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Autonomy, Development and Collaboration David Weston 28th April 2021 NowTeach NFER / TDT research on autonomy A new study on teacher autonomy
Average autonomy measure (1 = none, 4 = a lot)
2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Business and statistical professionals Librarians and related professionals Research professionals Information and communication technology Engineering professionals Legal professionals Architects, town planners, surveyors Science professionals Public service professionals Teachers Health professionals
Public sector Private sector
3 A new study on teacher autonomy
Most autonomy over: Classroom layout Choice of teaching approach Preparing and planning lessons Least autonomy over: Curriculum Data collected Professional development goals
4 Autonomy & Job Satisfaction
60
50
40 Proportion with low job 30 satisfaction (%) 20
10
0 1 2 3 4 Autonomy Source: Understanding Society
5 Autonomy & intention to leave
100%
80%
Proportion 60% intending to leave 40% teaching 20%
0% 1 2 3 4 Autonomy
Source: NFER Teacher Voice survey Trusts: autonomy and coherence
7 What does this mean?
Only one aspect of autonomy seems to make a reliably and significant difference to job satisfaction: … autonomy over professional development goals The way you lead teaching, learning, appraisal, monitoring and CPD therefore affects: School improvement Job satisfaction Teacher retention
8 A culture of improvement Reviewing the research on teacher working conditions
http://TDTrust.org/coi
9
Quality of professional environment
0.14
0.12
~40% 0.10
0.08 low quality teacher environment
0.06 impact on pupil outcomes outcomes pupil on impact
teacher experience (years)
Kraft & Papay, 2014 - http://ow.ly/OYBwp 15 A culture of improvement Reviewing the research on teacher working conditions ■ There are five aspects of teachers’ working conditions that appear most closely associated with increased student attainment are: ■ Creating opportunities for effective teacher collaboration to explore student data, plan and review lessons and curricula, and plan and moderate assessments, ■ Involving teachers in whole school planning, decision- making and improvement, ■ Creating a culture of mutual trust, respect, enthusiasm in which communication is open and honest, ■ Building a sense of shared mission, with shared goals, clear priorities and high expectations of professional behaviours and of students’ learning, and ■ Facilitating classroom safety and behaviour, where disruption and bullying are very rare and teachers feel strongly supported by senior leaders in their efforts to maintain this classroom environment;
16 A culture of improvement Reviewing the research on teacher working conditions
■ Allocating teachers to certain partners, mentors, subjects and classes and keeping this stable over time is associated with a positive impact on student attainment; ■ The same working conditions appear to be associated with successful, sustainable school turnaround... ■ … and with successful retention of teachers in the profession… ■ … and with successfully navigating the complexities and uncertainties of COVID-19.
17 Collaboration and learning is hard
■ Sunk cost bias – IKEA effect ■ But we worked hard on that… ■ Dunning Kruger effect ■ Overconfidence & overexcitement from a new idea ■ ‘Curse of knowledge’ ■ Inability to remember what it’s like being an overwhelmed novice
18 Collaboration and learning is hard
■ Halo Effect - ‘Tribal bias’ ■ More likely to believe things from your context & peers, less likely otherwise. ■ Fundamental attribution error ■ It’s not my mental failing, it’s your character defect ■ Confirmation Bias ■ I’ve seen this before, or ■ I’m even more sure about what I already thought
19 20 Which biases have you noticed?
■ Sunk Cost or IKEA effect – valuing what you work hard on ■ Dunning-Kruger – the illusion of being knowledgeable ■ Curse of knowledge – forgetting what it’s like to not know ■ Halo Effect (tribal bias) – valuing ideas from people you like (and vice versa) ■ Fundamental Attribution Error – assuming bad character of others during disagreement or conflict. ■ Confirmation bias – selective listening
21 We help schools create improvement through people development.
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