The Stirling Institute of Education
EPL Project
Enhanced Competence-Based Learning in Early Professional Development
| Date | From 01 January 2004 to 31 December 2007 |
| Funding Source | Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of their Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) |
| Amount of Funding | £732K |
| Directors | Jim McNally, Prof. Nick Boreham, Prof. Peter Cope, Prof. Ian Stronach (MMU) |
| Researchers | Dr. Peter Gray, Allan Blake, Dr Brian Corbin (MMU) |
| Collaborating Institutions | University of Stirling and Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Contact Person | Jim McNally |
| Telephone | 01786 467608 |
Aims
The overall project aim is to improve the learning of new teachers and other new professionals by developing, evaluating and disseminating a research-based, practical model of early professional learning (EPL), and to add value to previous approaches by integrating outcome-oriented competencies with non-formal learning, context and identity.
Objectives
Specific objectives are:
- To develop an integrated model of EPL from a grounded understanding of non-formal learning and the use of competence-based standards in practice, taking account of individual differences and differences in context.
- To develop and implement a multiple testing instrument for assessing the performance of new teachers and to adapt this for application in other professional contexts.
- To demonstrate that the research-based model of EPL can be embedded in practice in such a way as to enhance professional learning, performance and mentoring, and thus contribute to policy on early professional development.
The outcomes of the project will have immediate relevance for programmes of professional induction and early professional learning and support in general. Significant impacts are expected in understanding:
- how competences, holistic or atomised, can contribute both to an effective socio-professional environment of support
- the nature of different professional learning styles e.g. evidence-based reflection, creative writing, self or socially generated, cognitive or affective
- key organisational characteristics of authentic collegiality that nurture professional and personal growth amongst beginners
- inter-professional understanding and collaboration
The four year project involves collaboration between two universities, Stirling and Manchester, with considerable teaching and research experience in professional education. The empirical focus of the project will be the learning experience of beginning teaching in secondary and primary schools, in Scotland and England.
Comparative work will extend into other countries and other professions. Teacher-researchers will be centrally engaged in gathering data, developing the grounded theory and operational model and in dissemination. Systematic literature reviews and ethnography will be complemented by the development of a five-indicator assessment instrument.
Partnership with users
Practitioners have a central role in the naturalistic design of this project, from the gathering of in-depth data in local sites to the wider operationalisation of the model, and as the natural champions of its ultimate dissemination and adaptation for specific contexts. The centrality of their role, and the staged extension of data gathering in different but related contexts, provide grounds for optimism that the project will make a serious contribution to policy development in the field of early learning in the professions.
Initially, a group of six teachers will be trained as a central part of the research team and will be principally responsible as teacher-researchers for gathering the foundation of qualitative data on the learning experience of new teachers within their own schools. Ultimately, there will be direct contact with over 500 teachers in some 40 schools and with a range of other professions.
We have already adapted our proposal in the light of user consultation e.g. in giving greater emphasis to the negative potential of informal learning. Users will also take part in dissemination through interaction with other teaching contexts and professions to extend the interprofessional conceptual base of findings.
Appendixes:-
Diagram of conceptual development model
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