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The model of “Qualification,

Dissemination & Networking (QDN)”

in Teacher Professional Development:

Strategies of Education Bureau in the

2015 Policy Address and implications

for school leaders

WONG Wai Lun Vincent

Hong Kong Baptist University

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the tripartite model of “Qualification, Dissemination & Networking (QDN)” in contemporary macroscopic view of Teacher Professional Development (TPD) by examining the rationale behind the three strategies of the Education Bureau highlighted in 2015 Policy Address of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, i.e. (1) increasing the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector primary schools, (2) enriching Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, and (3) promoting business-school partnership programme to enhance life planning. In this paper, the 2015 Policy Address is discussed as the policy background for the three highlighted strategies of TPD. Through the discussion of the three strategies, a tripartite model of QDN in macroscopic TPD was proposed. In summary, this paper yields three useful policy implications for school leaders in local and overseas contexts under the model of QDN.

Keywords

school leader in teacher profession, teacher development in Hong Kong, teacher professional development

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Introduction

Teacher Professional Development (TPD)

Teacher Professional Development (TPD) provides teachers with opportunities to explore new roles, develop new instructional techniques, refine their practice and broaden themselves, both as educators and as individuals (Komba & Nkumbi, 2008). It is also the key determining factor towards improved student performance. TPD also provides teachers with a way to apply what they have learnt directly to their teaching (Zakaria & Daud, 2009). Holland (2005) found that teachers were more likely to change their instructional practices, gain greater subject knowledge and improve teaching skills when their TPD was directly linked to their daily experiences, as well as aligned with standards and assessments.

Worldview of Teacher Professional Development: “Traditional Microscopic” view and “Contemporary Macroscopic” view

Schools are different from factories, where human capital plays a more important role in the “manufacturing process” than machines. As such, investment in professional development of teachers would definitely enhance “teacher productivity” and “student performance”.

With reference to TPD, there are basically two different worldviews, the traditional microscopic view and the contemporary macroscopic view (Table 1).

Table 1. “Traditional Microscopic” view & “Contemporary Macroscopic” view of

Teacher Professional Development

TPD Microscopic ViewTraditional Macroscopic ViewContemporary Definition more restricted to formal structural

programmes and training more embracing, including all formal and informal activities that are pertaining to teacher learning and professional growth

Peer Sharing peer sharing and professional discussion among practitioners not widely recognized

peer professional sharing is recognized and encouraged Themes TPD themes are mainly “limited to”

improving teachers’ professional practice and student outcomes

TPD themes are “more flexible and diversified” with respect to the various domains of school communities

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Traditional Microscopic View of Teacher Professional Development

Traditional microscopic theorists believe that TPD should be defined as more restrictive to, or directly relevant to, formal structural programmes and training. As such, peer sharing and professional discussion among practitioners are not widely recognized and are not even “put under the record of Personal File” at schools. The traditional microscopic view of TPD themes is relatively “limited to” improving mainly professional practice and student outcomes. For flexibility needs, it might be characterized with more rigidity with fixed year-plan formulated in the summer of last school year. When it comes to school improvement, it has been regarded as a critical factor in developing school-based conditions for sustainability (Timperley, Wilson, Barrar, & Fung, 2007).

Contemporary Macroscopic View of Teacher Professional Development

Yet, in addition to the aforesaid traditional microscopic view of TPD, contemporary macroscopic theorists of TPD have embraced various forms of TPD, including all formal and informal activities that are pertaining to teacher learning and professional growth (Fullan, 1995). For instance, Day (1999) believed TPD should also be ongoing, which emphasizes the complex, dynamic, and continual process, as quoted below:

Teacher professional development consists of all natural learning experiences and those conscious and planned activities which are intended to be of direct or indirect benefit to the individual, group or school and which contribute, through these, to the quality of education in the classroom. It is the process by which, alone and with others, teachers review, renew and extend their commitment as change agents to the moral purposes of teaching; and by which they acquire and develop critically the knowledge, skills and emotional intelligence essential to good professional thinking, planning and practice with children, young people and colleagues through each phase of their teaching lives.

Table 1. “Traditional Microscopic” view & “Contemporary Macroscopic” view of

Teacher Professional Development (continued)

TPD Microscopic ViewTraditional Macroscopic ViewContemporary Flexibility might be more rigid with fixed

year-plan formulated in the summer of last school year

could be ongoing and flexible with changes, which emphasizes the complex, dynamic, and continual process

School

Improvement as a critical factor in developing school-based “conditions” for sustainability

as a critical factor in developing “school communities and people” for sustainability

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Three highlighted elements in Contemporary Macroscopic View of TDP: Qualifications, Dissemination & Networking (QDN)

In order to embrace the fast-pace challenges of the globalized world, the contemporary macroscopic view of TPD has been much more popular in the past twenty years among education policy-makers in the world. As such, the three key highlighted elements of contemporary macroscopic view of TPD are detailed below (Figure 1):

(1) Qualification

The contemporary macroscopic view of TPD could enhance teachers’ qualification in structural learning programmes such as Bachelor of Education (BEd), or unstructured learning experiences, or their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) benefiting their professional growth in teaching, administrative, or any domains contributing to the quality of education they are delivering, or sustained improvements in schools’ teaching and learning (Earley & Porritt, 2010; Hustler, McNamara, Jarvis, Londra, & Campell, 2003; Leahy & Wiliam, 2011; Schwille & Dembele, 2007; Villegas-Reimers, 2003).

(2) Dissemination

The contemporary macroscopic view of TPD could include the dissemination of professional knowledge, experiences or best practices (Desimone, Porter, Garet, Kwang, & Birmam, 2002; Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, & Kwang, 2001) in teachers’ context of practice (Holland, 2005) or everyday work, experiences or even their failure, which extend their commitment to their professional growth in one subject, Key Learning Area (KLA) or domain, or cross-disciplinary areas in curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, generic skills via symposium, seminars, fair, presentation, collaboration, etc.

(3) Networking

The contemporary macroscopic view of TPD could network Professional Learning Communities (PLC) (Hargreaves, Berry, Lai, Leung, Scott, Stobart, 2013; Hawley & Valli, 1999; Wilkins, 2011) with different school stakeholders such as teachers, students, parents, community partners, business sectors, tertiary institutions, accreditation bodies with respect (Stoll, Bolam, McMahon, Wallace & Thomas, 2006), through which more opportunities, visits and guidance can be given to students for their enrichment of academic or non-academic learning experiences or exposure, or more chances for teachers to witness firsthand the effects of their own learning efforts on their own students’ learning (Schechter, 2010).

To facilitate better understanding, the contemporary macroscopic view of TPD can be represented in a tripartite model named “Qualification, Dissemination & Networking (QDN)” model. With the explanation of the QDN model, the role of Government in

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enhancing the Qualification (Q), Dissemination (D) and Networking (N) in TPD in the selected strategies of 2015 Policy Address can better be comprehended.

Figure 1. Model of “Qualification, Dissemination & Networking (QDN)” in TPD

Teacher Professional Development in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, TPD has undergone different changes in response to the contemporary education landscape. Before 1990s, a very detailed TPD framework for principals and teachers was absent. In 1991, following the Public Sector Reform (PSR) of Reagan’s administration in US and Thatcher’s administration in UK, the introduction of School Management Initiative (SMI) in Hong Kong advocated the SMI schools to entitle 3 TPD days per annum for their school-based development programmes. In 1997, Hong Kong reunified with China. The first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Tung Chee Wah, prioritized education as one of the key tasks for his administration. In 1999, along with the full implementation of SMI on territory basis, all schools could have 3 days per annum for professional development.

In 2002, Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Professional Qualifications (ACTEQ) investigated the practice of principal & teacher professional development under globalized contexts and launched the first Principals’ Continuing Professional Development framework. Under which, new principals need to take professional development programmes for the first two years of service. For serving principals with two or more years of headship experience, they are required to study a minimum of 150 hours of CPD over a three-year cycle.

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Highlighted strategies in TPD

in 2015 Policy Address Key points highlighted 1. Increasing the ratio of graduate

teacher posts in public sector primary schools

lincreasing the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector primary schools by phases in three years, from the current 50% to 65% in the 2017/18 school year

2. Enriching Science, Technology

and Mathematics Education lrenewing and enriching the curricula of the Key Learning Areas (KLAs) of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education and the primary General Studies curriculum

In 2003, ACTEQ further developed a generic Teacher Competence Framework (TCF) for teachers (ACTEQ, 2003). In 2006, ACTEQ published an interim report on Teachers’ CPD (ACTEQ, 2006). In 2009, ACTEQ further issued the third report on Teachers’ CPD with recommendations for future development (ACTEQ, 2009). In 2013, ACTEQ was then reconstituted to be Committee on Professional Development of Teachers and Principals (COTAP), with clearer specialization into (1) Sub-committee on Initial Teacher Education (SCITE); (2) Sub-committee on Teachers’ Professional Development (SCTPD); and (3) Sub-committee on School Leadership (SCSL).

Given the aforesaid policy background, this paper will adopt the “Qualification, Dissemination & Networking (QDN)” model to explain the selected strategies pertaining to contemporary macroscopic view of TPD in the 2015 Policy Address. However, it is not the intent of this paper to discuss all the initiatives in the whole Policy Address 2015.

Policy background: Education Bureau’s policy initiatives

in 2015 Policy Address

Education has been one of the most heavily invested public sector in the Policy Address of Hong Kong for the past decades. The 2015 Policy Address is of no exception. On 14 January, 2015, the Chief Executive in the HKSAR delivered his 2015 Policy Address. In relation to education, there has been an array of major initiatives to be launched by Education Bureau (EDB). Among these initiatives, this paper focuses only on three highlighted strategies pertaining to the contemporary macroscopic view of TPD (see Appendix), namely (1) increasing the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector primary schools, (2) enriching Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, and (3) promoting business-school partnership programme to enhance life planning. Details of the three highlighted strategies are listed below and summarized (Table 2):

Table 2. Three highlighted strategies on contemporary macroscopic view of TPD in 2015

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Highlighted strategies in TPD

in 2015 Policy Address Key points highlighted l

l

l

l

l

strengthening the pedagogical approaches to integrative learning and application skills

planning to organise a cross-disciplinary symposium with seminars on various themes for teachers of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education KLAs and those of primary General Studies

enhancing teacher training and arranging professional exchange sessions for schools with good practices in learning and teaching to share their experience

will organise an integrative Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education Fair to promote a culture of cross-disciplinary learning in primary and secondary schools will continue to strengthen the collaboration among schools, tertiary institutions, professional bodies and the industries concerned so as to enhance stakeholders’ understanding of the development of STEM

3. Promoting business-school partnership programme to enhance life planning

l

l

l

l

starting from the 2014/15 school year, EDB has provided each public sector school operating classes at senior secondary levels with a recurrent cash grant at about HKD500,000 per annum with a view to strengthening the provision of life planning education and career guidance services

issuing the “Guide on Life Planning Education and Career Guidance for Secondary Schools” for schools and teachers

providing professional support, including experience sharing by selected Professional Development Schools

providing more training places for teachers; collaboration with the business sector, tertiary institutions and Qualifications Framework (QF) Secretariat in organizing activities for principals, teachers and parents; enhancement of the Business-School Partnership Programme (BSPP)

Table 2. Three highlighted strategies on contemporary macroscopic view of TPD in 2015

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Table 2. Three highlighted strategies on contemporary macroscopic view of TPD in 2015

Policy Address (continued)

Highlighted strategies in TPD

in 2015 Policy Address Key points highlighted l

l

l

providing advice on life planning education through school visits and revamping the career guidance website to provide teachers, students and parents with more information on life planning

strengthening partnership between schools and business organisations in the next three years with a view to enhancing students’ understanding of different trades and preparing them for employment in the future through activities such as mentorship, career exploration and business-school pairing programmes, etc.

will review and consolidate key elements of effective practices to facilitate the setting up of a platform to showcase exemplars of business-school partnership, thereby attracting participation of more schools and businesses

With the explanation of the QDN model, the rationale behind three highlighted strategies in 2015 Policy Address pertaining to TPD could be unveiled. The three strategies indeed act on the Qualification (Q) domain, Dissemination (D) domain and Networking (N) domain, as summarized and mapped in the table below (Table 3).

Table 3. Realization of TPD in 2015 Policy Address via QDN model

w increasing the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector primary schools by phases in three years, from the current 50% to 65% in the 2017/18 school year QDN model Three highlighted strategies Mapping in 2015 Policy Address 1. Qualification

domain lcould enhance teachers’ qualification in structural learning programme such as Bachelor of Education (BEd), or unstructured learning experiences

lIncreasing the ratio of graduate teacher posts (more graduate posts

for attracting competitive candidates with university degree or above) in

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Table 3. Realization of TPD in 2015 Policy Address via QDN model (continued) QDN model Three highlighted strategies Mapping in 2015 Policy Address 2. Dissemination

domian l

l

could include the professional sharing of knowledge, experiences or best practices in teachers’ context of practice or everyday work, experiences or even their failure

extending their commitment to their professional growth in one subject, Key Learning Area (KLA) or domain, or cross-disciplinary areas in curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, generic skills via symposium, seminars, fair, presentation, collaboration, etc.

lEnriching Science, Technology and Mathematics Education

w strengthening the pedagogical approaches of teachers in STEM to integrative learning and application skills

w planning to organise a cross-disciplinary symposium with seminars on various themes for teachers of STEM KLAs and those of primary General Studies

w enabling teachers to understand how to promote STEM education and collaborate among themselves w enhancing teacher training and

arrange professional exchange sessions for schools with good practices in learning and teaching to share their experience

w enhancing teachers’ professional capacity and building up learning communities within and across schools to benefit student learning w will organise an integrative STEM

Education Fair to promote a culture of cross-disciplinary learning in primary and secondary schools w will continue to strengthen the collaboration among schools, tertiary institutions, professional bodies and the industries concerned so as to enhance stakeholders’ understanding of the development of STEM

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Table 3. Realization of TPD in 2015 Policy Address via QDN model (continued)

w providing professional support, including experience sharing by selected Professional Development Schools;

w providing collaboration with the business sector, tertiary institutions and Qualifications Framework (QF) Secretariat in organizing activities for principals, teachers and parents; enhancement of the Business-School Partnership Programme (BSPP)

w providing advice on life planning education through school visits and revamping the career guidance website to provide teachers, students and parents with more information on life planning w strengthening partnership

between schools and business organisations in the next three years with a view to enhancing students’ understanding of different trades and preparing them for employment in the future through activities such as mentorship, career exploration and business-school pairing programmes, etc. w reviewing and consolidating key

elements of effective practices to facilitate the setting up of a platform to showcase exemplars of business-school partnership, thereby attracting participation of more schools and businesses 3. Networking

domian l

l

could forge Professional Learning Communities (PLC) with different school stakeholders such as teachers, students, parents, community partners, business sectors, tertiary institutions, accreditation bodies with respect through which more opportunities, visits and guidance can be given to students for their enrichment of academic or non-academic learning experiences or exposure, or more chances to teachers to witness firsthand the effects of their own learning efforts on their own students’ learning

lPromoting business-school

partnership programme to enhance life planning

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Discussion: Policy implication for school leaders

Having discussed the QDN model adopted by the EDB in 2015 Policy Address, school leaders would wonder what policy implications they can derive, namely:

1. How could school leaders promote qualification upgrade in Qualification (Q) domain?

2. How could school leaders facilitate the Dissemination (D) of good theoretical rationale and professional practices in TPD?

3. What stakeholders could school leaders build Network (N) with to harness the external resources to school?

To answer the above three questions, this paper yields three useful policy implications for school leaders in local and overseas contexts with the explanation of the QDN model (Figure 2).

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Discussion Question 1:

How could school leaders promote qualification upgrade in Qualification (Q) domain?

1. Conductive conditions for qualification upgrade

First, school leaders could keep cultivating an atmosphere of “Qualification Upgrade” within their own schools. Even though qualification of teachers does not assure the excellence of the teaching performance, it is an important educational input Performance Indicator (PI) in the Quality Assurance (QA) of the educational quality. For example, Hong Kong Government has been very successful in uplifting the qualification of kindergarten, primary, secondary school teachers by enhancing the academic requirements by policy-driven measures in the past decades. Key initiatives such as the mandatory requirement of teacher training of Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) for teachers with degree only are proven to be effective in uplifting the general qualification and professionalism of the teaching profession.

Likewise, as school leaders, principals can highly encourage their teachers to pursue Master Degree in specialized academic areas or administrative domains. Generally speaking, approximately 35-40% of teachers in aided secondary schools possess Master Education or above. Despite the fact that quite a number of teachers even possess Double Master degrees, not every single school is “condition-conducive” to those teachers who are studying in terms of time, money, psychological support and cross-field partnership scheme (Table 4).

Table 4. Conducive conditions for qualification upgrade

Conducive conditions for qualification upgrade

Time School leaders might consider the following measures to create “time space” for teachers:

1. allow early departure from school on “study days”

2. permit specialized arrangement on assigned duties, including peer swapping of duties, when clashing with “evening study”

3. try to avoid non-urgent meetings being scheduled on “study days” 4. consider the introduction of Long Service Leave (LSL), like Australia,

to encourage teachers to take a break to attend courses, write books, attach to other schools so as to enrich their experiences of the teaching profession

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Table 4. Conducive conditions for qualification upgrade (continued)

Conducive conditions for qualification upgrade Money Psychologcial Support Cross-field Partnership Scheme

School leaders might solicit funding from the following sources to provide monetary incentive or funding for teachers to study:

1. Parent-Teacher association (PTA) 2. Alumni Association

3. Incorporated Management Committee (IMC)

School leaders might provide the following psychological support for teachers to undertake their Teacher Professional Development:

1. timely care and love

2. warm regards for their “study progress”

3. encouragement of positive impact for their career development

The head of School Sponsoring Bodies (SSB) might consider broadening the life experiences of teachers with certain maturity, such as 10, 20 or 30 years of experiences by establishing partnership schemes, for a reasonable period of time:

1. partnership with different business groups, such as the inter-flow scheme between Senior Administrative Officer (SAO) Hong Kong Government and Senior Management Team (SMT) of the Jardine Group

2. recognize this additional exposure as additional qualifications upgrade under CPD

1.1 Time

As observed, teachers in Hong Kong are diligent and professional. However, their limitation is that they are heavily burdened by lots of teaching and administrative work, especially the challenges of learner diversity and societal changes.

Though school leaders might not be able to change the nature of teaching profession, some effective measures can be adopted to provide ample time for teachers to further their study:

(1) allow early leave from school on “study days”

(2) permit specialized arrangement on assigned duties, including peer swapping of duties, when clashing with “evening study”

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(3) try to avoid non-urgent meetings being scheduled on “study days”

(4) consider Long Service Leave (LSL), like Australia, to encourage teachers to take a break to attend courses, write books, attach to other schools so as to enrich their experiences in the teaching profession

The aforesaid measures are indeed not new or difficult arrangements. Yet, there have been cases revealed by teachers, from time to time, expressing their difficulties to study as some school administrators would not facilitate their study by making the above adjustment. Some school administrators possessed the belief of “your study has nothing to do with school”. Of course, if the teachers concerned do not study any relevant courses for their TPD, such as taking a “property investment” course by a history teacher, it would be justified if schools do not entertain their unreasonable requests. Yet, all in all, offering time for teachers to study is an effective means to promote their qualification upgrade.

1.2 Money

It is well-understood that the secondary and primary school systems are aided schools, as such, there might not be a specialized funding for their study. For instance, the cost of taking a part-time master degree is around HKD80,000 to HKD1,000,000. Yet, there might not be lots of policies or specialized funding from the Government supporting non-language teachers to study for master degrees. An exception is the case with the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR). Despite so, some school leaders have successfully solicited study funds for teachers from: parent-teacher associations (PTA), alumni associations and/or Incorporated Management Committee (IMC).

Some schools would offer teachers funds to support their further studies. Although the amount is small, it signifies a gesture of “respect and support” for teacher qualification upgrade.

1.3 Psychological support

In what way are schools differing from factories? Human compassion. Most teachers in Hong Kong are willing to sacrifice their time and money for their professional upgrade. What they need most might be something more than just money, but care and love from school leaders. Nurturing a culture of “love, trust and support to teachers” would enable teachers to be loved and to love. A “caring campus” can be a superficial slogan in the school banner, or a concrete “live experience” experienced by teachers. It depends on the determination of school leaders to foster a “caring campus on paper” or a “caring campus in action”.

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If school leaders believe that “when teachers feel the love in school, teachers would also love the students therein”, they could provide: timely care and love, warm regards for their “study progress” and positive impact for their career development.

Such “psychological support” is basically not “costly”, but it symbolizes how school leaders value TPD as well as “Teachers as human beings”. It would be quite disappointing to find school leaders to only care about the number of CPD hours their staff have achieved, rather than the development of “teachers as a whole-person”. In Covey’s management terms (1989), smart and effective leaders care about not just the “production (teachers’ performance)”, but also the “producers (teachers own self)” and teachers’ “emotional bank”.

1.4 Cross-field partnership scheme

Group head of School Sponsoring Bodies (SSB) might consider broadening the life experiences of teachers with certain maturity, such as 10, 20 or 30 years of experiences by establishing partnership schemes, for a reasonable period of time. Partnership with different business groups, such as the inter-flow scheme between Senior Administrative Officer (SAO) Hong Kong Government and Senior Management Team (SMT) of the Jardine Group could be good experiences or examples to learn from. In addition, SSB could also recognize this additional exposure as a qualification for CPD.

Discussion Question 2:

How could school leaders facilitate the Dissemination (D) of good theoretical rationale and professional practices in TPD?

2. Professional trust for dissemination

Second, school leaders could offer ample opportunities for teachers to disseminate their own “good teaching practices” within and outside their own schools. Some “existing practice of TPD” in Hong Kong is to “filling-in the three standard TPD Days” by “contracting out to the famous tertiary course providers” so that there is something to “showcase in the Annual School Report”. From the author’s experience, some “Staff Development Coordinators (SDC)” did not have vision to implement a holistic TPD plan or framework for their schools. Instead, they just want to “kill time on the three Staff Development Days”. Those coordinators claimed that they did not want to be SDC, and just feel annoyed about being assigned to take up this post. Under such context, one can expect the quality of the Staff Development Days to be “un-organized and dis-connected”.

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As a result, some SDCs just want to “do the things right” instead of “do the right thing”. They would usually contact the relevant university departments, tertiary partners or even EDB in a hurry. Some even give the “trainers” one to two weeks to prepare for the training workshops, without providing the detailed demographic data about their schools. Some university academic staff feel like they are not doing something “specific and to-the-point”. Some university trainers even complained that the SDC could not be contacted after their agreeing to be guest speakers. In some scenarios, some university departments even refused to work with secondary schools as they feel like “left unattended” by SDCs. What’s worse, some SDCs even blame the speakers if the seminars are not well-received. To tackle this challenge, school leaders need to be prudent by appointing competent SDCs and trusting the professionalism of their own teachers.

2.1 Appointing appropriate SDC

There are two types of teachers in TPD, the extrinsic TPD teachers and the intrinsic TPD teachers.

Extrinsic TPD teachers are those teachers driven by external factors such as school policy, pressure from school or even competition among colleagues. This type of teachers might not have genuine interest in leaving study but aim to “complete the study” for the sake of fulfilling external requirements or expectations, fitting in “the norm”, requirements about promotion, or they are just meeting some requirements.

Intrinsic TPD teachers, on the other hand, are driven by internal factors such as an awareness of the need for improving their inadequacy or sharpening their professional skills for the sake of self-improvement. They are also willing to spend their time and effort to actualize their education vision.

School leaders should appoint a senior intrinsic TDP teacher to the post of Coordinator of the Teacher Development Committee or Staff Development Committee. This type of teachers is able to lead by examples, to keep abreast of the latest educational development and to devise TPD plan by heart.

2.2 Designing Teacher Professional Development

The design of TPD is mainly categorized into 5 models (Pitsoe & Maila, 2012; Sparks & Loucks-Horsley, 1989):

(1) Individually guided development

This model assumes individuals are motivated by self-selecting their own learning goals. It also assumes that self-directed development empowers teachers

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to address their own problems, thereby creating a sense of professionalism. Under this model, teachers design his or her own learning activities.

(2) Observation and assessment

This model assumes that the observer and the assessor act as “eyes and ears” for the teacher. Observer gives feedback to teachers by observing classroom practice so as to improve instructional practices.

(3) Involvement in a development or improvement process

This model assumes that new skills or knowledge may be required and can be attained through reading, discussion, observation, training and experimentation. It is believed that this involvement can lead to new skills, attitudes and behavioral changes.

(4) Training

This model assumes that an expert teacher could serve as a trainer who selects the objectives, and learning activities for the training process. These outcomes involve raising awareness, facilitating knowledge, skills development, precipitating changes in teachers’ attitudes and mentality. It is believed that the most effective training programmes include the exploration of theory, demonstrations of practice, supervised trials of new skills, feedback on performance and workplace coaching.

(5) Inquiry

This model assumes that teachers could formulate questions about their own practices and pursue answers to those questions and that teachers could be reflective in their practices and take actions for continuous improvement. Inquiry involves the identification of a problem, data collection (qualitative, quantitative, literature review), data analysis and changes in practice. It can be done individually or in small groups.

These 5 models are not mutually-exclusive. Rather, it is the paramount task of principals to deploy the appropriate model(s) in response to their own unique context. School leaders could also design the TPD with reference to the actual school-based contexts. Rather than “filling-in the 3 Staff Development Days” with “some ad hoc topics”, they should ensure that TPD are different from staff meetings, or “a day to kill time”. Instead, due attention should be given to the framework or component of TPD. There are some factors to consider in devising school-based TPD days:

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(1) framework, competence and domains of TPD

(the one proposed by ACTEQ (now renamed as COTAP) is a very good platform to start with (ACTEQ, 2003))

(2) the ratio of learning hours offered by external tertiary partners and by internal teachers or staff

(3) autonomy of teachers in “selecting” the content of TPD

(some schools will let teachers indicate their favorite topics in the order of priority, or even ask colleagues to propose some topics)

(4) scheduling of TPD

(especially for the invitation of external guests, 3-6 months “invitation in advance” is a gesture of respect)

(5) demographic data

(some schools prepare fact sheets for external partners to make reference to)

(6) grouping and rationale of teachers

(by panels, working committees, or personal relationship)

(7) design of teachers’ own record of TPD in personal files (8) mentoring systems within schools

(9) learning circles among colleagues

If school leaders could pay attention to the aforesaid factors in TPD, staff will feel like “involved with greater ownership”. Their participation in TPD as well as their learning outcomes in TPD would be facilitated.

2.3 Trusting the professionalism of teachers

Effective TPD days can either be actualized by external tertiary partners, professional bodies, or internal professional sharing among teachers. In the past, some school leaders might perceive “external speakers are experts” whereas “internal teachers are not professional enough”. Definitely, this is a misconception. Just like what other professions have done, school leaders should encompass internal sharing and give due recognition to it in CPD programmes.

Some TPD topics are highly school-based such as “level of learner diversity in this cohort”, “reading competence of S3 students” and “learning motivation of students”. Of course, these topics can hinge on some strong “theoretical framework”. Yet when it comes

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to the “application side”, there is no doubt that the frontline teachers are the ones who understand the students’ profile and needs most.

As an experienced speaker in TPD for secondary schools, primary schools and government departments, the author’s observation is that teachers can lead excellent sharing and presentation sessions about some highly school-based issues. They are veteran at schools, after serving there for 10 years or above, and can grasp the school contexts much more than external university staff. In this connection, school leaders can:

(1) invite university fellows to deliver the theoretical framework and relevant research findings on the selected topics in the morning

(2) invite relevant school committee(s) to organize an “application workshop” in the afternoon to allow outstanding colleagues to share their “existing practice”, “the applicable strategies on the new topics”, “the limitation on the proposed strategies due to school-based constraints”

(3) offer opportunities to teachers in various domains so as to avoid the “internal comparison or vicious competition or conflicts among teachers” and to promote genuine “teacher-leadership in TPD”

(4) devise an “action plan or reflection sheet” for colleagues to consolidate their learning outcomes from the TPD

(5) collect action plans and reflection sheets from teachers and to assign relevant panel heads or middle managers to follow it up

(6) discuss with teachers concerned about their performance appraisal with the assistance of the panel heads

School leaders could appreciate the professionalism of the teaching force, unleash the power or potential of the teachers and enhance development of teacher-leadership and appreciation culture among teachers.

Discussion Question 3:

What stakeholders could school leaders build Network (N) with to harness the external resources to school?

3. Networking with the external world

Third, school leaders could strategically forge professional networks with external partners. Along with the School-based Management (SBM), school leaders are given

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autonomy to deploy their own received educational resources. However, as public money has to be spent with due caution, detailed guidelines have been offered by EDB for some designated funding purposes. Some school leaders with excellent networking skills can usually harness the external resources to schools and to benefit the students accordingly via networking with (Figure 3):

(1) university academics and teacher trainers (for TPD on cognitive and teachers’

mentality),

(2) statutory professionals like legal, medical, architectural professionals (for TPD

on legal, medical or professional issues),

(3) government officials (for TPD on government policy issues), and

(4) business sectors (for TPD on life planning, external changing environment and

teachers’ mentality).

Figure 3. Stakeholders that school leaders can build networks with for TPD

With such networking of stakeholders, school leaders could be more effective in harnessing the external resources to the school, and ultimately to benefit the school as a whole.

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Conclusion

To conclude, this article illustrates the three selected strategies of EDB with respect to the contemporary macroscopic view of TPD as stated in 2015 Policy Address, namely, by (1) increasing the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector primary schools, (2) enriching Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, and (3) promoting business-school partnership programmes to enhance life planning. Through the discussion of the three aforesaid selected strategies, a tripartite model “Qualification, Dissemination & Networking (QDN)” was proposed to explain the strategies adopted. Given that the direction of the contemporary macroscopic TPD is already formulated at territory level, now, the crux for the success or failure of the TPD implementation often rests on the robustness of the school leadership under school-based contexts. Whenever new policies are to be implemented, challenges or changes would emerge as predicted. To overcome challenges ahead, school leaders should build closer partnership for professional sharing and networking so that a Professional Learning Community (PLC) (DuFour, 2004; Gajda, 2007) can be cultivated.

With the aid of the QDN model, this article presents three useful implications for school leaders in local and overseas contexts. First, school leaders could cultivate an atmosphere of qualification upgrade within their own schools. They could create conductive conditions for qualification upgrades in terms of time, money and psychological support through cross-field partnership scheme. Second, school leaders could offer ample opportunities for teachers to disseminate their own “good teaching practices” within and outside their own schools. School leaders could be prudent in appointing appropriate staff development coordinators, designing TPD and could trust the professionalism of their own teachers. Third, school leaders could strategically forge professional networks with external partners such as university academics and teacher trainers, statutory professionals like legal, medical and architectural professionals, government officials and business leaders to harness the external resources to the schools to benefit the students, as a whole.

As a final remark, school leaders are also advised to keep abreast of the latest development proposed by the COTAP, such as the key development item of “T-excel@hk” stipulated in Odyssey to excellence, progress report published on 20 April, 2015 (COTAP, 2015).

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Appendix

Three highlighted strategies of 2015 Policy Address on TPD

Strategy 1: Increasing the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector primary schools (EDB, 2015)

6. Primary education is an important stage of basic education. Quality primary education helps students lay a solid foundation for knowledge building, extend their various generic skills and develop positive values. EDB had increased the ratio of graduate teacher posts in the teacher establishment of public sector primary schools from the original 35% to 45% in the 2008/09 school year and 50% in the 2009/10 school year respectively.

7. To attract more talents to join the teaching force of primary education so as to enhance the quality of teaching, from the 2015/16 school year, we propose to further increase the ratio of graduate teacher posts in public sector primary schools by phases in three years, from the current 50% to 65% in the 2017/18 school year.

Strategy 2: Enriching Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (EDB, 2015)

20. We are actively strengthening the Science, Technology and Mathematics Education to nurture diversified talents in the science and technology fields with a view to enhancing the international competitiveness of Hong Kong. In respect of curriculum development, we are renewing and enriching the curricula of the Key Learning Areas (KLAs) of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education and the primary General Studies curriculum, and also strengthening the pedagogical approaches to integrative learning and application skills. These measures aim to promote students’ interest in the subjects and strengthen their knowledge foundation of relevant disciplines, so as to enable them to connect knowledge of the subjects, and develop their creativity and problem-solving skills.

21. EDB is planning to organise a cross-disciplinary symposium with seminars on various themes for teachers of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education KLAs and those of primary General Studies. It will enable teachers to understand how to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and collaborate among themselves to strengthen the integrative learning and application skills of students. We will also enhance teacher training and arrange professional exchange sessions for schools with good practices in learning and teaching to share

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their experience, to enhance teachers’ professional capacity and to build up learning communities within and across schools to benefit student learning.

22. Regarding student activities, EDB will organise an integrative STEM Education Fair to promote a culture of cross-disciplinary learning in primary and secondary schools. The event aims to enhance students’ interest and creativity in STEM, and to strengthen their integrative learning and application skills, so as to pave the way for their future multiple pathways in related areas. In addition, we will continue to strengthen the collaboration among schools, tertiary institutions, professional bodies and the industries concerned so as to enhance stakeholders’ understanding of the development of STEM. We will also regularly review STEM education and continuously refine its implementation strategies.

Strategy 3: Promoting business-school partnership programme to enhance life planning (EDB, 2015)

28. Starting from the 2014/15 school year, EDB has provided each public sector school operating classes at senior secondary levels with a recurrent cash grant at about HKD500,000 per annum with a view to strengthening the provision of life planning education and career guidance services. Apart from issuing the “Guide on Life Planning Education and Career Guidance for Secondary Schools” for schools and teachers, EDB also provides professional support, including experience sharing by selected Professional Development Schools; more training places for teachers; collaboration with the business sector, tertiary institutions and Qualifications Framework (QF) Secretariat in organizing activities for principals, teachers and parents; enhancement of the Business-School Partnership Programme (BSPP) to provide more opportunities for career-related experience for students; advice on life planning education through school visits and revamping the career guidance website to provide teachers, students and parents with more information on life planning. 29. Since 2005, EDB’s BSPP has been in collaboration with over 170 business entities/

organisations in providing students with knowledge of different jobs, and helping them develop positive work attitude and values via talks, workshops, workplace visits and career exploration activities to facilitate their life planning.

30. We will strengthen partnership between schools and business organisations in the next three years with a view to enhancing students’ understanding of different trades and preparing them for employment in the future through activities such as mentorship, career exploration and business-school pairing programmes, etc. To facilitate life planning for students, we will review and consolidate key elements of effective

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practices to facilitate the setting up of a platform to showcase exemplars of business-school partnership, thereby attracting participation of more business-schools and businesses.

(Source: Legislative Council Panel on Education. 2015 Policy Address – Education Bureau’s Policy Initiatives, LC Paper No. CB(4)358/14-15(01))

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教師專業發展的「資歷、發佈及網絡」模式:

2015 年教育局施政策略及對學校領導層的啟示

王偉倫

香港浸會大學

摘要

本文旨於介紹當代宏觀教師專業發展角度中的「資歷、發佈及網絡」三重模式,藉 此探討香港特別行政區2015 年施政報告中與教師專業發展相關的重點策略,包括: (1)增加公營小學學位教師的比例;(2)增潤數理、科技教育;及(3)促進商 校合作計劃,從而提升生涯規劃。本文是以2015 年施政報告作為政策背景,並提 出「資歷、發佈及網絡」三重模式,從而解說三個教師專業發展的策略,並為本地 及海外學校領導層提出三點啟示。

關鍵詞

學校教師專業的領導,香港教師發展,教師專業發展

數據

Table 1.  “Traditional Microscopic” view & “Contemporary Macroscopic” view of  Teacher Professional Development
Table 1.  “Traditional Microscopic” view & “Contemporary Macroscopic” view of  Teacher Professional Development (continued)
Figure 1. Model of “Qualification, Dissemination & Networking (QDN)” in TPD
Table 2.   Three highlighted strategies on contemporary macroscopic view of TPD in 2015  Policy Address (continued)
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