Can schools really provide the learning environment that new teachers need? Complexities and implications for professional learning in Wales

Abstract

Cit a tio n fo r fin al p u blis h e d ve r sio n: Milto n, E m m aj a n e , D aly, C a r oli n e, L a n g d o n, F r a n c e s , P al m er, M el a ni e, Jon e s, Ke n a n d D avi e s, An d r e w Ja m e s 2 0 2 0. C a n s c h o ols r e ally p r ovi d e t h e le a r ni n g e n vi r o n m e n t t h a t n e w t e a c h e r s n e e d ? Co m pl exiti e s a n d i m plic a tio n s fo r p r of e s sio n al le a r ni n g in Wal e s. P r of e s sio n al D ev elo p m e n t in E d u c a tio n 1 0.

The university role in new teacher learning – why it matters: Teach First trainee perspectives

“…All trainees in this research valued engaging in practitioner enquiry, and some explicitly shared the benefits of professional collaboration to develop research-informed and innovative practice to meet the needs of students in their contexts. Some were given more freedom than others to engage in practitioner enquiry, and there were mixed views on schools' capacities to provide supportive learning cultures, which Milton et al (2020) argue can have a significant impact on the professional formation and growth of new teachers.…”

How do ecological perspectives help understand schools as sites for teacher learning?

“…Opfer, 2013, OECD 2018). In the UK, there has been a persistent challenge in developing genuinely collaborative professional learning cultures within schools at scale, in which teachers are agentive and in which collaborative learning involves all stakeholders, including leaders (Opfer and Pedder, 2010, OECD, 2018, Milton et al, 2020. We suggest that greater attention to emergence as an explicit feature of learning in complex systems helps to illuminate these challenges and can inform priorities and values that support leaders in developing their schools as learning entities.…”

“…We have previously argued for the relevance of ecological concepts of schools as complex environments for professional learning (Milton et al, 2020), focusing on three complementary theoretical perspectives -'at systems level through complexity theory; at the level of individual interactions with environment via ecological theory; and…through theories of communitiesprofessional, learning and practice-oriented'. At systems level, complexity theory is able to illuminate the multiple and dynamic sets of relations among stakeholders within a school; it proposes the inevitability of uncertainty as a constant feature.…”

“…Numerous studies have identified the prevalence of hierarchical concepts of professional learning and simplified understandings of the roles of each stakeholder that prevent 'learning for everyone' (Poekert, 2012, p. 176), particularly around the development of new teachers. Research within schools employing early career teachers indicates the challenges of establishing collaborative, inclusive professional learning environments in which all stakeholders can benefit from mutual endeavour and the collective knowledge and experience of colleagues (Hobson and Malderez, 2013, Langdon et al, 2014, Langdon et al, 2019, Milton et al, 2020. From leaders' perspectives, Sunde and Ulvik (2014) suggest a 'lack of awareness' of the experiences and needs of newly-qualified teachers in their schools.…”

Key Stakeholders’ Perceptions Regarding Role of Mentors in Primary Schools

“…The triumph of all mentoring-based CPD much depends on the promise, honesty, undertaking, and commitment of all stakeholders, especially mentees and mentors (Milton et al, 2020). The mentors (DTEs) under the CPD framework of DSD gets all type of guidance and support from the technical team of DSD and also from the "coaching guide" and mentor's guide book regularly (Shehzad, 2014).…”