professional standards project olivier maxted

AFMLTA 2009: 9 – 12 July 2009

Dialogue Discourse, DiversitySydney, Australia

Penelope JohnstoneOatley Public School

Olivier Maxted

Richmond River High School

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1.Reflection on own teaching

2.Investigate standards overseas

3.PSP in Australia

4.Activity – 8 Standards

5.Sharing of opinions on PSP

6.Where next?

Overview:

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Why did you become a teacher?

Question:

Was it because….?

• A desire to share the joy of learning.

• Enjoy the company of young people.

• Lots of holidays!

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How do we prepare students for the modern world?

Question:

• ‘One size fits all’ approach

• Embrace diversity and encourage students to find their niche in a globalised world.

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Why are teachers the first ones targeted during a

revolution?

Question:

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Is it because…

a)Former students want revenge?

b)Officers haven’t completed their assignments?

c)We’re the ones who know how to effectively organise groups of people.

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Answer:

• Worldwide acknowledgement of how teachers build society

As a profession we recognise this and seek to ensure that professional standards are maintained.

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Question:

• What are the standards that underpin your own teaching?

What are the standards that underpin your own teaching?

• Please share your ideas.

Teaching Standards Overseas

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Teaching Standards in the USA

A key influence on the debate in Australia is the USA’s NBPTS:

• Voluntary organisation since 1993

• Less than .04% of teachers are registered

www.nbpts.org/

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Professional Standards in the UK

• Since 2007 the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) uses professional standards to assess teacher competence.

www.tda.gov.uk/

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The TDA in the UK

• The framework of professional standards for teachers defines the characteristics of teachers at each career stage.

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) (Q)

• Teachers on the main scale (Core) (C)

• Teachers on the upper pay scale (Post Threshold Teachers) (P)

• Excellent Teachers (E)

• Advanced Skills Teachers (ASTs) (A)

Teaching standards across the Curriculum

• Principal and teaching associations are working with Teaching Australia to develop national profession-wide standards.

• NSW Institute of Teachers has developed a set of Professional Teacher Standards.

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Since 2007 Professional Standards for Teachers have

been used for registration purposes in Queensland

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Developing Professional Standards in Australia

• In 2004, the AFMLTA was granted funding by the former DEST to develop professional standards for languages teaching. This produced a set of professional standards which were designed to be generic across languages.

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Aim of the Professional Standards Project

To improve student outcomes through quality language teaching

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Overview of the PSP - Professional Standards Project

• A nationally coordinated professional learning programme for teachers of languages

• Australian Government funded project undertaken to support the implementation of the MCEETYA National Statement for Languages Education in Australian Schools and the National Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools 2005-2008

• Uses the Professional Standards for accomplished teaching of languages and cultures as a framework designed to enhance professional practice

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About The Standards

The Standards:

• provide a platform for teachers to identify and then guide their continuing professional development

• Inform programme development for pre-service education

• Represent the aspirations of the teaching profession

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Accomplished languages and cultures teaching

8 Dimensions generic across languages:

• Educational theory and practice

• Language and culture

• Language pedagogy

• Ethics and responsibility

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Accomplished languages and cultures teaching

(cont’d)

• Professional relationships

• Awareness of wider contexts

• Advocacy

• Personal characteristics

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Language Specific Annotations

• The AFMLTA first developed language specific annotations of the Standards document for Indonesian.

• Using this document as a template they collaborated with teachers to develop language specific annotations for a further six languages (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish).

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Delivery of the Professional Standards Project

• 10 modules were delivered by way of professional learning materials in each state and territory.

• A total of 400 languages teachers from all sectors and year levels across Australia have participated in the programme.

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Delivery of Modules

Modules were divided into 2 streams:

• Stream A: 2x3 hour modules aim to familiarise teachers with the dimensions of the Standards

• Stream B: 8x3 hour modules focused on educational theory and practice, language and culture and language pedagogy. Teachers participating in Stream B undertook classroom investigations. 

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Activity

Match The Standards to their description.

• Educational theory and practice

• Language and culture

• Language pedagogy

• Ethics and responsibility

• Professional relationships

• Awareness of wider contexts

• Advocacy

• Personal characteristics

Educational theory and practice

• Accomplished languages and cultures teachers have knowledge of child/learner development appropriate to the level at which they teach and apply this knowledge in all aspects of their teaching.

Language and Culture

• Accomplished languages and cultures teachers are both users and teachers of linguistic and cultural knowledge.

• They have a knowledge of the language(s) and culture(s) they teach which enables them to participate readily in interactions in the language in and out of the classroom. In addition, they have a developed intercultural awareness and know how to communicate across languages and cultures.

Language pedagogy

• Accomplished languages and cultures teachers have a developed understanding of the language learning process. Their understanding comes from their formal and informal learning about teaching and learning and also from their own experiences of being a language teacher and user, either of the language they teach or of another language.

Ethics and responsibility

• Accomplished languages and cultures teachers take responsibility for the teaching and learning relationships and for social and cultural relationships in their teaching.

• They seek to enable students to understand issues from multiple perspectives so that they can make their own choices and judgments.

Professional relationships

• Accomplished languages and cultures teachers are part of a professional educational community and they establish professional relationships with other languages and cultures teachers, with teachers in other disciplines, with students, with parents and with school communities.

Active engagement with wider context

• Accomplished languages and cultures teachers actively engage with the social, political, economic and technological climate of the times.

• Languages and cultures teaching is fundamentally about relationships to wider contexts and the ability to connect the local to the global.

Advocacy

• Accomplished languages and cultures teachers are advocates for language learning, intercultural communication and intercultural sensitivity, linguistic and cultural diversity.

Personal characteristics

• Accomplished languages and cultures teachers are passionate about languages and cultures and about teaching.

• They connect and engage with their learners and inspire students and others.

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Accomplished languages and cultures teaching

Activity – order of importance

• Educational theory and practice

• Language and culture

• Language pedagogy

• Ethics and responsibility

• Professional relationships

• Awareness of wider contexts

• Advocacy

• Personal characteristics

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Benefits of the Professional Standards Project

• Networking opportunities and collaboration across languages at the State/Territory level

• Providing teachers with access to ongoing support throughout the professional development programme

• Learning how to use the Standards in teaching of specific languages

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Benefits of the Professional Standards Project

• Encourage teachers to reflect on professional knowledge and practice and to develop self assessment skills

• Increasing teachers’ capacity to engage with students in collaborative construction of their learning area knowledge and understanding

• To develop greater awareness of how to work towards attaining the attributes and capabilities embodied in the Standards

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Conclusion

Professional outcomes

• Involvement in the PSP Project enabled teachers to develop a deeper understanding of the dimensions which form the basis of the Professional Standards for Accomplished Teachers of Language and Culture (2005), thus enhancing and informing teaching practice.

Personal outcomes

• Participation in the PSP Project provided teachers with the opportunity to network with other language educators from varying teaching backgrounds and contexts across the State.

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Collegiate survey

• What comments do you have about the idea of a national system of professional standards?

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Comments:

• It should assist teacher mobility between states.

• Would be a good idea but I doubt if it can happen smoothly or efficiently.

• For such a small nation we need to have a more uniform standard of educational delivery. States having their own systems does not allow for subject associations to grow.

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Comments:

• Is there funding and how would it be monitored and evaluated?

• What is the purpose? Who pays?

• Depends on who is developing the standards. teachers? managers? industry people? who is to decide what and who is of a professional standard? Whose interests are being met?

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Comments:

• What happens if you don’t get the standards?

• Good if all tackle education with a common philosophy and set of standards

• Standard approaches lead to better outcomes for students

What did I learn?

•Excellent opportunity to form or extend links with

colleagues from around the state.

•Given me a framework for further professional

development

What did I learn? continued

• Confirmed why I decided to become a languages teacher; put it back into a larger context.

• Investigated the tools of my trade, such as assessment, from a Professional Standards viewpoint.

Above all, the PSP:

• Reminded me that I’m not just a teacher of a subject, I teach CHILDREN.

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Where next?

• Professional Standards Project Phase 2:

• To be conducted by the AFMLTA, 2009-2010. Approval has been given for the AFMLTA to collaborate with the team at the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures at the University of South Australia to prepare Stream C which will focus on assessment.

olivier.maxted@det.nsw.edu.au