The Challenge of Integrating Research, Action and Learning in the Workplace to Affect Organisational Change

Teacher professional development to support teacher professional learning: Systemic Factors from Irish case studies

“…According to Hargreaves and Fullan (1992) changes at a behavioural level are pre- 10 ceded by changes in understanding and beliefs about how students learn. This however stands in contradistinction to others who argue that teachers can change their practices first (Guskey 2002;Bolt 2007) followed by improved student learning and lastly teacher attitudes and beliefs. However, presenting change in a linear fashion has been criticised by others who argue that change is not a linear process, rather a 15 reciprocal interplay between changes in beliefs, practices and students with no definitive starting place (Opfer, Pedder, and Lavicza 2010).…”

“…Issues may arise within the school context where a mismatch exists between teachers' individual PD needs and those of the school or department. This may be more evident in a climate of standardisation and accountability where changes 25 within schools are often imposed by principals or PD co-ordinators (Bolam et al 2005) in a top-down fashion through performance management. Effectively, this renders teachers as 'technicians carrying out someone else's policy' (Priestley et al 2011, 269) rather than being active, creative, self-directed participants in their own professional learning.…”

“…While much focus has been on providing high quality PD to enhance teachers' learning what is less clear is how to support teachers to engage with and sustain new practices over time and how to 25 understand teacher professional learning and processes of learning. Arguably high quality PD will result in changes in teacher practices and improved student outcomes.…”

“…Keywords: CPD; professional development; change; sustainability; professional learning Introduction and rationale Despite a burgeoning international literature advocating teacher professional learning as an essential mediating factor for enhancing student outcomes, the knowledge 25 practice gap (Kennedy 2014) or implementation and sustainability of change in schools remains somewhat elusive. Teacher professional learning has been defined as the growth of teacher expertise leading to a change in practices to result in improved student outcomes (New South Wales (NSW) Institute of Teachers 2007).…”

“…In each of the schools this involved observing the peer tutoring model in practice and supporting teachers with any questions or queries they had regarding the model. In some cases suggestions were offered following the observation, for example, only allowing pupils to change their reading 25 books at the end of the 30 min session to ensure that they were getting the maximum time for reading. Findings appeared to show an overall average improvement of 12.7 months in reading accuracy for pupils (n = 116), high levels of pupil engagement and enjoyment along with teachers' willingness to sustain the practice beyond the initial 30 implementation period (King and Gilliland 2009).…”