Developing teachers, supporting children

Sharing the learning from designing professional development within the

Keeping Safe programme

Executive summary

Dr Aisling McElearney, Christina Murphy and Deborah Radcliffe March 2019

In partnership with

Further information on the Keeping Safe programme is available on the NSPCC Learning website. learning.nspcc.org.uk

Introduction and background 1

Introduction and background

This paper summarises the key results of research concerned with school teachers’ access of continuing professional development (CPD) in Northern Ireland. The research was funded by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland and completed within the context of the Keeping Safe1 programme. This is a whole school preventative education programme commissioned by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland and developed by the NSPCC. It aims to teach primary school aged children the knowledge and skills to keep safe in situations of abuse, including sexual and domestic abuse. This included designing professional development for teachers and school staff. Robust research asserts that teachers play a critical role in implementing evidence based programmes such as Keeping Safe, and significantly influence the effectiveness of these programmes in school. It is therefore important that NSPCC provides teachers with effective professional development training and support when working with the Keeping Safe programme to undertake this critical role.

This work was overseen by a CPD Model Task Group comprising of a range of professionals from statutory and voluntary sector partner agencies formed to manage the process of agreeing an effective, blended, best practice model of CPD delivery that would best meet the needs of teachers working with the ‘Keeping Safe’ programme to build their capacity to teach and embed the programme in all aspects of school

life. The task group sought to incorporate online learning, given the proven flexibility and cost-effectiveness of online platforms for delivery of professional development (Means et al., 2013).

This paper is timely as it is published amid ongoing policy debate and development in England and the devolved nations regarding the professional development of teachers. This has included the publication of the white paper Educational Excellence Everywhere (Department for Education, 2016a) and ‘Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development’ (Department for Education, 2016b) in England, and the publication of ‘Learning Leaders’, a teacher professional learning strategy in Northern Ireland (DE, 2016). Moreover, the results of this survey research are being published as the Government in England, in line with the provisions of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, is consulting on the development and teaching of mandatory ‘Relationships, Sex and Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) Education’ in English schools. Building the capacity of school staff through effective CPD will be fundamental to schools fulfilling this new statutory requirement. The research reported here continues to inform the development of an evidence based blended model of professional development for teachers within the Keeping Safe programme. This programme is presently being piloted and evaluated by Randomised Controlled Trial across 60 schools in Northern Ireland. The trial will report in 2019.

1 Please refer to https://www.nspcc.org.uk/services-and-resources/working-with-schools/keeping-safe/ for more information on the NSPCC Keeping Safe Project.

2 Developing teachers, supporting children

Research aim and objectives

The survey research aimed to investigate how school teachers in Northern Ireland access professional development.

The objectives were to:

• Identify how teachers access professional development, and how this differs for those with varied roles, experience and length of service;

• Identify teachers’ preferred learning style in relation to professional development;

• Investigate teachers’ experience of and expressed need for training and support in accessing online learning and web based professional development; and,

• Provide teachers with an opportunity to communicate their felt need for training and support to teach sensitive preventative education content in the ‘Keeping Safe’ programme.

Methodology

This research employed an online survey which was completed by 318 teachers working in mainstream primary (94 per cent) and special (6 per cent) schools across Northern Ireland. This equated to just over 3 per cent of the total number of teachers employed in these school sectors in Northern Ireland at the time of data collection. The survey comprised mostly closed questions investigating teachers’ professional experience and school role, preferred

learning style, and experience of professional development and online learning. One open question was used to explore teachers’ felt need for training and support to teach sensitive preventative education content within the Keeping Safe programme. The full research report is available on the NSPCC website, https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research- resources.

Effective professional development: definition, characteristics and approaches 3

Effective professional development: definition, characteristics and approaches

Effective teacher professional development concerns the provision of activities and experiences to promote teacher professional learning with a view to improving teaching practice in the classroom and student outcomes (Guskey, 2002). Making and demonstrating impact on classroom practice and student learning remains a challenge, and is impacted by a myriad of factors including individual teacher characteristics, systemic factors within the school environment and education sector, as well as the quality of professional development activities and experiences available to teachers. Research confirms that while the majority of teachers across the UK and internationally report engaging with professional development of some type, many report unmet development needs (Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS); OECD, 2014). There exists a mismatch between the development activities that teachers endorse as making an impact on their classroom practice (active, collaborative and inquiry based learning) and those they have access to (passive dissemination of information) (National Children’s Bureau, 2017; Bubb, Earley and Hempel-Jorgensen, 2008).

The following characteristics of effective professional development activities have been identified in a number of research reviews:

• Includes content and activities that focus on student outcomes and incorporates opportunities to practice within the classroom environment;

• Incorporates collaborative working among teachers to support critical examination of classroom teaching practice;

• Provides opportunities to reflect on learning and practice;

• Involves specialist input through information, advice or support;

• Includes multiple opportunities over time to interact with learning and make connections with practice;

• Includes support from school leadership and within the wider school environment to promote a vision, foster a stimulating school environment and secure appropriate resources; and,

• Includes modelling of effective practice in the school context.

These characteristics are embodied within a number of key approaches commonly applied to support professional development within education and other settings. These include coaching and mentoring, professional learning communities, lesson study, online learning and, increasingly, blended learning that combines online learning with other approaches. There is a robust and growing evidence base to support their application within the context of effective teacher professional development (Thurlings and den Brok, 2017; Darling-Hammond et al, 2017; Means et al., 2013). These characteristics and evidence based approaches should be considered in the design and development of professional development activities to maximise teachers’ opportunities to learn, implement and sustain changes to their classroom practice to improve student outcomes.

4 Developing teachers, supporting children

Key learning points

The following key learning points were identified from the review of research evidence and needs assessment survey research:

• Professional development for teachers withinthe Keeping Safe programme should beinformed by evidence based approaches toeffective practice, and should seek to addressteachers’ identified needs and align withtheir preferred learning styles. This learningcan be applied to professional developmentfor teachers’ working within preventativeeducation beyond Keeping Safe, andmore generally. 

• When designing professional developmentactivities, attention should be paid to exploringand addressing the factors that impact onclassroom teachers’ access. School leadershipshould be actively engaged in this process andthe use of INSET / development days shouldbe considered. 

• Professional development for teachers withinthe Keeping Safe programme should makeeffective use of technology. This includes theestablished infrastructure provided by the DE

C2K Schools project in Northern Ireland, and the interactive functionality of new technology that can enable reflective learning, deep level collaboration and collegial support. Teachers should be provided with appropriate training to support their access and use.

• Blending online professional developmentwith another approach such as coaching orcommunities of practice within the KeepingSafe programme will promote engagementamong teachers concerned about theirtechnical skills as well as isolation and support.A blended model may sustain professionaldevelopment over time by extendingopportunities for teachers to experiment andreflect on their experiences in the classroom.

• When designing professional developmentwithin the Keeping Safe programme, attentionshould be paid to measuring and evaluatingimpact on classroom practice and outcomesfor children. Providing teachers with thisfeedback is important to promote effectiveprogramme implementation in the classroomand sustain implementation in the longer term.

Key insights

The results reported in this needs assessment survey research suggest the teachers who took part are not likely to access the type of professional development that aligns with their preferred learning style, impacts on their classroom practice and, is associated with best practice evidence of effectiveness. This is particularly true for teachers working in classroom teaching roles. While these results broadly reflect the experience reported by teachers across the UK and internationally, they are out of step with the direction of recent policy concerning teacher professional development. Teachers need access to professional development that promotes

deep collaboration, reflection and problem solving within a safe, supportive collegial school context. Teachers report some experience with online learning and an openness to a blended approach that incorporates online and other approaches. These results warrant consideration in the design of professional development for teachers involved in the Keeping Safe programme if professional development is to translate to effective programme implementation in the classroom. Research suggests this is critical if evidence based programmes like Keeping Safe are to deliver outcomes for children.

References 5

References

Bubb, S., Earley, P. and Hempel-Jorgensen, A. (2009) Staff development outcomes study. London: Institute of Education.

Darling-Hammond, L., Hyler, M. E. and Gardner, M. (2017) Effective Teacher Professional Development. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. Available athttps://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/effective-teacher-professional-development-report. Accessed 13 November 2017.

Department for Education (DfE) (2016a) Educational Excellence Everywhere: White Paper (PDF). London: DfE. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-excellence-everywhere. Accessed 16 July 2018.

DfE (2016b) Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development (PDF). London: DfE. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/standard-for-teachers-professional-development. Accessed 16 July 2018.

Department of Education, Northern Ireland (DENI) (2015) Learning leaders: a strategy for teacher professional learning (PDF). Belfast,

Northern Ireland: DE. Available at https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/teacher-professional-learning-strategy. Accessed 11 April 2016.

Guskey, T.R. (2002) Professional development and teacher change. Teachers and Teaching, 8 (3): 381-391.

Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., and Bakia, M. (2013) The effectiveness of online and blended learning: A meta-analysis of the empirical literature. Teachers College Record, 115(3): 1-47.

National Children’s Bureau (2017) Dissemination of best practice in teaching and learning research. Bangor, Northern Ireland: DENI.

OECD (2014) Supporting Teacher Professionalism. Paris: OECD.

Thurlings, M. and den Brok, P. (2017) Learning outcomes of teacher professional development activities: a meta-study. Educational Review, 69 (5): 554-576.

Everyone who comes into contact with children and young people has a responsibility to keep them safe. At the NSPCC, we help individuals and organisations to do this.

We provide a range of online and face-to-face training courses. We keep you up-to-date with the latest child protection policy, practice and research and help you to understand and respond to your safeguarding challenges. And we share our knowledge of what works to help you deliver services for children and families.

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But it’s only with your support, working together, that we can be there to make children safer right across the UK.

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