Every Teacher is a Learner

Every Teacher is a Learner

Isabelle Wolfe
Language Teacher, International School Aberdeen

Is a teacher born or made? There is no doubt that talent is essential to be an effective teacher. However, the will to become better as a teacher is a core competency that every teacher should strive to. As John Hattie points out, “We say to students you’ve got to come to school because that is where you learn – surely the same applies to teachers”.

All teachers enter the profession with a teaching qualification. However, is a qualified teacher good enough to be effective and have an impact on students’ attainment? According to the research by Hamre in 2005, students taught by the most effective teacher in a group of 50 teachers learn in six months what those taught by the average teacher learn in a year. Students taught by the least effective teacher in that group of 50 teachers will take two years to achieve the same learning. And even more interestingly, in the classroom of the most effective teachers, students from disadvantaged backgrounds learn at the same rate as those from advantaged backgrounds.

There seems to be clear evidence that highly effective teachers have a strong impact on students’ learning. However initial teacher training programs have very little, if any,  effects on students’ achievements. As Dylan William points out in his paper “Keeping Learning on Track”, teachers are very often creatures of habit, partly because they simply do not have the time to reflect on their practices and partly because these teachers simply do not see the need to change even though it is proven that significant improvements in student achievement would be possible with changes in teachers’ classroom practices.

There seems to be two obvious solutions that would solve the issue. Either mediocre teachers’ contracts are terminated and they are replaced with good teachers or teacher training becomes more rigorous in order to make sure good teachers are qualified. However, in the first instance, terminating contracts or putting average teachers on performance tracks costs money to the school and to the society as a whole. In the second option of introducing a more rigorous selection into teachers’ training, this process could entail a shortage of teachers in the medium term.

There is then a third solution. As Dylan Willam says, schools should adopt the “Love the ones you’re with” strategy. Schools should provide professional development to all teachers so that the mediocre ones become good and the good ones become excellent. Improving practice is not a natural process. If it was, the most experienced teachers in terms of years of experience would then be the most effective. This is not necessarily the case.

It is often assumed that teachers, in order to get better, should develop the aspects of the practices that they are the weakest in. However, as Dylan William remarks in his paper “Keeping Learning on Track”, teachers should actually become more expert in the areas that they are already very good at.

As Harry Fletcher-Wood and Zucolloin demonstrate in their research in 2019 there is evidence that professional development has a positive impact on pupils’ attainment. However, surprisingly, we should not underestimate that research based professional development can actually also have a counterproductive effect on students’ achievements. Brown and Campione referred to this process as lethal mutation, the fact that teachers adapt evidence-based teaching. As a consequence, teachers transform them into such modified approaches that they actually do not reflect what the research was pointing at in the first place. In extreme cases, the evidence-based approaches are so modified that they have a reverse effect on students’ attainment, hence the term “lethal mutation”.

How to avoid this pitfall? Kate Jones and Dylan William identify three different methods to do so in their paper ”Lethal mutations and how to avoid them”. Firstly, teachers should understand the evidence behind the research and develop dialogues with their colleagues in order to share experiences rather than applying a set of instructions. Secondly, it is essential not to implement too many techniques and research-based approaches too quickly. In short, teachers should not go too fast too furious but instead, work things through slowly and measure the impact a small change in their practices can have on their students’ achievements. Finally, not all research based approaches work in all classrooms. Having the perspective of various parameters such as the subject taught, the age of the students, the school context and so on will also make sure lethal mutations do not take place.

To be effective, according to Harry Fletcher-Wood, professional development should be collaborative, subject-based, practice-based  and sustainable. The most effective professional development is specific to the subject rather than being school-wide. The active ingredient of professional development should be its impact on students’ learning and not just in the short term and the limitations of a classroom. Education plays a vital part in our society and economy. Better education leads to longer and healthier lives. The causality between education and economy cannot be ignored and, in that sense, teachers have a societal responsibility.  Hanushek and Kimko, in their research paper called “The contribution of education to economic growth”, report “that it is not merely years of schooling but the quality of schooling that has a significant relationship with economic growth”.

In conclusion, professional development is a source of enrichment and should be taking place for all teachers, as well as being carefully monitored and evaluated. However, there is a risk that too much autonomy for the teacher in adapting evidence-based approaches could lead to a counterproductive effect on students’ achievements.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Isabelle Wolfe is the Language Subject Leader at the International School Aberdeen.  She teaches French in Middle and High school as well as the French Mother Tongue programme to our French native students. Prior to teaching at ISA, Isabelle taught in England, Australia, and Egypt.

REFERENCES

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“PD: John Hattie helps focus on key concerns.” SSAT, 3 March 2017, https://www.ssatuk.co.uk/blog/pd-john-hattie-helps-focus-on-key-concerns/. Accessed 31 March 2023.

Rice, Damien, and Matt Galbraith. “.,.” ., – YouTube, 16 November 2008, https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-97115-011. Accessed 6 April 2023.

“Teacher learning: The key to improving the world!” Dylan Wiliam, https://www.dylanwiliam.org/Dylan_Wiliams_website/Presentations_files/2016-12-03%20Google%20Education%20on%20Air%20talk.pptx. Accessed 31 March 2023.

Waack, Sebastian. “Hattie effect size list – 256 Influences Related To Achievement.” Visible Learning, 27 October 2015, https://visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/. Accessed 31 March 2023.

Scientific Research Publishing, https://www.scirp.org/(S(lz5mqp453edsnp55rrgjct55))/reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?ReferenceID=1890767. Accessed 31 March 2023.

“ERIC – ED615913 – Effective Professional Development. Guidance Report, Education Endowment Foundation, 2021-Oct-8.” ERIC, 8 October 2021, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED615913. Accessed 6 April 2023.