SARA BUBB: Hello.My name Sara Bubb, and I work at University College LondonInstitute of Education.I've worked there for 22 years, and my area of specialismis staff development, and that's whatI'm going to be talking to you about today in this case study.I'm going to be talking about leading and managing

SARA BUBB [continued]: staff development.I'm using the term staff development rather thanprofessional development because I'mincluding all people who work in schoolsand within the education sector.There are going to be four elements to my presentation.I'm going to start off by looking

SARA BUBB [continued]: at why leading and managing staff developmentreally are so important.Then I'm going to look at the notions of terminologyand the conceptualization in this fieldbecause it is fraught with difficulties.Then I'm going to look at impact,how do we know what professional development and staff

SARA BUBB [continued]: development really makes a differenceand how does it make a difference?Does it make a difference?What impact does it have?And then finally, I'm going to lookat the forms of professional and staff development activity.

SARA BUBB [continued]: So firstly, I'd like to talk about why leading and managingstaff development really is such an important issue.In schools today across all sorts of countriesand education systems, there is a lotof money pumped into staff developmentin many different forms.

SARA BUBB [continued]: And yet does it make a difference?Well, we know from studies into high-performing systemsthat they choose the right type of people to become teachersand to work in schools.But secondly, and most pertinent to today,is that they develop those peopleinto really highly effective teachers and people working

SARA BUBB [continued]: within schools in order then to makea fantastic impact on students.So we know from international studies,such as the McKinsey Report about high-performing schoolsystems and what they do to become so effective.And one of the most important things

SARA BUBB [continued]: is that they choose the right peopleto go into working in schools.And then they develop them into highly effective practitionersso that they can have a fantastic impact on studentsso that those students learn and are happy.So staff development is really important.

SARA BUBB [continued]: But most important is the leading and managing of it.And I've deliberately used both those terms.So leadership is in ascendancy at the moment.It's all about leadership.And leadership is vital because it's importantthat there's a strategic vision to the staff

SARA BUBB [continued]: development within the school that fits in with the schooldevelopment plan and what needs to be improvedand what strengths the school has already.So leadership is important, but leadership isn't, on its own,enough.There needs to be a lot of management involved.

SARA BUBB [continued]: A lot of thinking about how you'regoing to spend precious resources, sofinancial resources, but also time.You need to be thinking about whoto invest in and at what point in their career,even at what point in the school year.

SARA BUBB [continued]: There were times within any education systemwhen people working in schools are really, really exhausted,and that is not a good time for anybody to be developing.Within this field, there is a lot of use of terminology

SARA BUBB [continued]: that even within one country, my own, the UK, different termsmean different things to different people.So looked at in an international context,that becomes even more confusing.So for instance, there are terms like professional development,staff development, professional learning, professional learning

SARA BUBB [continued]: and development, appraisal, performance management.How do all these things fit together,and what are the differences between them?There are many, many different definitions,even if we look at the term professional learning, thatcan mean different things to different people.

SARA BUBB [continued]: For some people, staff developmentis an activity that people do.They go on a course.They read a book.For me, and my colleague, Peter Earley,with whom I wrote several books, including Leading and ManagingProfessional Development and also Helping

SARA BUBB [continued]: Staff Develop in Schools, we thinkthat it's very much a process.It's what happens within the personas a result of some professional development or staffdevelopment activity.But it's what happens within that person, which they then

SARA BUBB [continued]: put into practice within the classroom settingor in whatever position they are within the school in order thento make a difference to children.So it is very much not just a thing out there,but it's something within oneself,

SARA BUBB [continued]: a process within oneself, which they then put into practice.So in our book, Helping Staff Develop in Schools,we define staff development in a certain way.We say it is a process, so it's somethingthat happens within the person.

SARA BUBB [continued]: And we say it's a process that encompasses all formal but alsoinformal learning experiences.And that's really important because when I think backinto my own career, I've done lots and lots of formal coursesand reading and speaking to people

SARA BUBB [continued]: and watching TV programs and webinars.But often it is the more informal things,those conversations, those ideas thatcome to you when you're sitting in the car that are oftenmost powerful, so formal and informal learning activities.But the important thing is that this development has

SARA BUBB [continued]: an outcome that helps you, help students,or with whomever you are working with, to become better.So it improves student learning that thisis the key element, the key real important purposeand final outcome of all elements of staff development.

SARA BUBB [continued]: I'd now like to talk about impact because this is reallythe important element within leading and managing staffdevelopment.We need to be thinking about why we're doing it,what impact is it having.And it is a really complex because exposureto a professional development activity,

SARA BUBB [continued]: by itself, may make no difference at all.It might or it might not.And then even if it does, will it change a person's actions?Will it help them develop?Maybe, maybe not.And even if they do do something different in the classroom,

SARA BUBB [continued]: will it really have an impact on the students?It may, or it may not.So looking at impact is really, really complex,but it's worth investing that timebecause it is so important that the investment wemake in terms of time and finance is really used well.

SARA BUBB [continued]: I'd like to share with you a model I've developed.This has come about from looking at a lot of research,a lot of writing already, looking, for instance,at the work of Guskey, where he lookedat five different levels.So the first stage of the model is identifying needs.

SARA BUBB [continued]: And this is really important because youhave to be very strategic as the person leading and managingstart development to really identify what the needs are,not the wants, not the latest fashion, notthe latest technology, but actually what is needed.

SARA BUBB [continued]: And that's where the leadership comes in,that it has to be strategic and be linked to the schooldevelopment plan to a really clear picture of whatthe school needs to do to improveand then what individuals within the organizationneed to do to improve.

SARA BUBB [continued]: Once you've got that clearly identified need,then you can see what the baseline is.So for instance, if you want to, within the school,improve behavior management of the students,you can think, well, what's it like now?Well, we have a behavior management policy.

SARA BUBB [continued]: Maybe it's not working very well.So maybe we need to change it or maybe weneed to work with the existing one and tighten it up.Sometimes it's useful to think about a scale of 1 to 10,and think, OK, is it a 5?Is it a 6?What makes it a 6 more than a 5?

SARA BUBB [continued]: And then you can think, well rather thanalways aiming for perfection, 10, you can think about, OK,what do we need to do to get it to 7?What would it look like then?So really looking at what you want the students to be like.That would be linking to your goal.

SARA BUBB [continued]: Then you move on to the planning stage.So if that's where your goal is.You can then be very specific about whatplans you want to do, what professional developmentactivities you need.And those professional and development activitiescan take many forms.You don't always need to be thinkingabout the formal courses and programs.

SARA BUBB [continued]: Something more informal might fit the billmore appropriately.The next stage is to actually carry out those activities,and that's really important in an earlierversion of the model.I just went going from planning to learning,but I've put in that element of actual activity of doing

SARA BUBB [continued]: the activity just to emphasize.Because often staffing schools arevery busy and sometimes forget to do these things, so actuallypinning a date down by which these activities willhave happened.The learning activity itself needs a bit of time.

SARA BUBB [continued]: And I've used the notion that's within the literatureof the third space, the opportunityto reflect and try out some ideas before you put thingsinto action within the classroom,so that idea of a third space.And certainly, in, say, seminar or a university, one

SARA BUBB [continued]: can be doing these things within a piece of writingor discussion or a presentation.It gives one the opportunity to practice thingsand then try them out.And so there might be lots of beforein between the individual's learning and putting it

SARA BUBB [continued]: into practice.That might take several iterations of trying thingsout and seeing how things work.Then once the activities have happened,what about the learning, the learning in the individuals?What have they learned?And then the really tricky bit is

SARA BUBB [continued]: putting that learning into action,and that is really challenging and needsa huge amount of motivation and encouragement.It's really hard for any of us to change.It's much easier to wear the cozy slippers that we havealways worn, rather than the stiff new shoes of trying out

SARA BUBB [continued]: something new.Once you've put things into practice in the classroom,then, hopefully, the ultimate goalis student learning, student behavior, student well-being,whatever element fits in mostly with what your goal has been.So that's the ultimate thing that you'relooking for that students learn better, make more progress,

SARA BUBB [continued]: are happier.Or is it?Yes, it's the ultimate goal, but in this latest model,latest framework I have designed,I've added in efficacy.The people feeling happier about their work

SARA BUBB [continued]: as a result of learning something,trying it out, putting it into practice,and it working with students.Then the ultimate goal is actuallyyou feeling really good about things, really confident.So that self-efficacy that comes about then

SARA BUBB [continued]: stimulates the goals, the new goals, the new identificationof needs.So my ultimate end is not just student learning,but actually feeling really good about things yourself.So leaders and managers within any schoolor educational institution need to be looking at impact.

SARA BUBB [continued]: And if we're looking at impact on staff,leaders and managers need to be thinking, actually, what kindof impact do we want on staff?It might be greater knowledge, a deeper understanding.It might be putting things into practice.It might be doing a new strategy.

SARA BUBB [continued]: It might be greater confidence, greater abilityto influence other people, greater clarityin communicating new ideas.So being really specific about what impactyou want from the adults that you're working with,

SARA BUBB [continued]: that is really, really key for anyone leadingand managing staff development.When you're thinking about what impact you want on students,again, you need to be thinking precisely whatimpact you would like as a leader within the school.Do you want greater performance in test results?

SARA BUBB [continued]: Do you want greater confidence?Do you want better communication?Do you want students that have greater resilience,greater grit?Do you want students that are more empathetic?What is it that you want from the students?And obviously, anything that you choose for impact,

SARA BUBB [continued]: you then need to be thinking about, well, how on Earthare you going to measure it?How on Earth are you going to be able to tellwhether a student is showing more resilience, more grit?So as leaders and managers of staff development,you need to be thinking about the evidence for your impact.

SARA BUBB [continued]: And this in research terms could be looked at quantitativelyor qualitatively.So quantitative forms of evidence could include surveys.They could include evaluation sheets.Other quantitative measures could be looking

SARA BUBB [continued]: at the students' test results.It could be attendance or punctuality results,anything that is quantifiable.It might be attendance of staff.And then there are many forms of qualitative data

SARA BUBB [continued]: that can be gathered to provide evidence for impact.These aren't easy to measure, but they're really important.So those conversations, those discussions, those evaluations,and the evaluative comments that people make could be analyzed.

SARA BUBB [continued]: A combination of those two are oftenthe best way of getting a true picture of the impact.There are many different forms of professional developmentor staff development activity, many different forms.

SARA BUBB [continued]: And we can see this as intersecting setsthat you can have things that are done individuallyor with other people.They can be school based, they can be external,or they can be with other schools.Interesting to look at that frameworkand think about the most appropriate and best use

SARA BUBB [continued]: of resources, particularly, when thereare budgetary considerations.When looking at different forms of staff development activity,you could look at two axes.You could look at how planned or unplannedit is, but also how formal or informal

SARA BUBB [continued]: it is and then looking at those different squares and thinking,what is going to be most appropriate.It would be interesting for you to think about your learningand what has been most useful.Has it been the formal unplanned, or actually

SARA BUBB [continued]: the informal unplanned, such as coaching,or has it actually been the unplanned and totally informal.Those conversations maybe that happened in the corridoror over a cup of coffee that reallymove your learning on and give you the confidence

SARA BUBB [continued]: to try things out.So development activities are more effectiveif the participants have had a say in the kind of activitiesthat they have done when those activities take place,particularly, with people with family commitments, carecommitments, maybe something at a different time of day,

SARA BUBB [continued]: a different time of the week, a different time of the schoolyear is going to be more useful to them.Certainly, we found this in our staff development outcome studyand other research that we have done.It's also important that they feelthat their existing expertise is taken into account so that theyare building from where they are at the moment, which

SARA BUBB [continued]: is why getting that baseline is so useful.And this is very hard to do if it'sbeing done in a course or a program within a school.You need to be really thinking about howdo you find out exactly what people already know

SARA BUBB [continued]: and can do and feel in order to build that on.So if we're thinking about Vygotsky's zoneof proximal development as being really essential for studentlearning, it's also very, very importantfor staff learning so that we build on what we alreadyknow in order to work within the zone of proximal development.

SARA BUBB [continued]: But very important that somebody who has that overview, leading,and managing staff development isable to scaffold that learning to movethe adult into their zone of proximal development.

SARA BUBB [continued]: In conclusion, leading and managing staff developmentis really important.It needs somebody with an overview, somebodythat is able to pull together all the different strands thatlinks to the school's improvement planand to where things are going.

SARA BUBB [continued]: It's really important also that they see the schoolas a learning organization, that they'rebuilding the capacity of everybodywithin that institution.And that might mean that a couple of key playersare invested in, that those people arethe key to the overall success.

SARA BUBB [continued]: So one size fits all will be one size fitting nobody.We don't want everyone to be havingthe same slice of the pie.We want to give more of the pie to those people whomight need it most in terms of what they'regoing to be doing with it and the impact

SARA BUBB [continued]: that it's going to have on students.So we want things to be fair, but not necessarily equal,and that can be quite a difficult message to convey.It's really important that time is made.Time is really valuable, and in study after study, the research

SARA BUBB [continued]: shows that time is the thing that is in short supply.So there needs to be time made available.There needs to be within the learning organizationa culture of reflection and discussion and problemsolving with each other.And that's where leaders can reallydrive those conversations, share that vision so

SARA BUBB [continued]: that the leaders are really interacting things that theyare modeling and influencing.It's wonderful also that that impact should be sustainedand shared and really, really celebrated,those small differences, those incremental differences

SARA BUBB [continued]: making so much difference.But too often these things are just not noticed.They need to be noticed.They need to be celebrated.So impact needs to be measured that evidence should begathered and then celebrated.This will have a great impact, not only

SARA BUBB [continued]: on the individuals concerned, but the whole culturewithin the school, within that learning organization.So here are some questions for you to think about.What professional development activities have you done?What has really made the most difference to you?

SARA BUBB [continued]: What would be most useful to other people?What activities are least disruptive to studentsand to staff?What is most value for money?