Policy Trends In OECD Countries: Developing Teachers’ Knowledge And Skills

International Institute for Educational Planning Institut international de planification de l’éducation

Developing teachers’ knowledge and skills

Policy trends in OECD countries

Yael Duthilleul

September 19-21, 2005 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Seminar on “Growth Strategies for Secondary Education in Asia”

1 Introduction

Teachers are high on the international policy agenda these days. There is increasing evidence and recognition that teachers are essential in promoting student learning. But at the same time there are serious concerns that the career has lost its attractiveness, working conditions are more demanding and shortages are already being, or are likely to be, experienced in many OECD countries. In addition to the problems of attractiveness of the career and selection and retention of the most effective teachers, it is increasingly acknowledged that teachers’ roles today have changed and their current knowledge and skills may not match the new needs and expectations. A recent report from OECD (2005) examined the issues of attractiveness, development, recruitment and retention of teachers in 25 countries1. The presentation that follows summarises the new policy trends relating to teachers’ education and professional development, and draws as much as possible from concrete examples of participating countries to illustrate them. For further information on the experiences of industrialised countries in expanding secondary education you can consult a recent publication by Briseid and Caillods (2004)2 that examines their experiences and identifies lessons that may be relevant for developing countries. A series of reports by Eurydice on the teaching profession provide useful information on trends regarding general lower secondary teachers3.

Teachers’ new roles and expectations

The demands on schools and teachers are becoming more complex. Schools are now expected to deal effectively with a more diverse society, to be sensitive to gender and culture, to promote social cohesion, to address the individual needs of learners, to include those with disabilities, and to prepare all students for participation in a society and an economy in which they will be required to continue learning over time, be flexible, and adapt to new demands.

Teachers now need to be prepared for a much broader range of tasks at all levels. They are expected to:

 initiate and manage the learning process – the move towards outcome-oriented curricula expects teachers to organise the learning process;  effectively address each student’s individual learning needs;  be assessment literate and integrate results in a diagnostic manner to promote student learning;  work effectively in more diverse and multicultural environments;  integrate students with special needs;  address cross-curricular themes like social responsibility and citizenship;  work and plan in teams;  integrate ICT into their teaching;

1 For further information on this activity you may see OECD (2005). Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers. Paris: OECD, or consult www.oecd.org/edu/teacherpolicy.

2 O. Briseid and F. Caillods (2004). Trends in Secondary Education in Industrialized Countries: Are they relevant for Africa countries? Paris: IIEP. http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/publications/recent/rec14.htm

3 Further information can be found on www.eurydice.org.

2  develop and participate in school projects, linking schools within the country or across countries;  assume new managerial and shared leadership roles;  work and communicate effectively with parents, involving them in school activities and in their children’s learning process;  build learning communities with external agencies, museums, libraries, etc.

OECD countries recognise that there is a gap between how teaches are being prepared, or have been in the past, and the new roles and expectations placed on them today. This awareness, coupled with the need to make the profession attractive again and ensuring that a pool of highly talented candidates are interested in joining the profession, has promoted the development of a series of new policy trends to strengthen the development of teachers’ knowledge and skills. This presentation summarises these trends, although it does not imply that all countries are implementing all aspects of them. This summary claims to offer some promising initiatives in the area of teacher education and professional development, even if each country may be emphasizing one aspect more than another given their priorities and history, and there may not yet be sufficient evidence to justify the impact of some of these trends.

Policy trends in OECD countries

Developing teacher profiles to align teacher development, performance standards and school needs

One of the trends consistent with other initiatives in the education system is to move away from an input-oriented system to one where the focus is on outcomes. For teachers’ education this implies an effort to define what teachers should know and be able to do at different stages of their career. Defining these different profiles is essential to provide a consistent framework to align teachers’ education, certification, development and careers, as well as to assess the effectiveness of each one of these elements. Evidently, teachers’ profiles should be defined by what is expected in terms of student learning, and should be the result of broad consultation with stakeholders and active involvement from those in the teaching profession. These profiles should also be the subject of periodic revisions to ensure that they adjust over time to new social and economic demands.

Several states require their teachers to show evidence of their performance according to the standards defined to receive Qualified Teacher Status (in England, for example) or be registered to teach (in Victoria, Australia). In the US teachers volunteer to show their competence in meeting professional standards, and agreements have been signed in several states to associate increased salaries with professional performance.

This policy trend is not without its critics. Some argue that the investment needed to develop and implement the professional standards is not associated with better outcomes, while others warn against abuses in their use that go against promoting better classroom practice or false ideas that the development of profiles is a simple exercise that requires the effort of only a small group of experts in order to change the system. How these profiles are defined, who participates in the process and how they are used are all factors that determine how effectively they can contribute to improving teachers’ education and skills.

3 Viewing teacher development as a continuum

This is possibly one of the most important policy development trends, and one of the most difficult yet to be seen fully implemented given countries’ past histories and organisational structures in the provision of teachers’ initial education and professional development opportunities. It is evident that the rapid changes experienced within a society, teachers’ long careers and the need to update their skills to adequately meet the new demands placed on them require a conception of teacher education and professional development under a lifelong learning framework. This view implies seeing teachers’ initial education as a first building block to be followed by ongoing learning opportunities along their careers, rather than seeing it as sufficient to produce professionals for life.

It is necessary to recognise different stages in a teacher’s career and provide adequate opportunities and support for the development of the different competencies needed over time. There is, for example, increasing evidence of the importance of teachers’ early years of experience and the need to provide special support during that induction stage to promote the retention and development of effective teachers. It becomes necessary to clearly link initial education, induction and professional development under a coherent framework. In this respect there are some interesting efforts being made in Northern Ireland, where a three-phase model of teacher education has been put in place based on a professional model of teacher competences. The three phases include teachers’ initial education, an induction phase and early professional development in the second and third years of teaching. The aim of such a framework is to ensure that sufficient exposure to classroom and school practice is provided during the initial stage, that sufficient support is available during the induction phase, and that adequate incentives to promote teachers’ continuous development exist in order to ensure the development of reflective practitioners that are capable of improving their teaching and the learning of their students. In OECD countries it is felt that more resources need to be allocated to induction and development rather than to continuing to lengthen initial education, which already ranges from three to seven years, with most countries requiring around four or five.

Rethinking teachers’ initial education

While increasing the length of studies is not the priority, teachers’ initial education does require some reviewing. The type of changes needed are of another sort, examples of which are given below.

 There is a need to improve selection into teacher education.

Countries vary in how selection into teacher education is decided; some have an open policy to higher education, others have a selective one. In many countries not all students entering a teacher education programme intend to become teachers, and in others those admitted do not necessarily possess the personal qualities needed to be effective teachers. While countries suffering shortages may have a more difficult time in making selection more demanding, at the same time admitting students who are likely to leave the profession or to not be competent does not help alleviate the shortage problem in the long run.

Some of the ways to address this issue are to provide adequate information and counselling to prospective students on what teaching really is and what it entails so as to prevent students that lack motivation from enrolling; exposing students early on to the experience of classroom life is another way to confront expectations with realities and allow

4 those who think that they have made the wrong choice the opportunity to change careers. In some countries, particularly those where teaching has preserved its high status and there is strong competition for entry into teacher education, like in Finland, Korea and Ireland, more comprehensive assessment procedures are being put in place in order not only to assess candidates’ academic records but also their interpersonal and communicational skills – essential elements for an effective teacher. Other countries, like Israel for example, offer special incentives in the form of scholarships and priority in appointment to attract the most talented students to the teaching profession. Special programmes to attract more people from minority groups and men have also been implemented in Sweden and the Netherlands.

 It is important to provide more flexible forms of initial education.

In order to address potential shortages and attract new candidates with diverse professional backgrounds, of different ages and with varying time availability the development of part-time programmes, distance education and modular programmes can help. In countries like the Netherlands and Sweden alternative routes for mid-career changers have been developed to facilitate recognition of their past experience and quickly prepare them for new teaching tasks. Teacher education programmes provided through adult education institutions in Belgium offer very flexible forms of enrolment and wide geographic coverage. The possibility to start working and earning a salary while complementing the practice with studies during the weekend or over the summer has also been an attractive initiative to many adults looking to change career.

 The need to change the emphasis in teachers’ initial education.

As mentioned previously, teachers’ initial education needs to be understood as the first building block, to be followed by further opportunities for development along the career path. It is essential then to determine what should constitute the core of this initial stage. Most programmes seek to strike a balance between subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and practice. But teachers today also need to develop the skills for reflective practice, research on the job and working in diverse environments. Some countries, like Australia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Norway and Sweden, have undergone intensive efforts to develop teachers’ research skills at this initial stage in order to equip them to improve their practice. Countries like Sweden are also moving in the direction of defining a shared core programme for teachers at all education levels in order to promote flexibility among teachers in adjusting to changes in labour market needs.

 Improving practical field experiences

The importance of exposing prospective teachers early on to the real challenges of classroom practice and school experience to support the development of the necessary knowledge and competencies has been widely recognised. There is increasing recognition of the importance of introducing this experience from the first year of studies rather than waiting till the end of the programme, as well as ensuring that the field experience exposes students to the full range of tasks in which teachers engage; from student assessment to working with parents and planning activities in teams. For this practice to be effective, the right partnerships between universities and schools need to be put in place. Mentors need to be adequately trained and prepared for the job and recognised for their work. There must be effective communication between partners if field experience is to be fully integrated into coursework. Needless to say, there is room for improvement in the development of this partnership in

5 order to ensure that the field experience truly provides the opportunities candidates need to develop their knowledge and skills. Ireland and Israel are promoting programmes in which students engage in school practices from the very first year, and most countries devote the fourth – the final – year to full- or part-time work experience; some, like The Netherlands, even remunerate candidates for their work, which is carried out under supervision.

Strengthening induction programmes

An induction stage is mandatory in ten countries: some states in Australia, England and Wales, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Switzerland and Northern Ireland. In other countries it is offered at the discretion of the schools, and others do not have such an induction phase at all. Its duration can vary, from seven months in Korea to a maximum of two years in Quebec, while in most other countries it lasts one year. In most countries where an induction phase is required, its successful completion is linked to certification. In most countries it is the school in which the teacher is posted that is responsible for the induction programme, while in a few others like Israel, Japan, Switzerland and Northern Ireland it is carried out jointly by schools and teacher education institutions. Unfortunately, the existence of the induction stage as a requirement for certification is not always used to its full potential. In countries where teachers have to go through very selective examinations to be awarded a post, the induction practice has to some extent become a formality rather than an additional selection stage, and most candidates are successfully evaluated regardless of their experience and practice.

It is increasingly recognised that new teachers need special support to be effective, to grow and to be retained later on. There is a need to formalise induction programmes, qualify mentor teachers, provide sufficient resources for programmes, and link successful completion to certification. The induction stage needs to be different from a probation stage, which is what in most countries occurs prior to being awarded a certificate or a full position. The existence of a probation stage does not necessarily provide special support to new teachers as is expected in an induction programme. In order to strengthen induction programmes, countries are designing different types of interventions.

In Northern Ireland, for example, during the induction year action plans are agreed on the basis of the Career Entry Profile that all newly qualified teachers are given by their training institution. School-based support and a range of courses are available and the teacher assembles a portfolio of evidence of professional development. Lessons are observed and constructive feedback is offered. A summative report indicates the outcomes of the induction phase and suggests areas for further development.

In other countries (e.g. France, Israel, Scotland), induction programmes have been structured around a reduced teaching load for teachers in their first year and the assignment of a mentor to guide and support them during that time. In others, like Korea, it combines two weeks of pre-employment training focused on field-related cases and practical tasks undertaken by the city and provincial institutes of educational training. After recruitment teachers participate in a six-month training programme, guided by the school principal, the vice principal and advisory teachers, that focuses on instructional guidance, classroom supervision and other school-related activities. A third stage involves reflection and discussion with other beginning teachers and teacher educators.

6 Integrating professional development throughout teachers’ careers

There are many types of professional development activities; some are aimed at introducing new curricula or new reforms, others at preparing staff for new functions, some are designed to address school needs and involve all the staff in the school, while others are determined on the basis of teachers’ individual needs and preferences. In OECD countries there seems to be an increasing tendency to opt for school-based professional development activities over individualised ones. In some countries (e.g. France, Spain, Korea, Germany) professional development is mostly provided by state agencies, while others (e.g. Denmark, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland) are moving from a supply- based model to one based on demand, transferring funds to schools to let them decide on the type of development activities that they consider most appropriate to their needs.

Professional development is not a requirement in over half of the countries participating in the OECD activity, while for the other half the requirements vary from 15 hours per year in Austria to about 104 in Sweden and 169 in the Netherlands, with the rest averaging around five days per year. In about a quarter of the countries, participation in professional development activities is a requirement for promotion.

Most of the problems identified with regard to professional development activities in OECD countries derive from their fragmented nature, their tendency to be unrelated to classroom practice, and the lack of intensity and follow up.

In order to address these weaknesses, future policy developments would need to ensure the following:

 That all teachers find the necessary incentives to participate in professional development activities throughout their careers, and not just the usual few. This would require: a combination of entitlement-based professional support, ensuring that all teachers have access to a certain level of support; incentives associated with opportunities for career promotion at the individual level; and school development activities for all staff.  Coherence and consistency between teachers’ individual development needs and school development priorities. The development of clear teacher profiles and definitions of competencies at different levels would provide a framework for teachers to guide their professional development and assess the results of the training.  Research suggests that for professional development activities to be effective they need to be ongoing and provide opportunities for reflection, practice and feedback among peers. Opportunities to promote schools as learning organisations providing opportunities for teachers to engage in school-focused research is a way of addressing this issue that some countries like England, Hungary and Ontario in Canada are promoting.  Some countries are also creating more coherent frameworks to document and certify teacher professional development activities, promoting, for example, the development of teacher portfolios. Portfolios provide evidence of teachers’ individual progress, knowledge and skills and can be a useful tool to evaluate their experience for future employers. There is also value in broadening the range of professional development activities, including peer review and action research,

7 mutual school visits, and the development of teacher and school networks – activities that in order to be successful require sufficient time and resources.

Ensuring quality and promoting flexibility

 Accreditation of programmes

Decentralisation trends and the increasing number of providers of teacher education and professional development activities in some countries require that a certain quality control mechanism be put in place to ensure that the programmes meet the defined standards. Accreditation of programmes is a way to ensure this. In some countries (e.g. France, Portugal, England and Wales) public agencies related to the central ministry have been established for this purpose, while in others, like the US, accreditation is the task of independent agencies recognised by the central administration.

In order to be effective and promote creativity, accreditation processes and procedures are also moving away from an input focus on determining the content of programmes or lesson time to a more outcome-based focus on what teachers should know and be able to do. Once again the value of having defined teacher profiles at different stages of their career provides coherence to the overall framework of teachers’ education and development.

 Certification of teachers

In about half of the countries participating in the OECD activity, completing a teacher education programme is not sufficient to obtain a license to teach. Some countries (e.g. Spain, France, Italy, Japan, Korea) – in general those with a tradition of teachers being civil servants – require candidates to pass a competitive exam to have a tenured position. In others (e.g. US, England) special examinations are required for certification or to have a licensed to teach independently of having a position. Some states in the US are experimenting with reforms that require teachers to be recertified after five or ten years, usually by completing a certain number of professional development activities. The potential usefulness of recertification as a tool to promote teachers’ development could certainly be further improved if it were associated with the development of new professional competencies rather than just with the completion of courses or training activities.

 Evaluation of programmes and information dissemination

There is a need for more research on the effectiveness of training programmes and evaluations of the impact of different approaches in order to improve the provision of teacher education and development opportunities. At the same time, as the number of providers increases and schools and teachers are given more freedom and funds to decide on the type of training they wish to undertake, it is essential that schools and teachers be well informed about effective strategies and programmes.