The Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management, together with the local affiliate, the Malta Society for Educational Administration and Management, hosted the biennial conference for the first time in Malta. The conference attracted over 150 foreign delegates and a few local researchers and practitioners. The focus of the conference was professional learning.
Why was Malta chosen? At a time when the Maltese educational system is witnessing major reforms at both compuslory and tertiary education, it was deemed approporiate to consider hosting the CCEAM conference in a country that can serve as an ideal platform to discuss and debate various themes related to professional learning and development.
Teaching continues to be a challenging yet rewarding profession. Today’s teachers and school leaders are caught in a squeeze of conflicting demands. Many argue that virtually all teachers care deeply about children and their learning, and while doing their utmost to create classroom environments that are well organised, purposeful, warm and supportive and intellectually stimulating, they are working in policy environments in which teachers and school leaders are under scrutiny and subject to greater accountability. In many countries teachers lack respect and schools are finding it hard to attract teachers who are willing to work in daunting environments exacerbated by a performativity culture.
In spite of this, there are numerous examples of school leaders who are adopting out-of-the-box leadership, seeing these solutions as creating opportunities for teachers to engage critically with the teaching and learning process. Professional learning needs to sit at the core of the communities of practice that are needed to address the various challenges we face.
This conference provided researchers and practitioners alike the opportunity to share current research and present frameworks and strategies that have been/can be used to successfully bring about improved teaching and learning.
In this article we would like to share a review of the keynote addresses given and thank all those who believed in this conference and supported us in different ways.
The conference could not have had a better start, given that we were hosted by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and the opening speeches held at the Grand Masters Palace in Valletta.
Today’s teachers are caught in a squeeze of conflicting demands
The first keynote speech was given by David Hung, Professor at the National Institute of Education of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Since 1997, with the introduction of the ‘Thinking Schools, Learning Nation’ (TLLN) policy, the Ministry of Education in Singapore has introduced a policy that enables pedagogical and curriculum change in schools and classrooms.
However, change is slow even despite a relatively tight and coherent system. Through the last decade, numerous other policies have been introduced, at different degrees of implementation specificity, but consistent to the TLLN policy, the latest being the Singapore Teaching Practice (STP). Increasingly over the decades, there is a policy awareness that is focused on cultivating people and institutional capacity. This presentation discusses the various policies introduced, planned and enacted, and why change has been difficult.
It illustrates the relatively slow process of pedagogical change in classrooms and schools, and suggests ways going forward, with a more nuanced understanding of the gaps and how these can be addressed as a system. Teachers are key to the change process, and the concept of Leadership from the Middle (LftM) is expanded and applied to the multiple layers of the Singapore Education system. The model is context sensitive, but implications can be drawn for other educational systems
Dr Lyn Sharratt is a highly accomplished practitioner, researcher, author and presenter and co-ordinates the doctoral programme at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and the University of Toronto, Canada. Her keynote explored purposeful Professional Learning Community (PLC) structures and processes that create opportunities for teachers and leaders to collaborate, reflect on and improve their practice.
Her address reflected on teachers’ and leaders’ use of data in various forms to inquire about what defines ‘precision-in-practice’ within structured time designated for collaborative professional learning. This often-challenging but critically important PLC work, which is so dependent on context and culture, inevitably influences and shapes professional practice. It is this ‘serious work’ in PLCs that impacts teachers’ and leaders’ learning, teaching, and leading that creates the collective efficacy necessary to increase all students’ growth and achievement.
The third and final keynote by Prof. Pam Sammons from Oxford University focused on a study of ‘inspiring’ teachers. This paper served as a breath of fresh air in a context where the teaching profession in general feels disempowered. The research work reiterated previous findings indicating that inspiring practice relates to the following core features: positive relationships, good classroom management, positive and supportive classroom climate, formative feedback, enjoyment and a high-quality learning experience overall. Such studies help to highlight the importance behind teacher leadership, professional practice and developing professional learning communities, and that we need to invest time to ensure that ‘inspiring teaching’ is captured and shared by ‘inspired’ and inspiring teachers.
Local institutions that supported this initiative included APS Bank, Bank of Valletta, Mapfre Middlesea plc, the University of Malta, Office Group Limited and the Ministry for Education and Employment.