Professor Anna Lise Gordon, School of Education at St Mary’s University, shares insights into how professional learning can inspire teachers at any stage of their careers.
Think of a teacher who inspired you…
Mrs Austin taught me French at secondary school. She was a fluent French speaker who brought francophone culture alive, she was open to new ways of teaching (including the audio-visual approach – the latest technology of the 1970s), she was able to break even the most challenging grammatical concepts into comprehensible chunks, and she could motivate even the most reluctant learner by telling us captivating stories in French about her mischievous cats.
Behind this memory of an inspirational teacher lies a rich story of professional learning, with constant subject knowledge upskilling, engagement with curriculum development, technology, and child psychology, and a wonderful sense of humour.
But what is professional learning? It is so much more than training. Professional learning allows valuable time and space for ongoing support, discussion, and reflection, as well as carefully planned opportunities to act on learning. Rich and varied learning is designed to promote positive outcomes for children and young people, as well as to nurture a teacher to thrive in the profession for the longer term.
The current professional landscape for teachers is often one where Continuous Professional Development (CPD) favours a one-size-fits-all approach, where even the most experienced teachers may feel disempowered in the face of directed policy change, with limited scope for flexibility, debate, and agency. We must guard against the so-called ‘pedagogy of professional decline’ (Lofthouse, 2023) and I can say with confidence that Mrs Austin would have agreed!
I think of the inspiring teacher as a collection of intertwined ropes, drawing on a range of professional learning opportunities over time, each one twisting and turning with other strands of learning.
Some of these learning opportunities may be more akin to training, such as an annual safeguarding refresher course – essential to demonstrate compliance with regulations, but with potential to be life-saving for a particular child or young person. Other learning opportunities are more medium-term, such as a subject knowledge enhancement course or a series of webinars on supporting children with dyslexia. And then there are the longer-term professional learning opportunities, often requiring significant commitment but offering untold riches in return, especially when collaborating with teachers from other settings. Examples might include bespoke coaching and mentoring, a Postgraduate Certificate in SENCo or MA in Education, or perhaps a Professional Doctorate. See our list of education courses.
Individually, of course, these separate strands of professional learning may be of some use, but they become so much more powerful when twisted and combined with other types of professional learning over time. As the Kenyan proverb states (and with apologies for mixing metaphors), sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. The same applies to ropes twisted together!
All teachers need to have opportunities to participate in high-quality, research-informed, and impactful professional learning that is so much more than a one-off, stand-alone session (Cordingley et al., 2015). The reason is simple: professional learning creates space for sharing ideas and practice, for making connections, for lively discussion, for curiosity, discernment, and new ways of thinking. Professional learning in all its fullness has the potential to re-fuel, re-motivate, re-energisem and re-inspire teachers, to sustain them in the profession for the longer term (Gordon, 2020).
But this does not happen by magic! A supportive school culture is essential, recognising that all forms of professional learning have their place for different teachers at different times on their teaching career journeys. Professional learning must be purposeful and intentional, appropriately resourced, and valued. Easier said than done, but a teacher who knows that their commitment to professional learning is recognised by senior leaders has the potential to inspire not only in the classroom (Fletcher-Wood and Zuccollo,2020; Sims et al., 2021), but also to inspire and enthuse colleagues. As Gu and Day (2013: 22) say, ‘conditions count’ when it comes to professional satisfaction.
The title of this blog includes the word ‘inspiring’, intended as both a verb and an adjective. Professional learning has the potential to inspire teachers who, in turn – as inspiring teachers - inspire the learners in their care. Mrs Austin was such a teacher!
References
- Cordingley et al. (2015). Developing Great Teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development, Teacher Development Trust.
- Fletcher-Wood, H, & Zuccollo, J (2020). The effects of high-quality professional development on teachers and students: A rapid review and meta-analysis. Education Policy Institute.
- Gordon, A L (2020). Educate – mentor – nurture: improving the transition from initial teacher education to qualified teacher status and beyond, Journal of Education for Teaching.
- Gu, Q & Day, C (2013). Challenges to Teacher Resilience: Conditions Count, British Educational Research Journal, 39(1), 22-44.
- Lofthouse, R (2023). Taking a stand against the pedagogy of professional decline, Blog Post.
- Sims et al. (2021). What are the characteristics of teacher professional development that increase pupil achievement? A systematic review and meta-analysis, Education Endowment Foundation.