Technologies for Career Long CPD by David Noble

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Technologies for career-long CPD: a literature review

David Noble, Scot-Ed Consultancy Ltd (scot-ed@hotmail.co.uk)February 2011

Introduction

This paper examines teachers‟ professional dev

elopment using Web technologies.It draws on academic literature from the fields of continuing professionaldevelopment (CPD), teacher education, information and communicationtechnologies (ICT), and

„

communities

of practice‟

(COP). The paper positions itselfpartly as a response to recent international policy on lifelong learning, in particularthe Review of Teacher Education in Scotland; commonly referred to as TheDonaldson Report (Scottish Government, 2011). The literature was identifiedthrough the use of search terms relating to the above fields. This approach wassupported by additional scoping from the Scottish Government InformationManagement Unit.The writer has held a professional and commercial interest in educationaltechnologies and teacher CPD since 2005. Within the Scottish educationcommunity he is regarded as an expert in areas such as podcasting and teacher

„personal learning networks‟

(PLNs). His reflexive approach to studyingtechnologies and online CPD was initially developed through becoming a reflectivepractitioner (Schön, 1983) during his Chartered Teacher studies, and continues todevelop through his work within an education doctorate (EdD).The aim of this paper is to provide evidence-informed advice to the Scottish

Government that informs its „Technologies for Learning‟ strategy

in the context of

„post

-

Donaldson Report‟ teacher education in Scotland.

The writes believes thathis recommendations will directly assist improvements in career-long teacherlearning, and indirectly, the learning and teaching of young people moving throughcompulsory schooling in Scotland. The paper begins with an identification of

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common issues around, and requirements of, teacher professional development,before charting how Web technologies have been incorporated into recentsolutions. Through drawing out key themes across reflections-on-implementation,research findings, theoretical stances and other reviews of literature, this paperestablishes relevant guidance for all educationists with a stake in career-long CPDand professional learning.There are several peer-reviewed journals which focus on teacher education andprofessional development, with other educational titles regularly featuring papersof interest. Articles from many of these journals feature in this paper, along withreports and literature reviews from Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs).Discourses on professional development and learning are also shaped through thework of inspectorates, professional bodies, trades unions, research conferences,and activity within informal or non-formal (Knight et al, 2006) practitionerenvironments on- and off-line. The paper draws on experiences from Scotland,England, Europe, Asia, and North and South America.

The Donaldson Report

Many of the fifty recommendations in the conclusion of The Donaldson Report(Scottish Government, 2011) will form the basis of changes in career-long teachereducation in Scotland. The report clusters these recommendations around thefollowing ideas:The two most important and achievable ways in which school education canrealise the high aspirations Scotland has for its young people are throughsupporting and strengthening, firstly, the quality of teaching, and secondly,the quality of leadershipteaching should be recognised as both complex and challenging, requiringthe highest standards of professional competence and commitmentleadership is based on fundamental values and habits of mind which mustbe acquired and fostered from entry into the teaching profession

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the imperatives which gave rise to Curriculum for Excellence still remainpowerful and the future well being of Scotland is dependent in largemeasure on its potential being realised. That has profound and, as yet, notfully addressed implications for the teaching profession and its leadershipcareer-long teacher education, which is currently too fragmented and oftenhaphazard, should be at the heart of this process, with implications for itsphilosophy, quality, coherence, efficiency and impact.(Scottish Government, 2011:2)There are several recommendations in The Donaldson Report that relate directlyto the provision and use of ICT. These are outlined below, along with key text.Many are evident in the recommendations contained in the concluding section ofthis paper.The Donaldson Report states that:Student teachers should have a broader experience of working withprofessionals from other disciplines and they should undertake extrasupported study online (Recommendations 2, 11 and 21). Diagnosticassessments and online resources should be available to all teachers andprospective teachers who are below baseline competencies in, for example,literacy and numeracy (Recommendations 4, 5 and 13). Newly qualifiedt

eachers should have a “Masters account

opened for them

”

(Recommendation 44) and have access to a separate mentor andsupporter (Recommendation 29 and 39).Teachers and schools should take responsibility for CPD within improvedPRD processes. Clear progression and impact on young people should beplanned and evident (Recommendations 34 and 37). An online CPD profile(Recommendation 37) should record the outcome of PRD meetings andagreed foci of CPD, with clear expectations around action and resultingimpact on teaching and learning. The PRD process and profile should linkto a new Standard for Active Registration (Recommendation 36),accounting

for the planning and recording of individuals‟ „learning cycle

s

‟