Establishing a strong learning community at Kimberley Park State School

 

Mrs Joanne Duffy Kimberley Park State School Shailer Park, Queensland, Australia

 

Abstract: The Kimberley Park State School approach to change was to build a shared vision that would drive the actions of its members, create the innovations in infrastructure to physically allow for processes to take place and establish a professional learning community based on experiences across five elements: new job assignments, challenges in the current job, ongoing feedback, role models and coaches, and training and reading. These were built into a continuous and balanced framework involving mentoring and coaching in various guises and partnerships. The responsibility for new skills, new awareness and new beliefs about learning comes from within, through a process of collaboration and distributed leadership. In this way, those culturally embedded assumptions and habitual ways of operating were voiced and debated in a safe environment but not given status as a limiting factor. The Kimberley Park framework for professional learning engages all teachers and gives them opportunities to enhance their knowledge, skills and behaviours in association with other teachers.

 

‘The idea of a school that can learn has become increasingly prominent during the last few years. It is becoming clear that schools can be re-created, made vital, and sustainably renewed, not by fiat or command, and not by regulation, but by taking a learning orientation.'
(Peter Senge et al., Schools That Learn )

 

How do you revitalise a whole school community? How do you create leadership within the school to facilitate change? How do you build the desire in teachers to learn and hone their skills? And how do you harness that collective energy to keep the spirit of learning alive and extend teacher and student potential? In the last four years, Kimberley Park State School has worked to develop a strong professional learning community that supports an array of high quality learning experiences for different sectors of the workforce. Research indicates that the most powerful learning takes place ‘on the job'. The school has developed a framework for professional learning that engages all teachers and gives them opportunities to enhance their knowledge, skills and behaviours in association with other teachers.

Kimberley Park State School is located in the suburb of Shailer Park, in Logan City, half way between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It has a completely multi-age school structure and a current enrolment of approximately 1,050. A large number of students have been referred to the school for varying reasons. Some parents view the school as one that provides opportunities for academically able and/or talented children. Others seek out the school for its ability to cater for children who have learning and/or behavioural difficulties. Teachers operate with a high level of professional autonomy, using a diverse repertoire of direct, indirect and collaborative teaching strategies with the whole group, small groups and individuals. The need to attend deliberately to developing higher order thinking skills is recognised within classrooms and as part of a wide range of extra-curricula endeavours.

In 2003, the Triennial School Review was an opportunity for the school community to reflect on the traditions and performance of the school and to plan together to improve learning outcomes for every student. From this starting point, an understanding of the students' needs and key issues was identified and a shared vision that would drive the actions of members of the community was articulated. Aligning an intellectually demanding and relevant curriculum, with productive pedagogies and rigorous assessment practices, became the context for reform. Kimberley Park acknowledges that building educational and technical leadership, professional knowledge and capability within staff improves educational service delivery and student outcomes.

Establishing a strong professional learning community through a multi-pronged strategy was one of the first steps in the long process of change. Considerable internal reorganisation of human resources and routines was necessary to allow for regular teacher dialogue and planning in collegial groups. Time was made available for teacher leaders to pursue their passions in curriculum and this energy was transferred to others. The value of collaboration with effective individuals and school teams prompted Kimberley Park to form partnerships with other local schools and universities. Access to best practice and school support of new practice is a recognised prerequisite for effective teaching and learning. Opportunities for schools within our local cluster to showcase their programs recognised the benefits of learning from each other. Ongoing projects for improved pedagogy with personnel from QUT (Queensland University of Technology) have created an excitement in teachers to try new things based on the latest research.

The learning framework developed at Kimberley Park School provides for learning across five elements:

• new job assignments;
• challenges in the current job;
• ongoing feedback;
• role models and coaches;
• training and reading.

The school has used this framework over the last four years to develop a wide variety professional learning experiences for staff members. It is based on a framework from the Centre for Creative Leadership. Research carried out by this centre indicates that professional learning is most effective when we receive developmental feedback on our performance, are provided with a variety of on-the job challenges and increase the different ways in which we learn.

Synopsis of the program

We know that the quality of the programs that we provide for students is directly related to what teachers know and can do. We will enhance learning outcomes for students if we enhance the skills, attitudes and behaviours of our teachers.

A strong professional learning community engages staff members in a range of professional learning opportunities that:

• enable the school to address systemic and local priorities;
• develop productive pedagogies that support and encourage news ways of learning;
• develop and maintain the professionalism of teachers.

The framework for professional learning includes five strategies, all of which involve mentoring and coaching through various partnerships between teachers and other teachers, mentors, school executive, university personnel, parents and community members.

• providing new job assignments;
• developing challenges in the current job;
• providing on-going feedback;
• accessing role models and coaches;
• providing training and reading.

Specifically, our teachers:

• undertake detailed training or reading in areas identified as strategic priorities;
• plan together in pods with the assistance of a mentor;
• are given clear and direct professional supervision,
• access processes, such as WOW time (Watching Others Work) to develop particular areas of interest;
• are provided with both challenges in their current jobs, as well as opportunities to take on new job assignments to enhance their professional competencies;
• participate in collaborative projects with university personnel, and cluster schools in areas identified as strategic priorities.

As a result of this initiative:

• the boundaries of contemporary practice are continually expanded in innovative ways;
• opportunities for individual and organisational growth are identified and acted upon;
• the organisational culture at Kimberley Park is highly supportive of change and is very open to enhancing the quality of the learning programs that we provide.

The outcome of these actions is the creation of a community of learners on a continual path of improvement.

Specific outcomes of this innovation include:

• staff development that is consistent with the school's vision and strategic priorities;
• all teachers engaging in a range of professional learning opportunities that enhance their knowledge, skills and abilities;
• staff recognising the positive effects that our professional learning community is having on their abilities, with increasingly positive responses to school opinion survey questions;
• increasing levels of teacher collaboration being evident across the school;
• a strong focus on improving learning outcomes for students.

What is different about the professional learning opportunities that are offered to teachers is that it is not a ‘one size fits all' program. Teachers are encouraged to access a range of learning opportunities that suit their particular needs. This is achieved by offering a wide range of activities on a weekly basis, publishing ‘what is on' each term in advance and advertising opportunities weekly through an internal memo. These learning experiences provide for a balanced professional development program that enables sustained growth in teachers' skills, knowledge and abilities. Teachers new to the school are brought into the culture through the support mechanisms built into our professional learning community.

For the various groups of teachers at our school, a professional learning program might look like the following:

beginning teachers: an induction program, watching others work (WOW) time, pod planning, professional supervision, experienced mentors, access to critical friend;

experienced teachers: internal and external professional development opportunities, learning circles, pod planning, online learning, professional sharing, access to critical friend;

specialist teachers: network access, external and internal professional development opportunities;

teacher leaders: leadership learning circles, mentoring program, network access.

There are no boundaries to the types of activities that teachers can access. Choices are made by individuals on a voluntary basis. What is wonderful is the fact that so many teachers access such a wide variety of activities on a weekly basis.

New job assignments

INDUCTION PROGRAM: Innovative teaching practices, which are the hallmark of Kimberley Park, provide a significant professional challenge to all new to our school. These teachers are offered an induction program that incorporates such activities as multi-age teaching practices, the teaching of thinking, effective behaviour management strategies, maths problem-solving strategies, mental maths routines, productive pedagogies, and so on. Sessions are held every Thursday afternoon during the first three terms.

LEADERSHIP LEARNING. Opportunities are provided for staff members to assume genuine leadership roles within the school. Such roles include literacy coordinator, i-centre leader, ICT coordinator, reporting and assessment taskforce leader, dance director, critical friend, curriculum leader, mentor program coordinator, and so on. Members of the administration team mentor these leaders in the development and implementation of their roles. Leadership learning is aligned to the performance competencies in the Standards Framework for Leaders.

MENTOR PROGRAM. Teachers new to Kimberley Park are matched with a teacher mentor, who provides additional personal and professional support.

INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS. Staff members are invited to meet with the principal to discuss and plan career opportunities, opportunities for leadership, personal aspirations and current challenges in the job.

Challenges in the current job

POD PLANNING. Pods of four teachers plan integrated units of work using our issues-based framework. These teachers meet with our curriculum and i-centre co-ordinators, in our pod planning room, to plan these units. Flexible staffing arrangements are used to release these pods during school time. This enables substantial amounts of time for professional discussions to occur.

i-CENTRE CONCEPT. The nature of work that is carried out in the school ‘library' has been changed to encompass accessing information using a range of options, including information and communication technologies. The i-centre leader joins pod planning sessions to help her to understand how classwork in the i-centre can be meaningfully integrated into class programs.

LEARNING LOUNGE. Our staffroom has been transformed into a learning lounge. Teacher resource materials have been relocated from the i-centre to this setting. A lounge atmosphere has been created to encourage teachers to meet to share planning ideas, teaching strategies and resource materials. This lounge is also used for our weekly learning circles and induction program.

ISSUES-BASED PLANNING. Teachers are undertaking planning of integrated units of work using an issues-based format. This format has been chosen to closely align the delivery of curriculum with the elements of productive pedagogies. To assist with the implementation of this practice, flexible staffing was used to employ a curriculum leader who guided teachers through this successful change process.

Ongoing feedback

LESSON STUDY. A learning team of teachers plans a detailed lesson plan that is taught in one of their classrooms. The teachers also plan an observation guide to enable a detailed critique of the lesson. Substantial discussions are held following the lesson and it is replanned and taught by one of the other teachers. A second critique of the lesson is then undertaken. This strategy is used widely in Japanese schools to enhance classroom pedagogy. As a result of the lesson study process, a strong element of trust is built within the learning teams.

PROFESSIONAL SUPERVISION. Deputy principals work with teachers from their sector to encourage growth in their abilities as teachers and to enhance classroom practices. Each term, priorities are established for these professional discussions and these are published with our professional development program at the beginning of the term. Priorities for these discussions closely align to the strategic priorities for the school and to the professional learning opportunities that will be offered during that term.

PROFESSIONAL SHARING. Opportunities for genuine collaboration and substantive conversations are planned each term. These include pod planning sessions, sector meetings (where sharing of teaching and learning strategies occur) and learning circles, where information around a professional reading is shared.

Role models and coaches

CRITICAL FRIEND. Using flexible staffing arrangements and in collaboration with university personnel, critical friends are employed to ‘walk' alongside teachers, with the implementation of curriculum innovations. One such critical friend has worked with teachers in classrooms to successfully implement a three-part numeracy block, using mental maths strategies and implementing a problem-solving model to plan for learning showcases. Critical friends have developed trust among teachers and have been able to achieve significant changes to the teaching and learning processes in all classrooms.

WOW (WATCHING OTHER WORK) TIME. This strategy provides opportunities for teachers to observe other teachers at work and to discuss quality curriculum practices. WOW time is of particular benefit to teachers new to the school. They are allowed time, without the usual classroom pressures, to view teaching and learning practices of personal interest to them.

VISITORS' PROGRAM. Many of our teachers have acted as coaches to visiting educators on the many innovative practices that Kimberley Park is noted for in the wider educational community. This kudos for our teaching staff acts as one of the reward and recognition strategies that we employ at Kimberley Park.

Training and reading

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM. Every Tuesday afternoon is allocated to professional training opportunities that align with our school's strategic priorities. The program for these sessions is published at the beginning of every term. All sessions offer some form of professional learning for our teachers. Often we invite outside presenters to these sessions.

LEARNING CIRCLES. Professional readings that have a strong link to our strategic priorities and other elements of our learning program are provided for our staff members. An opportunity to have deep conversations around this reading is offered on a fortnightly basis.

LEADERSHIP LEARNING CIRCLES. This learning circle operates alternate to the other learning circles. This is an opportunity for school leaders and prospective leaders to share information around a professional reading relating to some aspect of leadership.

EXTERNAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOMENT. Significant amounts of professional development are purchased from external providers each year. Staff members attend sessions that relate to priorities that are being addressed in the school at that time. On occasions staff members attend learning programs that are of personal interest to them. Strategies from these programs are shared with a broader audience on their return.

Little (1990) identified four kinds of collegial relations among teachers. She describes ‘scanning and storytelling, help and assistance and sharing as relatively weak forms of collaboration. Sharing of anecdotes and pooling of existing ideas without examining and extending them can simply maintain the status quo. Joint work is the strongest form of collaboration - team teaching, planning, observation, action research, sustained peer coaching and mentoring create interdependence, shared responsibility and greater readiness to participate in review and critique.'

One of the very effective strategies that ensure continuous professional learning has been fortnightly ‘Pod Planning': Teachers plan in collegial groups for curriculum cycles, an interconnected group of processes for successful classroom program implementation. These conversations are facilitated by a curriculum leader who personalises the learning agenda and ensures the conversation is productive and developmental. This may involve creating disequilibrium by challenging assumptions, encouraging debate and reflection on practice; it may involve identifying good practice and allowing for others to become the coach or it may involve negotiating practices for new initiatives. At different times, all members become the leader, the questioner, the listener, the coach, the demonstrator or the ‘devil's advocate'. This approach encourages collective endeavour, rather than individual efforts, risk-taking in a safe environment and open reflection about degrees of success. Team members do not need to think alike to be successful but, through regular practice, they learn to be effective. The lines between coach and ‘coachee' become blurred as groups take on the responsibility for their own learning and there are many ‘ah ha' moments as members grapple with problems and find their own answers.

Flexible staffing arrangements allow for the teacher back-up for WOW time and ‘Pod Planning' three days a week. To staff these arrangements, 2.4 teacher numbers are required. A rich science program and arts program are provided by the back-up staff for all areas of the school. Each group of teachers meets for a ‘Pod Planning' session every fortnight. WOW time is negotiated on the basis of need and opportunity.

Many aspects of Kimberley Park 's approach are sustained by the collaborative and dynamic nature of its leadership. This model of leadership engages the expertise and energies of a large and diverse group of school executive, teacher leaders, senior teachers and teachers with specialised skills. It allows members to pursue their passions in curriculum and other priorities, working together to support continuous improvement. Challenges in these projects bring an understanding of the bigger picture and an appreciation of the part others play as they, too, work towards the school vision. The sheer weight of numbers of members leading projects in school priorities has an exponential effect on the influence exerted within the school community.

These complex interactions and relationships between people are what drive the program forward. The Kimberley Park State School approach to enduring change is to build a shared vision that drives the actions of its members, create the innovations in infrastructure to physically allow for processes to take place and establish a professional learning community where the responsibility for new skills, new awareness and new beliefs about learning comes from within through a process of distributed leadership.

 

Mrs Joanne Duffy is one of the curriculum leaders at Kimberley Park State School in south-east Queensland. Her role is to facilitate professional conversations with all teaching groups as they plan for each curriculum cycle. Mrs Duffy took on this role at a time when the school was developing its curriculum framework for outcomes-based education in Queensland, in 2003. Since then, many systemic and school-based priorities have been the basis for teacher learning. Mrs Duffy also takes an active role in professional development initiatives within the school cluster and has collaborated with QUT (Queensland University of Technology) in projects for both campuses. Some of the work she has helped to develop in Careers Education with middle years groups and local high schools can be viewed on Queensland Education Curriculum Exchange. The synopsis of the professional learning program was written by Mr Garry Lacey in 2004, when he was deputy principal at the school.

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