External partner

ISTEs may be located inside or outside the community of practice whose learning they are facilitating. The former group has the advantage of knowing the context well. However, Guskey (1999) notes that school-based leaders often have limited time to access the latest ideas from research about ways to improve student learning. He argues that successful professional development draws together the experience, expertise, and resources of both internal and external leaders.¹ Reflecting on his experiences over many years, Fullan (2001b) reports that:

Time and again we find that seeking external support and training is a sign of vitality. It is the organizations that act self-sufficient that are going nowhere. And … it is the schools that have their internal acts together that both seek outside support and know good ideas when they see them.

page 187

Annan, Lai, and Robinson (2003) support this view. They argue that effective conversations that focus teachers on evaluating and improving their own and others’ teaching practices require a balance between teacher-led reflection and inquiry and support from an external agent. External agents take the role of teachers, scaffolding their fellow educators as they engage with a complex new practice.

At one level, teachers have to become powerful change-agents of their own core business. They have to take ownership of their contribution to student learning outcomes, and confront their ineffective ways of operating. At another level, teachers need expert support in developing this kind of talk, and inventing teaching practices that will significantly raise student achievement. Achieving this balance will result in teacher talk that will significantly change thinking and practice, and create better learning outcomes for students.

page 34

The Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (TPLD BES) Timperley, Wilson, Barrar, and Fung, 2007, supports these claims, with the developers reporting that almost all of the studies that met their criteria for inclusion involved the use of external expertise. They stress, however, that the presence of external experts does not guarantee success, with most of the studies that had little or no impact on student outcomes also featuring the use of external expertise. To have a positive impact, experts need what the TPLD BES calls “provider pedagogical content knowledge”.

Experts need more than knowledge of the content of changes in teaching practice that might make a difference to students; they also need to know how to make the content meaningful to teachers and manageable within the context of teaching practice.

page xxix

Return to top