Marilyn J Chaseling

Teachers’ response to a new mandatory professional development process: does it make a difference?

Abstract A Performance and Development Framework has been introduced by the New South Wales Department of Education, the largest provider of schooling in Australia, during a period of unparalleled reform. Engagement with the Framework is mandatory for all the Department’s teachers, and is linked to improving student outcomes through enhanced teacher professional practice. As an initial study of the efficacy of the Performance and Development Framework, this article reports a study of teachers’ understandings of professional learning arising from the first year of the Framework’s implementation. Five teaching staff from one school were interviewed three times during the school year to elicit insights into their professional development during experience of the new system. Three themes emerged: (1) longer serving teachers and less experienced, early-career teachers view the professional learning differently; (2) all the teachers considered the Performance and Development Framework to be a positive development; (3) although there was an uptake of reflective practice, understanding of critical reflection as linked to professional learning was limited. The study concludes that this mandatory professional development process was generally successful in this context, while there is scope for further enhancement, specifically in relation to guiding content and reflective practice.

The effective instructional leader

Abstract This study examines school principals’ insights into effective instructional leadership. It follows the implementation by the New South Wales Department of Education, Australia, of a state-wide strategy that featured Instructional Leaders. Over 200 were appointed to selected schools as completely new positions. However, the initial implementation contained no published role description or guidelines. In a context relatively devoid of supporting information, school principals found it necessary to construct the concept and role of ‘instructional leader’ themselves – including the appointment level within the school staffing profile. Using qualitative research based on in-depth interviews, the study explores the insights of six school principals who had an Instructional Leader appointed to their school. The data were analysed to explore the principals’ perceptions of effective instructional leadership, and ascertain whether it had an impact upon the depth of professional learning in their schools. The study found that: (i) principals did not view themselves as instructional leaders, but as facilitators of the concept; (ii) understanding of instructional leadership was weak and diffuse, and depended on prior experience; and (iii) instructional leadership could be considered effective in improving student outcomes by improving teacher practice, developing purposeful professional learning, and building strong relationships across the school.

Generative dialogue: A concept analysis

The emerging concept of generative dialogue is accompanied by strong claims for its benefit. A literature review identified six dominant models of generative dialogue across the range of disciplines of education, business studies, counselling and psychology. Through the analysis, commonalities and differences between the different models are identified, with an ultimate goal of providing an overarching description of those crucial attributes that make generative dialogue and its implementation beneficial as a management tool in education.