Identifying and rewarding accomplished teachers: international approaches

Author(s):

Margery McMahonHayden LlewellynSimon MacaulayLawrence IngvarsonRosa MurrayJenny Reeves

Conference:

ECER 2008

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Symposium

Session Information

10 SES 11B, Identifying and Rewarding Accomplished Teachers: International Approaches

Symposium

Time:

2008-09-12

16:45-18:15

Room:

A1 334

Chair:

Christine Forde

Discussant:

Peter Gronn

Contribution

In 2005 the OCED’s Teaching Matters outlined the need for recognizing and rewarding the work of ‘accomplished’ teaching practitioners as a central component of the regeneration of the teaching profession. This has taken many forms internationally. The Australian ‘Advanced Skills Teacher’ was an early antecedent while the American model of National Board Certification is increasingly seen as an appropriate way of recognizing and rewarding accomplished practice. In the United Kingdom a range of models have emerged in recent years including: Performance Threshold; Chartered London Teacher; Advanced Skills Teacher; Excellent Teacher and variants of Chartered Teacher in Scotland and Wales. Underpinning such initiatives is an assumption that enhanced teacher performance will lead to enhanced learning for pupils. In reality this can be very difficult to gauge so while these models offer the potential for innovative approaches to learning and teaching, issues of impact are inherently complex to ascertain (McMahon & Reeves, 2008). This symposium will bring together key stakeholders who have been instrumental in developing initiatives for recognizing and rewarding accomplished teaching in Australia, Scotland and Wales. The symposium will provide the opportunity to compare different models that have been adopted, explore the principles underpinning these models and discuss their perceived impact and the complexities associated with this. The symposium transverses the interface between research and practice communities showing how all stakeholders use their own and each others’ research to support initiatives to develop accomplished teaching. Symposium papers will consider the extent to which the approaches outlined offer a model of development for teacher education and teacher work, exploring the contested nature of concepts of accomplished teaching and issues of impact.

Method

The symposium provides an overview of international approaches for recognizing and rewarding ‘accomplished teaching’ and papers in the symposium will (i) report on empirical research undertaken to investigate the impact of professional standards (Ingvarson, 2008); experiences of becoming an ‘accomplished’ or ‘Chartered Teacher’ (Murray & Matheson, 2008) and Chartered Teachers’ perception of impact (McMahon & Reeves, 2008); (ii) show how research has informed the development of policy in relation to this (Macaulay, 2008 & Llewellyn, 2008). In Paper 1 experiences from the Australian model will provide a set of principles and approaches that can serve as a framework for initiatives for rewarding accomplished teaching. Papers 2, 3, 4 provide examples from the models currently adopted Scotland and Wales. In Paper 5 the challenges of evaluating the impact of ‘accomplished teaching’ is considered, linking this to the set of principles and approaches outlined in Paper 1.

Expected Outcomes

Symposium papers will consider the extent to which the approaches outlined offer a model of development for teacher education and teacher work, exploring the contested nature of concepts of accomplished teaching and issues of impact.

References

Connelly, G. & McMahon, M. (2007) ‘Chartered Teacher: Accrediting professionalism for Scotland's teachers - a view from the inside.’ Journal of In-service Education, 33 (1), 91-105. Forde, C. McMahon, M. McPhee, A.D. & Patrick, F. (2006) Professional Development, Reflection and Enquiry London: Paul Chapman Publishers Ingvarson, L.C. & Hattie, J. (Eds.). (2008). Assessing Teachers for Professional Certification: The First Decade of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Volume 11, Advances in Program Evaluation. Amsterdam: Elsevier Press. Ingvarson, L.C. & Rowe, K. (2008). Conceptualising and Measuring Teacher Quality: Substantive and methodological issues. Australian Journal of Education, 52(1), 5-34. Ingvarson, L.C. (2008). School leadership standards. In B. McGaw, E. Baker and P. Peterson (Editors-in-Chief) International Encyclopedia of Education, 3rd Edition. Oxford: Elsevier Press. Kleinhenz, E. & Ingvarson, L.C. (2008). Identifying and Rewarding Exemplary Teachers: An Evaluation of the Teacher of Exemplary Practice Program in Northern Territory Government Schools. Darwin: NT Department of Employment, Education and Training. Ingvarson, L., Beavis, A., & Kleinhenz, E. (2007). Factors affecting the impact of teacher education courses on teacher preparedness: Implications for accreditation policy. European Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 30, No 4, 2007, 351-381. McMahon, M., & Reeves, J., (2008) Evaluating the impact of Chartered Teacher – the perception of Chartered Teachers Final Report http://www.gtcs.org.uk/Publications/PublishedResearch/CommissionedResearch/evaluating_impact_of_chartered_teacher_in_scotland.asp (accessed 18/02/08) OECD. (2005) Teachers Matter: Attracting, Developing and Retaining Effective Teachers Paris: OECD Publishing. Reeves, J., et al (2002) Performance Management in Education London:Sage Reeves, J,. ‘Inventing the Chartered Teacher’ British Journal of Educational Studies 55 (1) March 2007 pp56-76 SEED, Teachers in Scotland 2006 Edinburgh:HMSO http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/172747/0048226.pdf (accessed 13th July 2007)

Author Information

Margery McMahon

University of Glasgow

Educational Studies

Glasgow

Hayden Llewellyn

General Teaching Council for Wales

Cardiff

Simon Macaulay

The Educational Institute of Scotland

Education Department

EDINBURGH

Lawrence Ingvarson

Australian Council for Educational Research

Melbourne

Rosa Murray

General Teaching Council, Scotland

Jenny Reeves

University of Stirling

Education

Stirling

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