INNOVATIVE AND EFFECTIVE
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR
STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENT
Professor Stephen Dinham
Research Director – Teaching, Learning and
Leadership
ACER
CURRICULUM CORPORATION
Melbourne 19th June 2008
The ‘Born’ Teacher: Who needs
Professional Learning?
 The ‘born’ teacher: The Media Fixation
– The heroic individual
– Innate attributes, traits of individual teachers
 Linda Darling-Hammond describes the belief that
‘good teachers are born and not made’ as one of
education’s ‘most damaging myths’; one that has
gained the standing of a ‘superstition’, with harmful
consequences for teacher education and
schooling (2006: ix).
– Darling-Hammond, L.
(2006).
Powerful Teacher
Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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The Importance of the Teacher
 Many empirical studies have confirmed that the individual
classroom teacher is the major in-school influence on
student achievement. (see Hattie; Rowe; Mulford)
 Accounting for Variance [Hattie*]
 Student
50%
 Homes
5-10%
 School
5-10%
 Peers
5-10%
 Teacher
30%
 Major focus on Quality Teaching from late 1980s
•
Hattie, J. (2003). ‘Teachers Make a Difference: What is the Research Evidence?’,
http://www.leadspace.govt.nz/leadership/articles/teachers-make-a-difference.php
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Prof John Hattie Uni of Auckland
 Over 750 Meta-analyses of over
50,000 international studies
 Hattie, J. (2007). ‘Developing Potentials for
Learning: Evidence, assessment, and
progress’, EARLI Biennial Conference,
Budapest, Hungary.
http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/ed
ucation/staff/j.hattie/j.hattie_home.cfm
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Note on Effect Size
 Effect size (ES) is a name given to a family of indices that
measure the magnitude of a treatment effect. Unlike
significance tests, these indices are independent of sample
size.
 ES measures are the common currency of meta-analysis
studies that summarize the findings from a specific area of
research.
 The larger the ES, the greater the influence of the
treatment effect.
 As a guide, ES < 0.0 negative impact; 0.0 > 0.2 no/weak
impact; 0.2 – 0.4 small, possibly significant impact; 0.4
– 0.6 moderately significant impact; > 0.6 large,
significant impact
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Student Achievement
Influence
Mobility (shifting schools)
Retention
Television
Summer vacation
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Effect Size
-.34
-.16
-.14
-.09
6
Student Achievement
Influence
Open v Traditional
Multi-grade/age classes
Inductive teaching
Reading: whole language
Perceptual-motor programs
Out of school experiences
Distance education
Web based learning
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Effect Size
.01
.04
.06
.06
.08
.09
.09
.09
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Student Achievement
Influence
Effect Size
Ability grouping
.11
Teacher training
.11
Diet on achievement
.12
Teacher subject matter knowledge
.12
Gender (boys-girls)
.12
Multi-media methods
.15
Problem based learning
.15
Home school programs
.16
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Student Achievement
Influence
Extra-curricular programs
Family structure
Co-/team teaching
Learning hierarchies
Aptitude/treatment interventions
Individualised instruction
Charter schools
Religious schools
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Effect Size
.17
.18
.19
.19
.19
.20
.20
.20
9
Student Achievement
Influence
Class size
Teaching test taking
Finances
Summer school
Competitive learning
Programmed instruction
Within class grouping
Mainstreaming
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Effect Size
.21
.22
.23
.23
.24
.24
.25
.28
10
Student Achievement
Influence
Effect Size
Desegregation
.28
Exercise/relaxation
.28
Audio-based teaching
.28
Home visiting by teachers
.29
Reducing anxiety
.30
Principals/school leaders
.30
Ability grouping for gifted students
.30
Homework
.31
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Student Achievement
Influence
Inquiry based teaching
Simulations and gaming
Reading: exposure to reading
Bilingual programs
Teacher positive expectations
Computer assisted instruction
Enrichment on gifted
Integrated curriculum programs
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Effect Size
.31
.32
.36
.37
.37
.37
.39
.39
12
Student Achievement
Influence
Effect Size
Adjunct aids
.41
Hypermedia instruction
.41
Behavioural organisers/adj questions
.41
Self-concept on achievement
.43
Frequent/effects of testing
.46
Early intervention
.47
Motivation on learning
.48
Small group learning
.49
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Student Achievement
Influence
Effect Size
Questioning
.49
Cooperative learning
.49
Reading: Second/third chance programs.50
Play programs
.50
Visual based/audio-visual teaching
.51
Outdoor programs
.52
Concept mapping
.52
Peer influences
.53
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Student Achievement
Influence
Effect Size
Keller's mastery learning program
.53
Reading: Phonics instruction
.53
Reading: Visual-perception programs .55
Parental Involvement
.55
Peer tutoring
.55
Goals – challenging
.56
Mastery learning
.57
Social skills programs
.57
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Student Achievement
Influence
Effect Size
Socio-economic status
.57
Home environment
.57
Providing worked examples
.57
Reading: Comprehension programs
.58
Direct instruction
.59
Time on task
.59
Study skills
.59
Acceleration of gifted
.60
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Student Achievement
Influence
Effect Size
Problem solving teaching
.61
Teacher professional development
.64
Reading: Repeated reading programs .67
Reading: Vocabulary programs
.67
Meta-cognition strategies
.67
Teaching students self-verbalisation
.67
Creativity programs
.70
Prov. Formative evaluation to teachers .70
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Student Achievement
Influence
Feedback
Teacher-student relationships
Prior achievement
Reciprocal teaching
Quality of teaching
Classroom behavioural
Absence of disruptive students
Self-report grades
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Effect Size
.72
.72
.73
.74
.77
.80
.86
1.44
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Overall Influences
Teacher
Curricula
Teaching
Student
Home
School
Average
Effect Size
.50
.45
.43
.39
.35
.23
.40
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Activator or Facilitator ?
An Activator
ES
A Facilitator
ES
Reciprocal teaching
.74
Simulations and gaming
.32
Feedback
.72
Inquiry based teaching
.31
Teaching students self-verbalization
.67
Smaller class sizes
.21
Meta-cognition strategies
.67
Individualized instruction
.20
Direct Instruction
.59
Problem-based learning
.15
Mastery learning
.57
Different teaching for boys & girls .12
Goals - challenging
.56
Web-based learning
.09
Frequent/ Effects of testing
.46
Whole Language Reading
.06
Behavioral organizers
.41
Inductive teaching
.06
ACTIVATOR
.60
FACILITATOR
.17
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‘Guide by the Side’ or ‘Sage on
the Stage?’
 A damaging and demeaning dichotomy
 Good teachers have always been both
 Findings from Successful Secondary
Teachers Study:
– Expert teaching is student centred and
teacher directed.
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Underpinning Teacher Effectiveness
 Educational Leadership
 Teachers’ Professional Learning
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Types of Teacher Learning
Traditional
 Formal pre-service
 ad hoc, on the job
 Professional associations
 Informal self-directed
 Formal in-service
 Formal postgraduate study
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Types of Teacher Learning
Alternative Approaches
 Action research
 Action learning
 Formal mentoring
 Professional standards/accreditation
(mandatory, voluntary)
 Professional learning modules
 Learning communities
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Teacher Learning since the mid-1970s
From ……………………… To
Centralised
System responsibility
Off the shelf
Generalised
Off site, apart
Input
Passive
External expert
Individual learning
Theory based
Transactional
Changing things
Learning by seeing, hearing
Using research
Broad focus
Decentralised
Individual, collective responsibility
Tailored
Contextualised
On site, embedded
Outcomes
Interactive
External partner
Community learning
Problem based
Relational
Changing people
Action learning
Doing research
Student/learning focus
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The Learning Community:
Ideal and Reality
Case Studies: The Evidence Base
1. HSC Teaching Success
2. AESOP
3. Australian Government Quality Teaching
Program (NSW)
4. NSW Quality Teaching Awards
 None of these projects was about learning
communities per se, but each shed light on the
dynamics of the phenomenon.
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How is a Learning Community
Developed and Sustained?:
The Learning Communities examined in the case
studies were developed and sustained through
A. Focus on Teaching and Learning
B. Individual and Collective Belief and Support
C. Problem Solving
D. Internal Expectations and Accountability
E. Leadership and Outside Influence
F. Overall Dynamics
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A. Focus on Teaching and Learning
1. Learning communities have a focus on learning
and a desire to learn about learning; there is use
of pedagogic terminology, models, evidence and
theory.
2. Members
of learning communities
see
themselves and their students as going
somewhere, with learning being an on-going
process; learning becomes contagious, with
others catching the ‘bug’.
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Focus on Teaching and Learning
3. Within the group there is recognition that it is
necessary to change the way people think if there
is to be change in how they act, and thus
learning, reflection and questioning are
important.
4. Members of the group are concerned with
establishing and maintaining upward, continuous
cycles of improvement; they are not satisfied with
the status quo.
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B. Individual and Collective Belief
and Support
5. Group members possess and demonstrate belief
and respect for their profession and discipline;
they believe in, even love their area and
communicate this to others.
6. Members of the group pay attention to social
maintenance, trying to make their school,
department, or faculty a ‘good place’ (MacBeath,
2006); members care for each other and their
students as people and social and professional
relationships are important.
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C. Problem Solving
7. There is an emphasis on problem or issue based
learning and recognition of what is important,
with dialogue around identified issues and
potential solutions.
8. Experimentation, risk taking and innovation in
teaching and learning are encouraged and are a
feature of learning communities; there is
questioning
rather
than
acceptance
of
constraints.
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Problem Solving
9. Teaching and learning are context and person
specific, with efforts to contextualise and modify
as necessary externally derived solutions or
approaches.
10. There is on-going reflection on and evaluation of
existing and new measures within the learning
community, coupled with data-informed decision
making.
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D. Internal Expectations and
Accountability
11. The group creates a climate of high expectations
and professionalism which members rise to, not
wanting to let anyone down, not least students.
12. Members of the group empower each other to
take the lead in learning, in turn enhancing
individual and group leadership capacity and
effectiveness.
13. Accountability is to the group, more than to
externally imposed accountability measures;
group accountability and self-accountability are
powerful influences on the learning community’s
ethos, and action.
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E. Leadership and Outside
Influence
14. Leadership outside and within the group is
important in stimulating and facilitating the
learning community.
15. While learning communities can develop without
stimulus or action from above or outside,
assistance,
guidance,
resources
and
encouragement from others within and in some
cases outside the organisation can facilitate the
learning process.
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F. Overall Dynamics
16. Overall, what seems to work most effectively is a
combination of external understanding, advice,
assistance and recognition, coupled with a focus
on internal issues, with teacher and group
learning to address these through empowerment
and with internal action and accountability.
17. Time, place, space and language are important
elements in creating a learning community.
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Putting it Together:
The Student Success Triangle
QUALITY
TEACHING
FOCUS ON THE
STUDENT
PROFESSIONA
L LEARNING
LEADERSHIP
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Implications and Conclusions
 There are many who advocate
development of learning communities.
the
 The research evidence on learning
communities and how these can support
teachers’ professional learning and improve
student achievement is encouraging.
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Implications and Conclusions
 However, learning communities cannot be
mandated, built or maintained in a technical,
mechanistic sense.
 Rather, these need to be encouraged,
nourished and sustained in the manner of
an organic system.
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Implications and Conclusions
 Building a learning community is more like
agriculture or gardening than engineering
or chemistry.
 Educational leaders cannot, nor should
they attempt to, mandate the development
of learning communities. Leaders can
however assist organisational members to
come together, focus and collaborate on
issues of importance.
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Implications and Conclusions
 Some organisations and groups suffer
from learning disabilities. These need to
be assessed/diagnosed/treated in the
same way we would with a student.
 Educational leaders need to ensure that
teaching and learning are central concerns
of the educational organisation and do all
in their power to ensure that nothing is
allowed to obstruct or distort this central
focus.
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Implications and Conclusions
 There is a challenge for educational leaders
to deal with situations where learning has
atrophied.
McBeath has noted (2006: 19):
“It is hard for teachers to shed an outer skin which has calcified
over many years in the classroom where dialogue is a rare
commodity no matter how hard teachers strive for it, and in
which ‘instruction’ is the norm”.
 However building a learning community is
not about ‘fixing’ teachers but improving
teaching and learning.
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Implications and Conclusions
 Dialogue and innovation around quality
teaching and learning have emerged and reinvigorated jaded mid-late career teachers
who are now active participants in learning
communities.
 Latent leadership potential has emerged
and in turn facilitated further change and
improvement in the groups/faculties/schools
concerned.
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Implications and Conclusions
 Finally, teacher professional learning needs
to be built upon an evidential foundation of
what works in teaching, not fad, fantasy,
idealism, ideology or rhetoric. Further
evidence needs to be gathered to inform
and enable this professional learning.
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Some References
Ayres, P.; Dinham, S. & Sawyer, W. (2000). ‘Successful Senior Secondary
Teaching’, Quality Teaching Series, No 1, Australian College of Education,
September, pp. 1-20.
Brady, L.; Aubusson, P. & Dinham, S. (2006). ‘Action Learning For School
Improvement', Educational Practice and Theory, 28(2), pp. 27-39.
Dinham, S. (2007). Leadership for Exceptional Educational Outcomes. Teneriffe,
Qld.: Post Pressed.*
Dinham, S. (2007). ‘The Dynamics of Creating and Sustaining Learning
Communities’, Unicorn Online Refereed Article, ORA43, pp. 1-16.#
Dinham, S. (2007). ‘The Secondary Head of Department and the Achievement of
Exceptional Student Outcomes’, Journal of Educational Administration, 45(1),
pp. 62-79.
Dinham, S. (2005). ‘Principal Leadership for Outstanding Educational Outcomes’,
Journal of Educational Administration, 43(4), pp. 338-356.
* For the complete AESOP series see:
http://www.postpressed.com.au/aesop/aesop_manual.pdf
# Main reference for this paper.
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Contact Details
Professor Stephen Dinham
Research Director - Teaching and Leadership
ACER
Private Bag 55
Camberwell Vic 3124
Email: dinham@acer.edu.au
Phone: 03 9277 5463
Website:
www.acer.edu.au/staffbio/dinham_stephen.html
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