Listening to teachers’ talk about CPD: a multi-national case study Alex Kendall, Adrian Kacian, Andrea Kybalíková, Vlasta Cabanová, Pierre Vignes, Victor Cavaleiro, Dina Pereira, Phil Taylor

PaCTT Project Birmingham City University University of Beira Interior, Portugal Capa Anatolio Teacher Training School, Turkey National Institute for Training and Career Development in Education (NIOKSO),Bulgaria Novancia Business School, Paris University of Zilina Slovakia

Project Objectives To achieve a better understanding of approaches to CPD in each of the countries To identify and share examples of good practice To develop a framework for effective practice

Project Activities Strand 1 - Mapping Strand 2 – E-survey (snap-shot of 12 months) Strand 3 – Interviews with teachers Visiting schools and colleges Idea exchange & case studies

Outputs Searchable project wiki -Mapping -Templates -Data -Processes Report Framework

e-Survey Overview Opportunity sample. Responses so far, as of 2 nd Feb 2013: Bulgaria (437), Slovakia (210), UK (148), France (40), Portugal (28), Turkey (48). Mostly female – 83%. Mostly teachers of 11+ year olds – 72%. Most have over 10 years teaching experience – 63%. Data are therefore limited, however… Some interesting patterns are emerging.

Interview data Grounded theory approach Inductive Multiple sources of data – including individuals who do not share a common culture Data collection, coding and analysis occur concurrently Researcher enters the field & discovers the main concerns of participants and the way they resolve these problems Interviews in each country Bulgaria, Portugal, Slovakia complete and included in analysis Turkey in transcription, UK collected this week, France February

High level coding so far CPD decision making Conceptualisations of teachers/teaching/students High Value Learning Low Value Learning Impact of CPD Modalities of CPD Motivators Relationships with ITT Spaces and Places

Motivators Internal Self esteem Pleasure from seeing students enjoy lessons. Never stop working to improve myself. Desire to be a good role model. External Salary Getting credits Keep up-to-date with new strategies and innovations. Pressure from within the school/local authority/government. Response and feedback from students. Competition from other sources of information.

Motivators ‘…I think every teacher should be interested in innovations in teaching and implementation of interesting methods in the classroom because the time in which we live is very dynamic and requires new approaches to ways of teaching and we need to understand the needs of the students...’

High value learning 1 Macro level community of practice – benefits of working with others (other countries): major importance of EU/US programs to foster mobility/training between teachers that will impact on the teachers’ role and standardisation of patterns keep up to date establishment of networks establishment of comparative analysis between different types of schools

High value learning 2 Macro level community of practice/sharing: exchange experiences personal & professional discuss new methods & strategies training other teaching methodologies exchange good practices

High value learning 3 Micro level community of practice – immersion: major importance of ‘job shadowing’, observation, teaching practice immersion into school practice introduction of IT tech in the educational process Macro becomes micro: importance of EU projects for teachers to experience different methodologies abroad and train colleagues and implement them

Low Value Learning Abstract teaching of theory ‘Which portion of your CPD is devoted to practical experiences? … All education comes through example, so must not to give a negative example in your CPD being a dry theoretical academic experience.’ Learning not important, relevant or applicable to practice ‘Did you bridge the theory with practice?’ Not learning ‘on the job’ ‘Do not forget to implement the key teacher competences in your CPD

Impact Longitudinality Dissemination Evaluation Promotion Immediate application

Immediate application MAKE SURE some practical teaching ideas are included in the CPD activity Teachers consider immediate application Of CPD activities a vital aspect of the impact They appreciate training activities that are put into practice right away so that they can see their effect ‘… you see the result right away. If they like it, they like it. If they don’t they, “I don’t like it, it’s stupid!”’ They like small practical activities that suggest ideas they implement in their work ‘… the outcomes were more practical. It was a good quality.’ Discussions on teaching practice are liked as they show the teachers small things they can change to improve their work ‘We talk with them, have ideas, and you can use it in our work.’

Longitudinality Think about the future Long-term impact of learning and CPD is something teachers consider when thinking of impact. ‘I mean, the reward is always there…’ Quite often you don’t appreciate whether something is important for you but it proves to have a long term effect Students also understand what teachers have told them at a later stage of their lives ‘Everything person manages to learn can be very important at some point even though, in the beginning, it might look like useless.’

Dissemination, evaluation and promotion Return on investment When considering impact and dissemination of CPD activities we inevitably come to the price of the training courses In times of limited budgets in education and not only you have to do your best to share the knowledge with fellow teachers at school Evaluation and promotion are to be based on students’ achievements or level ‘So during the meeting we should actually tell teachers what we have learned during this training, and what is new, what we are going to use and apply in our school.’

Modalities Bolt-on approach Integrated approach Formal Informal Research/enquiry focused

Next Steps Completion of interviews in Paris in Feb Further analysis of interview transcripts. Production of a Framework Tool for CPD. Dissemination of project in Sofia, Bulgaria in Jun A new project building on PaCTT - European Electronic Co-operative Community of Practice for the continuous professional (EE-CCOP.