Understanding mechanisms for change in policy and school environments which lead to embedded teacher professional development

Perry, Emily, Booth, Josephine, Boylan, Mark, Rutgers, Dee, Stiell, Bernadette and Coldwell, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7385-3077 (2024) Understanding mechanisms for change in policy and school environments which lead to embedded teacher professional development. Project Report. Wellcome Trust.

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Abstract

In this research study, we set out to investigate the implementation of teacher professional development. We wanted to understand how to implement professional development which supports sustained change in teachers’ practice, and what are the processes and mechanisms which underpin change. We applied insights from implementation science and theory-based evaluation, to explore ‘mechanisms for change’ applicable to teacher professional development policy and practice in England. Our intention was to better understand how professional development can be efectively implemented at multiple system levels, whether local (for example, a single department or school-wide professional development activity), area (for example, programmes for a specifc teacher subject group or phase) or the whole education system (for example, by increasing teachers’ access or entitlement to professional development). This study, carried out over two years, was funded by Wellcome (grant reference 224016/Z/21/Z). Each strand of the study used a diferent approach: a systematic evidence review of national and international research (Strand 1); an analysis of policy implementation in mathematics and science professional development (Strand 2); and primary mixed methods data collection (Strand 3). Each strand of the study has its own report, which describes in detail its aims, methods, fndings and implications for policy and practice. The project website1 contains summaries of emerging fndings and outputs from stakeholder dissemination events. This report brings together fndings from the three strands of the study. The next section provides the background to, and aims of, the study, including the research and policy landscape of teacher professional development. We then describe our overarching approach and theoretical framing. This is followed by an outline of the methods used in each of the study’s strands and a summary of each strand’s major fndings, and their implications for policy and practice. We fnally review the limitations of the study, before considering its implications for policy and practice, and ofering some suggestions for school leaders and policy makers and for further research.