Notes from Module 1 - Saturday 1 - 23/02/2008

CPD Effect
• What is the impact of the CPD?
• How do you know this? – Paper/Observe/Record
• What metacognition are the learners making use of?  Audio/video recordings
• Evaluation
 Learning Log

Metacognition
• Task breakdown occurs when learners don’t have the strategies to deal with the problem 
e.g. can you calculate 7 x 123 in your head?
• What strategies did you try?
o As you’d lay it out on paper?
o 7 x 100, 7 x 20 & 7 x 3
o 7 x 130 – (7 x 7)
o ?
• Up to now gaining these strategies has been left to chance – implicit.
• Need to make them explicit
o Have/discuss/evaluate/learn
• Lack of strategy leads to lack of trying/learning/poor behaviour.
• How did you do that?
• Evidence for this can be recorded:

Paper
Deeper understanding of children
as learners.
E
Recording Observation

Learning through talking (metacognition): What’s going on?

• Listening - do they understand?
- how do you know if they understand?
- are they using active listening?
• Sharing information - discussion follows
- analyse/evaluate/make sense of through own experience
• For sustainable learning, what kind of talk/interaction do we want?

Learning Theory
• Constructive – active learning (active refers to mental activity, not physical)
• With talk = social constructivism
• Pollard A. 2005 Learning Processes
• Area of work/activity negotiated = Where are you now? How will we get you to where you
need to be?
• Socio-cultural theory is similar but takes culture into account.
• In our teaching we need to use the behavioural model due to SQA/curricular pressures. We
need to incorporate social-constructivism to achieve deep sustainable learning/connections.
• Do it  Talk about doing it  Talk about the theory
 • Bob Lingard – Would teaching to the test be wrong if the tests assessed metacognition skills.

Tools What do I do.

Activities
Curriculum Why do I do it.
Learning Theory
Attitudes/Beliefs Why it should be done.

Do we use theory?
• Making Sense of Teaching: Donald McIntyre & Sally Brown
• Successful teachers couldn’t communicate but were doing it and understand it.

Is teaching a profession?
• Yes  We think it is a moral obligation. We speak out against initiatives which do not fit
with our judgement.
• No  We work out how best to do what we are told!!

Module Assessment
• In two parts:
o Academic style essay on professionalism. Will look at this in week 3.
o Focus now on action plan.

HW  Learning log & project outline (have a go at)

 Email in advance if possible
 Electronic versions will be emailed out by Gillian

Notes from Module 1 - Saturday 2 - 08/03/2008

Morwena Griffiths

What is reflection? – represent pictorially:

Action
Observe

Reflection What happened?

Change Why?
(Plan) What could be done differently?

Practical reflection = reflection which leads to action.

Think of something that happened last week: What? When? Who with? Why? So What?

Reflection in action = They are getting bored, I had better…

= This is taking longer than I thought, I had better…
 Reflection on action = What happened? Next time I’ll…
= What happened? What makes it likely that will happen? Perhaps I should…
(double loop learning)
In Action -
Rapid Reaction: act-observe-react
Repair: act-observe-react-monitor-react
On Action -
Review: act-observe-analyse&evaluate-plan-act
Research: act-observe systematically-analyse rigorously-evaluate-plan-act
act-observe systematically-analyse rigorously-retheorise-evaluate-plan-act

Critical Incident – moment which challenges your thinking/values/beliefs

What was at issue? Why is that an issue?

Why did this happen? Is there any other way of seeing what happened?
- Devil’s advocate
- How would it be seen by…?

Research Process
- Research/informal reflection
 Public
 Defended
 Discuss/critical

Writing up a claim (GR)

Impact – focus on one group for now

You need to challenge your values, beliefs and assumptions. Need to show you have moved
forward in your thinking through Action Research or evaluations.

Need to look at prior research critically – there must be limitations to any approach.

Research
- What are the strengths in terms of learning & learners?
- What are the limitations in terms of learning & learners?
- Need to be critically aware.

What are the logistical constraints (physical/time/policy) – this is a separate issue.

Read something – it resonates – read the opposing viewpoints.

What is the fitness for purpose?

Plan research Implement action

Plan Act
Plan action Monitor action
Reconnaissance Interventionist
(1st cycle) Reflect on action
Evaluate Research Produce data

Review research Analyse data

process
Deciding on success criteria:
- What will they be doing differently?

It doesn’t matter if work has failed – only that you can critically analyse & evaluate the failure.

Module 1 – need to show understanding the process. Choose a project that works for me now.

Action plan
- I am here Self audit – not done yet!!
- I am aiming for there  CTS
- This is what I need to do to get there.
- Example of claim  project outline is a writing frame which promotes action &
evaluation to help with this.
- PO/Learning log/Self-evaluation/Evidence trail  in appendices to show learning
process

HW
- Research methods activity.
- Green page 55
- Questionnaires
- Handout & core readers
- Produce an A4 summary of the keypoints  How fit for purpose is this method?
- Copy x2
- Burton & Bartlett – Practioner research for teachers
Notes from Module 1 - Saturday 3 - 19/04/2008

1) Nigel: Professionalism Essay

 Thinking frame provided: is teaching a profession?
 Was self-regulating now led by parents not pupils.
 Nigel feels that professionals are people who think.
 If it is a profession  this gives us rights as well as responsibilities.

2) David Carr
 Notes in module 1 reading booklet and in first class.
 Professionalism & ethics in teaching book.
 Background in philosophy – not empirical.
 Educational theory is not a natural scientific theory – large scale generalisations are not
relevant – cannot derive large scale proscriptive policies.
 Educational theory as a branch of social science is widely held idea in Edinburgh Uni and
out with  MSc & empirical research. Should this be central or should educational theory
be a branch of ethics/morals?
 Branch of philosophy = investigation of meaning.
 How do we distinguish between education, training & teaching? Why is looking for a
definition useful? They can mean different things in different contexts – need to ensure we
are using terms consistently.
 Profession v Professional Activity – what’s the difference and where does teaching sit?
 Professional
o Slippery term. A footballer gets paid versus amateur. But, can talk about amateur
footballer acting professionally and vice versa.
o Therefore – general term of normative appraisal in the sense of behaving
professionally.
o Teaching is governed by standards therefore of course it is a professional activity. Is
it a profession then? If a plumber does a professional job, is plumbing a profession?
 Profession
o Used to identify a particular category of occupation.
o Doctors? Yes. Lawyers? Yes. Accountants? Not sure.
o Teaching is like this.
o Question of status is not relevant to distinguishing between professions and trades.
o Can use differences between professions and trades to help us to place teaching.
o There are other terms as well!  Vocation = clerics/nurses/social work
o Profession = a high degree of regulation & impartiality.
o In the 1960s many arguments were put forward to stop teaching from being turned
into a profession!! A good lawyer maintains a professional distance. Teaching is not
like this  it is a professional activity involving personal relationships.
o Profession criteria:
 Important public service
 Extensive knowledge and skills
 Ethical code and duties of responsibility
 Organised on a self-regulated basis
 Autonomy/independent judgement
o Teaching analogies:
 Vocational: Cultural custodian or caring professional or social reformer.
 Professional: Restricted professional/classroom technician or extended
 professional/educational consultant or commercial/business conception
o In teaching it is hard to distinguish between the job and the character of the person.
o Teaching partakes in aspects of other occupations.
o There is confusion between good teaching versus a good teacher.

31/05/08 10.30am  Meeting with Nigel to get assignment feedback. Send in work a week before.

Final deadline is 23rd June

Assignment

 No need to make the link between a) and b) overt. Although there is a link between the two
in that you need to be aware of professionalism in order to write an action plan.
 For section b) follow the writing frame to the letter and you cannot fail!
 Self audit will be looked at in week4.
o You against the CT standard
o How well do you understand what you’re teaching and why you’re teaching it in that
way?
 For this assignment you only need one claim – it’s an example of a claim.
 For the claim you present the evidence trail showing the impact on learners/learning/you
(learning log).
 Evidence trail – appendices (not counted in word count). Must analyse the data and make
sense of it.
 Critical incident? /learning event
o Course summary/outline/certificate/descriptor.
o Big brownie points for this kind of realisation.
 Learning log can capture what you have learnt from reading.
 Critical reading frame can go into appendices.
 Written part of the claim must refer to appendices.
 Shortfall in evidence can be addressed by saying what you would do differently next time.

Homework for next time:

 Bring questions/evidence trail/outline of project for help
 Read over p51 yellow – evidence trail & p26 b) writing frame.
 Try one of the research methods
 Prepare presentation of about 10/15 minutes. Not about date but about process.
b)

Self-audit Critical incident Baseline Pupils’ work Pupils’ work

Timeline
Evidence Reflection on & project Analysis Analysis Analysis
trail learning outline
overview

Interview/ Collation of Critical

questionnaire data analysis of
schedule approach

Reflection of
Analysis* learning

*Analysis

Extrapolate key findings making direct reference to data and your

analysis – relate to literature.

What does that tell me? What deductions can I make? I think this
because… Direct from the evidence. Then draw an inference from
own knowledge. Discussion/own interpretation from own private
experience.
Notes from Module 1 - Saturday 4 - 11/05/2008

Professionalism Essay
 2nd Option  Nigel’s flowchart
 Gill’s academic writing powerpoint p63

Lindsay Paterson – Professor of Educational Policy – Professionalism in Teaching

(1) Current Policy

(2) Current Popular Views
(3) Social Meaning of Professionalism

(1) Current Policy

 Official view = teachers are professionals. However, no policy or manifesto saying
what this means.
 Nothing on GTCS or HMIe websites in terms of meaningful/in-depth discussion.
 Relevant documents include the McCrone Report (McCR), the McCrone Agreement
(McCA), the 2002/3 National Debate (ND) in Education and aCfE.
 Themes throughout these documents include teacher professionalism matters,
teachers should be treated as professionals – professionalism meaning taken for
granted.
 A lot of this is rhetoric, however rhetoric matters as it shapes the debate and becomes
the norm. It also allows unions to hold the government to account on its own words
if they feel they have fallen short.
 The official response to the ND endorsed the idea that teaches deserve respect, they
are not just technicians and that Pre-McC conditions were not conducive to
professionalism  Post=McC aims to improve conditions for professionalism.
 McCA purpose is to address issues of professional esteem & autonomy.
 Proposals document of 2006 endorses professionalism. This leads into aCfE 
remove responsibility of creativity and professional judgement and transfer this to
teachers.
 Building the Curriculum 1 document  teachers are key to the successful
implementation of aCfE.
 January 2008 – Goverment Quangos for abolition list. GTCS set to be become
wholly independent of Government – this will be 1st in world. An aside in this
document states that this move will establish GTCS as a self-governing body in line
with the GMC, raising the status of teachers.
 Running through all of this is a rhetoric of professionalism, but not explicitly spelled
out.
 McCA also included an element of public accountability as well as professional
esteem. Is this in conflict? Return to in (3).
 Key points from the McCR (in terms of professionalism)
i. Probation
ii. Supervision of placement & probation
iii. CPD & Sabbaticals
iv. Chartered Teacher Programme
v. Pay
vi. Reduction of trivial duties
vii. Support staff (for teachers & HT’s)
viii. Collegiality
 Pay was the only aspect to be picked up by the media
  How did the Agreement compare?
i. Most fully developed part of the agreement. Agreed to be a more appropriate
method  this brings in ii. also.
iv. In place also.
v. There has been movement but the gap has only been closed by 2/3 compared
to equivalents  however this has led to a rise in applications and movement
to Scotland.
vi. & vii. there has been some movement also.

 The report has not been fully implemented.

ii. Nothing much has happened in terms of placement review. Unlikely to
become more like medicine/social work (longer training with more work-
based focus) as this would require a significant shift of resources from
universities to schools.
iii. Vague. Nothing about sabbaticals at all – there isn’t even any debate! It’s
gone. But this is something which is currently highly regarded by many
employers, and this is a time when teachers are under increasing amount of
pressure.
v. Key element missing – job sizing evaluation. Carried out by a management
consultancy who had limited education experience. Many PT’s have lost out
or become demoralised. What will be the long term effects of this?? These
are the people leading us on!
viii. Very little done in terms of policy, mainly encouragement – no guidelines.
HT would need to voluntarily relinquish power. No advice. Requires an
enlightened and risk taking HT. What happens if something goes wrong?
Need to be bold given legal constraints.

 To summarise (1), there has been significant shifts, including a lot of rhetoric from
Government/GTC/HMIe. We’re only part way there, but will we ever get there?

(2) Current Popular Views

 Are these policies in tune with popular views?
 Evidence? National Debate produced some qualitative data:
- Those who are alienated from education tended to believe student rights have gone
too far and that a proper respect for teachers is the only way to engage in worthwhile
learning.
- There was…agreement that effective teachers need good subject knowledge as well
as pedagogical skills.
- One of the criteria which should be used to judge future policy should be helping
teachers to develop professionally and improve their self-confidence & autonomy.
 These quotations are out of kilter with contemporary educational theory and aCfE.
 Statistical evidence?
- Who should take the day to day decisions in school? Teachers 32%, HT 28%,
Parents 13%, Education Authority 12%, Scottish Executive 9%, Pupils 3%, UK
Government 2% - Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2000
- BMA annual attitudes to professionals survey (25 years). Proportion of the public
trusting GP’s? 90%, Teachers 90%, Ordinary person in the street 50%, Clergy 75%,
Scientists 65%, Politicians 20%, Journalists 15%, University Professors 78%. GP’s
& Teachers highest at 90%, but have the least ‘don’t knows’.
 Summary of (2): Far from policy being ahead public views, any move by policy to
increase teacher professionalism would command public support.
 (3) Social Meaning of Professionalism

 Historic development of professionalism

i. Old professionalism up to 60s/70s. Teachers in control of education, control
over the curriculum. HT particularly powerful. Intrusion from the Inspector
only (but they are part of the profession). Extremely hierarchical. Highest
status had the majority of the power and control. Firmly rejected any outside
influence. Teachers had a sense of socially responsible professionalism. Ethic
requires them to serve society. Teachers felt they could only serve pupils if
they had control.
ii. New right challenge: Education is a conspiracy against lay people. Aimed to
undermine control through markets (although not true markets). Parental
choice, devolved management marketing. No actual currency, therefore
league tables and performance indicators  deprofessionalising. Markets
never actually happened, still centrally controlled. Voting out of Local
Authority effectively meant Central Government control. Curriculum and
budgets still came from centre anyway. Message: teachers no longer good
enough to run schools.
iii. New left challenge: surprise after 1997  no change! Left wing writers also
felt that teaching was run by middle-class white males and that schools
themselves are the problem. Teachers with authority (which is automatically
illegitimate) is the problem. The left suspicious of teacher autonomy as much
as the right.
iv. Debate about democratic professionalism. Can’t return to old world
deference to autonomy.

Points arisen from democratic professionalism:

a) Authority is inescapable – it has to be earned though.
b) Earned by exploration. Difference between explaining yourself and explaining yourself
through statistics. If aCfE schools to develop new curriculum. Then need to explain/justify
to community of professionalism is democratic  there should be anyway. Schools will
have to fill in a syllabus around the experiences & outcomes.
c) Such professionals will have to be more collegiate internally. Who will take these decisions
regarding the curriculum? Whole school discussion? Does this happen in secondary
schools?
d) More widely: if Scottish society has decided teachers are to be more widely regarded, do we
need to define what a democratic professional looks like? Do we need to share this with the
public?

Assignment submission:
- Secretary is here ‘till 5pm
- Electronic copy (email or disc)
- Appendices don’t need to be electronic – but need two copies
- Paper copy of everything as well
- Folder order = Appendices, Essay, Action Plan, Appendices
- Results should be 1st week in August
- Pass will be provisional until September when Board of Examiners meets

Self Audit
- Not assessed
- Planning tool
 - Not effective to take each standard and match to it

Evidence Trail
- CTS highlighted standards need to be covered