P
ROFESSIONAL LEARNING OF TEACHERS IN PROFESSIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION:
U
NDERSTANDING PERCEPTIONS OF EFFECTIVENESS
H
ET PROFESSIONEEL LEREN VAN DOCENTEN IN HET HOGER BEROEPSONDERWIJS:
OPVATTINGEN OVER EFFECTIVITEIT
Daury Jansen 11160608
2 By Daury Jansen, MSc. 11160608 dauryjansen@gmail.com
In partial fulfillment of
MSc Onderwijskunde MSc Educational Sciences 2015/2016
At
University of Amsterdam Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences College of Child Development and Education
Postbus 15776 1001 NG Amsterdam
Supervised by
mw. dr. U. (Uulkje) de Jong
Second reader
mw. prof. dr. F. P. (Femke) Geijsel
Date
July 18th 2016 Place Utrecht, The Netherlands
3
“But the main thing is that you are restricted by your schedule. Restricted by the daily workload and often do not get to the needed reflection for learning.”
Respondent
PHE Institution in the Amsterdam, Netherlands
4
Preface
This master thesis forms the final element in my master studies at the University of Amsterdam. For me, this master was a very personal journey. Before this master, I completed my first master in International business, which means the way of thinking and the theories of educational sciences were all new to me. Due to my internship at the Inspectorate of Education, I could easily translate all that I learned about business into education. It is because of my internship at the Inspectorate that I decided to write my thesis about higher education, and I received a lot of support from all my colleagues there. I would like thank Annelies Bon in particular, for being my mentor during this year, and guiding me through the complexity of the higher education system. Her dedication, knowledge and passion for this subject have motivated me and kept me going at several times. A thank you also goes to the Department of knowledge of the Inspectorate, that provided me with the data that I could analyze for a part of my project. I would also like to thank my supervisor, Uulkje de Jong. Her knowledge and critical point of view were very inspiring. I especially enjoyed her way of providing feedback. I would also like to thank the coordinators of the master Teaching and Learning at the Free University of Amsterdam, for providing me with the opportunity to hold a presentation and interview teachers. I would also like to thank the teachers that took their time to sit and talk with me. Your words were very helpful and helped in completing this project. And of course my family and friends: Cristina, Dariza, Ruben, Shelly and Vera. All in all, I look back on the past months as a period in which I challenged myself in many ways but most of all as I period in which I realized how much work there is left to be done to raise the standards for the learning of teachers in higher education.
5
Abstract
The professional learning of teachers has been a recurrent topic in research. However, most of this research has focused on primary, secondary and university education. The present study aims to investigate effective professional learning in the context of professional higher education (PHE). The existing research in this context has mainly focused on beginning teachers or on the implementation of research activities. Through a mixed-‐method design, this study aims to investigate how teachers experience effective professional learning. Through in-‐depth interviews with 11 teachers, it was discovered that PHE teachers use their identities to develop their teaching approach pragmatically but that they feel the need to validate and enrich their natural approach theoretically. The tools they use in this regard are educational terminology. Their development seems to be guided by opportunities. Current professional learning opportunities, but also the institutional context, seem to bypass this need. An analysis of a large scale questionnaire (N = 1224) gave more insight into the type of context in which teacher are more likely to experience this effectiveness. Results show that leadership, HRM policy, culture of shared responsibility and sector education positively predict the perceptions of teachers. These perceptions are also significantly influenced by interprofessional learning activities such as exchanging lesson materials, working together on assessment, having discussions about the progress of students and visiting each other’s lessons. Experienced workload, the flexibility of the contract and sector art seem to negatively influence these perceptions. Both streams of results are nested in the socio-‐cultural perspective on learning, and practical implications are discussed.
Keywords: PHE, professional learning, effectiveness
6
Gedetailleerde samenvatting
Het professionaliseren van docenten is een vaak voorkomend onderwerp in de praktijk maar ook het onderzoek ernaar. Er worden vanuit de praktijk veel initiatieven ontwikkeld voor het bevorderen van de kwaliteit van docenten. Men kan hierbij denken aan de vele basis didactische bekwaamheidstrajecten, ontwikkeld door de verschillende hogescholen (voor een overzicht zie Zestor, 2016). Maar ook de prestatieafspraken die de instellingen hebben gemaakt met het ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap spelen een belangrijke rol in de discussie over het professionaliseren van docenten. Korver, Fruytier, Biermans en Meermans (2010) geven aan dat als het gaat om het hoger beroepsonderwijs (hierna: HBO) er veel initiatieven worden ontwikkeld maar dat er ook weinig worden geëvalueerd. Door dit probleem aan te kaarten, agenderen de auteurs het belang van evaluerend onderzoek, steunend op beleidstheorie. Dat er een gebrek is aan evaluerend onderzoek in het hoger onderwijs wordt ook door recenter onderzoek aangekaart (Saroyan & Trigwell, 2015).
Wie de literatuur analyseert naar de term professioneel leren, komt een verscheidenheid aan benaderingen tegen. Zo wordt gesproken over professionele ontwikkeling, continue professionele ontwikkeling, docent leren en professioneel leren. In dit onderzoek wordt de keuze gemaakt voor professioneel leren, omdat dit gedefinieerd wordt als activiteiten die uiteindelijk leiden tot leren. Deze aanpak vindt haar wortels in het sociaal-‐cultureel perspectief op leren, waarin de participatie van een individu in activiteiten centraal staat. Het doel is het goed kunnen participeren in dergelijke activiteiten en niet zozeer het leren. Vertrekkende vanuit deze blik op de problematiek, staat in dit onderzoek de volgende vraag centraal: hoe ervaren HBO-‐ docenten effectief professioneel leren?
Om de onderzoeksvraag te beantwoorden is gebruikgemaakt van een multi methoden studie. Ten eerste zijn elf docenten geïnterviewd die werkzaam zijn op verschillende hogescholen, verspreid over het land. Deze docenten hadden gemiddeld 8.4 jaar ervaring en waren verspreid over de verschillende sectoren van het HBO. Ten tweede zijn de data uit een vragenlijst van Regioplan (Onderwijs werkt!) onder 1224 HBO-‐docenten geanalyseerd om factoren te identificeren die van invloed zijn op de ervaringen van docenten met betrekking tot effectiviteit. De significante factoren zijn
7 geïdentificeerd door middel van een stapsgewijze multivariate regressieanalyse. Door de twee databronnen te combineren, is uiteindelijk gekeken naar de ervaringen van HBO-‐docenten met betrekking tot effectief professioneel leren.
Tijdens de interviews over effectiviteit spitsten de docenten hun ervaringen toe op onderwijskundige professionalisering. Er vallen op grond van de interviews drie kenmerken op van effectief professioneel leren. Ten eerste gaven docenten aan dat ze een professionele leeractiviteit als effectief ervaren als de activiteit hen didactische onderbouwing geeft voor hun natuurlijke aanpak. Dit houdt in dat docenten vaak lesgeven vanuit hun eigen opvattingen en zich vaak afvragen of dit de juiste manier is. Als zij gedurende een training voelen dat er aandacht is voor hun natuurlijke aanpak, zijn zij dus eerder geneigd de training als positief te beoordelen omdat ze een mate van aansluiting ervaren. Zij hebben behoefte om ook kritisch, gefundeerd op hun natuurlijke aanpak te kijken en deze te verrijken. Ten tweede gaven docenten gaven ook aan dat als een training effectief is, het hen de juiste terminologie geeft om te kunnen reflecteren op wat er gebeurt in een les. Eén sprak bijvoorbeeld over hoe zij onbewust haar lesgedrag heeft veranderd. Zij kon goed reflecteren op wat ze geleerd heeft tijdens de professionalisering omdat de door gevolgde activiteit zoveel aandacht besteed heeft aan het omgaan met nieuwe onderwijskundige terminologie in een praktijksituatie. Hierdoor wordt het repertoire aan instructiestrategieën van docenten verrijkt. Een ander bijkomend voordeel is dat je als team een gezamenlijke terminologie krijgt, wat de samenwerking bevordert en intervisie mogelijk maakt doordat je als team dezelfde taal spreekt en daardoor beter onderwijsprocessen met elkaar kan bespreken. Ten derde vinden de geïnterviewde HBO-‐docenten de trainer een belangrijke rol spelen. Niet alleen moet de trainer inspireren en motiveren om te leren, ook moet de trainer de docenten aanmoedigen tot reflectie over hoe het is om weer in de schoolbanken te zitten. Docenten gaven aan dat ze het belangrijk vinden dat ze nu ervaren wat studenten ook ervaren tijdens de door hun gegeven lessen, en dat dit zorgt voor een nieuwe band met de studenten en dus ook uiteindelijk betere lessen.
De mate waarin docenten de professionalisering als effectief ervaren hangt, behalve van de inhoud, structuur en trainer van de training, ook af van de context waarin de training gegeven wordt. Onderzocht is welke contextfactoren in de
8 organisatie en cultuur van de hogeschool de ervaren effectiviteit bevorderen en belemmeren. Om dit te achterhalen is een analyse uitgevoerd op de data van Onderwijs Werkt! (Zie Regioplan, 2014). Op grond daarvan is de hoofdvariabele ‘percepties van effectiviteit’ geconstrueerd, met daarin de items tevredenheid over leermogelijkheden algemeen, tevredenheid leermogelijkheid beginnende docenten, ziet scholing als toepasbaar, tevredenheid over afspraken professionele ontwikkeling en ziet vooruitgang in afspraken over professionele ontwikkeling. Ook is de variabele ‘interprofessionele leeractiviteiten’ geconstrueerd, waarin de items lesbezoeken van andere docenten, samenwerking voor toetsing, discussie voortgang studenten, lesmateriaal uitwisselen en gezamenlijk lesgeven zijn opgenomen. Samenwerkingsactiviteiten zijn expliciet apart genomen en bevatten de items samenwerking voor projecten, teamvergaderingen en gezamenlijke activiteiten. Deze samenwerkingsactiviteiten onderscheiden zich van de interprofessionele leeractiviteiten doordat zij primair gericht zijn op het realiseren van praktische doelen en niet primair op de ontwikkeling van docenten. Ten slotte heb ik gekeken of er ook een verband was met anderen factoren, zoals de grootte van de hogeschool (aantal werknemers), ervaring van de docenten, opleidingsniveau, ervaren werkdruk, sector, tevredenheid over leiderschap, tevredenheid personeelsbeleid, ervaren cultuur van gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid en hoe flexibel het contract van de docent is. Al deze items waren vragen in Onderwijs werkt!. De analyse van deze variabelen heeft geleid tot het uiteindelijke model zoals weergegeven in figuur 1, waarbij alleen significante factoren op de percepties van docenten zijn afgebeeld.
Leiderschap, personeelsbeleid, cultuur van gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid en interprofessionele leeractiviteiten blijken een positieve invloed te hebben op de percepties van effectiviteit van docenten. Met andere woorden, docenten die positief zijn over hun leiders, die positief zijn over het personeelsbeleid, die een cultuur van gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid ervaren en die meedoen aan interprofessionele leeractiviteiten ervaren eerder effectiviteit van de hoor hun gevolgde leeractiviteiten.
Het hebben van een flexibel contract en het ervaren van werkdruk hebben een negatieve invloed op percepties van effectiviteit van leeractiviteiten. Uit het onderzoek bleek dat de HBO-‐sector ook van invloed was op de ervaren effectiviteit: docenten in het kunstonderwijs ervaren professionalisering vaak als minder effectief, docenten aan lerarenopleiding juist als effectiever. Voor Sector Onderwijs kan dat verklaard worden
9 omdat docenten in deze sector over het algemeen bewuster zijn van hun leermogelijkheden. De Sector Kunst scoort mogelijk negatief, omdat in deze sector de contracten vaak redelijk klein zijn, waardoor docenten hier wat minder bezig zijn met hun docentschap. De geïnterviewde docenten uit de kunstsector gaven inderdaad aan dat ze zich identificeren als kunstenaar of zelfstandige ontwerper en niet als docent.
Factoren die geen invloed bleken te hebben op de percepties van docenten waren de grootte van de hogeschool, ervaring van de docenten, het opleidingsniveau, samenwerkingsactiviteiten en de resterende sectoren (gedrag & maatschappij, economie, gezondheidszorg en de techniek). Opvallend is dat, vergelen met interprofessionele leeractiviteiten, samenwerkingsactiviteiten niet significant bleek te zijn. Dit betekent dat docenten vooral behoefte hebben aan collegiale samenwerking met een leercomponent.
Figure 1. R2 = .616, F(1, 1030) = 9.054, p = <.05
Dit onderzoek levert belangrijke inzichten op. Als eerste toont het, het belang van leiderschap in het hoger onderwijs, maar ook hoe weinig onderzoek daarnaar gedaan wordt, iets wat al eerder geconstateerd werd door Brockerhoff, Huisman, en Laufer (2015). Bovendien complementeert het onderzoek de resultaten van Vandamme (2014) over HBO-‐docenten en hun identiteit. Deze identiteit speelt een belangrijke rol in hoe zij uiteindelijk effectiviteit gaan zien en daardoor ook de verschillende initiatieven gaan waarderen. Het maakt hen ook gevoelig voor de context. Wellicht is de belangrijkste observatie uit deze studie hoe weerbarstig de praktijk nog is wat betreft
10 deze context. De nadruk lijkt vooral te liggen op het vakinhoudelijke en minder op het onderwijskundige. Zoals een docent dat stelt:
Uitgaande van de conclusie van Korver, Fruytier, Biermans en Meerman (2010) en Saroyan en Trigwell (2015) dat veel initiatieven worden ontwikkeld om de kwaliteit van docenten te verbeteren maar dat ook veel van deze niet wetenschappelijk geëvalueerd worden, heeft dit onderzoek onderzocht wat HBO-‐docenten als effectief professioneel leren ervaren. Uit alle data kan geconcludeerd worden dat willen docenten de professionalisering daadwerkelijk als effectief in hun praktijk ervaren, dan zal reflectie op hun leerervaringen het sleutelelement moeten blijven. Maar liefst 81% van de 1224 ondervraagde HBO-‐docenten in Onderwijs werkt! geeft aan veel of zeer veel werkdruk te ervaren. Zoals een docent in de interviews stelde, kom je door deze werkdruk ook vaak niet toe aan een stuk reflectie. Dit onderzoek wijst dus vooral op het belang van het scheppen van de juiste randvoorwaarden voor effectief professioneel leren. Randvoorwaarden die vooral geschapen dienen te worden door leiderschap van managers en colleges van bestuur. Leiderschap is niet alleen in dit onderzoek naar voren gekomen als een belangrijke factor, maar wordt ook door andere onderzoekers gezien als een kernelement van een kwaliteitscultuur, omdat het management in een positie staan om culturele en structurele elementen van een organisatie met elkaar te verbinden (Bendermacher, oude Egbrink, Wolfhagen, & Dolmans, 2016). Het is de taak van het management om te zorgen voor goed personeelsbeleid, om een cultuur van gedeelde verantwoordelijkheid te stimuleren en veel interprofessionele leeractiviteiten te organiseren. Al deze taken kunnen het beste uitgevoerd worden als ze in lijn liggen
“Ik kom toevallig uit het basisonderwijs waar didactiek en pedagogiek heel erg belangrijk zijn. Van hoe geef je les en welke werkvormen kies je. Maar, ik verbaasde mij er heel erg over dat toen ik in het hbo kwam dat eigenlijk helemaal niet zo een belangrijke plek innam. Dat het ging om de kennis die iemand had en daarvoor werkte je dan in het hbo. Ja oké, je had wel zo’n training, maar dat was meer een formaliteit. Daarna gebeurt er heel erg weinig”
11 met de onderwijsvisie en als er aandacht is voor effectieve processen binnen de organisatie. Het is geen toeval dat dit precies is wat we al langer kennen onder de term transformationeel leiderschap. Vervolgonderzoek naar deze en andere leiderschapspraktijken binnen het hoger beroepsonderwijs is dan ook zeer wenselijk voor het bevorderen van de professionele leerervaringen van docenten en daarmee ook de docentkwaliteit.
Begrippen: HBO, professioneel leren, effectiviteit
12 Table of contents
Preface ... 4 Abstract ... 5 Gedetailleerde samenvatting ... 6 1. Introduction ... 14 2. Literature review ... 18
2.1 Theories of professional learning: a definition ... 18
2.2 The context: macro and meso ... 21
2.3 The professional learning activities ... 23
2.2.1 Type and content ... 23
2.2.2 Structure ... 25
2.2.3 Trainer ... 25
2.3 The process of effectiveness: activities become meaningful in context ... 25
3. Method ... 29
3.1 Qualitative research ... 29
3.1.1 Sample ... 29
3.1.2 Procedure ... 29
3.2 Quantitative data analysis ... 30
3.2.1 Data and procedure ... 30
3.2.2 Measures ... 31
4. Results ... 34
4.1 Description and analysis of critical incidents ... 34
4.1.1 Mentioned activities, mechanisms and outcomes of effectiveness ... 34
4.1.2 Mentioned obstacles in the context ... 39
4.2 Further analysis of context: quantitative data analysis ... 42
13
4.2.2 Stepwise regression models ... 43
5. Discussion ... 46
5.1 Academic implications ... 46
5.2 Practical implications ... 49
5.3 Limitations and future research ... 49
6. Conclusion ... 51
References ... 52
Appendix A: Variables used from questionnaire (Dutch) ... 58
Appendix B: Indicators of effectiveness Merchie et al. (2016) ... 63
Appendix C: Invitation letter to teachers ... 64
Appendix D: Interview guide (Dutch) ... 65
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1. Introduction
The quality of teachers is a returning topic on the Dutch educational policy agenda. There have been many initiatives to raise the quality of teachers, but these have mostly focused on primary and secondary education. However, starting from the policy that is being drafted up by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture of the Netherlands, one can deduct that, the quality of teaching in higher education will become an important topic. Within the strategic agenda presented by the ministry, ‘small-‐scale and intensive ‘education is the main message (Rijksoverheid, 2015). Small-‐ scale education is promised by appointing approximately four extra thousand teachers in higher education.
These developments make it reasonable that a lot of institutions are going to draft up policy as to how teachers will engage in professional learning. But the question arises: what do we actually know about the professional learning of teachers in higher education? Since August 1st, 2006 there exists in the Netherlands official legislation concerning the qualification of teachers (BIO-‐legislation). However, teachers in higher education do not fall under this legislation, making it difficult to decide what constitutes a good teacher and how to develop and increment quality. According to Bosker, Sleegers and Wubbels (2016) professionalization has a normative character, meaning it depends on what one thinks constitutes a good teacher and good education. Furthermore, these values are entrenched in the beliefs of a society and manifest themselves through for instance the curriculum of teacher training programs. However, because in the higher education sector teachers are not required to attend formal schooling, the actual standards to which they are assessed remain vague in practice but certainly also in research. The next two paragraphs shed some light on both the practice and the theory of teacher professional learning. This research will specifically focus on professional higher education (hereafter: PHE), as a subset of the higher education system in the Netherlands. The reason for this choice is that most of the existing research on higher education focuses on a university context, ignoring the type of institutions in which teaching is a more prominent task. Furthermore, because teachers in PHE do not necessarily engage in research, their professional learning takes up many forms, making this an interesting subject for this study.
15 First, the current situation in practice. Research Center Zestor has drafted up an overview of the different trajectories for pedagogical training followed by PHE teachers. Most institutions have an intake at the beginning of the trajectory. During this intake, it can be decided to allow an exemption for teachers who can already prove that they possess the qualities needed to teach. Furthermore, most trajectories barely include contact hours and teachers are awarded a certificate which is usually valid for the whole length of their career (Zestor, 2016). Other reports show that many PHE institutions use their budget to allow teachers to follow a master education, but that more and more institutions struggle to invest in teacher learning because of the lack of knowledge of how to optimize this (Zestor, 2015).
Second, regarding the theory of professional learning, one can broadly identify two perspectives: the cognitivist perspective and the social-‐cultural perspective. Kelly (2006) recognizes this distinction and states that the former is mainly focused on seeing learning as a change of knowledge structures and has as a goal of information processing. The latter sees learning as a byproduct to the participation in set social activities. In the socio-‐cultural perspective the goal is not learning, but the ability to participate in a more competent manner in activities. The question remains, however, which theoretical perspective is more pronounced for teachers in higher education. Van Veen, Zwart, Meirink and Verloop (2010) have done considerable research on teachers in primary and secondary education. Their conclusion is that coherence and mutual participation are important factors to consider when one educates teachers. More recent literature has proven that teachers often appreciate being professionalized based on their talents (Reynders, 2015).
When it comes to higher education, there is significantly less literature on teachers. In university settings, the research has mostly been on the balance between the research and the education task. The research task of teachers has increasingly grown in the PHE sector. Griffioen and de Jong (2015) investigated what factors influence the judgments of teachers regarding research-‐related goals. Their conclusion is that teachers have to see the value of a certain change and that the will to agree with innovative goals is complex (Griffioen & de Jong, 2015). When we look at the international literature, OECD-‐studies seem to conclude that a lot of higher education institutions are setting up professional learning trajectories, but that these often do not
16 get evaluated (OECD, 2012). Saroyan and Trigwell (2015) corroborate this notion when they state the following: “that there is a degree of impact from the professional learning programs that are being provided is no longer in doubt. What is needed is that the degree of impact is to be enhanced in research that tells us how the impact came about and, for example, why some teachers gained a lot, and others gained less” (p. 99).
Since Saroyan and Trigwell (2015) depart from the notion that the sociocultural perspective has not been abundant in research on teachers in higher education, in this study the choice is made to conceptualize professional learning as activities that result in enhancing teaching and learning. From a socio-‐cultural point of view, this research thus explicitly uses the word activities to refer to learning opportunities for teachers (Saroyan & Trigwell, 2015, p. 93). Furthermore, as in PHE there disagreement about what constitutes effective professional learning (see discussion Korver, Fruytier, Biemans & Meerman, 2010), this research will focus on the following research question:
How do teachers in PHE experience effective professional learning?
This main research question will be answered through a mixed-‐method study. First, a qualitative research will be conducted using a phenomenological research design. Creswell (2013) states that such a design is useful when the research question focuses on the essence of human experiences. To dig deep into these experiences, this part of the study will be structured using the Critical Incident Method (CIT). The essence of the method is that respondents are asked to recall a positive experience. By recalling this experience, the respondents can also be triggered to recall why they chose this specific incident and what are the factors that relate to it being perceived as positive. CIT was developed by Flanagan (1954), in which he describes an incident as “any observable human activity that is sufficiently complete in itself to permit inferences and predictions to be made about the person performing the act” (p. 327). An incident thus only becomes critical if the respondent can see the direct link between the activity and him or herself. Other research using this technique have also used it for activity analysis as well as describing experiences (Butterfield, Borgen, Amundson & Maglio, 2005). Armed with the knowledge teachers provide during the interviews, the second
17 part of this study will conduct a quantitative analysis of a cohort study among teachers named Onderwijs werkt!. The characteristics of the data will be described in detail in chapter three. The research will make use of a multivariate regression analysis. An analysis of both streams of data will provide a clear picture of how teachers in PHE experience effective professional learning.
Answering the research question posed in this study has academic and practical value for many reasons. First, this research directly addresses the research gap as mentioned by Saroyan and Trigwell (2015), who indicate that there is a scarcity of qualitative research that evaluates how teachers in higher education are being educated. Second, there is little conclusive evidence in research among teachers in PHE. Van den Bos and Brouwer (2014) for instance conducted a study under beginning teachers and found that they often have the need to experience, experiment and observe. Research like the former examples is recent, meaning there is much more need for more knowledge about teaching in PHE (Korver et al., 2010). Third, there are many findings of professional learning in primary and secondary education (Van de Grift, 2010), but few studies are known that translate these findings to the higher education sector. Finally, this study will make use of a rather unexplored dataset in the Netherlands, which bears academic relevance for other researchers wishing to use this dataset. This study will also bear practical relevance. As mentioned before, many institutions will continue to draft up policies for how teacher quality should be improved. At the moment, teacher quality in higher education is mostly measured by the educational level of teachers or by the results obtained from the student evaluations (Brockerhoff et al., 2015; Schuck, Gordon, and Buchanan., 2008). Hence, many professional learning programs either just focus on increasing the educational level or an improvement of those points in which students evaluate teachers. With this study, institutions will have new insights on how to design professional learning programs which are more relevant to teachers and have therefore a greater likelihood of having an impact on student learning.
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2. Literature review
This chapter describes the theoretical approach that is used to analyze existing studies on professional learning. First, the existing theories are discussed, followed by an analysis of context and how activities are justified in this context.
2.1 Theories of professional learning: a definition
Since the start of the nineteenth-‐century, researchers have focused on what makes professionals learn. Sharpe (2004) for example posed the question of how professionals learn and develop themselves. The author approaches the topic from the conceptual change perspective, taking in a cognitivist approach to learning. Such an approach focuses on the mind of the individual and how this develops and processes new often conflicting information (Kelly, 2006). Knight, Tait, and Yorke (2006) build on to this work, by recognizing that this approach and these theories only answer a limited set of questions regarding the learning of teachers, but that it is also important to study why and how professional learning takes place. In their study, they view professional learning as ‘an interplay between individuals and their environments .. development that occurs as a consequence of situated social practices (Knight et al., 2006, p. 320). By explicitly mentioning social practices, Knight et al. (2006) position themselves in the sociocultural view of learning, which has already been discussed in the introduction.
Hence, in the past few years, the theorizing about how teachers learn has made a gradual shift to a socio-‐cultural approach. Two theories that have specifically been used in the higher education sector are the theory of experiential learning (ELT) and the theory of situated learning (SLT). ELT is a theory which builds on the work of scholars such as John Dewey and Kurt Lewin to describe learning as a continuous process in which individuals adapt to the world. ELT theory thus sees learning as a result of the transaction between a person and his or her environment (Kolb & Kolb, 2005). SLT takes this one step further, by seeing knowledge as socially constructed. In situated learning theory, situations are embedded in social practices, and individuals not only interact with these situations but also engage in a process of becoming a member of a certain community (Kolb & Kolb, 2005). In situated learning theory, there is more conceptual space for the conceptions of teachers, a topic that has often been
19 studied when it comes to teaching in higher education (Carnell, 2003). However, one might put the applicability of situated learning theory in question. Arthur (2016), for instance, states that in higher education teachers are often believed to develop themselves using a community of practice, defined as a “mutual engagement in a joint enterprise with shared repertoire” (p. 2). Because situated learning theory suggests that these communities of practices are self-‐developing, it also suggests that they don’t need external support. However, Arthur (2016) argues that the support given to a community of practice should be customized for the members of the community because newcomers and old-‐timers have different ways of learning. Indeed, research on beginning and expert teachers in PHE state that they have different learning needs and different ways in which they wish to experience the effectiveness (Van den Bos & Brouwer, 2014). It is, therefore, no surprise that increasingly more research has been focusing on the identity formation process of teachers in higher education throughout their career (Vandamme, 2014).
It thus remains difficult to conceptualize professional learning using a single theory. This is why studies focusing on teaching in higher education conclude that it remains unclear what the best way is to professionalize teachers (Brockerhoff, Huisman, and Laufer, 2015). Most studies end up adopting a cognitivist approach to teacher learning (Prebble, Hargraves, Leach, Naidoo, Suddaby and Zepke, 2004). Desimone (2009) recognizes that the biggest problem research faces is the lack of a common conceptual framework. Because of this lack of conceptual clarity, Korver et al. (2010) state that to ask “what is professionalization” is the wrong question, but that instead research should ask the question: “what is being professionalized.” Figure 2 gives an overview of a few studies and how they distinguish the different terms related to improving the capabilities of teachers.
In a review study, Van Schalkwyk, Herman, Leibowitz and Farmer (2015) dismiss the word development, stating that it often implies that something is wrong with teachers that need to be fixed, what others have referred to as the deficit model of teacher education (Ezati, Opolot-‐Okurut & Ssentamu, 2010). Research often uses terms such as academic, educational, faculty or instructional development to refer to those areas that need improvement. While studies such as the one of the Evans (2002) support the view of teacher professional development (1), the study of Kelly (2006) is
20 4. Professional learning: "activities that result in
enhancing teaching and learning" (Saroyan & Trigwell, 2015, p. 93) or "the need for professionals to continue learning as they practice and advance in their careers" (Van Schalkwyck et al., 2015)
3. Teacher learning: "the process by which teachers move towards expertise" (Kelly, 2006, p. 506)
2. Continuous professional development: "Planned opportunities for teacher learning" (Kelly, 2006, p. 506)
1. Professional development: "catchall phrase
suggesting academics are not competent as teachers and need to be developed in order to improve" (Van
Schalkwyck, Herman, Leibowitz & Farmer, 2015, p. 5)
more critical towards this and takes on a socio-‐cultural perspective to connote the term continuous professional development (2). Continuous professional development leaves out more room for the things that a teacher knows, but also room for the way a teacher continuously changes the views s(he) has on him or herself through reflection on teaching practices (Wayne, Yoon, Zhu, Cronen, & Garet, 2008). At first sight, the conceptual overlap between teacher learning (3) and professional learning (4) might not be clear. However, as van Schalkwyk et al. (2015) note, professional learning includes notions of context and situatedness. Professional learning is, therefore, not viewed as a process, but rather as activities that can occur formally or informally in a certain context. The following section will review the literature on contextual factors that influence the impact of these activities.
21 2.2 The context: macro and meso
The study of Griffioen and de Jong (2015) makes clear that teachers are often well aware of the context they are in. It is, therefore, important to review the literature on the context factors that are likely to influence the effectiveness of professional learning. These factors can be either on the macro level (institution) or the meso level (school). With regards to the former, there has been quite some attention in the Netherlands to the educational level of teachers in PHE. In a review study, Brockerhoff et al. (2015) map out research that has analyzed the relationship between the governance arrangement and its effect on teachers. Many of this research remains inconclusive, because the effect of government arrangements usually happens through a trickle-‐down effect, meaning it affects policies at the school (meso) level before actually affecting teachers. As to the policy in which PHE teachers are required to obtain a master’s degree, research by Bron (2014) has shown that the educational level of teachers does not predict student results.
Many factors that affect teachers happen at the school level. Most of these factors seem to be studied under the umbrella term of ‘organizational culture’. Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, Whitt, & Associates (2010) for instance studied which institutional characteristics matter for teaching and learning in higher education. The authors conclude that the most important conditions for quality teaching and learning are that leaders prioritize faculty members who understand students, that deliberations and decisions are made based on student data and that there is cooperation between staff about academic affairs. What is interesting about this, is that it describes an organizational culture in which the learning of teachers about students is prioritized. Another form of organizational culture is for a school to have a teaching culture which Cox, McIntosh, Reason & Terenzini (2011) define as ‘a campus commitment to teaching excellence and meaningful assessment of teaching” (p. 809). However, in their study, the authors found that such a culture barely has an influence on the actual practices of teachers. A culture which focuses on innovation and collectiveness is more likely to have this influence (Berings, 2010). The same is found by the qualitative study by Kleijnen, Dolmans, Willems and van Hout (2014). In the study, they investigated which educational programs that were perceived as being effective and less effective. The results of their study show that effective departments often had a culture that involves
22 cooperation, open communication, flexibility and an external orientation. Also important are the close involvement of quality management in the work of staff, good communication with students, good student-‐staff relationships and staff that is open to criticism.
In higher education, there is quite some discussion about the concept of ‘quality culture’. Bendermacher, Egbrink, Wolfhagen & Dolmans (2016) define quality culture as ‘the idea that the culture of an organization and educational quality should not be seen as independent entities, but rather that ‘quality stems from a broader cultural perspective’ (p. 2). Using a realist review, Bendermacher et al. (2016) argue that a quality culture consists of structural and cultural elements (figure 3). The authors conclude that leadership is the element which binds these two factors together and that leaders are the central drivers of such a culture. However, research on leadership in higher education seems to be particularly limited (Brockerhoff et al., 2015).
Literature gives many reasons as to why leaders are important in a higher education sector. Braun, Peus, Frey and Knipfer (2016), for instance, argue that there is a constant tension between creativity and structures, procedures and regulations. The authors pose that this creates an interesting challenge for leaders on how to balance these two sides of the coin. Research by Zacher and Johnson (2015) indeed shows that transformational leaders are more likely to see this creativity in their followers, and are Figure 3. The elements of a quality culture (Bendermacher et al., 2016 )
23 therefore also more likely to encourage it. Transformational leaders are defined as leaders who motivate their followers, by ‘acting as a positive role model (‘idealized influence’), communicating an attractive vision of the future (‘inspirational motivation’), encouraging independent and creative thinking (‘intellectual stimulation’), and being caring and nurturing (‘individualized consideration’) (Zacher & Johnson, 2015, p. 1212). Although there is no research confirming it, one can assume that this kind of leadership is essential in higher education. Bryman (2007), for instance, points out that leaders in higher education should be able to set new strategic directions but also be proactive about internal and external constitutes. An important tool that a leader can use to create communication, participation is trust is the human resource management (hereafter: HRM) policy. HRM-‐policy has also barely been studied in higher education. As Brockerhoff et al. (2015) point out, this research has mostly focused on incentives and promotions and has mostly been in a university context. Lastly, Snoek (2014) studied the transfer climate of a school and also mentioned communication, participation, and trust as being important conditions to develop new competencies in the workplace.
2.3 The professional learning activities
Ultimately, the professional learning activities that teachers follow in a certain context have certain characteristics. It is important to discuss these characteristics to get an idea of where perceptions of effectiveness originate. When it comes to activities, Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman and Yoon (2001) make a distinction between content features of activities and structural features. To this, Merchie, Merchie, Tuytens, Devos, & Vanderline (2016) also add the trainer, as an important characteristic of a professional learning activity. The next paragraphs review the literature on these different categories of characteristics.
2.2.1 Type and content
With regards to the type of activities, an important distinction that is made in the literature regarding this aspect is the distinction between formal and informal learning. Formal learning refers to learning in an organized setting, usually with a specific goal in mind (Van Willigen, 2012). Examples of these are training, workshops
24 or congresses. Research often shows that the transfer of these formal activities tends to be low (Saroyan & Trigwell, 2015). Furthermore, the experiences of teachers and organizations with learning are also often considered to be important. Dekker (2013), for instance, concluded that teachers at the University of Amsterdam often felt the need to have more workplace learning opportunities. This type of learning is referred to as informal learning, which is defined as a type of unconscious learning which is not always easy to pinpoint (Eraut, 2004). Because informal learning tends to be obvious, people fail to see it as actual learning (Eraut, 2004; Geleen, 2015). Regarding higher education, researchers conclude most learning occurring is informal in nature, and that inspiring teachers learn to inspire through their experiences at the workplace (Van Willigen, 2012).
Regarding the content of activities, research informs us that the most important requirement is coherence (Van Veen et al., 2010). Teachers who are struggling with a certain subject related topic, benefit most from an activity that develops them on this topic. This need of teachers can be explained by the theory of pedagogical content knowledge, which will be discussed further on in this review. Furthermore, Merchie et al. (2016) add that teachers also benefit from activities that are based on research. As for the PHE sector, one important type of content which has been prominent in the past few years is learning about doing research. In a study on the implementation of these learning trajectories, within PHE institutions, Griffioen and De Jong (2015) found that it is necessary that teachers perceive research-‐related goals as useful. Teachers have to understand the vision of the institution regarding research and how that translates to what is being asked of them. Lin, Wang, Spalding, Klecka and Odell (2011) make a conceptual distinction between learning about research and learning to do research. The former refers to being able to read, evaluate and understand different types of research while the latter refers to the actual practice of research skills. As teachers in PHE are often expected to help students in their research projects, one can assume that these teachers are mostly educated regarding the aspect of learning about research instead of doing research. Research by Boerma, Griffioen and de Jong (2013) also shows that the requirements of managers regarding research competencies often overlaps those held by teachers.
