Continuous Professional Teacher Development: Understanding the Psychological Barriers Presentation to Bridge Teacher Development Focus Group 28 October 2015
The Nature of Psychological Barriers 1) There are laws of psychology in the human dimension which need to be understood; they are ‘there’ and unchanging. 2) There are different kinds of psychological barriers. Different psychological barriers have different significance and meaning. • Psychological barriers relevant to Continuous Professional Teacher Development (CPTD) include: 1) Inherent, natural psychological barriers. 2) ‘Created’ psychological barriers. 3) Psychological barriers associated with online learning and sharing.
WTTaking One Step Back: Why Concern Yourself with CPTD? The Global Context: the Bigger Picture Globally, - we are living today in a global village (an inter-connected world). Globally and locally, - there is constant change in the world, e. g. the march of technology; - this impacts on most countries and on most people. Professionally, - change affects the way in which most professionals operate. The need to keep pace with change: Risk: - Professionals who do not keep abreast of change will fall behind, and may over time lose their professionalism.
Some Keys to Psychological Success Ø Correct pace of change: - needs to be a comfortable pace for the group of teachers concerned; - the correct pace is likely to differ from one group to another. Ø Incorrect pace of change: - will result in psychological barriers to CPTD. Therefore, - need to be sensitive to the psychological needs of each group of teachers. For change to be psychologically acceptable, there are certain conditions: 1) The change must make sense and add value. 2) Not change simply for the sake of change. 3) Guiding principle: retain intrinsic value - some things have timeless value.
Natural Psychological Barriers Inherent, natural psychological barriers: There is in fact only one inherent barrier: Ø Most of us do not welcome personal change! Because it … - upsets our equilibrium (our routine; sense of comfort), - means a personal learning curve, - requires time and effort.
Dealing with the Natural Psychological Barrier Effective management of this barrier requires simultaneous “push” and “pull” factors. The psychological “push” factor needs to be: - benign - gentle - firm (no compromise). For many other professions the “push” factor is in operation, and for them it means: Ø That continuous professional development (CPD) is compulsory. Ø That professionals must obtain a set number of CPD points per year to retain their professional registration.
The “pull” factors: Guiding Principles: CPTD is most likely to draw participants in when: 1) It is based on the identified needs (not the assumed needs) of participants. 2) It embraces a ‘whole person’ philosophy within a holistic approach to lifelong professional development. 3) Delivery systems are as diverse and flexible as possible. 4) Training is consistently of high quality, relevant and user-friendly. 5) CPTD includes opportunities to see other colleagues and to network with them, e. g. Co. P’s.
‘Created’ Psychological Barriers Case study: • Thandi’s experience as a teacher at her school. Psychological impact on Thandi: - Shock, trauma, disappointment, disillusionment. - Loss of trust. - Loss of confidence in the system. - Decision to be self-reliant, not to rely on the system any longer. New psychological barriers: - Withdrawal. - Avoidance – heart no longer in her work; only going through the motions; no desire to contribute or to learn. - Desire to escape from this system (this school). These barriers will generalize to everything that the school does, including CPTD.
Created Psychological Barriers: The Role of the Organisational System (the school): Looking back at a young teacher’s experience of teacher development in two different school settings: Private setting: • • weekly sessions set up in the timetable day long workshop at the beginning of the term sharing and reflection with the rest of staff once a term conference and workshop attendance larger staff departmental meetings degree of competitiveness. Public setting: • • initial mentoring for the first year initial workshop about the school’s culture whole staff workshop once a term development and progress largely seen as personal aspiration, rather than school culture departmental meetings and NAPTOSA meetings smaller staff with more communication timetable and financial constraints.
Influence of the Organisational System (the school) on individuals: Willing participation in personal (teacher) development, with fewest psychological barriers, is most likely to occur when: • The philosophy and values of an organisation (the school) are growth orientated. • The organisation (the school): o supports the essential dignity and worth of every employee; o provides opportunities for personal growth in conjunction with organisational goals; o is even-handed in its treatment and judgement of employees; o uncompromisingly adheres to an agreed code of conduct; o is open-minded and flexible in its thinking; o sees all employees as inter-connected and naturally dependent, each contributing to the final output by working as a team;
o has a long term focus, shows concern for the consequences of their actions into the future; o reflects kindness towards others – e. g. towards communities that are linked with the school, or surrounding communities; o follows through on attaining their goals, irrespective of difficulties or obstacles. On the other hand (at the other end of the spectrum) the highest number of created psychological barriers are most likely to occur when: The organisation (the school): o does not think that employee feelings have any relevance in the work environment; o lacks mercy and kindness – is therefore cruel, impersonal, cold, unconcerned with the needs of employees as human beings, lacks warmth and geniality;
o displays dishonesty and faithlessness, and makes wrongful and biased judgements; o is concerned with immediate reward without regard for longterm consequences; o the school’s members can be deceptive, critical, shallow, manipulated and inconsistent in following a code of conduct; o employees are separate from one another, each acting for themselves, irrespective of the efforts of others; o discourages questioning and innovation, enforces one right way of doing things, punishes behaviour outside the norm; o demonstrates disesteem and contempt for employees; o is uncivil and discourteous towards others; o shirks work and follows through only insofar as forced to do so; exerts no effort independent of external controls.
From an organisational perspective, most schools are likely to lie somewhere along this continuum. . . - some nearer to one pole - others nearer to the opposite pole - others at some point along this spectrum. The nature of the created psychological barriers will depend in each instance on the nature of the positive and/or negative experiences within a particular school. -----ooo. Oooo----- It is also possible that certain psychological barriers are not individual barriers, but rather group psychological barriers, i. e. barriers arising from membership of a particular group. Key to finding solutions: Know exactly what you are dealing with.
Psychological Barriers to Online Learning and Sharing The Individual-Online Interface: For some, IT platforms create a new and separate category of psychological barriers. If there any pre-existing psychological barriers, these will be carried forward and added to barriers specific to the IT platform. How come new psychological barriers? • For some, IT is unfamiliar territory: – therefore, you are dealing with the unknown; - emotions: feeling silly. • The ‘hassle’ factor: IT platforms create their own set of demands, and learning IT skills is time-consuming: - therefore, feelings of harassment and resentment.
• IT and online options may arouse old uncertainties, - therefore, dealing with unfinished business from the past. On their own, psychological barriers to IT platforms are usually shallow barriers that can be overcome with relative ease. Some ways of minimizing psychological barriers specific to online learning and sharing: 1) Make the IT platforms as easy-to-use and user-friendly as possible. 2) Provide clear step-by-step guidelines (‘Guidelines for dummies’ – use humour). 3) Reward successful IT efforts immediately: e. g. make it possible for a user to print a CPTD certificate immediately after the successful completion of a task. 4) Learn from other professions that have successful IT strategies.
In Closing: 1) The inherent, natural psychological barrier … - is relatively easy to overcome; - but, it is essential that this barrier is overcome at the outset. 2) Created psychological barriers … - are deep-seated and complex barriers, unique in every case; - require full understanding in order to be resolved; - unless resolved, these barriers become ‘psychological baggage’. 3) Psychological barriers specific to IT and online platforms … - unless complicated by additional barriers, these are usually not serious psychological barriers; - it should be possible often to overcome these barriers by employing tried and tested principles and strategies.
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