Stimulating staff development: impacting on academic's practice

1. Stimulating staff development: impacting
on academics’ practice?
Kathy Wright, Higher Education Academy
ECER 2015 Budapest

2. What are your experiences of staff
development?

3. • Usually PowerPoint presentations (usually death by
PowerPoint) 31 respondents out of 35
• Usually up front delivery / key note and discussion
• 'Workshops' consisting of some presented
information followed by small group discussion/
activities and feedback to the whole group
• Symposia, seminars, workshops
• Group table top activities with set
questions, then feedback
• Short lectures with interaction
• Post-it note activities
Most common in my survey:

4. • Hands-on computer workshops
• World café
• ‘Marketplace' activity
• Lego Serious Play
• Group think sessions to produce posters
• Role play
• Video recorded activity
4
More innovative formats:

5. A. ‘Immersive’ workshops
- Penny pinching pedagogies
(https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/penny-pound-low-cost-high-impact-teaching-innovation )
- Sailing the seven seas
B. Workshops involving creative activities
- Language matters – including poetry writing activity
(https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/are-we-lost-translation-internationalised-classroom )
- You talking to me – including a drama activity
C. Simulation: Futura University
- Small interdisciplinary workshop
- Larger disciplinary workshop
(https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/blog/2020-learning-teaching ) 5
Exploration: 6 HEA workshops

6. 6
Penny pinching
pedagogy

7. 7
Sailing the seven seas

8. 8
You talking to me

9. 9
‘You talking to me’ workshop

10. 10
Futura University

11. Immediate feedback from
workshops
The beginnings of this study:

12. 12

13. 13

14. Arthur Koestler identified the decisive phase of
creativity as the capacity to
“perceive… a situation or event in two habitually
incompatible associative contexts” (The Act of
Creation 1964, p.95)
“Our species thinks in metaphors and learns through
stories” (Bateson, 1994, p.110)
“Metaphor has the power to change our reality: words
affect concepts and “changes in our conceptual
system do change what is real for us and affect how
we perceive the world and act upon those perceptions”
(Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, p.146). 14
Facilitating creative spaces

15. Does a short term exposure (of 2-4 hours) to
interactive, creatively-oriented workshops impact on
academic practice, in terms of their teaching practices
and continued professional development?
15
Research question

16. Guskey (2002): changing practice in teaching and learning is a
long term process of contact, feedback and follow up which
involves professional development and exposure to new
practices, teacher changing their practice and this longer term
engagement with professional development can lead to changes
in their beliefs and attitudes if they see a change in student
outcomes as a result of changes in practice.
A cycle of questioning, modelling, implementing and reviewing is
needed (Tuomi-Gröhn and Engeström 2003:31)
It can be challenging for teachers to adapt or even change their
teaching practice: “the more precisely the proposed habit change
can be understood, the more likely it will happen.” (Claxton, et al;
2012, p.28).
16
The challenge

17. - Longer term engagement is problematic for HEA
colleagues facilitating the workshops, with different
attendees at each event.
- ‘evidence (of impact/transfer), however, can be
notoriously elusive for small-scale researchers to
obtain, especially in the realm of academic
development, where the practical and temporal
distances between an academic developer’s
intervention, a lecturer’s actions and a student’s
achievement render claims of direct cause-and-effect
deeply problematic.’ (Sword 2014)
17
Problems

18. • Small scale
• Exploratory – identify some key themes
• Inductive piece of research
• Problems – locating literature on impact of creative
CPD on academic staff in HE
18
The research project

19. • a mixed method approach (uses both qualitative and
quantitative methods of data collection)
• questionnaire on Surveymonkey (35 respondents of
which 4 incomplete surveys)
• 5 respondents from questionnaire (surveymonkey)
were chosen using purposeful sampling based on
their positive and negative responses from NVivo in
order to be able to analyse a balanced opinion. This
was dependent on respondent willingness to be
interviewed and availability
19
Methodology

20. Semi-structured questionnaires in an online survey
system called Survey-Monkey.
Each question pertains to how creative teachers felt the
workshop was, which elements of the workshop they
decided to share with their colleagues, how they felt
about the workshop overall and how their experiences
of the workshop have affected their teaching practice.
Data from Survey Monkey will be analysed using
computer software, NVivo in order to create a thematic
analysis.
Findings from thematic coding allocated nodes in NVivo
and relationships / themes found between codes in
survey data.
20

21. 21
Relationship between context, capability and creativity. The
shaded area represents situations that have the greatest potential
for personal creativity because we have to invent/adapt/improvise
in them.
Source: adapted from Stephenson (1998:5) by Jackson (2011)
The community, not the individual, is the unit that matters when

22. Ryde (207) argues that the habitual ‘thinking channels’
used professionally tend to limit capacity to generate
meaningful solutions to problems etc. Ryde argues for
adopting a wider repertoire of thinking channels.
Jackson (2013) ‘you don't have to be an expert to be
creative: we all have the potential to be creative in the
contexts that form our lives.’
22
Theme: habitual thinking

23. 23
Findings

24. • Creative interactive workshops
facilitate
• rich quality, thought provoking discussion,
new interactive ways of thinking
causing
• changes in CPD
24
Initial results of all survey data
found the following correlation
73.3% creativity of workshop prompted new ways of thinking to
develop
66.7% good opportunities for quality, interactive thought provoking

25. ‘I think there are different levels of creativity, aren’t
there? So, I guess when I inherently think of being
creative with teaching, I think of something big,
something involving change and whereas actually the
workshop was quite good at demonstrating very
simple and effective creative means, or ways that you
might harness creativity in students that aren’t
necessarily big changes. They’re just small incentives
or small things that you can do to engage them....’
Interview with Sandra, Veterinary Science.
Participant at Penny pinching pedagogies 25
Moving beyond habitual thinking

26. The “mere exposure effect” (Zajonc, 1968) - if people are
required to fulfill a task that they are uncomfortable with, their
abilities will be facilitated by the presence of others and their
performance will be enhanced. Finally if teachers change their
practice in collaboration with other teachers it offers social and
peer support, inspiring them to make changes.
Workshop feedback:
‘The workshop which had me having to act out a scene left me
feeling VERY uncomfortable.’ (Delegate from ‘You talking to me’)
‘This learning style does not work for me. The metaphor is simply
distracting’ (Feedback on the day from Engineering colleague at
‘Sailing the 7 seas)
26
Theme: ‘discomfort’

27. It is our interactions with other people that have most
influence on our willingness and ability to be creative.
The social environment influences creativity by
influencing the individual components. Although,
clearly, the environment can have an impact on any of
these components, the impact on task motivation
appears to be the most immediate and direct (Amabile
1996:8)
27
Theme: Social environment and
motivation

28. ‘I think when you talk about creativity you’re talking about the fun
that you actually bring to learning, and learning should be fun, it
shouldn’t just be… you know, you don’t want people falling asleep
in your sessions, you want them to be smiling and actually
contributing – that’s what creativity lends itself to.’
‘The concepts worked well. In terms of creativity there were lots
of visual prompts there – for example, the giant sort of world and
doing the map and things like that, and it was exceptionally
visual. And the theme worked, so the Seven Seas theme actually
worked.’
‘It also reaffirms that actually it is fun to do creative learning as
opposed to just sitting there being a recipient.’
Interview with Vanessa participant in Sailing the seven seas. 28

29. ‘Notwithstanding academic longing for a theory or
model for everything, creativity continues to be
regarded by many both with in and outside academic
circles as so mysterious and serendipitous that it
defies definition, and thus also defies any attempt to
foster it systematically.’ McWilliam 2007
‘…there needs to be an appropriate academic
evidence base to underpin and inform the topic area’
Survey respondent ‘Sailing the 7 seas’ participant.
There was a belief from some respondents that there
was a lack of theoretical underpinning to the
workshops ….and the theory behind the workshops
needs to be made explicit. 29
Theme: ‘Theory’

30. ‘I think it was very clear from the outset that it was an
interactive workshop, so from the very first activity, the
minute you entered the room, was required (sic)
getting up and moving around, talking to people. I
think the minute you get people into a room and stand
up and hit them with a PowerPoint for 20 minutes, you
lose your intention later to get them doing things.’
Interview with Sandra, Veterinary Science
30
‘Theory’ – but when and how?

31. Experimental pedagogies (including recent prod-user adaptations) have
always existed in university settings, but they have generally been
confined to laboratories and studios. There is much less evidence of
experiment in faculties that prepare mainstream professionals (e.g,
education, law, accounting), although there is some evidence of its
uptake in such interdisciplinary domains as human services,
construction, biotechnology and business management. (McWilliam
2007)
‘creativity is largely unrecognised and undervalued in many (perhaps
most?) subjects studied in UK higher education.’ (Jackson & Shaw,
2006)
‘many academics felt that, although they as individuals believe that
creativity is important, it was not really valued in their discipline beyond
the rhetorical level.’ (Jackson & Shaw 2006)
31
Theme: Creativity in the
disciplines

32. Discipline Responses
Arts and Humanities 3
Health and Social Care 3
Social Sciences 7
STEMM 9
Academic support/staff development 5
Staff development 1
Did not specify discipline 7
Total number of respondents to this question 35
32
Disciplinary backgrounds

33. Fryer and Colling’s (1991) research that if teachers
deem creativity to be too subjective and lacking in
ecological validity, this will undoubtedly effect how
they respond to a creative workshop which
encourages them to change their teaching practice.
Need to take account of disciplinary conventions and
beliefs which can act as significant barriers to change
(Trowler 2008)
33
Theme: Pedagogic stance and
discipline?

34. ‘I personally am a scientist and my students are all studying
veterinary science or veterinary medicine, so we all have a very
science mindset, so there’s a tendency to want to stick with the
known, and to want to do things that you know are proven or you
know that are likely to be effective, rather than to experiment or
be creative, so I certainly think discipline is very important in
terms of influencing creativity.’ Sandra interview (Veterinary
Science)
‘I found it rather "fluffy" and difficult to pin point what best to take
back and communicate with my colleagues.’ Participant
(Engineering)
BUT
As a result of workshop: ‘Included more simulations and
evocative images in teaching and learning.’ Participant
(Engineering) 34
Theme: Pedagogic stance or
discipline?

35. The quantitative results of changing teacher practice
were measured by the seven dimensions of practice
and how teachers had not only initiated the change in
their learners but also maintained it six months’ later
e.g.
45% teachers were able to change their practice from
students being reliant on the teacher to self-managing
but six months’ later this number dropped to 37%
(Claxton, et al; 2012, p.28)
35
Theme: Transfer

36. “Creative aspects” were defined by respondents’
answers which include “fun”, “enjoyable”, “creative
aspects had a positive impact”, “it is something
different and fun” as well as referring to specific
techniques including play and simulation.
63.33% of survey respondents indicated they will or are
thinking about implementing in practice or that this
was an aspect they particularly enjoyed.
36
In this study

37. What is the likelihood that you will use these
approaches or ideas in your professional practice?
Very likely or likely to use: 62.5% and 60%
Very unlikely or unlikely to use: 25% and 30%
Don’t know: 12.5% and 10%
Have you used any of the learning strategies or
approaches from the workshop in your work?
Used already: 12.5% and 40%
Not yet: 87.5% and 60%
37
‘Trad’ with creative activities vs
immersive

38. After initial sort of quantitative data shorter intensive
staff development waas more cost effective but…
‘As the interview data make clear, the cohort-based,
iterative nature of the postgraduate certificate
generates a quality and intensity of learning that the
other two programs (short intensive programme and
one to one consultation) cannot match.’ (Sword 2014)
38
Comparing short vs longer CPD
episodes

39. 33.33% respondents felt that there was insufficient
time in the workshop and this was clearly an issue of
importance for them
‘Fabulous design and activities. Thoroughly enjoyed
interacting with colleagues and participating in the
activities. I would have liked more time sometimes to
continue discussions with colleagues, but also
appreciated that lots of short 'testers' of activities were
packed into the session, giving inspiration, variety and
stimulation throughout’ (a survey respondent).
39
Theme: limited time (2 hours)

40. a) Explicit theoretical underpinning at an appropriate
time
b) 2 hour workshop needs lengthening and follow up
where possible
c) Build ‘team’ ethos quickly, starting before workshop
if possible
40
Recommendations

41. www.heacademy.ac.uk
Thank you for listening
kathy.wright@heacademy.ac.uk
The HEA is the national body for learning and
teaching in HE in the UK and works in this field
internationally.
41

42. Claxton, Lucas and Spencer (2012) Making It: Studio Teaching and its impact on teachers and learners.
Centre for Real World Learning, University of Winchester.
Craft, A., (1996) Nourishing Educator Creativity: an holistic approach to continuing professional development.
Journal of In-Service education.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). Implications of a systems perspective for the study of creativity. In R.Sternberg
(Ed.) Handbook of creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 313-335.
Fanghanel, J. (2012) Being an academic. Routledge, London
Fryer, M., and Collings, J., (1991) Teachers’ Views About Creativity. British Journal of Educational
Psychology. Vol. 61, 2 pp207-219
Stephenson, J. (1998), The concept of capability and its importance in Higher Education in Stephenson J. and
Yorke, M. Capability and Quality in Higher Education, Kogan Page, London Available from http://www-
new1.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/resources/heca/heca_cq_01.pdf
McWilliam, E. (2007, July). Is creativity teachable? Conceptualising the creativity/pedagogy relationship in
higher education. Paper presented at the 30th HERDSA annual conference, Adelaide, Australia. Available at
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15508/1/15508.pdf
McWilliam, Erica L. (2009) Teaching for creativity :from sage to guide to meddler. Asia Pacific Journal of
Education, 29(3). pp. 281-293 Available at http://eprints.qut.edu.au/32389/1/c32389.pdf
42
References

43. McWilliam, E. (2007, July). Is creativity teachable? Conceptualising the creativity/pedagogy relationship in
higher education. Paper presented at the 30th HERDSA annual conference, Adelaide, Australia. Available at
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/15508/1/15508.pdf
McWilliam, Erica L. (2009) Teaching for creativity :from sage to guide to meddler. Asia Pacific Journal of
Education, 29(3). pp. 281-293 Available at http://eprints.qut.edu.au/32389/1/c32389.pdf
Ryde, R. (2007) Thought Leadership: Moving Hearts and Minds, Palgrave Macmillan London
Trowler, P. (2008) Culture and Change in Higher Education: bTheories and Practices. Palgrave Macmillan
Sword, H. (2014) Dancing on the bottom line: an unruly cost–benefit analysis of three academic development
initiatives, Higher Education Research & Development, 33:4, 783-793,
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References (contd)

44. Benchmarkin
g with
international
standards
Supporting
innovation in
teaching
Curriculum
Developmen
t
Offering
professional
qualification
s for
teaching
Staff
professional
developmen
t and reward
Better
student
retention
and
employabilit
y
44
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