Christopher Day

School Reform and Transitions in Teacher Professionalism and Identity.

Abstract In this paper transitions in the operational definitions of professionalism over the last 20 years will be discussed. As a consequence of (imposed) changes in the control of curriculum and assessment and increased measures of public accountability, teachers in most countries now work within cultures in which their careers are ever more dependent upon external definitions of quality, progress and achievement for their success. Although many experienced teachers have maintained their identities, finding room to manoeuvre within a general reduction in their traditional classroom autonomy, the pressure on these and younger colleagues is to comply with competency based agendas. In such cultures, attention to teachers’ identities—arguably central to sustaining motivation, efficacy, commitment, job satisfaction and effectiveness—has been limited.

Reflection: a necessary but not sufficient condition for professional development

Abstract Few discussions on professional development occur without some reference to the central role that reflection plays in the learning life of the teacher. It is the sine qua non of the ‘teacher‐researcher’, ‘action research’ and ‘reflective practitioner’ movements. During the last 20 years there has been a growing body of literature and practices which has sought to identify different levels of reflection in which involvement is essential, it is claimed, for the maximising of teacher growth. Yet much of this has failed to consider the need for reflection to be accompanied by confrontation if development is to occur, and alongside this, the negative and positive roles that organisational culture may play in the provision for different kinds and levels of reflection and confrontation. Two key issues are addressed in this paper. The first relates to our understanding and use of reflection—an essential part of the learning process; and the second, to the need for partnerships and coalitions within colla...

Teachers' and teacher educators' lives: the role of emotion

Abstract This paper reports research which focuses on ways of enhancing understandings by teachers of the key role that emotions play in their personal professional growth. It combines the narrative, autobiographical accounts of teachers attending part-time masters degree programmes in England (Continuing Professional Development and School Improvement) and Northern Ireland (Personal and Social Development) with an interrogation of the underlying values which affect the practices of their tutors. It reveals the effects of powerful and often unacknowledged interaction between personal biography and professional and social contexts upon teachers in schools and higher education.

Challenging the Orthodoxy of Effective School Leadership.

The research reported in this paper, which collected and compared the perspectives of those who, in addition to principals themselves, arguably possess the closest working knowledge of leadership, i.e. teachers, parents, governors and students, reveals a different, more complex reality of effective headship than previous studies have revealed. It proposes a model of values led contingency leadership which takes into account the realities of successful principalship of schools in changing times, and moves beyond polarized concepts of transactional and transformational leadership.

The impact of school leadership on pupil outcomes

The Effective Leadership and Pupil Outcomes Project is the largest and most extensive study of contemporary leadership to be conducted in England to date. Its sampling methods and innovative mixed methods design have enabled it to examine the work of head teachers and other school leaders in a range of primary and secondary schools nationally. All these schools are recognised as having achieved success in terms of improvement in pupil attainment measures and were highly effective in value added terms over at least a three year consecutive period.

Identity, well‐being and effectiveness: the emotional contexts of teaching

This paper draws on findings from a four‐year longitudinal research project, commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), which investigated Variations in Teachers’ Work, Lives and Effectiveness (VITAE). Drawing on data gathered from 300 teachers working in 100 primary and secondary schools in England, the research identified associations between commitment and effectiveness (perceived and in terms of pupil attainment) and found that there were more, and less, effective teachers in each of six professional life phases. It found that teachers in each of these phases experienced a number of different scenarios that challenged their abilities to sustain their commitment (i.e. remain resilient). This paper discusses how these impact, positively and negatively, on teachers’ capacities for sustaining their initial commitment and associations between identity, well‐being and effectiveness. It finds that teacher identities are neither intrinsically stable nor intrinsically fragmented, but that they can be more, or less, stable and more or less fragmented at different times and in different ways according to the influence of the interaction of a number of personal, professional and situated factors. The extent to which teachers are able to and are supported in managing the scenarios they experience will determine their sense of effectiveness.

Teachers in the Twenty-first Century: Time to renew the vision

Governments in all parts of the world recognize the value of education to the personal, social and economic health of the community. Once the responsibility to provide basic educational opportunities for all is fulfilled, as it has been in most developed countries, emphasis is placed upon raising standards of teaching, learning and achievement. More recently, calls for investing in lifelong learning across the community have increased. Arguably, attitudes to this should be formed in the years of schooling yet often the measures put in place to drive student progress forward have neglected the needs of teachers themselves - arguably the most important component in engaging the motivation and commitment of students, and in the transmission of knowledge and values. This paper considers the contexts and range of challenges for teachers in the twenty first century and suggests that investment in maintaining their intellectual and emotional selves is key to the educational success of schools in changing times.

Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies in Research on Teachers’ Lives, Work, and Effectiveness: From Integration to Synergy:

The authors of this article discuss how a mixed-methods research team designed and conducted a 4-year study (Variations in Teachers’ Work and Lives and Their Effects on Pupils) that tracked 300 teachers in 100 schools in England over a 3-year fieldwork period. The authors discuss processes that led to new knowledge. Although mixed methods are becoming more popular, few published accounts describe in detail how researchers have moved beyond the use and integration of mixed methods to arrive at more synergistic understandings. The advantage of synergistic approaches is their consideration and combination of a greater range of data, resulting in more nuanced, authentic accounts and explanations of complex realities.

Teacher Leadership, Reflective Practice, and School Improvement

Effective principalship has for many years been widely accepted as being a key constituent in achieving school improvement (Barth, 1988, 1990; Beck & Murphy, 1993; Sergiovanni, 1990; Southworth, 1990; Blase & Anderson, 1995; Caldwell & Spinks, 1992; Duignan & Macpherson, 1992; Fullan 1992b; Hodgkinson, 1991; Leithwood, 1992; Leithwood, Begley, & Cousins, 1992; Leithwood & Jantzi, 1990). Effective principals are leaders whose work transforms the schools in which they work (Leithwood, et al., 1999; McBeath, 1998; Day, et al., 2000b; Harris, et al., 2001). Recently, both the school effectiveness and growing school improvement research movements have highlighted the importance of leadership in successful school development and change (Teddlie & Reynolds, 2000; Sammons 2000; Mortimore, 2000); and researchers within these movements have confirmed that effective principals are those who focus primarily on promoting high expectations, teacher motivation and the quality of learning and teaching in the classroom (Eraut, 1994; Hargreaves, 1994; Sammons, et al., 1995; Fullan, 2001; Sergiovanni, 2001).

The passion of successful leadership

This paper reports multiperspective research on 10 successful, experienced headteachers working in a range of urban and suburban schools of different sizes (with different school populations and free school meals indices of between 20% and 62%). All had raised the levels of measurable pupil attainments in their schools and all were highly regarded by their peers. A key characteristic among the heads was that, regardless of styles and strategies, all revealed a passion for education, for pupils and for the communities in which they worked. The research revealed that the 10 headteachers sustained their success by the application of the a combination of 10 essential leadership qualities, skills and principles and that these enabled them to manage a number of tensions and dilemmas associated with the management of change. Fundamental to the achievement of success, however, was their passion for students, school and community. This paper explores the nature of this passion in relation in particular to six fact...This paper reports multiperspective research on 10 successful, experienced headteachers working in a range of urban and suburban schools of different sizes (with different school populations and free school meals indices of between 20% and 62%). All had raised the levels of measurable pupil attainments in their schools and all were highly regarded by their peers. A key characteristic among the heads was that, regardless of styles and strategies, all revealed a passion for education, for pupils and for the communities in which they worked. The research revealed that the 10 headteachers sustained their success by the application of the a combination of 10 essential leadership qualities, skills and principles and that these enabled them to manage a number of tensions and dilemmas associated with the management of change. Fundamental to the achievement of success, however, was their passion for students, school and community. This paper explores the nature of this passion in relation in particular to six factors which are fundamental to success; achievement, care, collaboration, commitment, trust and inclusivity.1