Research School Network: How can we motivate staff to utilise new knowledge, skills and techniques? Nikki Arkinstall, discusses effective professional development and the mechanisms that can support staff motivation.

Effective Professional Development


High quality teaching is pivotal in improving children’s outcomes and narrowing the disadvantage gap. The quality of teaching can make the biggest difference to children’s learning. Helping teachers to improve their practice, through effective professional development (PD) takes careful thought, planning and effort.


I am sure, like me, you have been on a course, read a brilliant article and developed your knowledge, but, for a number of reasons, have not changed your practice. Alternatively, have you ever delivered PD, which was really well received, but when you carry out monitoring, find that nothing has been implemented? This can be described as a ​‘Knowing- doing gap’, see the image below.

The EEF has produced guidance on effective Professional Development to support leaders with the challenging task of designing and selecting PD which will have the biggest impact- https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/effective-professional-development


The Guidance has three Key recommendations.

The guidance illustrates the importance of focusing on the mechanisms of PD because research finds that the more mechanisms a PD programme has, the greater impact it has on pupil attainment. Mechanisms are the core building blocks of professional development. This blog will focus on three mechanisms that can be used to develop staff motivation to act upon their PD.


Leaders need to be able motivate staff to utilise new knowledge, skills and techniques within their classrooms in order for PD to have an impact on pupil outcomes. The guidance report illustrates three mechanisms that can bridge this gap.

Setting Goals

Setting conscious, specific and challenging goals substantially increases the likelihood of behaviour change.

Using Credible Sources

When information is taken from credible sources, teachers are more likely to change their practice.

Providing Affirmation

Teachers’ motivation to act upon professional development has been shown to improve when affirmations and reinforcement is provided after they have made an effort to improve their practice.

My Experience

In my school, we link PD to performance management (PM) in order to set and agree specific goals. Staff plan and implement a research project related to an area of metacognition, which they would like to develop within their lessons. We use a range of research to develop our understanding of why it is an important element of effective teaching and learning. This enables staff buy-in, because they trust the research and understand the ​‘why’ behind evidence-informed decisions. We celebrate and share good practice and ideas with all staff. This enables us to use the expertise of staff who are implementing metacognition effectively, to support others.


Conclusion

The EEF guidance and tools support school leaders to focus on the mechanisms of PD in order to design, deliver and select effective PD. Using mechanisms that enhance staff motivation ensures that PD has the maximum impact on high-quality teaching and learning.

To read the full guidance report for effective professional development please click here.