In recent years Shanghai, has excelled in the PISA tests and its schools have gained a reputation for their focus on the professional learning and development (PLD) of teachers. This is also an area of priority in English schools, with ‘Research and Development’ becoming one of the “Big 6” requirements of  “Teaching Schools” which lead the newly established national system of Teaching School Alliances. From a policy perspective, the OECD recognises the importance of teachers’ development as a means of contributing to improving the quality of teaching and learning (OECD, 2014). It reports also that professional development opportunities are perceived by teachers to have different levels of impact. The symposium will report the findings of a two year collaborative mixed methods research project between China and the UK which extend the results of the OECD survey by providing a more fine- grained analysis of the impact of a three phase study of the different kinds of professional learning and development on teachers’ commitment, resilience and perceived effectiveness: i) Phase 1 entailed a quantitative survey of all teachers in primary and secondary schools in one school district in Shanghai and two Teaching School Alliances in the Midlands region of England; ii) Phase 2 was qualitative case studies of 4 primary and 2 secondary schools in Shanghai and England (N=12) which were judged to be successful by in-country criteria and which had rich cultures of PLD; iii) Phase 3 consisted of data analysis and synthesis of findings from the survey and case studies, to achieve a nuanced understanding of the most effective practices of PLD in Shanghai and England.

Scholarly Significance

This research is novel both in terms of the sustained partnership between two prestigious universities in England and China. Its findings provide unique empirically based, fine- grained insights into the contexts, purposes, practices and perceived impact of professional learning and development for teachers in Shanghai and England.

Structure of the Session

Four key findings from the project concern: i) the nature of teachers’ experiences of PLD in the two jurisdictions; ii) the influence of policies on the provision of PLD; iii) analysis of the ways in which teachers in Shanghai and England conceive and conduct research; and iv) the influences of school cultures, especially leadership. The structure of the symposium follows this logic, thus beginning with the PLD experiences, then the ways these were influenced, first externally and then internally. Finally, the place of research in the cultures and practices of Shanghai and English teachers will be discussed. 

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