Ministry
of Education Professional Development Programmes in 2003
Curriculum Update 51 outlines recent curriculum developments that
support teaching and learning. This issue focuses on professional
development programmes available to teachers and schools in 2003.
| ...professional development is key to the success of any reform
initiative, provided that it is linked to ongoing learning of
individuals, and to school improvement, and to related policy
and programme implementation.... The logic of investing in professional
development is straightforward: there is no more effective way
to undertake substantive change in schools.
Fullan & Mascall, (2000). Human resources
Issues in Education: A Literature Review. Wellington: Ministry
of Education. |
Index
Curriculum developments
Key emphases for professional development
National Providers
An Outline of 2003 projects
Improving Schools - Building professional
communities
Improving teacher capability
Curriculum Implementation
Contacts
Curriculum
developments
An accumulating body of research confirms that quality teaching is
a key lever in helping students to achieve high-quality learning outcomes.
Research evidence suggests that between 40 to 50 percent of variation
in student performance is attributable to what happens in the classroom,
while only 6 to 19 percent is attributable to school level factors,
such as school type, location, or decile.
The recent results (Ministry of Education
2001) from the Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA 2000) show that most New Zealand 15-year-olds, on average, achieve
highly in reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and scientific
literacy. The PISA results also show that the spread of scores is
wide within, rather than between, schools.
Working with an increasingly diverse student population and a wide
range of abilities presents particular challenges for practice in
the classroom.
Evidence gathered in New Zealand shows that professional development
can contribute to improved student outcomes. To succeed, professional
development should:
- focus on the knowledge that is important for effective teaching;
- be based on a good understanding of what makes professional development
work;
- take account of how teachers learn.
A key goal of the Ministry of Education is to raise student achievement
and to reduce disparity. Strategically planned programmes of professional
development and support are essential to achieving this goal. The
Ministry aims to:
- develop and promote effective teaching practice;
- build teaching capability;
- foster communities of professional practice.
In every way, the Ministry seeks to ensure that professional development
programmes incorporate the quality characteristics known to be effective
in promoting change in professional practice.
Key
emphases for professional development
The Ministry's strategic approach to professional development emphasises:
identifying needs in a systematic way;
- focusing on the real world of the classroom, that is, on the
dynamic relationship between the learner, content knowledge, assessment,
and pedagogy;
- maintaining links between initiatives for school development and
the gathering, analysis, and use of high-quality assessment data;
- encouraging opportunities for modelling, observation, coaching,
critique and reflection, and action-based research approaches;
- maintaining over time a school-based approach that fosters collaboration
and collegial support;
- supplying effective facilitation and ongoing guidance and support
from within and outside the school;
- seeking the involvement and commitment of school leadership;
- developing connections between the school and the wider community;
- rigorously evaluating both quantitative and qualitative data to
establish the impact of professional development on student achievement
and on teachers' knowledge, beliefs, and expectations.
Continuity
in delivery
In 2003, the Ministry will continue to build on and extend the current
successful professional development programmes. Continuity in delivering
nationally provided professional development helps to give schools
and teachers a sense of coherence and allows schools to focus their
long-term planning on improving the quality of teaching. In funding
professional development programmes, the Ministry also seeks to complement
the opportunities that individual boards of trustees provide for teachers.
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