Teacher development Some principles in practice

Cooperative DevelopmentA Way of Being?Dr Julian EdgeUniversity of Manchesterwww.cooperative-development.com

Thanks to all involved in inviting me, to those taking such good care of me, personally, professionally and technologically, and to you all for coming. It is a very great honour to be invited to give a keynote talk at any gathering of fellow professionals. It is particularly so to be invited at such distance and to such a prestigious event as this. It bears thinking about. I have decided to interpret this invitation as being based on my work, and I want to tell you about that strand of my work that has been, and remains most important to me. It also becomes a responsibility of mine not only to address the symposiums theme, but also to attempt to sound some key notes that might resonate usefully over the next couple of days. So, let us begin by reminding ourselves of the title of our symposium.

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Theme of the Symposium

In-Service Foreign Language Teachers Professional Development: Theories, Approaches and Methods Innovation

These are profound concepts and frequently differentially understood. It makes sense to me, therefore, to try to establish some common ground before I get on to the work proper. And if I fail to establish common ground with you, that will also count as a success so long as you get clear view of where I stand and what I mean by what I say. Here is an overview of how I have organised my talk.2

Overview

Philosophy and valuesTraining, education and developmentOutlining a way forwardSome key notes

First, I will briefly explore some philosophical concepts and values that, for me, underpin action in this area. I will then define what I mean by the terms, training, education and development in the context of in-service teachers. In the main part of the talk, I will introduce Cooperative Development as one possible way forward in this area. Finally, I will reformulate some ideas arising from the talk and offer them as key notes for your further consideration. If I had to align myself with any one school of philosophy, it would be pragmatism.3

Philosophy and valuesPRAGMATISMAware, committed, purposeful actionIf something is not useful in practice, it cannot be good in theory.Theorising is a process built up through reflection on experience.Innovation is something that is done.

Distinguish this from being practical as distinct from theoretical and talk through the points.4

Philosophy and values

Diversity InquiryCooperationRespect

Emphasize that this is not an argument that these are THE CORE values that everyone should subscribe to. HOWEVER, they are my best shot thus far at identifying mine. The challenge is to work on identifying ones own, because the actions that follow need to be in line with ones underlying values, and so much attempted innovation falls at this hurdle. To understand the work that I want to report on, you need to keep these values in mind. NOT accept them, necessarily, but keep them in mind as what I am trying to express.5

Training, education and development

You can train me and you can educate me, but you cannot develop me. I develop.If you wish to facilitate development for someone else, you cannot try to determine the outcome.

Identify development as my focus, but point out that to make such development possible will frequently require training and education. My work is centered in a larger context of overall approach: reflective practice/action research.6

In a context ofSome version of on-going reflective practice / action researchHere, the key question is not, Did it work?, or even, Is that true?, but What have I learned from this?

Stress pedagogic capacity being built by the teacher as explorer, investigator, experimenter, researcher, theoriser.7

Non-judgmental discourse

Extending communicative repertoire.Not as a way to teach, but as a way of supporting teacher learning.Although there are effects on teaching.

Stress communicative repertoire among colleagues. I will now explain what I mean by non-judgmental discourse and why I find it so useful. I do so under the heading of Cooperative Development a mode of work that has motivated and sustained me since the late 1980s and which some others have found useful.8

Cooperative DevelopmentLearning through:

IntellectExperienceArticulation / Expression

Individual development as a social process that also supports collegiality. Or communal development that releases the potential creativity and creative potential of the individual. 9

Development by

A non-defensive Speaker pursuing

ExplorationDiscoveryAction

Explanation of terms. Lets see one example of this happening. 10

Discovery

Sue was a teacher of English at an Italian College of Agriculture at the time of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Her duties involved helping students become more critical in their reading. She felt that engaging the students sociopolitical awareness could be an important part of this process. Rather than the specific content of what she says, what I would like you to notice is the process in which she is engaged: she explores herself to a discovery and we can hear that moment marked in her words, with Actually, come to think of it. What she discovers there will prove significant as she later works her way towards action.11

Facilitated by:

A non-judgmental Understander, offering

RespectEmpathySincerity

Three underling principles. The Understander (usually one person, although I just showed you a group version of CD) puts aside his or her opinions and experience n order to Understand. So, we have two people working together, one as Speaker, one as Understander, both committed to supporting the development of the Speaker. A number of different skills are required of the Understander. I have to tell you about them one after the other, but that does not mean that they are to seen as existing in a fixed sequence.12

Attending

With eyes and face and body and gesture and heart and mind and spirit: to make the Speaker feel well-listened-to.

Attending, for example, is required at all times.13

Reflecting

Let me see if Ive got this right.

What you are saying is

and I get the impression that you feel

Three effects of Reflecting: correct+, incorrect+, correct-++; Heres a brief example of the first14

Reflection

In a previous session, Sue had worked on her work/life balance. She had recently taken on some new responsibilities and wanted to make clear that she did not want to return to her previous topic in this session. The Reflection makes clear that she has been Understood and encourages her to move forward.15

Focusing

Youve talked about xxxx and yyyy and zzzz. Is there anything in what youve said so far that you think youd like to go into in more depth?

Explain.16

Thematising

I hear you saying xxxx now, and earlier you said yyyy. Is that right?

Are those ideas connected at all?

Explain.17

Challenging

I hear you saying xxxxx at this point. Im not sure how that fits with what I understood before, when you were saying yyyyy. Have I got those two points right?

Explain.

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Goal-setting

So, coming out of what youve said so far, can you see a clear goal that youd like to set yourself?

Lets look at how an accurate reflection helps a teacher make a new Discovery in terms of Goal19

Reflection of problemU: So, the feeling you have is that you want to be able to take on a piece of work, get it done and move on to the next thing.S: Yes.U: You know your work experience isnt like that, because people come and give you things you cant ignore S: Thats right.

Explain context: Newly promoted supervisor finds that she cant get on with her work because of having to deal with constant interruptions by teachers with problems.20

Reflection of goal/discoveryU: And youre looking to try to make the situation better by having a way of prioritising what people give you and a clear time-slot of the day, and so you match them up. Is that right?S: Yeah. It all sounds very You know, as I listen to you, it makes me think maybe Maybe I am looking at it the wrong way. Maybe really I should be attacking more my own expectations.

Notice As I listen to you (Reflect accurately what I said) as the moment of discovery.21

New awarenessU: Uh-huhS: I mean, I was thinking of that as an unsolvable thing because of just who I am. But maybe that is a clearer path to feeling more satisfied about what Im doing because maybe what Im doing is actually OK.U: Right.S: Mmmmm.

The breakthrough here is not the more usual progression towards action, but a discovery in terms of awareness. In other words, the Speaker realises that she does not need to change what she does, but to recognise what she does and value it differently. The challenge is not to change the world but to change ones attitude towards it. In other circumstances, clarification of the Speakers goal will lead on towards changes in action. The Understander can help by inviting what we call Trialling.22

Trialling

OK, if that is the goal, do you want to work on how youre going to get there what youre actually going to do?

An example: A teacher of elementary children had been working on the difficulty he had getting his pupils to take proper note of the homework he set:

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TriallingMmmm, or perhaps if I could write it on the board and say, This is what you have to do. And then, they could, they could follow, they could write it down, they could copy it down, yes, maybe thats a good idea, to stop the confusion caused by the oral explanation of the instructions.

At this point, the Understander Reflected back what the Speaker had said:24

Reflection / DiscoveryU: So, you think the confusion is caused by the oral explanation of the instructions? S: Eh, it certainly is a part, a major part, yeah, I think it is. I think thats right. I need to try it. I do write on the board sometimes, but Im not consistent. Mmm. Maybe thats the problem, then, I am not consistent about it and they dont know what to expect. Mmm, that could be a discovery there! (laughs)

So, the teacher not only came up with a practical response to his immediate problem, he made a deeper discovery about himself as a teacher that he could work on further.Look at example away from immediate action and how correcting Reflections helps the Speaker clarify more precisely what she wants to say.25

Conceptual clarification

As well as leading to action, the approach can also be useful in terms of clarifying conceptual thinking. A longer clip taken from a workshop. Excuse the camera angle. Olga is talking about the importance to her research of understanding different perspectives. Notice how she corrects my Reflections, moving always closer to exactly what she wants to say, until I get to exactly what I had in my mind. She begins with, In my own personal experience, when I was back in Bylorussia, 26

Energy and matter

The key outcome for Olga was that she had felt that she was going round in circles, but that she had now identified the concept of acceptance as being fundamental to her research into intercultural communication. The energy of thought had been soiidified into the matter of language, allowing her to see it, hear it, grasp it, and this will feed the energy of future thought.27

Planning

Shall we fix a time and place for the next meeting?

Regular meetings, later possible occasional use.

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ReferencesEdge, J. 2011. The Reflexive Teacher Educator in TESOL: Roots and Wings. Routledge.Edge,J. 2002. Continuing Cooperative Development. University of Michigan Press.Rogers, C. 1980. A Way of Being. Houghton Mifflin.Rogers, C. 1961. On Becoming a Person. Houghton Mifflin.

I hope that you have seen and heard enough to want to know more. You cant meaningfully evaluate this approach without experiencing it, which is not to say that it will suit everyone. There is no one way. There are ways. The website is one way forward. 29

www.cooperative-development.com

Created, administered and taken forward by my colleague, Mariam Attia, where you will find more information, introductory materials, examples of CD exchanges and, most importantly, potential colleagues keen to work as Speakers and Understanders. Returning to the here and now 30

Theme of the Symposium

In-Service Foreign Language Teachers Professional Development: Theories, Approaches and Methods Innovation

I promised some suggested key notes . . .

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My key notes 1As much a question of:personal capacity as of a list of competencies;the kind of person you want to be as of the skills you can learn;internal growth as of external models.

Not the displacive argument of More than, but an augmentative suggestion of as/as. As pressures grow, our response needs to draw on our unique capacities as humans to know ourselves, to know ourselves as a reflexive part of a context, not only in one.32

My key notes 2Teachers do not need to be given new methods in order to improve their development so much as they need support for their development in order to improve their methods.

Comment.33

My key notes 3In-service development is less about applying theory than it is about theorising practice:What did I try to do?What did I learn from it?How can I share and develop this?So, what comes next?

I look forward to further interaction here and wish you all an enjoyable, stimulating and motivating symposium. Here is the website again.34

www.cooperative-development.com

Thank you.35