Developing the developers: supporting and researching the learning of professional development facilitators

Abstract

Research on teacher professional development is extensive but there are fewer studies about the practitioners who facilitate professional development. Here we report on a pilot programme for professional development facilitators rooted in a cycle of action research.Informed by a categorisation of professional knowledge and skills of facilitators, in the 'developing the developers' programme, professional development facilitators enquired collaboratively into their practice using video observation and peer review and engaged with theories of professional learning. The impact of the programme was evaluated using a framework based on Clarke and Hollingsworth's (2002) interconnected model of teacher professional growth. The programme was effective in allowing participants to gain insights into their practice to develop it further and to identify participants' learning needs. The latter related to improving facilitation skills and knowledge and improving knowledge about professional development. The interconnected model was found to be applicable to professional development facilitators with some adaptations. Its use enabled understanding of the impacts of the programme and the learning processes involved. Although limited in scale, our study offers a model for professional development that is potentially useful in other contexts. Further, the theoretical frameworks developed may support the design and evaluation of similar programmes.

Exploring the role of curriculum materials in teacher professional development

“…[Teacher, School D] In these change sequences the focus shifts from an individual teacher to the wider school, as new and adapted curriculum materials support the adoption of new practices by colleagues. We use 'social domain' (Perry and Boylan 2018) here to differentiate interaction between colleagues from interactions with the facilitators of the PD programme (the external domain).…”

Building capacity for professional development: the development of teachers as facilitators in Ghana

“…To be a facilitator therefore requires the deployment of various categories of knowledge and skills relating to each of these aspects of the role. We have previously suggested (Perry & Boylan, 2017) that the learning needs of professional development facilitators can be grouped into three categories: knowledge and skills for teaching (classroom pedagogical approaches, subject and curriculum knowledge), facilitation skills and knowledge (how to organise and support the learning of experienced teachers), and knowledge about professional development (theoretical and practical models of professional development, teacher learning and evaluation). In that previous study, we offered a model of learning for professional development facilitators.…”

“…In a previous study (Perry & Boylan, 2017), it was proposed that professional development facilitators may also benefit from learning knowledge of professional development, including understanding theoretical models of how teachers learn, models of professional development such as practitioner research strategies and models of evaluation. Other studies have also shown that expert facilitators draw on this type of knowledge (Cordingley, et al, 2015).…”

“…By facilitators, we mean those practitioners who plan and deliver professional development programmes for teachers, whether they combine this role with teaching or teacher education, or operate exclusively as facilitators. In particular, only a few studies have paid attention to the learning and development needed for facilitators to carry out the role (examples include Krell & Dana, 2012, O'Dwyer & Atlı, 2015, Margolis & Doring, 2013, Elliott, 2005, Lange & Meaney, 2013, Linder, et al, 2015, Stein, et al, 1999 and even fewer have considered suitable models to support these (Perry & Boylan, 2017). In particular, there is a lack of research on professional development facilitation in low and middle income countries; it might be expected that this gap in knowledge contributes to the challenges described above.…”

Professional learning and professional careers: theory, evaluation and practice

“…Firstly, the critical review of the level models literature has been used in a number of publications (for example, Earley and Porritt, 2014;Perry and Boylan, 2017;McChesney and Aldridge, 2018; and an extended consideration by . The critique of Guskey's model in particular has been quite widely used (e.g.…”