Teacher Experience and Change
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Subject: [FocusOnBasics 229] teacher education and change
From: jataylor at utk.edu
Date: Thu Apr 13 10:36:40 EDT 2006
Hi Barb,
As you know, in the FOB evaluation NCSALL reported finding that "Respondents
with higher levels of education report a higher rate of change in their
attitudes and behaviors about adult basic education and a higher rate of
putting into action ideas they learn as a result of reading Focus on Basics."
The report also notes the contradiction of this to the finding in the 2003
NCSALL Professional Development Study which documents that 'teachers with
master's degrees were less likely than those without to act upon information
learned in staff development activities.' One hypothesis offered was that
teachers who were more educated were possibly more "settled" in their work and
less likely to demonstrate change based on what they learned in PD.
What are your speculations about this discrepancy as it pertains to the
research, and what is the message you'd recommend that professional developers
take away from this comparison as it is pertinent to their work?
Thanks, Jackie
Jackie Taylor, Moderator
Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
jataylor at utk.edu
Subject: Re: [FocusOnBasics 229] teacher education and change
From: Barbara Garner b.garner4 at verizon.net
Date: Thu Apr 13 11:19:13 EDT 2006
That's a great question, and one that merits more research. I'll weigh in, but would love to hear from others, too.
Keep in mind, the FOB evaluation was not an effort to replicate the findings of NCSALL Staff Development Study. The NCSALL Staff Development study involved practitioners in a variety of different types of professional development. But those types did not include "reading professional journals and perhaps discussing them with colleagues". So what we might be seeing is that different types of practitioners relate differently to difference types of professional development.
In terms of what lesson it offers professional developers now: to me it says that if you don't already include reading materials with any professional development activity you conduct, you should consider adding some.
Barb Garner
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 229] teacher education and change
From: Terrence Kelley kelleyterr at yahoo.com
Date: Thu Apr 13 16:02:22 EDT 2006
Dear Barb,
REF (presumed) professional development and the
incorporation thereof issue ... and I speak for
colleagues here --
"Incorporation thereof" is different for new and
seasoned practioners, education levels accounted for.
I think there are several aspects to consider -the
major one of which is: Does one choose their own PD
based on professional interests/an intererst
stream/prior education/prior professional development
activities, student needs etc., or is PD something
that is arranged by one's administration and is
supposedly suitable for all simply because it (the PD
offering) fits somehwere within the world of adult
education? That's the situation I'm in, and I'm sure
not alone.
What is bona fide professional development, i.e.
current and content relevant, for a new teacher may
very well not be for a seasoned one - either because
it's old hat, it doesn't fit their teaching style, or
is not suitable for their students, or ..... So, who
incorporates what and why, or why not, has to be
carefully considered.
The above are just applied meanderings.
Have a good weekend.
Terry Kelley
Missoula Adult Basic & Literacy Education
Missoula MT
Subject: Re: [FocusOnBasics 229] teacher education and change
From: Barbara Garner b.garner4 at verizon.net
Date: Thu Apr 13 16:52:07 EDT 2006
Dear Listers...
Terry makes a good point...presumably most folks who completed the Focus on Basics evaluation survey read FOB because they are self motivated to do so (although we didn't ask that question). Whereas some participants in professional development are sent by their administrators because of the presumed suitability of the offering. Motivation makes a difference.
I'm not sure how the NCSALL Staff Development study treated motivation in their analysis. I'll ask them to share with us their views, if not this week then next.
What do other readers think might be reasons for the difference in findings between the FOB evaluation, in which "Respondents
with higher levels of education report a higher rate of change in their attitudes and behaviors about adult basic education
and a higher rate of putting into action ideas they learn as a result of reading Focus on Basics" and the NCSALL staff development study, which reported that 'teachers with master's degrees were less likely than those without to act upon information learned in staff development activities.'?
Barb Garner
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 242] Re: teacher education and change
From: Katrina Hinson khinson at future-gate.com
Date: Thu Apr 13 19:30:31 EDT 2006
I think motivation is probably the driving force. I think the individual has to be willing to learn or be open to new ideas. I also think complacency is a bad thing and something people slide into sometimes unknowingly...they get comfortable with the way they've done something and think they don't have to change it or even fear the change and tensions usually associated with change.
Personally, I've waited for a while before pursuing an advanced degree and if all goes well I'll be starting my Masters in the fall. I've been teaching in Adult Ed for 10 years though. I think sometimes, that there is a feeling that having an advanced degree means you've "arrived" at some pre determined destination...or that you're now an expert able to impart knowledge but perhaps not gain it. I'm not really sure. I've encounted that behavior in the workplace and I think that's what's put me off for so long about going back to school. I don't ever want to feel I have nothing else to learn or gain via any form of education. I definitely feel that professional development is essential to staying effective in the classroom. I actually believe professional development is essential in ANY workplace.
I think I'd wonder how the NCSALL arrived at their conclusion compared to how FOB arrived at theirs. Was the pool of respondants the same in size as well as was the pool of respondants the same in terms of degrees etc.
Ultimately, I think it comes down to the individual person's drive and desire to grow professionally and personally.
Regards
Katrina Hinson
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 243] Re: teacher education and change
From: Janet Isserlis Janet_Isserlis at brown.edu
Date: Fri Apr 14 09:27:22 EDT 2006
Katrina and all
I think motivation is likely an important factor, but we also need to be
mindful of systemic support for educators. What supports are/aren't
available to people who are working more than one part-time job? What are
the cultures of professional development in their various workplaces? Aside
from the intrinsic motivation to learn more, what messages to program
administrators, colleagues and funders convey to teachers about the value of
professional development?
I was really fortunate to have had an opportunity to begin my MA work after
I'd been teaching for 9 years (through a program that funded the courses so
that we only paid for books). It was a part-time masters program, over two
and a half years, designed for full-time teachers. I was already privileged
to be working full time; the degree program required a lot of work, but not
a lot of money. While grateful endlessly for the program - I was ready to
dig in and learn, and had the questions to ask that I might not have had in
my first year of teaching - I still think that we can't only ascribe
participation in PD to personal motivation. We also need to be proactive in
working to build opportunities for practitioners across the board - new,
continuing, veteran practitioners - or we risk what I've heard Barb describe
as "good programs getting gooder." It's great to build capacity in strong
programs - but it's also great to make capacity building available across
the board.
IF it is the case that personal motivation is the determining factor, then
we've all the more work to do to build a greater collective culture of
learning and respect for learning throughout the field.
Janet Isserlis
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 244] Re: teacher education and change
From: mgsantos at sfsu.edu
Date: Fri Apr 14 10:21:13 EDT 2006
Janet and all
I have to agree strong with Janet's thoughts on motivation. I train adult ESL
teachers in MA TESOL program and many of them (of varying levels of experience)
WANT to implement the ideas they read in FOB ... but when they get go back to
their programs, they reported feeling frustrated that their programs don't seem
to support innovation and creativity in teaching. If a program isn't committed
at the program-level to fostering a "culture of change" (lots of stuff out there
in K-12 about this), personal motivation can provide a point of entry but is not
sufficient for meaningful impact.
At the same time I think we need to recognize the many ways that teachers do
grow and develop that don't necessarily translate into measurable learner gains.
Stephen Reder and his team in Portland have argued for a broader view on learner
participation, beyond program attendance. Perhaps we also need to begin
systematically accounting for the ways that teachers manage their own
professional growth and strive to develop professionally, outside of formal pd
organizations and *in spite* of the lack of programmatic support.
With FOB online, the series represents a rich library that a teacher could turn
to for self-reflection. However there are still a lot of teachers out there (I
meet them at TESOL conventions) who don't know about NCSALL or FOB. If FOB is
facing the end of its publishing run, it seems strategic to think how NCSALL
might use its remaining FOB funds to expand its outreach.
Best, Maricel Santos
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 245] Re: teacher education and change
From: Barbara Garner b.garner4 at verizon.net
Date: Fri Apr 14 12:32:11 EDT 2006
Wow, lots of ideas and information here.
First, regarding the differing findings of the two studies (the FOB survey, and the NCSALL Staff Development Study, a lengthy research projects)in one, those with less education were more likely to incorporate ideas learned in professional development. In the other, those with more education were likely to do the incorporating...
But perhaps the good news is that both groups, under certain conditions, put professional development to use.
The issue that Janet writes about, of the conditions conducive to engagement in professional development, are much the same issues we think about when pondering how to enroll and engage ABE learners. The need, the motivation, are important, but so are elements such as availability, cost (free), accessibility, child care if needed, etc. And a climate conducive to learning. I can't agree more that all the pieces have to be in place.
Has anyone experienced a considerable change in their program, toward a climate more conducive to learning? And when I write "climate" I'm thinking about both atmosphere and also particulars: paid release time, substitutes available, support for trying new things, etc. What caused the change? What can we learn from your experiences? How about change, I hate to say it, in the opposite direction? What stifles professional learning?
And continuing outreach, particularly to folks who don't know of FOB and NCSALL as a resource, is a valuable reminder. Any suggestions of concrete things NCSALL should be doing to bring itself and FOB to teachers' attention?
Barb
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 250] Re: teacher education and change
From: Katrina Hinson khinson at future-gate.com
Date: Fri Apr 14 17:17:57 EDT 2006
I think the biggest support that is missing is adequate funding. I recently attended an event in my state and was fortunate to be an instructor among several other administrators as well as other instructors. In our down time, I had the chance to talk with the two administrators. They were talking about how they'd love to send their teachers to what we ourselves were attending. I asked why they didn't. They said they didn't have the funds and they didn't have the means by and large to provide professional development on any regular basis. I thought that was sad and I counted myself blessed that the school I work for does budget for professional development. I was also disappoited that professional development isn't/wasn't considered something that should be necessary in EVERY budget. Unfortunately the way community college budgets are done sometimes means there is great disparity across the state and therefore great disparity in the opportunities available.
I agree that there is probably more that goes into the professional development question and the differences between the NCSALL findings and the FOB findings. I'm just not sure where we'd even begin to get people to appreciate and understand the great need there really is for providing professional development on a larger, consistent scale.
Regards
Katrina Hinson
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 251] Re: teacher education and change
From: Virginia Tardaewether tarv at chemeketa.edu
Date: Mon Apr 17 18:29:01 EDT 2006
Designing workshops that have dual purposes might be a good strategy for
effective staff development. My example is WATER on THE WEB. This
training worked for both my part time jobs. It gave me worksites for my
watershed education needs and live sites that I used weekly with my GED
students.
VA
Subject: [FocusOnBasics 254] Re: teacher education and change
From: Cristine Smith via Julie McKinney julie_mcKinney at worlded.org
Date: Wed Apr 19 23:26:21 EDT 2006
Cris here. I directed the NCSALL professional development study, where
we found that teachers with a bachelor's degree or less made fewer changes
in thinking and acting after participating in professional development,
which is different from the FOB evaluation, which found that those with
master's degrees or above who responded to the Focus on Basics survey reported
making more change in their classrooms or programs after reading Focus on
Basics.
I think one reason for the difference, in addition to the ones people
have mentioned previously, might be the difference in the samples: in our
professional development study, almost 100% of those participating were
primarily teachers. In the Focus on Basics survey, only 33% identified
themselves primarily as teachers (although in both samples we had
administrators who did some teaching, and some teachers who did some
administrating).
One hypothesis for the differences between these two studies and the
amount of change related to level of education might be that, according to what
we found in the professional development study, administrators and others
have more power to make change than do teachers, even at the classroom level.
So it could be that with the higher proportion of administrators and
non-teachers in the FOB sample, many of whom have post-graduate degrees,
they may be reporting more change because they are in a position to make
more change, whereas the PD study sample, which was mostly teachers and
where only half had masters' or above, were not in a position to make as
much change as a result of what they had learned. Anyway, that's one
hypothesis.
It could also be a motivational issue. It requires individual
initiative to read Focus on Basics, and probably many people read articles on those
topics about which they have the strongest motivation or recognize the issue as
a problem in their work that needs solving. Whereas, some proportion of
teachers who attend professional development (we found) are there for
reasons other than an interest in the topic or just a strong motivation
to learn: they may have been asked (or told) by their program
administrator to attend the PD; it was on a free night or convenient to get to; someone
else from their program was also attending so they went along; or they were
interested in our PD because it was part of a research project or they
liked the idea of trying a different model of PD (practitioner research or
mentor teacher group) that they hadn't tried before, but either weren't
interested in the topic of the PD (learner persistence) or didn't recognize it as a
problem in their program or class. All of these things, regardless of
education level, may affect what people learn and do after attending the
PD.
However, I still believe that the idea that more experienced, more
"degreed" practitioners and administrators CAN become "settled" and not feel as if
they need to make changes in what they do. If they are already doing a
good job, they might be right, but in both the PD study and the FOB
evaluation, we didn't look at teaching quality (as evidenced by student achievement)
so we don't know if that's the case. They could be "settled" teachers who
are either very effective or not very effective at all. But that's another
study. Best...Cris
Cristine Smith
Deputy Director, NCSALL
World Education
44 Farnsworth Street
Boston, MA 02210-1211
csmith at worlded.org
(617) 482-9485 T,W
(413) 256-6258 M, Th, F
