Summary
This study focuses on the professional development of teachers. The question
is how the professional development of teachers can be improved within the
school to which they are attached.
This research was conducted at a school for secondary education, the ‘Koningin
Wilhelmina College’ in Culemborg. The research was conducted by the head-
master of this school between 1996 – 2004.
Chapter 1 describes the reason for this study, its aim, its research question(s)
and its set up/ planning.
The immediate cause for this study was the desire of the school board for the
newly appointed headmaster to innovate education. This was in a period when
the basic curriculum (basisvorming, 1993) was introduced and in which the
next change, the Second Phase (tweede fase, 1999) presented itself. These 301
reforms have had their influence on the performance of teachers. In terms of
teaching practice and teaching strategy they had to meet new demands. The
question is whether teachers are able and prepared to adapt to these reforms.
The role of the school management team has also changed. Initially this team
predominantly focussed on management and the teachers on education.
Nowadays a more integral approach is expected from the executive.
The aim of the research described in this study is to gain insight into the man-
ner in which the expertise of the teachers can be improved. The role to be
played by the school management team in this process is also considered.
To enhance the professional development two projects were carried out: an
intervention based schoolwide intervision project and a process based so-called
pair project.
The research questions are:
How and in how far can the professional development of teachers be stimulat-
ed by means of a schoolwide intervision project?
How and in how far can the professional development of teachers be stimulat-
ed by means of the pair project?
Which role can the school management team play in the professional develop-
ment of teachers?
Professionalisering in school: een studie naar verbetering van het pedagogisch-didactisch handelen
As the research was conducted at school it is described as a field study or prac-
tical study. However, as the research was conducted at only one school, it is also
described as a case study.
By means of structured interviews teachers were asked their opinions with
regard to professional development. The research is then described as a pilot
study and in qualitative terms.
As the headmaster was closely involved in the planning and execution of the
projects as well as in the processing and interpretation of the research data,
much attention is paid to the planning of the research and the reliability of the
methods employed.
In chapter 2 a literature study is described which took place to answer such
questions as:
What is meant by the professional development of teachers?
What definitions or characteristics can be found in the literature on the subject
to describe professional development?
Has there been any research into the professional development of teachers and
what are its main findings?
Professional development bears on a certain professional group. The literature
survey shows that the professionals of a certain professional group must meet
302 a number of criteria if they want to be regarded as professionals. Among these
criteria are found: a degree of knowledge acquired in a relevant field of study, a
large degree of autonomy in the exercise of one’s duties, prestige acknowledged
by society and a professional culture of its own based on institutions such as a
professional body and disciplinary powers of its own.
Judged by these standards a number of writers regard teachers as semi-profes-
sionals. According to them a number of changes must occur before teachers
can be seen as full professionals.
The Department of Education has of old referred to teachers as professionals
because of their education and knowledge. This study even considers teachers
as professionals with a double professionalism. On the one hand, his profes-
sionalism is derived from knowledge of a certain field of study and, on the
other, he possesses knowledge and skills to exploit his subject knowledge in a
pedagogically and didactically responsible manner in the interaction with his
pupils.
Knowledge is not only accumulated during professional training, knowledge
must also be maintained. Professionals should service their competence in
such a manner that their expertise remains at a best-achievable level and adapt-
ed to the demands made on it.
Summary
When, in this study, we talk about the professional development of teachers we
refer in fact to the maintenance of individual expertise and raising this to, and
preserving it at, a level as high as possible.
Many teachers in secondary education adopted a pedagogical and didactic style
during their training which no longer suits the current insights in learning and
teaching. This makes the call for a policy on professional development all the
more urgent.
From various studies it appears that teacher learning has long been too non-
committal. In as much as professional development was at issue it focussed
predominantly on subject matter aspects.
Schools lack professional bodies that monitor the maintenance of the desired
expertise from the outside. On the inside, they are mostly starved of a contents-
aimed professional development policy on teacher schooling. At the most a
number of parameters is employed. In addition, personnel management that
considers the professional development of teachers is mostly absent.
In the days when education reforms were taking shape (basic curriculum and
Second Phase), central government gave serious consideration to the imple-
mentation of decentralisation and deregulation.
It is especially the changes in financial management that have given schools a
liberty and responsibility of their own in their application. This assigns a new 303
role to the school management team as employer. The traditional divide
between the fields of activities of school executive and teachers disappears
because of integral management. In this respect it is not surprising that the
headmaster has increasingly become involved in the quality of the teaching and
thus in the professional development of the teachers.
This chapter deals extensively with the many changes inside and outside edu-
cation that occurred in a relatively short period of time and describes how these
changes influenced the performance of teachers.
Having explored the broad field of professional development from a historical
perspective, attention shifts to the context in which professional development
is, or should be, situated. In this respect recent insights into learning and teach-
ing are examined.
Professional development used to take place, mostly, in the form of refresher
courses, continuing education courses and post-graduation courses. Their
practical relevance was questioned, however: much of the acquired knowledge
proved to be intransferable in practice. Both initial degree programme and the
type of courses mentioned above, are now increasingly taking place inside the
school, on the job.
Professionalisering in school: een studie naar verbetering van het pedagogisch-didactisch handelen
The context in which learning takes place receives much attention in modern
insights in learning which are mostly based on socio-constructivist concepts.
In this thesis the professional development of teachers is described as a contin-
uous learning process which predominantly takes place on the job, in social
interaction with each other and the pupils. It is a challenge to turn the place of
work into a powerful learning environment for teachers as well.
In chapter 3 the start of the process of change is described, a process aimed at
the professional development of the teachers. It is a schoolwide intervision
project initiated and organised by the school management team. This is an
example of what in the subject literature is called the intervention approach. An
external expert was recruited for the execution and supervision of the project.
As a supervisor this specialist played an import role in the process.
This project has a number of clear objectives. It is aimed at the reform of the
existing teaching practice by the introduction of the 1/2 NC- principle, the KIT
model, precursor of the study planner, study planners.
These concrete aspects of reform were put into practice in daily teaching.
Lessons were observed by both the external coach and a colleague and dis-
cussed in detail afterwards.
Another aim of the project was to stimulate the cooperation between teachers
by observing each other’s lessons and by learning from each other. This process
304 in fact ushered in a reform process at school. It was a process in which not only
teachers learn with each other and from each other, but also one in which doors
open (externally and internally) and in which the reform of education is in the
centre of activity. This project was heavily invested in in terms of money, time
and energy. The project also yielded negative results, especially in terms of can-
celled lessons.
In chapter 3 this project is researched by means of the learning history method.
This method was employed in three ways. This research was started by writing
an account of the process of educational innovation. It outlines the context of
the intervision project as a professional development course from the head-
master’s perspective. Those closely involved were invited to comment on the
project. Only a small number of teachers reacted. Nevertheless, their reactions
have been added to this account whose elaborate version was twice discussed
with a number of external learning history experts.
Finally, the account was compared with the book Leren veranderen (De Caluwé
& Vermaak, 2001), and discussed with the members of the school manage-
ment team. Those discussions with both the external and internal experts were
in themselves interesting, useful and instructive, but did not provide the
researcher with the material he was looking for. This research method did not
help the researcher either, or at least not sufficiently, to involve the school more
Summary
in his research. It did, however, but he did not realise that until later, open his
eyes to look in a different way at the same reality. This alternative way of look-
ing was strongly enhanced by the second research method: the use of the inter-
view.
In chapter 4 this method is discussed extensively together with the research
results.The teachers’ reactions to the intervision, their initial opinions, their
reactions to the interventions and the supervision and their reactions after the
project were obtained by means of an elaborate and structured questionnaire.
The questions were asked individually (in a structured interview) and the reac-
tions were recorded in writing by the headmaster. The phrasing of the ques-
tions was aimed at forming a balanced picture of the opinions of the teachers.
Many facets of professional development were discussed as part of the inter-
vention.
Due to the headmaster’s involvement in the research objectivity was aimed at
in order to arrive at a reliable picture of the reactions of the teachers. For this
purpose possible answers to the questions were classified in answer categories
that were developed post hoc. Categorisation of the various scores (scoring) was
carried out by the researcher as well as by a second independent assessor. Only
the reactions on which there was sufficient consensus between both assessors
have been used. On the basis of the (statistical) analysis of the data conclusions
were drawn per question.
305
Although the project was initially strictly managed, in the course of time this
principle was somewhat abandoned as it was on the verge of becoming coun-
terproductive. Roughly half the staff indicated to have learnt from the project
demonstrably. The project had unmistakably initiated the desired culture
change. In a short time much had happened.
On the other hand, the other half of the teachers indicated not to have become
any wiser than before. Inside the school the project stirred emotions. The
atmosphere and school climate showed signs of hardening. In the eyes of the
school management team and the teachers the results did not live up to the
expectations and investments.
In chapter 5 the pair project is described. On the basis of the results and experi-
ence with the intervision project the idea developed to continue the research
into professional development by means of the pair project. In contrast to the
intervision project this project required a light form of organisation and steer-
ing.
The supervision and steering by the school management team is an example of
what in the literature on the subject is described as process approach. In this
project two teachers, mostly subject teachers, cooperated on the basis of the
Professionalisering in school: een studie naar verbetering van het pedagogisch-didactisch handelen
question how they could change and improve their teaching strategies in a lim-
ited period of time and in a defined field of interest.
In other words, they manage the project themselves, they choose what they are
going to do, how they are going to do it, where and when they are going to do it
and with whom. It is a form of cooperative learning. Teachers can be super-
vised by an appointed internal school supervisor (a participant in the pair proj-
ect itself) or an external supervisor (chosen by them). The project is facilitated
with development time and resources.
According to the participants the pair project contributed meaningfully to the
professional development of the teachers. They were and have remained enthu-
siastic. In their opinion the learning effects and the effects on change are last-
ing. Evidently, the strength of this project resides in the fact that the teachers
were allowed to decide themselves with whom they cooperated in the project
and in which way they shaped its form and content.
Factors such as the cooperation with fellow teachers, the relevance for their
teaching practice, learning by doing, the immediate feedback from the pupils
and the small scale of the project have likewise contributed significantly to the
positive experience of the teachers with regard to the pair project.
In chapter 6 the practical knowledge of teachers is researched by reviewing,
with all the teachers involved in the two projects, by means of evaluation, sev-
306 eral central aspects of their professional development. The interview method
was also employed to gather data for this part of the project.
From this research two dilemmas emerged:
‘voluntary’ versus ‘obligatory’ and ‘external versus internal’
Most teachers opt for ‘voluntary’. Yet ‘voluntary’ does not imply non-commit-
ted. It is regarded essential that rules and criteria be established with respect to
the project (you have to cooperate, but you may decide yourself with whom, you
have to work on professional development, but together you may decide on
your approach). Justification for the achievement must also be laid down in
rules.
As regards the second dilemma, teachers have a marked preference for internal
courses, workshops and support, without, for that matter, entirely denying the
importance of external support.
Moreover, the results indicate that teachers prefer small-scale arrangements
whose practical relevance is obvious.
In chapter 7 an account is given of a study whose results were presented for
examination to a number of selected teachers. They were teachers who had
shown to have been involved in one way or another in the planning and organ-
isation of the professional development projects. This examination took place
Summary
in the form of a discussion. This discussion confirmed the results described
above. It resulted in some accentuations and modifications of some parts.
The discussion was regarded as valuable because active and innovation-mind-
ed teachers were involved in the study. Thus they contributed to the collective
learning of how professional development should be addressed. In general the
workload at school leaves little room for intense exchanges of ideas between
interested teachers and school management team on themes such as the pro-
fessional development of teachers.
The results of the study have been described in terms of learning-enhancing
and learning-impeding factors in the professional development of teachers. In
this respect the role of the management team and monitoring in the profes-
sional development of teachers is also discussed.
In chapter 8 conclusions are drawn and discussed. Recommendations are pro-
vided for practical application in school as well as for further research. The
study provides insight not only into the way in which the professional develop-
ment of teachers takes place in practice, but also into the role of school manage-
ment team and monitors. The place of work – the school – proves to be an
appealing learning environment for teachers. The ‘learning task’ has to be prac-
tical in nature and the learning results have to be of immediate relevance for
their teaching practice.
On the basis of the results I come to the conclusion that – especially where
teaching practice and teaching strategy are concerned – it is necessary for pro- 307
fessional development to be organised. This can be accomplished in a number
of ways. It is not self-evident that teachers direct their own learning process.
Monitoring of learning by the school management team has to be attuned to
the personal needs and possibilities of teachers. It is recommended to replace
the current non-committed attitude, still characteristic of the culture of profes-
sional development of teachers, with a culture in which professional develop-
ment is only natural. In this respect it is also recommended that teachers be
given more time for their professional development.
Chapter 9 gives a description of a reflection by the researcher on his own learn-
ing process during his research and study into professional development.