Education, Science and Training.
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APPENDIX B Methodology In Phase 1 of the project, a multi-method research approach was used, drawing on a variety of data gathering and analytical techniques. Data collection Data were collected through a review of the literature, an environmental scan, consultations with key personnel in the education systems and a survey of teacher training institutions. Literature review The research and analysis reported herein is informed by an extensive review of literature of the last ten years of research on teacher development and ICTs in schools, both pre-service and in-service. An extensive search of international databases such as ERIC and the British Index of Education, general searching of the Internet and careful analysis of contents of major journals in the field, in particular: •
Journal of Staff Development
•
Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education
•
The Journal of Computing in Teacher Education
•
The Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, with its newly established electronic counterpart Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education.
An annotated collection of articles and documents identified and analysed in the study was created by the research team and assembled in an online database developed for the project. Environmental scan An environmental scan was conducted for current and recent research and initiatives in the area of preservice teacher education and continuing professional development for ICTs. This scan was conducted within various Australian systems, European and North American systems and national bodies which fund innovations and evaluations. Some of the bodies and projects that were particularly targeted within the US were International Society of Technology and Education (ISTE), US Department of Education, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the National Science Foundation, and the Technical Education Research Centre (TERC). Within Europe, the focus was on the recent initiatives in the United Kingdom, including the Superhighways project and the ICT training and digitisation projects of the National Lottery’s New Opportunities Fund (The National Lottery 1998). Within the Asia-Pacific region, the focus was on the reports of the APEC conference (APEC 1999); the recent initiatives in Singapore where the Master Plan for Information Technology in Education was launched in 1997 (Jung 2000); the five year strategy in Hong Kong, which was launched in late 1998 (http://www.ited.gov.hk/E_index.htm) and the New Zealand initiative ‘Interactive Education’ an Information and Communication Strategy for Schools released in late 1998 (New Zealand Ministry of Education 1999). Consultation with the education community Consultations were conducted with educators in a large number of education systems. Where possible, these consultations involved educators from the areas with general responsibility for professional development and training, curriculum development, as well as ICT-related areas.
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Survey of teacher education Using the STAR Chart, developed by the CEO Forum on Education and Technology (2000) as a guide, a simple survey was developed and sent, via e-mail, to heads of academic units in Australian universities which undertake pre-service teacher education. The survey contained two sections, one to be completed by the heads of the academic units, and another to be completed by each course coordinator of a programme. Appendix C contains a copy of the survey. Although a number of respondents reported difficulty with the formatting of the survey within an e-mail context, and with the lack of clarity and definition of some of the questions, key parts of the collected data were considered worth analysing. Appendix D lists the institutions that responded to the survey. Expenditure survey An expenditure survey was considered within the project as a means to determine the current level of resources applied to teacher professional development. There was much discussion at the Steering Committee about the need for such data. In general, the Committee thought it would be useful to have such data in order to generate an Australian benchmark. Systems and institutions contacted by the research team indicated that it was extremely difficult to use routinely available fiscal data to develop an accurate picture of expenditures on teacher education for ICT use. In effect, the various systems contacted were only able to provide those data that were already in the public domain. Generally, the data in the public domain portrayed only a part of the picture in regard to funding professional development in relation to ICTs. Many sources of funds are eventually applied to professional development activities at the school, district or system level, even though they have neither been tagged to professional development, nor to ICT funding. In addition, systems that have devolved responsibility and resource allocation to regions and schools do not always have mechanisms in place that would allow them to collect the necessary data to calculate system-wide estimates of overall expenditure on teacher education for ICT use. Methods of analysis Analytical techniques drew on both qualitative and quantitative processes. The techniques included content analysis of Australian system websites and documents, reports and published articles, an analysis of relevant research and reports, and an Experts Forum where preliminary thinking and findings were presented for scrutiny by major stakeholders and individuals with particular expertise. The survey was analysed using simple frequency counts. Content analysis Policy and programme documents were analysed by conducting a content analysis of the websites for relevant educational sectors and institutions across Australia. These sites provide a wealth of information on current approaches to ICT professional development for teachers and schools. Through these websites and related documents, it was possible to collect a range of examples of professional development activities and evaluation reports, but no information in relation to funding. Meta-analysis A qualitative analysis of key research projects and national or project reports was conducted to identify key barriers and critical success factors for effective delivery of professional development in relation to the use of ICTs in education. As there were no studies reporting a quantitative analysis of the various contributions of the identified factor to the effective delivery, a quantitative meta-analysis was not undertaken.
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Experts Forum In November 2000, an Experts Forum was held. Forty-three educators were brought together to validate the draft matrices and metrics used to map and evaluate professional development and pre-service ICT practices and models, and to critically reflect on identified barriers and critical success factors. Participants were invited on the basis of their expertise in professional development and/or pre-service research, policy and practice. Their expertise was particularly, but not necessarily confined to, the area of ICTs. Educators from EdNA (in particular, the EdNA Schools Advisory Group) were also key members of this Forum. Stakeholders’ Forum Following the completion of the draft Phase 1 report and acceptance by the Steering Committee, the project held a Stakeholders’ Forum to receive further input from the stakeholder community regarding the project’s findings and the requirements for Phase 2. The Stakeholders’ Forum was held in June 2000 and attended by 60 participants including: •
representatives from school systems (government and non-government) from all states and territories;
•
teacher educators from all states and the ACT; and
•
representatives from the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs and national peak bodies.
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APPENDIX C Instrument for pre-service questionnaire The following questionnaires were distributed by e-mail to Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and Pre-service Teacher Education:
Questionnaire for Deans and Heads of Schools I wrote to you a few days ago asking if you would please complete a short questionnaire on ICT in TE. It will take only 5 minutes. Please answer the questions by deleting the response that does NOT apply, or by providing numeric responses as requested. Then simply e-mail it back to me. The OTHER e-mail is for your course coordinators. Please forward it on to your primary and secondary teacher education coordinators (both undergrad and post-grad) and ask them to forward their responses back to YOU. We would be grateful if you would urge them to respond, and then send us a complete set of responses. However, if you prefer, we will do the follow up. If you would like us to do this, please send us a list of all your TE programs, together with the names and e-mail addresses of all your coordinators. Please enter the name of your Faculty or Teacher Education School, and the name of your University ______________________________________________________ at _____________________________ University 1.
How many FTE academic staff are in your faculty/school? _______________________
2.
How many students (EFTSU)? ___________________________________________________
3.
How many of your FTE staff have clearly focused research interests or special qualifications related to the use of ICTs for education? _________________
4.
Does your school/faculty have a strategic plan for the integration of ICTs into teacher education?
5.
Yes / No
Is it expected that all teacher education staff will integrate technology in the teaching of their subjects? Definitely, there are strong and explicit expectations understood by all ___________ To an extent-explicit expectations exist, but are not always reinforced ___________ Hardly at all-there are implicit expectations, it is up to the individual ______________
6.
What proportion of your academic staff actually integrate ICT’s into their teaching on a regular basis (rather than a one-off occasional event)? 100%
7.
75%
50%
25%
0%
Are there any academic or technical staff positions in your faculty/school thatare funded specifically to deal with the integration of ICTs into teacher education? Yes / No Are there academic positions in your faculty/school dedicated to ICT? If yes, (a) # of positions = __________________________________ (b) What annual average budget outlay? $ _________ K
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Yes / No
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Are there technical positions for staff support in ICT?
Yes / No
If yes, (a) # of positions = __________________________________ (b) What annual average budget outlay? $ ________ K Are there technical positions for user support in ICT?
Yes / No
If yes, (a) # of positions = _______________________________ (b) What annual average budget outlay? $ ________ K 8.
Does your faculty/school provide rewards or special recognition for the integration of ICTs in teaching and learning? Yes, definitely ___________________________________________ To some extent _________________________________________ Not at all ________________________________________________
9.
In terms of average annual budget outlays (regardless of whether the funds are part of your school budget or the university budget) how much is spent on (a) hardware and networking for academic staff
$ ________ K
(b) hardware and networking dedicated to student use
$ ________ K
(c) staff release (from teaching) to cover training/PD
$ ________ K
(d) staff release (from teaching) to cover curric devt/special initiatives $ ________ K 10. On balance, how important is it for your faculty/school to have a strategic plan and resource allocations policies promoting the use of ICTs in your teacher education programs? Extremely important _________________________________________ Moderately important _____________________________________ Not very important ___________________________________________ Thank you for your time! If you have a few moments and would like to complete three open-ended questions, we would value your input. If not, thank you again. We look forward to receiving this, together with responses from your course coordinators (see other e-mail — “PD-ICT Q’aire for Coordinators). (a) Please describe any specific staff development / curriculum development strategies for ICT use that are currently being developed in your Faculty / School _____________________________________________________________________________________________ (b) Are there any project outcomes / resources that you would be willing to share with other TE institutions? _____________________________________________________________________________________________ (c) If DETYA had a small amount of funds for ICT use in your faculty/school, how could they best be used? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX C: Instrument for pre-service questionnaire
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SUMMARY
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CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
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APPENDICES C
FROM: the Dean/Head of School TO: Course Coordinators Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Pre-service Teacher Education:
Questionnaire for Course Coordinators We have been asked to provide information for a DETYA-funded national research project that is examining the level of ICT use in pre-service teacher education programs. This research is likely to provide a basis for policies that could lead to more adequate funding for ICT use in initial teacher education. Would you, please, complete this short questionnaire. It will take only 5 minutes. Answer the questions by deleting the response(s) that do NOT apply, or by providing responses as requested. Then simply e-mail your response back to me. 1.
Please enter the name of the TE program you coordinate, and the name of your Faculty/School _______________________________________________ in ____________________________ (School)
2.
Who is this course for (i.e. undergrad/postgrad intake), and what type of certification does it lead to? Primary TE, undergrad _______________________________________ Primary TE, postgrad ________________________________________ Secondary TE, undergrad _____________________________________ Secondary TE, postgrad ______________________________________ Other? __________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
4.
5.
Are there CORE subjects in your course that focus specifically on developing ICT skills?
Yes / No
Are there ELECTIVE subjects in your course that focus specifically on developing ICT skills?
Yes / No
Does the use of ICTs permeate the teaching and learning of most METHODS subjects in your course? Yes, to a large extent ________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ No, not at all _________________________________________________
6.
If you answered “yes” or “to some extent” to Q. 5, please answer the next two questions. Otherwise go to Q. 8. [Delete the responses that do NOT apply] What proportion of the methods subjects in your course are taught and learned in a way that integrates ICTs? (That is, ICTs are integrated into the methods teaching and permeate the way students learn to approach this area of the curriculum)
106
25%
50%
75%
100% of methods subjects in the course involve SUBSTANTIAL ICT ‘permeation’
25%
50%
75%
100% of methods subjects in the course involve SOME ICT ‘permeation’
25%
50%
75%
100% of methods subjects in the course involve MINIMAL ICT ‘permeation’
APPENDIX C: Instrument for pre-service questionnaire
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES C
7.
This question asks how your course helps student teachers learn to plan and organise for the use of ICTs in classroom teaching and in evaluating student work. Have you developed specific strategies that help student teachers reflect on when to (and when not to) use ICTs for teaching and learning? Have you developed specific strategies that help student teachers plan and organise the integration of ICTs into teaching and learning? (a) Are these planning and reflective strategies a feature of your core courses? Yes, to a large extent ________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ No, not at all _______________________________________________ (b) Are these planning and reflective strategies mainly a feature of your ICT-oriented elective courses? They are mainly addressed in electives ______________________ They are also addressed in core courses ____________________ They are hardly addressed at all _____________________________
8.
Does the use of ICTs permeate the teaching and learning of subjects OTHER THAN the methods? For example, does the use of ICTs permeate the teaching of the foundations in your course? Yes, to a large extent ________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ No, not at all _______________________________________________
9.
If you answered “yes” or “to some extent” to Q. 8, please answer this question. Otherwise go to Q. 10. What proportion of the subjects are taught in a way that involves modelling or demonstrating ICT use for teaching and learning? [Delete the responses that do NOT apply] 25%
50%
75%
100% of these subjects involve SUBSTANTIAL modelling of ICT approaches
25%
50%
75%
100% of methods subjects involve SOME modelling of ICT approaches
25%
50%
75%
100% of methods subjects involve MINIMAL modelling of ICT approaches
APPENDIX C: Instrument for pre-service questionnaire
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
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CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES C
10. This question relates to ALL the subjects in the course, and focuses on how students use ICT in their own learning, for accessing information, carrying out investigations, presenting work, completing assignments, communicating with lecturers regarding their work, and communicating with schools). In what proportion of their subjects (overall) do you think students use ICT for their own learning, for assignment work, and for communications? In
25%
50%
75%
100% of all subjects, students make EXTENSIVE use of ICTs for learning, etc
In
25%
50%
75%
100% of all subjects, students make MODERATE use of ICTs for learning, etc
In
25%
50%
75%
100% of all subjects, students make MINIMAL use of ICTs for learning, etc
11. Are student teachers expected to take part in online learning, online discussions, and online professional communities as part of their own professional preparation?
Yes / No
12. If you answered YES to Q. 11, please answer this question. Otherwise, go to Q. 13 (a) Is participation in online learning and online discussions a feature of your core courses? Yes, to a large extent ________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ No, not at all _______________________________________________ (b) Is participation in online learning and online discussions mainly a feature of ICT-oriented elective courses? It is mainly a feature of electives ____________________________ It is also addressed in core courses _________________________ It is hardly addressed at all __________________________________ 13. Are your practicum placements organised to ensure that student teachers observe effective pedagogical practice that integrates ICTs, reflect on ICT use, and use computers for teaching and learning? To a large extent ____________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ Not at all ___________________________________________________ 14. If you answered “to a large extent” or “to some extent” to Q. 13, please answer all parts of this question: otherwise, please go to Q. 15. (a) To what extent are the practicum placements deliberately organised to ensure that student teachers USE computers for teaching and learning in school classrooms? To a large extent ____________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ Not at all ___________________________________________________
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES C
(b) To what extent are the practicum experiences organised to ensure that student teachers REFLECT on their experiences with using computers for teaching and learning in classrooms? To a large extent ____________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ Not at all ___________________________________________________ (c) To what extent do your student teachers engage in online projects which link them with lecturers, teachers in schools, and school pupils? To a large extent ____________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ Not at all ___________________________________________________ (d) Does your course feature virtual practicum experiences and virtual placements, where student teachers engage in online teaching and learning with pupils in schools? To a large extent ____________________________________________ To some extent _____________________________________________ Not at all ___________________________________________________ 15. Is the demonstration of competence in relation to pedagogical uses of ICTs in classrooms a compulsory pre-graduation requirement in your course?
Yes / No
16. How do you evaluate the development of student teacher competencies in relation to pedagogical uses of ICTs in classrooms? For example, do you require a portfolio that demonstrates experience and learning?
Yes / No
If you have other strategies for evaluating the development of student competencies, please describe them
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!
Please e-mail this to your Dean / Head of School, for forwarding to the PD/ICT research team.
APPENDIX C: Instrument for pre-service questionnaire
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
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CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
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REFERENCES
APPENDICES D
APPENDIX D Respondents to the teacher education survey Australian Catholic University (Qld) Australian Catholic University (St Marys) Central Queensland University Charles Sturt University Christian Heritage College Curtin University Deakin University Flinders University Griffith University James Cook University La Trobe University Monash University Monash University (Gippsland) Monash University (Peninsula) Queensland University of Technology Southern Cross University University of New South Wales University of Newcastle University of Queensland University of South Australia (Magill) University of Sydney University of Tasmania University of Technology Sydney University of Western Sydney (Macarthur) University of Western Sydney (Nepean)
110
APPENDIX D: Respondents to the teacher education survey
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES E
APPENDIX E Framework used for consultations regarding continuing professional development activities The consultations regarding in-service activities were conducted via face-to-face interviews (the majority) or telephone interviews. To maintain consistency in the interviews across states/territories and school systems, the following framework was used by the interviewers. A: Types of professional development for ICT Identify the professional development strategies that have been implemented. Style of PD
Who initiates?
Purpose,
Who provides?
Is school based
Is online
(see notes below)
How is funding
Audience,
How selected
support provided?
support provided?
provided?
Content
or accredited? How conducted?
Single events Serial courses “Lighthouse school” visits Provision of equipment for teachers’ use PD for leadership and planning in ICT
Rank the most common (1–3) in order of total funds expended and also by best estimates of numbers of teachers involved in 1999. Identify any systemic reasons for the selection of these to be most common? Provide examples of each of the common strategies (e.g. names of courses/projects etc) Sources of public documentation (paper-based and web-based) that outline the 1999–2000 strategies? What, if any, new strategies are being considered for the future? What would you like to implement? Notes for table above
Single events are those in which teachers attend an activity which is not related to other elements of a programme. Single events may have a duration of a few hours or consist of several contiguous days. The continuity of the activity without intervening return to the workplace distinguishes Single events from Serial courses. Who initiates? The initiation of the activity is separate from the manner in which the activity is conducted. By what mechanism are the activities proposed and the managerial support organised? Is the funding provided directly for specific activities, or devolved to district or school level? Purpose, Audience and Content will provide information about the nature of the activity and the relative emphasis on acquisition of skills in the use of ICT, skills in the use of specific software and skills for the integration of ICT into classroom use. Purpose — is there a focus on the learning of ICT skills by teachers or on the role of ICT in whole school curriculum? Audience — How is the audience selected? Are particular groups of teachers targeted? Are some activities designed for leaders/innovators/coordinators?
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CHAPTER 7
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REFERENCES
APPENDICES E
B: Evaluation of professional development strategies What measures have been used to evaluate professional development strategies for ICT? Skill development
Transfer to
Organisational
Student
workplace practice
change
outcomes
Teacher/participant reported Demonstrated
What other ‘measures’ of effectiveness have been developed? Are there any in the process of being developed? Sources of any documentation re instruments/processes used to measure effectiveness? Sources of any evaluation reports re effectiveness of PD programmes over last five years? What are considered to be the most successful strategies? Why are they considered so? What evaluations would you like to add to those already in place? C: Barriers and success factors What are considered to be the main barriers to the effective professional development? How do these barriers operate or arise? What strategies, if any, have been identified/implemented to overcome these barriers? Sources of any documentation re these barriers or strategies to overcome them? What are considered to be the critical success factors for effective professional development? How do these factors operate or arise? What strategies, if any, have been identified/implemented to put these factors into place in an increasing number of settings? Sources of any documentation re these factors and strategies for putting them in place? D: Cooperation and collaboration What if any cooperation, collaboration and/or partnerships exists between this education system and the following regarding the provision of PD? •
other local systems
•
interstate systems
•
national systems
•
international systems
•
universities
•
TAFE
•
professional associations
•
private providers
Describe these collaborative efforts. What other organisations play (or could play) a role in enhancing your system’s capacity to deliver effective PD? (e.g. Commonwealth Government, industry, non-education professional associations such as Australian Computer Society, Information Industries Association). What other collaborative efforts would enhance the PD strategies you currently have in place or are planning? 112
APPENDIX E: Framework used for consultations regarding continuing professional development activities
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES F
APPENDIX F The increasing role of ICTs in the delivery and support of CPD The use of ICT as a delivery platform for CPD has been viewed as a desirable means of addressing several difficulties associated with both the diversity of content and large scale implementation of CPD. For many years, there has been a strong connection between the concepts of lifelong learning and the advantages of delivery through ICT. These advantages are achieved through the ability of ICT to support flexibility in the •
time of delivery
•
place of delivery
•
individual pace of progression
•
multiple modes of learning
•
tailoring of content to suit individual needs
In practice, many implementations of ICT supported delivery focus on one or two of the above where the benefits outweigh the costs of development. Combinations of all five are more difficult to achieve. Examples of CPD delivered to Australian teachers through ICT are becoming increasingly more common. This is a result of the greater familiarity and the ease of production with the tools for production and the increased availability of the infrastructure necessary to access the resultant material. The use of World Wide Web protocols for the display of content, distributed either on CD-ROM or via the Internet, has also provided the advantage of independence from specific hardware platforms to view the material. However it must also be noted that teachers indicate a very high preference for CPD using the traditional methods such as workshops, speakers, conferences and visits (especially in conjunction with their peers) and rate CPD in the form of CD-ROM and online environments as their least preferred methods. CPD via CD-ROM The inclusion of CD-ROM drives as a standard item of equipment in almost all desktop and laptop computers and reductions in the cost of CD-ROM authoring and duplication have enabled widespread use of this medium as a distribution format for many applications. The use of the medium for the packaging and distribution of systemic information such as administrative manuals and curriculum framework materials has introduced an imperative for its use within schools. Hence teachers have gained familiarity with the medium independently of the CPD and classroom applications. As a result, it has become an accepted format for teacher access to many forms of material. CPD applications have also used the advantages of user familiarity, ready access to suitable infrastructure and low cost production. The Victorian initiative “Learning With the Internet” was developed and distributed in this format. In this instance, a print format of the training manual was not issued, and the ability to use one ICT format, CD-ROM was employed to provide teachers with CPD about the use of the online environment. Two other Victorian CPD initiatives, “Computing Across the Primary Curriculum” (CAPC) and “Computing Across the Secondary Curriculum” (CASC) have also been distributed via CD-ROM. Similarly the NSW Department of Education and Training transferred its CPD programme “Technology in Learning and Teaching” (TILT) to CD-ROM and used that format to deliver the course to 1500 teachers in 2000. Examples of CD-ROM material provided for PTE are given in section 4.4.
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SUMMARY
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REFERENCES
APPENDICES F
Online CPD The use of online access for the delivery of CPD or support for other modes of CPD has been used to overcome distance constraints on the involvement of teachers in professional development. In one instance the online format was combined with the provision of laptop computers to a group of country teachers in WA. The teachers were enrolled in an online course which had University accreditation. The Queensland Society for Information Technology in Education (QSITE), a professional association of teachers, is using online delivery as the major delivery mechanism in “Reinventing Practice”, a course that encourages teachers to examine their current modes of operation and consider new methods. This course combines paper based material, available via the Internet if copyright permits, teleconferencing and online discussion. Of interest to this project and its Phase 2 activity is the Tapped In project in the US (Appendix G and http://www/tappedin.org). In this project, a multi-user online environment was designed with the specific intention of creating an online environment for teacher CPD. Tapped In addresses several issues identified as necessary in the support of online CPD (Schlager & Shank 1997) with attention to the sense of place and persistence in the virtual environment, awareness of others and artefacts, support for a natural flow of communication with social norms and the ability of multiple organisations to act as providers of CPD within the virtual structure. A distinguishing feature of Tapped In is its deliberate intention to create several aspects of the social network features that are associated with the traditional forms of CPD to which teachers express a high preference. Support for CPD via mixed modes of ICT The range of technologies available for the delivery of CPD has now expanded to the extent that CPD providers can construct programmes that employ a variety of ICT platforms according to the suitability of the format and the access available to the intended audience. Accordingly, several systemic CPD programmes have begun to offer a variety of delivery modes. The TILT Plus programme in NSW offers schools and their teachers a selection of modules with options for face to face workshops, CD-ROM, videotape and online components. The application of ICTs to learning communities Within the current project, attention has been focused on models of learning communities that have employed ICT to extend the reach of the support network. In Australia, systems have had limited success in developing online communities but have done so primarily for short-term specific programmes and to deliver information. These have mainly been limited to systemic teachers thus not promoting cross-sectoral sharing. Most systems have promoted password-protected, web-based systems for community conversations. However, the restriction of online communities to members drawn only from a specific organisation may inhibit the sharing that is sought. Online communities have been found to achieve enhanced innovation and learning when they span multiple organisations and can operate beyond the controls of a single institution (Cothrel & Williams 1999). The evidence of growth and evolution in large communities of practice has supported the belief that online communities can also provide the diversity and informality that fosters innovation (Schlager, Fusco & Schank 2000).
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CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES F
Kleiman et al. (2000) identified the potential advantages of the learning community approach to online professional development. These were: •
convenience
•
cost effectiveness
•
ongoing connection to participants’ practice
•
interaction with colleagues and mentors not available locally
•
reflective discussions
•
open social dynamic
•
engagement in new technologies
•
multiple modes for learning
•
archives of activities and discussion.
Kleiman also highlighted the need to consider the distinction between activities that can be effective online and those that should remain face-to-face. Instances of mixed-mode operation have shown the benefits of making informed judgement about the suitability of the online environment according to the nature of the activity and the intended audience. As an example of a mixed-mode learning community, Vocational Education Coordinators Online (VECO) has identified a functional balance of online and off-line strategies. VECO has contributed to the reduction of educator/trainer isolation, increased links with industry, increased links between vocational educators, developed lists of special interest, provided a forum to debate issues, develop skills and celebrate achievement, facilitated face-to-face visits between programs, and organised conferences and special events (ASTF and Dusseldorp Skills Forum 1998). One research report (Kovaric & Bott 2000) suggests that teachers perceive support from real and virtual communities differently in the three domains (affective, operative, intellectual). Teachers rated the support they received from virtual communities more highly than real communities in the operational and intellectual domains; in the affective domain, real colleagues were considered to be more important. The use of online strategies as a learning community has the appeal of involving teachers in the modes of conversation and the practice of participating that closely matches the learning experiences children have in online activities. Described as new modes of self-managed learning, these online experiences show that teachers who actively participate in online communities understand how knowledge can be transferred between contexts when learners are encouraged to articulate and share their practices and ultimately their professional expertise. Guskey, in promoting a mix of professional experiences for teachers, encourages professional development which does not always require the discovery of new knowledge, but a capacity to use it deliberately and wisely and to share the knowledge with a learning community. Moreover, there is research which indicates that professional development for teachers in online environments mimics the pedagogical processes teachers are expected to use within the new curriculum directions of authentic tasks, engaged learning, and scaffolded experiences (Cooley & Johnson 2000). Teachers whose professional development is characterised by online conversations are more likely to understand the applicability of social interaction models of learning to online experiences. Networks, partnerships and collaboratives external to schools are suggested to be a significant tool for the involvement of teachers in the improvement of their practice within schools (Lieberman & Grolnick 1996).
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES F
Schlager, Fusco & Schank (2000) ask if current successful models for online communities can be scaled up to systemic use. They conclude that systems can promote self-managed networking by individuals and small groups and that communities of thousands may not be sustainable nor useful. Any initiatives that rely on online environments to support professional development must also note the finding that “both teachers and TPD providers must understand, and be proficient with, online technology before they can engage in productive activities online” (Schlager, Fusco & Schank 2000). Examples of use online technologies for CPD within Australia Part of the data collection process sought to explore the extent to which delivery strategies for CPD incorporated the use of communications technologies and modelled the very practices that were the focus of the training programs. Although the majority of the examples provided involved face-to-face instruction, there were a number of examples given where online and other technologies were used to support and deliver the training: •
In Western Australia, government teachers in rural schools have participated in a CPD project that saw them enrolled in formal university courses at the Graduate Certificate level that were delivered online.
•
In Victoria, the Department uses online systems such as Sofweb to provide access to online resources and to model integration activities. The Department also supports the Education Channel to enable television to be used as a delivery medium for a variety of strategies and resources.
•
In Western Australia, the Catholic Education Office assists principals to develop ICT skills and to provide ICT leadership through School Technology Plans and the online Virtual Private Network.
•
In Western Australia the Innovative Teacher Projects used a listserv to support face-to-face delivery. Within EDWA, schools are connected through an administrative network serving administrative rather than CPD functions.
•
In Queensland, online support is provided for courses run by the various universities as part of their delivery strategies.
•
In Tasmania, online courses are being used in some instances in school-based settings and teachers are being encouraged to explore this delivery medium.
The data collected from the participants in the surveys and interviews provided little evidence of such contemporary technologies as online and Web-based strategies being used in deliberate or strategic ways to support and foster CPD. Interestingly, these technologies are perhaps the focus of many of the courses being run and the evidence suggests little modelling or leading by example is happening in this regard. Reference to the strategic use of Education Network Australia (EdNA) in the systematic delivery of CPD was noticeably absent.
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APPENDIX F: The increasing role of ICTs in the delivery and support of CPD
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES G
APPENDIX G Tapped In: An example of an online community One aspect of CPD is the expectation that knowledge and successful techniques, having proved to be effective when used in one situation, can be transferred to other contexts. Yet the processes adopted in the practice of informing others have themselves been influenced by the technologies that are increasingly available to achieve such purposes. Dede argues that “Emerging information technologies enable a shift from the transfer and assimilation of information to the creation, sharing, and mastery of knowledge. Active collaboration among educators in developing insights about an innovation is more powerful in fostering effective implementation than simply receiving data about what someone else has done. This shift from assimilation to sharing about best practices potentially increases both the speed and the effectiveness of generalizing and applying educational innovations. Knowledge mobilization and use must itself mirror the types of shifts desired in educational practice, moving from passive assimilation of information to active construction of knowledge, so that the process is consistent with its content.” (Dede 2000, p. 1) Such a view provides supportive argument for the use of communities of practice as a form of professional development. Although such communities have long been a component of the education community, the use of ICT to enable and support online communities has resulted in a transformation in the way that such communities operate. In the past, the main forms of information exchange within communities of practice were the result of face-face meetings and printed publications such as newsletters. Now, many communities of practice rely on interaction via ICT for a significant proportion of the information exchange that occurs. Accompanying the increase in the use of ICT to support communities is an increased focus on the types of tools necessary to provide effective interactive communication within particular communities. Such tools frequently include web pages, e-mail discussion lists and chat forums. In recent years, several projects have created online environments designed specifically for interaction within teacher communities as a means of supporting teacher professional development. An example of such a project is the TAPPED IN (TI) service (http://www.tappedin.org) operated by the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). The developers of TAPPED IN have described it as a “theory-based design experiment at the intersection of TPD, Internet technology, and education reform” (Schlager & Schank 1997). TAPPED IN provides an online environment in which teacher groups, education systems, education faculties in Higher Education, education research groups and resource providers can conduct various forms of professional development and educational research. The service is delivered through a webbased, multi-user virtual environment that mimics the environment of a conference centre. Within this environment, participants are aware of the existence of others and interact through communication tools that support the nuances of human communication. TAPPED IN is not a website in the familiar sense. It is an environment that is updated and extended at will by the participant community. This distinguishes it from a website that might be maintained by a single or even multiple owners because TAPPED IN enables all of its members to contribute to the collective resources. Although virtual environments have their origin in game playing scenarios, there have also been many examples of their application to support online communities. The MediaMOO (Bruckman & Resnick 1998) was established to investigate the use of a virtual environment amongst media researchers. Other uses of virtual environments have been to support student activities or to support researchers in specific disciplines.
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SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES G
TAPPED IN uses the concept of a shared virtual place containing rooms, auditoriums, café, library, private offices and other spaces where participants interact with others and common objects such as whiteboards, filing cabinets, text documents and shared views of webpages. Conversational interactions are conducted through online text, but also maintain the human norms of speaking, whispering, paging and textual descriptions of various emotive actions, eg smiling, waving or nodding. The value of ‘affordances’, characteristics of objects that invite their use, in online environments is analysed by Polin (2000). TAPPED IN has been designed with careful consideration of the visual cues that can be provided in an essentially two-dimensional screen view and has achieved an environment that provides an inviting richness within the limitation of low bandwidth requirements. One of TAPPED IN’s distinguishing features is the use of live, real-time online Help Desk staff. This staff uses highly pro-active means of engaging in conversational interaction with participants, usually greeting them as soon as the participant has entered the environment. This reinforces the awareness of others within the environment that is common within multi-user virtual environments. The desire to be aware of others is recognised as a common trait of visitors to online communities. Online systems that support an ability to know who else is logged in often report that such a query is one of the first actions of participants after logging in. TI makes this even more obvious by automatically displaying such information as part of the initial text presented by the system immediately after the login process. TAPPED IN has used a development strategy of inviting a variety of educational organisations to become resident tenants within the TAPPED IN environment. These organisations are provided with virtual places within TAPPED IN where they can conduct online activities serving the professional development needs of teachers. In addition, any individual teacher or groups of teachers can initiate their own activities often using the TAPPED IN feature of their own virtual private office space to host discussion or to store resources that others can use. These strategies combine the well planned activities within a scheduled CPD calendar of events with more ad hoc meetings that individuals initiate. In this sense, TAPPED IN maintains an online environment that closely matches the forms of interaction to which teachers are highly accustomed, yet uses the advantages of an online environment to overcome the limitations that restrict teachers from engaging in frequent CPD.
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APPENDIX G: Tapped In: An example of an online community
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES H
APPENDIX H Australian examples of most common CDP strategies Professional development strategies
Examples identified during consultations
Single event programmes
•
In New South Wales, the Catholic Education Commission regularly conducts single events for schools in the diocese. For example in 1999/2000 there was one day of ICT CPD provided for every teacher in the system in the Sydney diocese.
•
The Catholic Education Office in WA provides 2-day short courses to introduce teachers to ICT. This form of CPD was reported as a popular strategy among schools for ICT up-skilling.
•
In Victoria, a number of CPD events are organised at a district or regional level and involve participants from many schools.
•
In the ACT, the smallness of the system makes coordination of courses and program quite easy. There is a range of examples of single events for teacher and these tend to be organised and run by the CPD section in the ACT DECS. Often experienced teachers will initiate courses within their own schools.
•
The Internet in the Curriculum project in Western Australia is a one-day CPD course that has been used on a number of occasions to provide skills in the use and integration of ICT in classrooms to 1500 teachers and district office staff. Teachers involved in the project were intended to mount the course within their own schools as a means of school-based CPD.
•
Schools within Education Queensland have school-based funding for CPD and choose single events as their primary source of CPD. Forms include low-cost in-house programs through to funding teachers’ attendance at conferences and workshops.
•
The Connected Learning Conference was held in Victoria in conjunction with the National Australian Council for Educational Computing in 2000.
•
The CPD for Leadership and Planning in ICT Technology Forum was initiated by the Catholic Education Commission as a national event for CPD deliverers in the Catholic education sector throughout Australia.
•
PD is often conducted by professional associations running courses, for example, the Educational Computing Association of Western Australia often runs short courses for teachers, library professional associations run courses for school librarians.
•
In NSW some teachers in the Catholic Education Commission have attended Novell training sessions.
•
Education Queensland through the Learning Development Foundation provides many forms of single event CPD in ICT including coordinating conferences including Schooling 2001 and a conference showcasing innovative uses of ICT in 2000.
APPENDIX H: Australian examples of most common CDP strategies
119
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES H
120
Professional development strategies
Examples identified during consultations
Serial courses
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In Western Australia, the Catholic Education Office provides a series of ten of 1-day courses for its teachers across a range of ICT topics. This program is really a collection of single events offered as a package covering a range of important issues and topics.
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In South Australia, a Masterclass Series provides a number of CPD sessions for teachers throughout the year.
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In the ACT, a program of five single day events is used to support principals learning to use ICT and to develop strategies at the school levels for ICT integration.
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In Tasmania, the Department of Education provides in-school training to small groups of teachers in aspects of online learning. The project aims to provide training to at least half the teachers in each school through two 1-day face-to-face sessions. Online materials are available to complement the workshops.
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In Tasmania, the Educational Computing Unit initiates and supports a number of 1-day courses. These are run by EC staff or by In-School Resource Teachers within the State’s schools. The five Module Courses are run by trained teachers within the schools who are given teaching relief based on the number of teachers trained.
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The Technology in Learning and Teaching (TILT) program is offered by the Training and Development Directorate of DET NSW as a major ICT CPD strategy. The 30 hour course is aimed at teachers with little or no ICT skills and knowledge and is delivered through video, CD-ROM and face to face workshop in a manner which uses classroom and school-based activities. Over 4000 teachers were trained in 1999 and a further 2900 in 2000: the total from 1995 to 2000 being 19,850 teachers. The TILT Plus programme offers advanced skills development for groups of teachers eg. school leaders, ICT coordinators, computing, subject specialists and special education teachers.
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In Queensland, the Computer Literacy Inservice for Catholics (CLIC) course has been run successfully for several years by Queensland University of Technology. The course focuses on developing teachers’ ICT skills for personal and administrative tasks. The courses are supported by online technologies.
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In Victoria, the Learning with the Internet (LWTI) project has provided serial CPD for many people. It follows a model of train the trainer and was based on online materials. These modes provided many advantages such as dispersion, flexibility and currency. It also encouraged high levels of collaboration between teachers and between schools.
APPENDIX H: Australian examples of most common CDP strategies
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES H
Professional development strategies
Examples identified during consultations
Serial courses continued
•
Infrastructure components
Examples identified during consultations
Central and Advisory Services
•
The Educational Computing Unit in Tasmania.
•
Officers with the Department of Education, Training and Employment in Victoria who plan and design CPD programs for ICT.
•
The Learning Technologies Project and the Technology School of the Future in South Australia.
•
The Learning and Development Foundation in Education Queensland.
•
The Training and Development Directorate in NSW Department of Education and Training.
•
The Curriculum Unit, Catholic Education Office Sydney.
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The ICT Development Officer within the WA Catholic Education Commission.
•
Travelling education advisers in Education Queensland.
•
A Project Officer for the Navigator Schools in Victoria.
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Project officers within the Learning Technologies project in WA.
•
District technology advisers in all school Districts in NSW.
•
In Victoria, seven Navigator schools were selected and provided with modest levels of funding to help them take their ICT infrastructure and programs “ahead of the curve”. Within these schools, classrooms were organised with strong models of ICT integration and access to these classrooms became part of the Navigator model. Funds were provided by the program to support two teachers from every school in the Department to attend a three-day practicum focussing on learning and teaching processes at the Navigator schools. A Project Officer was funded by the Department to coordinate the practicums and visits. Currently the Department still funds the Project Officer for this project but no longer provides subsidies for the CPD activities, which now must be met from schools funds.
Navigator/Lighthouse Schools offering mentoring, practicums, courses etc
In Victoria, the Computers Across the Primary Curriculum (CAPC) is an organised CPD program supported by print materials which has remained popular as a means of informing and guiding teachers in the use and integration of ICTs in classroom teaching. A similar course the Computing across the Secondary Curriculum (CASC) is run in a similar vein and relies heavily for its success on the courses training staff who themselves go onto train others.
APPENDIX H: Australian examples of most common CDP strategies
121
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES H
Infrastructure components
Examples identified during consultations
Navigator/Lighthouse Schools continued
•
In Western Australia, The Technology Focus Schools Project was implemented to support a whole school approach to use of ICT in the curriculum. Twenty-five schools (15 primary and 10 secondary) received funding to establish infrastructure and professional development for teachers. The project involved the identification and training of a Learning Technologies Coordinator within the participating schools. These teachers provided models within their own teaching of ICT integration which others in the school could view and follow. The use of the whole school approach was intended to support and encourage ICT use and integration among all teachers and the schools adopted policies and practices to support these aims. The funding for the project ceased in 1999 but many of the schools still continue to implement many aspects of the project and now act as informal Lighthouse Schools in regards to ICT technology, planning, pedagogy and curriculum integration of ICT.
•
In South Australia, Discovery Schools demonstrate the positive impact of adopting whole school approaches to the integration of ICT and conduct CPD activities for visiting teachers and school leaders. The Discovery Network Teachers initiative identifies each year twenty teachers from other schools who will assist peers, local schools and visitors with CPD activities. Three Global Discovery Schools focus on the use of the Internet in classroom applications.
•
In Victoria, the Leading Classroom Practice Network (LCPN) provided $10,000 grants to schools to open classrooms to professional development. The program was judged to be successful but used mainly in an ad hoc rather than strategic fashion. The move is now to whole school approaches in place of isolated classrooms.
In some instances, the use of Lighthouse Schools is used informally as a means to support CPD. For example:
122
•
In South Australia, the Catholic Education Office does not formally designate Lighthouse Schools but indicates to schools that there are some exemplary schools in the system and the CEO facilitates visits through advertising which schools do accept and encourage visits from teachers and administrators.
•
In the ACT, the Catholic Education Office is planning to use Lighthouse Schools as a CPD opportunity and is planning a project in which about 10% of the schools in the sector might be involved in some way. A similar approach is used by the Catholic Education Office in Queensland where exemplary schools are recognised and used by the Office as exemplars for other schools to visit and model.
APPENDIX H: Australian examples of most common CDP strategies
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES H
Infrastructure components
Examples identified during consultations
Navigator/Lighthouse Schools continued
•
In Queensland, a Lighthouse School model is in place through a joint industry-department initiative in the form of the ACOT model. Industry provides the technology and support and the department provides complementary funding to complement school initiatives and CPD programs. Other schools fund their teachers to visit the Lighthouse Schools and to attend CPD programs within them.
•
In Tasmania, the Catholic Education Office has used a deliberate strategy to avoid Lighthouse Schools arguing that an inclusive approach among all schools is a preferable way ahead. The Education Department in Tasmania also sees Lighthouse Schools as losing relevance as a CPD exercise now that all schools have adequate resources. The Department still provides small amounts of funding in the form of one day per week of extra teacher time to enable the schools to further their ICT developments and activities.
•
By March 2001, every teacher in Victoria will have the opportunity to own a laptop. Eighty-five percent of the teachers have taken up a special offer which sees teachers paying $3 per week to have their own laptop which is upgraded every three years. The majority of the teachers in the 15% not taking up the offer already have access to ICT. Teachers participating in this project must take up to 40 hours CPD in ICT including teaching applications.
•
In the ACT, the Computer for Teachers initiative supplied every teacher with a PC. The program created strong demand for CPD and much of the resulting CPD came from work-place training through other teachers.
•
In Western Australia in 1999, The Education Department provided professional development opportunities for 100 older teachers in country areas by providing them with a laptop computer and enrolment in a university accredited course delivered online. Informal evaluations were very positive and the project has been repeated with smaller numbers of teachers in 2000 and 2001.
•
In the ACT, the Catholic Education Office has provided, through a salary packaging scheme, opportunity for teachers to purchase laptops for personal use. The plan requires participating teachers to attend five days CPD in their own time. Uptake has been low with only about 5% of the teachers participating in the scheme.
•
In the Catholic Education sector in Tasmania, some schools have laptop programs for parents where parents can borrow machines after hours to support their children’s learning.
Provision of hardware to teachers
APPENDIX H: Australian examples of most common CDP strategies
123
SUMMARY
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
REFERENCES
APPENDICES H
Infrastructure components
Examples identified during consultations
Provision of hardware to teachers continued
•
In the Archdiocese of Sydney teachers were offered a free PC for home or school use in exchange for undertaking 30 hours of CPD. Two thousand, four hundred teachers received a PC through this scheme in 2000 and a further 1400 were expected to participate in the scheme in 2001.
•
In NSW, a recent round of enterprise agreements allows teachers to use salary packaging to purchase personal computers for home use.
•
In Queensland, the Connecting Teachers project saw computers being given to teachers with a view to exploring the efficacy of this approach. This was seen as a small scale project.
•
In Western Australia in 1999, The Education Department provided professional development opportunities for 100 older teachers in country areas by providing them with a laptop computer and enrolment in a university accredited course delivered online. Informal evaluations were very positive and the project has been repeated with smaller numbers of teachers in 2000 and 2001.
•
The Tasmanian Education Department supports and runs a Graduate Certificate course as an accredited teaching qualification for teachers.
•
In NSW, teachers in Catholic schools are provided with funding and time release to complete relevant courses and awards at universities.
•
The TILT program in NSW is linked to university courses and can be used to gain recognition and accreditation in university courses.
Recognition and certification of learning/expertise
124
APPENDIX H: Australian examples of most common CDP strategies
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