Margery McMahon

Reshaping teacher education through the professional continuum

The current policy gaze on teacher quality is resulting in significant shifts in how teacher education is conceptualized, designed and delivered. Traditional approaches to teacher preparation and continuing professional development (CPD) are being challenged, and often displaced, by new models that expedite the process and experience of becoming a teacher, relocate teacher preparation from universities directly to schools and widen the pool of teacher education providers. This “reshaping” of teacher education and leadership development is at a critical point of reform in a number of systems, driven by the need to align with curriculum and wider education reform and the effect of the dual exposure of international comparative tests and economic performance. As a consequence the practice of teacher education, by which we mean the pedagogies, programmes and places through which and where teachers are prepared, must adapt to become more responsive to demands from government to deliver high quality teaching that is developed and sustained throughout a teacher’s career. This means reconceptualizing teacher and leadership development as a career-long process developed by and through the professional continuum. It requires the redesign of the practice of teacher education, necessitating new thinking and fresh approaches to the rich pedagogies that must underpin professional learning programmes, the sites of professional learning and new partnership arrangements. Crucially it also involves widening the pool of teacher educators so that all teachers and school leaders are recognized as teacher educators.

Rethinking professional standards to promote professional learning

This article explores some of the key issues that emerged in the revision of the professional standards in Scottish education. The revision of the professional standards was part of a wider project to build teacher professional learning in ways that had an impact on practice and on pupil learning. The article begins by examining the international literature to consider the two critical aspects of the design and the use of professional standards. The article then explores issues raised in the work to take forward the two recommendations from the Donaldson report related to, firstly, the professional standards providing a coherent framework and, secondly, the development of a ‘standard for active registration’. The article then considers the tensions posed by the dual purposes ascribed to standards, those of regulation and development. The focus then turns to an alternative way of constructing a professional standard in order to foster authentic forms of professional learning. The article concludes by exploring the issues that need to be addressed to facilitate the productive use of professional standards in the career-long professional learning of teachers.

Being a Leadership Development Coach A Multi-Faceted Role

The use of coaching as a developmental methodology has been instituted as a way to develop leadership in schools in Scotland as elsewhere in the UK. While there are studies that examine the skills and impact of coaching, there is only limited discussion of the process of coaching and the role and experiences of the coaches. This article examines the role of coach in a development programme for aspirant headteachers, ‘The Flexible Routes to Headship’ (FRH), piloted in Scotland, UK in 2007–2009. Coaching was as the core learning process and consequently the quality of coaching is a major consideration in the success of this programme. This development programme is intended to enable candidates to demonstrate their achievement of a professional standard, The Standard for Headship and, as a consequence, the coaches have to undertake a number of different tasks including coaching, mentoring, facilitating, tutoring and assessing. This article draws from the data gathered from coaches and candidates in the evaluation of the FRH Pilot Project which suggests that while there are potential benefits for the coach as well as for candidates, there are some inherent tensions. The question of a model of leadership development based predominantly on coaching is explored.

Leaders of Learning: Accomplished Teachers as Teacher Leaders

Teacher leadership has gained currency in the discourse and practice of leadership in schools, aligning with and a product of, more distributive and less hierarchical understanding of and approaches to leadership. This is manifest in schools in a variety of forms and in ways that are more democratic, consultative and participative. This chapter explores the evolution of teacher leadership in the UK, considering how new models of accomplished teaching such as Advanced Skills Teachers and Excellent Teachers in England and Wales and Chartered Teachers in Scotland and Wales represent new forms of teacher leadership which may challenge more traditional structures and ideologies in school. Drawing on critical policy analysis (Forde, C., Accomplished teaching and teacher leadership: Competing ideals? Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, Vienna, Austria, September 2009) and empirical research (Reeves et al. 2010; McMahon et al.. 2008; Connelly and McMahon, Journal of In-service Education, 33(1), 91–105, 2007), the chapter will outline the ways in which these models of accomplished teaching converge with and diverge from theoretical and applied models of teacher leadership and argue that structural and ideological barriers in the education systems of the UK means that these models of teacher leadership are not fully accommodated nor their expertise fully capitalised and utilised. In considering the work of accomplished teachers in curriculum innovation, developing pedagogy and supporting co-practitioners, the chapter concludes by looking at the ways in which in accomplished teaching extends, elides with and challenges existing understandings of teacher leadership.

Designing individualised leadership development programmes

The recruitment of sufficient numbers of suitably qualified teachers into headship is an international issue and to address this in Scotland alternative headship preparation programmes were trialled to provide greater flexibility in order to better match the individual development needs and circumstances of the aspirant head teachers. Drawing from the evaluation data of one of these programmes, the National Flexible Routes to Headship, the article analyses the key learning processes critical for the design of individualised leadership development programmes. The article begins with the policy context from which the proposal for the alternative headship preparation programmes emerged.

The Development of Accomplished Teaching

In efforts to raise pupil attainment, the question of teacher quality has become a key policy concern (Schleicher 2011). This chapter uses Scottish education as a case study to consider issues related professional learning and the development of accomplished teaching. Policy on teacher professional development in Scotland since 1997 is examined, particularly the Chartered Teacher Scheme, to highlight some of the issues in developing and sustaining high level teaching over a teaching career. The chapter then considers the concept of expertise and explores how such ideas can inform models of professional learning for teachers.

Interrogating the concept of ‘leadership at all levels’: a Scottish perspective

ABSTRACT The concept of ‘leadership at all levels’ has gained currency in Scottish education in recent years following the publication of ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’ (2010), a major review of teacher education focussing on teachers’ initial preparation, their on-going development and career progression. This paper traces the drivers of change that led to the recommendations in the review and subsequent developments and interrogates the concept through examination of the policy context. The paper argues that, whilst there have been many positive developments in advancing leadership and leadership education in Scotland, the concept of ‘leadership at all levels’ is problematic and there are many tensions which need to be addressed. In particular, the paper examines the tension between systems-led leadership development and that which focuses on the professional development of the individual, commensurate with the stage of their career, and argues that models that are more fluid and flexible allowing movement in, across and through the system are required.

Developing a coherent strategy to build leadership capacity in Scottish education

Leadership is central to policy ambitions for improvement in Scottish education with leadership positioned as one of the key drivers for improvement to achieve excellence and equity for all learners. To foster teacher engagement in and leadership of change and to prepare enough teachers for headship, building leadership capacity is crucial. The question we explore is: how is it possible to design a career-long leadership development strategy to secure the capacity necessary to fulfil these policy intentions while fostering the autonomy of teachers in professional learning? First, we examine leadership development in the reform agenda and second, we consider the task of balancing system and individual needs in career-long leadership development. We then detail the approaches used to build a cohesive leadership system and its ongoing development.

Accountability and Accomplished Teaching: Researching the Chartered Teacher Programme in Scotland.

The Scottish chartered teacher programme (2003–2011) is an important example of a national policy designed to support the development of ‘accomplished teaching’. This paper provides an account of the emergence of the programme before discussing how the impact of such a scheme might be assessed and thus rendered accountable. The difficulties of developing valid and reliable methodologies for ensuring accountability are explored, including an account of a pilot research project and an indication of what the international literature may reveal about such aspirations. The paper concludes with a summary of four major challenges facing researchers who wish to offer insights that are of use to policy-makers and practitioners.