Professional learning
Jonathan Firth's Memory & Metacognition Updates #8
Hello all! And welcome to a 'European edition' of my Memory and Metacognition updates. I am currently in the Czech Republic as part of a research trip, and in a few days I'll travel to Germany to present at a conference.
The subject of my forthcoming conference talk – and the Czech research collaboration – is teacher burnout. If this seems quite distant from my usual research interests, then consider the following:
There are many misconceptions and illusions about memory (as I wrote about in last week's issue).
Teachers therefore need to engage in professional learning in order to understand how memory works.
Professional learning is time-consuming, and teachers are busy...
...and so we need to understand how to promote professional learning in ways that won't lead to burnout.
I will explore the interplay between these four points more in future newsletters. For now, suffice to say that we can't just ask teachers to do more professional learning without considering other factors!
The good news is that many of the memory and metacognition tools that I have been discussing in this newsletter can actually save time.
For example:
Skilled application of the spacing effect can tackle forgetting, meaning that there is no need to re-teach material at a later date.
We can cut out certain laborious practices (e.g. flawed types of homework) that have little or no impact on student learning.
Evidence-based practice can in general lead to more secure understanding among students, and therefore less ad-hoc remediation.
Overall, if we know how to ensure that learning sticks, this should save time, not add to it!
An understanding of the science of learning can also help to put teachers in control rather than having their practice dictated by external authorities, as I argue in the chapter below (from the 2017 book, 'Flip the System: UK').
Flipping the system means putting teachers back in control of educational practice. In this chapter I argue that research-based knowledge about learning, in particular the intricate and often counterintuitive functioning of human long-term memory…
I have a couple of more recent thoughts to add.
Firstly, my own experience – reinforced by a great many conversations with fellow teachers – is that engagement with research can be motivating, in some case helping staff to find a renewed passion for teaching.
Secondly, it's clear that for many teachers, engagement with evidence-based practice has become a key part of their identity, and sometimes helps them to find a shared community.
Both motivation and identity are closely interlinked with wellbeing, as Zhao (2022) points out. Feeling like you have a purpose is healthy, especially if you can engage with peers who feel the same. Meanwhile, it is motivating to feel competent – and evidence-based practice can help teachers to feel more confident in their pedagogical choices.
There is more to explore, but my hunch is that engagement with professional learning could help protect against burnout, rather than adding to it.
Of course, we'd all like to have more time, and I would always advocate for less burdensome workloads. However, I also think we need to be using the time we do have effectively. We tell students to work 'smarter, not harder', and I think the same applies to a teacher's professional learning, too.
Recommendation
This leads me to a research recommendation: Muijs et al (2014):
State of the art – teacher effectiveness and professional learning
It's quite a long one, but if you are in a hurry, I think the final section (p. 246 on) is especially relevant. It suggests that ideas around effective self-regulated learning are not just for students, but can be applied to professional learning, too.
I agree, and made related and quite specific points here regarding how spacing and interleaving can be used in designing professional learning experiences.
I hope that provides some food for thought! I will return to more a memory-focused topic next week when I focus on desirable difficulties.
Until then, měj se hezky, as they say in the Czech Republic :)
Jonathan
If you are new to the newsletter and curious to know more about my background, you can check out the 'about' page of my website here.
Last week: Memory Illusions
Next week: Desirable Difficulties
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