Continuing Professional Development, Part 1: Much in evidence

The role of an early years practitioner is complex, demanding and evolving, which puts great onus on leaders to provide high-quality continuous professional development (CPD), and this should again be prioritised under the revised Early Years Foundation Stage framework.

The revised Development Matters can provide a framework for planning. Dr Julian Grenier, head teacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Newham, east London, led on the revision of the guidance. He explains, ‘The update to Development Mattersincludes “7 key themes”, which are intended as a guide to support managers in organising professional development for their staff teams. In the end, the real drive to improve quality must come from continuing to focus on the professional development of our staff teams.

‘It’s important that staff have a firm understanding of child development, quality interactions, care and teaching, and that they are ambitious for every child. I strongly believe that every child can make good progress, with the right support. So, we must believe in every child, and provide the right support to help children overcome any barriers they may face.’

LONG-LASTING BENEFIT

Professional development is costly and time-consuming, so you need to ensure that any investment has a substantial impact. Unfortunately, there are no set standards or regulations for CPD. The ultimate aim of any training opportunity is to give children the highest quality of care and education possible, but what is the best form of professional development to support this?

While an occasional workshop or training session may be interesting and a nice break from the routine, it is important to consider whether it is bringing any real and long-lasting benefit to your practice. One-off training may be beneficial in an area such as first-aid or another ‘technical’ aspect, but research shows many quick initiatives are ineffective in supporting ongoing changes to practice and the culture of a setting.

Also, warns Dr Grenier, ‘Trendy or faddy stuff may be engaging and entertaining, but will not necessarily improve practice for the children or staff.’ Additionally, there is the danger that poor training could make practice worse, not better.

Instead, Dr Grenier highlights the Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) Study, led by Iram Siraj, professor of child development and education at the University of Oxford, and the Professional Learning in Early Years Education (PLEYE) review led by Sue Rogers, both of which found strong evidence about the features of high-quality professional development (see More information).

‘It’s pretty clear that professional development can only have impact if it’s properly informed by the best available evidence, and if it’s sustained over time,’ says Dr Grenier. ‘Ideally, a programme of staff professional development should last around 20 weeks, with perhaps a launch day, twilight sessions, online learning, and regular support and coaching. Practitioners will need to know what effective practice looks like, and they will need regular support.’

Effective Teacher Professional Development from the Learning Policy Institute highlights seven features of good CPD – the training:

• is content-focused
• incorporates active learning
• supports collaboration
• uses models of effective practice
• provides coaching and expert support
• offers feedback and reflection
• is of sustained duration.
  
  

UNDERPINNED BY RESEARCH

When choosing a programme of CPD, Professor Siraj says the early years workforce needs to be more critical of what it wants, and emphasises the importance of looking at the evidence base for any CPD, as well as the duration.

‘The CPD needs to be run by people who have knowledge of child development, appropriate curriculum domains and assessment,’ she says. ‘Rather than just citing people, there needs to be quality research underpinning the CPD that has been peer reviewed and funded – for example, not just interviews with a few people.

‘When choosing CPD, a lot of people go with their emotions and look for charisma, but there also needs to be a sense of what they are getting and how they will apply it and share it with their colleagues. How will it benefit the children and families?’

She advises settings to use tried-and-tested tools to monitor the impact of their practice – for example, environmental rating scales such as ITERS, ECERS and MOVERS (see More information).

‘People need to be given such tools or other evidence-based ideas to use when they return to their settings so that they can evaluate and develop reflective practice before returning to further the training and learning more,’ she says. ‘Professional development over time in this experiential way is proven to underpin knowledge.’

TALKING AND SUPPORTING

Leaders should think about what their staff team needs and speak to trainers who have the evidence to back up their teaching, says Professor Siraj, rather than wait for an organisation or individuals to put on a series of training. Her research has also found that releasing more than one practitioner to attend professional development can have a bigger impact on practice development.

‘One person attending is less effective than two or three because there is someone to discuss with,’ she explains. ‘When we talk we learn more because it makes us think – sustained shared thinking, like we do with children. We need to have engagement to learn and embed learning.’

Added to this needs to be a supportive leadership that gives practitioners the ‘power’ to implement what they have learned through trial and error. ‘Practitioners need to hear and learn from others, engage with ideas and implement them by putting them into practice. This supports the old adage: I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand,’ says Professor Siraj.

CASE STUDY: London South Teaching School Alliance

‘Short, one-off courses are very unlikely to make a difference, a fact which is corroborated by all the research. It is like going to a talk by Weight Watchers and then just expecting your diet to change,’ says Teaching School Alliance director Sarah Seleznyov.

‘Professional development comes from a mixture of teaching and practice so that practitioners have the time to change habits and sustain these changes over time, with the opportunity to apply what they have learned in practice and to reflect.

‘For example, last year we ran a course for early years teaching assistants that ran over several months. There was direct teaching, but they also went into a class to see the practice in action and talked about what they had seen – not just theory but seeing what it actually looks like. They then returned to their schools to try it out on their own and reflect, before talking about how it went at follow-up sessions.

‘We focus on the use of research evidence. All our CPD programmes connect with a research base in an accessible way, so rather than whole journal articles we will offer research in an easily digestible format. Practitioners often enjoy reading the evidence and become very engaged with it.

‘Practitioners need to know what they will gain from the CPD and to believe that it is going to make a difference – this is often supported by showing them the research evidence or showing the new practice in action in other settings. It needs engagement and reflection, unlike giving a set solution and telling practitioners to copy it. We help practitioners to find the evidence, think about their practice and what they want to change, and encourage them to test things out.

‘Practitioners’ interventions are often focused on improving children’s engagement, behaviour and enjoyment – these are all things that we know matter to learning in the long term. We often introduce the Leuven Scale so they can measure whether the changes they make have an impact.

‘Practitioners need to see that the professional development is applicable to their children and context, but they also need encouragement from senior leaders. Then they will have the courage to take risks and change practice.’

www.londonsouthtsa.org.uk

MORE INFORMATION

• The Fostering Effective Early Learning (FEEL) Study, https://ro.uow.edu.au/sspapers/4286/
• The Professional Learning in Early Years Education (PLEYE) review, https://bit.ly/3bYQnMy
• ‘Proof positive’ by Professor Iram Siraj and Dr Denise Kingston about the FEEL study is at: www.nurseryworld.co.uk
• For more on ITERS and ECERS, see: www.ersi.info
• Movement Environment Rating Scale (MOVERS) for 2–6-year-olds provision by Carol Archer and Iram Siraj
  
  

Part 2 of this series, in the November issue, will look at how to take advantage of the online training revolution