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PD in Residence

Loughran, J., & Gunstone, R. (1997). 'Professional development in residence.' Journal of Education for Teaching, 23(2), 159-179.

Loughran and Gunstone write about the need to fit ongoing professional development into the 'never ending' work of teachers, and the emotional guilt that is tied up with balancing time in with time away from the classroom. The authors draw upon the concept of a 'professional community' (Little, 1990, cited in Loughran and Gunstone, 1997) to provide a way forward for professional development.

In a professional community, teachers work collaboratively, are interdependent and well coordinated, and have, as a major focus, student learning. Discussion of teachers' and students' problems is important and the development of strategies to address these is crucial. A professional community works for change together rather than as a group of individuals. Collaboration stands out as a vital key for successful professional development (Clark et al., 1996) and helps to break down the ever present barriers of isolation in teaching (Lortie, 1975). (Loughran and Gunstone, 1997, para. 4)

The authors describe education as 'hot action'. Educators are purposeful agents in contexts that allow for human uniqueness, uncertainty of outcomes and opposing values. They change their character and priorities over time, and typically require urgent, moral and interpersonal responses (Butler, 1996, p. 265) (Loughran and Gunstone 1997, para. 8).

Loughran and Gunstone describe a professional development program undertaken at a large independent school in Melbourne, in which a tertiary educator worked with teachers in their classrooms to help them better understand the teachers' pedagogy. A number of features were essential for the success of the program.

  • Trust. The presence of the researcher in the classroom was seen by teachers as a way of working on their teaching, rather than as a way of being judged. They had confidence that the results of the collaboration would be valuable and worthy to other people; that there was intellectual respect for their thoughts; that real problems would be dealt with rather than glossed over and forgotten; and that genuine collaboration existed.
  • Ongoing learning opportunities. The program responded to the teachers' daily concerns through opportunities for reflection and discussion.
  • Challenge. Genuine challenge, (but not destructive criticism), offering teachers new ways to reconsider their understandings.
  • Independence. Respecting each individual's professional independence, offering choices about the level of involvement and risk taking.
  • Relationships. Developing good working relationships between the outside researcher and the teachers.
  • Purpose. Making explicit the purpose and nature of the researcher's classroom involvement and observations; this in turn was based on trust.

Loughran and Gunstone provide a number of interesting text excerpts from interviews with participating teachers about their responses to the in-school professional development program.

Further reading related to this topic can be found at Reflective practice