It was Socrates who said, "I believe that we cannot live better than in seeking to become still better than we are". That sentiment has been echoed over the years by many theorists, philosophers and educators alike. It is the ideal guiding the numerous calls nationally and internationally for the reform of schools and school systems. For state administrators, doing better might be translated as being more efficient, with making better use of public dollars. However, for teachers, doing better means improved student achievement, better instruction, and enhanced learning environments for all students. For teachers and administrators, the challenge of becoming better emphasizes their own needs to learn and to grow professionally, or in other words, the need for staff development (as it is most commonly called in the United States), or professional development (as it is often referred to in Canada).

The need for professional development has been well documented. Research conducted in 58 schools in Newfoundland, with 1059 teachers in all districts, revealed that promotion of professional development was the most significant single leadership activity that was related to increased levels of teacher commitment (the degree to which teachers are supportive of and committed to the school and their colleagues); professional involvement (the degree to which teachers are concerned about their work, are keen to learn from one another, and committed to professional development); and innovativeness (the degree to which variety, change, and new approaches are emphasized in the school) (Sheppard, 1996). These findings were confirmed in another provincial study of school improvement, in which data were gathered from 19 districts, 155 principals, 279 teachers, 223 parents, and 69 students. Responding to a mail-out survey, principals and teachers were consistent in their perception of the most important activities which motivated school improvement in their schools, indicating that the most influential were professional development activities sponsored by the district (Brown, Button, Noseworthy, & Button, 1997).

This is consistent with the recognition of the need for staff development across North America. Guskey (1994b) states that "never before in the history of education has there been a greater recognition of the importance of professional development. Every proposal to reform, restructure, or transform schools emphasizes professional development as the primary vehicle in efforts to bring needed change" (p. 42). A number of theorists, notably Fullan (1993) and Guskey (1994b, 1995) link teacher development with improvements in student learning. Guskey (1995) states that: "If we are going to have improvement in student learning than staff development is an essential prerequisite to that." Similarly, Fullan (1993) concluded: "To restructure is not to reculture", that "changing formal structures is not the same as changing norms, habits, skills and beliefs" (p.49). In other words, if teachers are to change teaching practice, or if the culture is to become a better one in the sense of improving student learning, teachers and administrators must be provided opportunities to learn. Fullan (1995), reviewing the evidence on site-based management, concluded, "restructuring reforms that devolved decision making to schools may have altered governance procedures but did not affect the teaching-learning core of schools" (p.230). He also cited Sarason who made the point even more forcefully: "Yes, we expect teachers to give their all to the growth and development of students. But a teacher cannot sustain such giving unless the conditions exist for the continued growth and development of the teacher [italics in the original]" (Sarason, cited in Fullan, 1995, p.234).

It is because of the existence of such evidence and claims, that Brandt (1994), as editor of Educational Leadership, the journal of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), issued a challenge to North American educators "to make continuous learning an integral part of every educators' professional life" (p.2). As well, this appeal is recognized in the mission statement of the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) in the United States which broadens the role of professional development in respect to continuous learning as it is not only directed at professionals, but also students and the school. It emphasizes (1) ensuring success for all students, (2) improving schools, (3) advancing individual and organizational development (Sullivan, 1997).

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the central important of professional development is highlighted by the significant proportion of the total educational budget that is used to pay teachers' salaries. In 1995-96, of the total revenues, $552.6 million, received by school boards, $418.6 million was spent in teachers' salaries (Newfoundland and Labrador, 1996). If one accepts the assumption that the essence of successful instruction and good schools comes from the thoughts and actions of the professionals in the schools, the sensible place to look in order to improve the quality of education in a school is the continuous education of educators through professional development. Glickman, Gordon, and Ross-Gordon (1995) used an analogy to automobiles. When a customer purchases a new car costing upwards of $20,000, he or she brings it in every 8,000 kilometres for routine servicing. In order to protect the investment, the customer is willing to put additional money into the car to prolong its life and performance. In this analogy, the authors identify the school board as the customer who purchases an educator. "Without resources for maintaining, fine-tuning, and reinvigorating the investment, the district will run teachers into the ground. This is far more consequential than a neglected car. The district will lose teachers, physically and/or mentally. The real losers will be the students of these teachers" (p. 334).

The above analogy becomes particularly salient when one considers the aging teacher workforce in Newfoundland and Labrador. A statistical report of Educational Indicators, Profile '96 (Newfoundland and Labrador, 1997), reveals that in the 1995-1996 school year half of the teachers and in-school administrators were over 42 years old with 18.5 or more years teaching experience. The report correctly indicates that "as the age of teachers increases, the importance of frequent and meaningful professional development opportunities will be increasingly important in order to keep teachers abreast of recent advances in theory and practice" (p.51).

Sparks (1996) contends that while professional development is essential if teachers and administrators are to avail of the findings of research on teaching, learning, and leadership, it must be considerably different than past practice. He observes the typical practice in the past was:

Educators (usually teachers) sitting relatively passively while an 'expert' 'exposed' them to new ideas or 'trained' them in new practices. The success of this endeavour was typically judged by a 'happiness quotient' that measured participants' satisfaction with the experience and their assessment regarding its usefulness in their work" (Sparks, 1994, p. 26).

This "expert" model has been widely criticized, in business and in education. Ryan (1995) rejects it on the grounds that it assumed there were the "experts" -- "the people who "knew" the "right" answers to our questions", and then there were the "learners" -- "generally assumed to be ignorant, passive, empty vessels who can be effectively filled up by the expert expounding knowledge" (p.279). Similarly, Joyce and Calhoun (1994) note inadequacies of past practices: "Brief, slick workshops were constructed and ratings went up, but implementation did not" (p. 4). Dillon-Peterson (1994) depicts the perspectives of other researchers (Brandt, 1994; Fullan, 1994; Guskey, 1994a; Joyce & Calhoun, 1994; Louck-Horsley, 1994; Schmuck, 1994, Wood, 1994) in the field of professional development regarding past and current practices as she reflects on 25 years of professional development. She notes the following shifts:

[1] From Emphasis on Deficit to Emphasis on Growth/Change. Originally, most 'inservice education' (as it was then labelled) was designed to fix teachers.... Most current staff development is driven by...the need to improve schools as total learning communities.

[2] From Emphasis on the Individual to Emphasis on the Group/Organization. ...Such movements as restructuring, team teaching, and organizational development...emphasize both the importance of the individual and the essential contribution she or he can make within the group if both the individual and society are to prosper.

[3] From Random Selection of Focus to More Systematic Delivery of Instruction Incorporating Principles of Adult Learning and the Use of Technology. The preferred format of staff development activities ...was the "smorgasbord". Several times a year, the ambitious staff developer would line up 50-100 "one-shot" activities an hour or two in length. Topics may or may not have been related to the curriculum or the employee's assigned responsibility. Today, there is evidence that staff development is coming of age in terms of clarification of mission, goals, and objectives. (p. 3)

Professional Development and Change

Hixton (1991) states that "Staff development must help schools move beyond simply improving what they have to developing new understandings of what they need, new visions of what is possible, and new strategies of how to 'get there from here'" (p. 4). If professional development is to serve the purpose identified by Hixton above, then professional development activities must be based on current change theory (Nowak, 1994; Shroyer, 1990). One of the most comprehensive summaries of what we know about change has been summarized by Fullan (1993)⁽¹⁾ as eight lessons of the new paradigm of change:

• LESSON 1: YOU CAN'T MANDATE WHAT MATTERS

"The more complex the change the less you can force it" (p.22). The only changes that can be mandated are things that do not require thinking or skill and that can be easily monitored.

• LESSON 2: CHANGE IS A JOURNEY NOT A BLUEPRINT

"Change is non-linear, loaded with uncertainty, and sometimes perverse" (p.24). A group with whom Fullan was working in the Maritimes, likened change "to a planned journey into uncharted waters in a leaky boat with a mutinous crew" (p.24). Given such uncertainty, a risk taking mentality and climate must be fostered.

• LESSON 3: PROBLEMS ARE OUR FRIENDS

"Problems are inevitable, but the good news is that you can't learn or be successful without them" (p.25). As we search for solutions we need to recognize that "conflict is essential to any successful change effort" (p.27), that "change is learning" (p.27) and that we need to value the process of finding a solution, not just the solution itself. "In short, problems are our friends; but only if you do something about them" (p.28).

• LESSON 4: VISION AND STRATEGIC PLANNING COME LATER

"Premature visions and planning can blind" (p.28). Visions should be worked on but should be open-ended and provisional. Bear, Eisenstat and Spector (as cited in Fullan, 1993) concluded from their study of 26 plants over a five year period that change efforts beginning by a corporate plan to alter the culture of the management of people are inherently flawed. Attempts to change people through the building of mission statements or training programs are based on false assumptions of how people change. Fullan does not support vision developed by leadership teams. Also, strategic planning is called into question in complex change. Louis and Miles (as cited in Fullan, 1993) contend that we should take an evolutionary perspective where strategy is viewed as a flexible tool.

• LESSON 5: INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM MUST HAVE EQUAL POWER

"There are no one-sided solutions to isolation and groupthink" (p.33). Collaboration is recognized as beneficial in bringing together the most intelligence possible to solve complex issues. However, we must be cautious of "group think" as we are all aware that one of life's greatest difficulties is to stand out against one's group. Solitude has a place in change. "Isolation is bad, group domination is worse. Honouring opposites simultaneously -- individualism and collegiality--is the critical message" (p. 36).

• LESSON 6: NEITHER CENTRALIZATION NOR DECENTRALIZATION WORKS

"Both top-down and bottom-up strategies are necessary .... Centralization errs on the side of over control, decentralization errs towards chaos" (p. 37). Needed is a two-way relationship of pressure, support and continuous negotiation. The "best way" will depend on the context. For example, if there is an accepted knowledge base that teachers should know it would be quite ineffective to have an "expert" do a presentation in 17 different schools. It would appear to be wiser to bring people together in one group. When we move to implementation; however, we know that it must be done at the building level.

• LESSON 7: CONNECTION WITH THE WIDER ENVIRONMENT IS CRITICAL FOR SUCCESS

"The best organizations learn externally as well as internally" (p.38). Individual moral purpose must be linked to the social good and teachers must seek opportunities to join forces with others while they focus on working with individual students. Also, the organization must contribute to and respond to the environment.

• LESSON 8: EVERY PERSON IS A CHANGE AGENT

"Change is too important to leave to the experts" (p.39). Individuals need to assume responsibility within their own environments if there is to be substantive change; they cannot leave this responsibility to others. Fullan's views are forcefully stated by Senge (1990): "All my life, I assumed that somebody, somewhere knew the answer to this problem. I thought politicians knew what had to be done, but refused to do it out of politics and greed. But now I know that nobody knows the answer. Not us, not them, not anybody" (p.281). In a learning organization, everyone must strive for personal mastery, be a team leader to develop shared vision, think systemically, challenge his or her own and others' mental models, and in so doing contribute to organizational learning.

Fullan notes that the pattern underlying the eight lessons is that each is a paradox unto itself:

simultaneously pushing for change while allowing self learning to unfold; being prepared for a journey of uncertainty; seeing problems as sources of creative resolution; having a vision, but not being blinded by it; valuing the individual and the group; incorporating centralizing and decentralizing forces; being internally cohesive, but externally oriented; and valuing personal change agentry as the route to system change. (p. 40) Professional Development Knowledge Base

After having conducted an extensive review of studies and reports on staff development programs, Glickman et al. (1995) concluded that there exists a considerable knowledge base regarding successful professional development programs. They summarize the characteristics of this knowledge base in a staff development checklist:

• Participants involved in planning and implementing

• Long-range planning

• Integration of individual and school improvement goals

• Based on principles of adult development and learning

• Released time for participants

• Incentives, support, and rewards

• Small-group learning activities

• If skill development: concrete and specific

• If skill development: demonstration, trial, and feedback during workshop

• If skill development: classroom coaching following workshop

• Experimentation and risk taking encouraged

• Regular participant meetings for problem solving and program revisions

• Instructional and school leaders participating in activities

• Ongoing, part of school culture. (p. 338)

Guskey (1994, 1995) contends that the problem with attempts to identify elements of successful professional development programs is that the success of these practices is contingent upon the context. What works in one context may not work in another. In spite of this caveat, however, he proposes a list of guidelines for success that he states are derived from research on both the change process and staff development. Guskey's six major guidelines (1994)⁽²⁾ reveals the implications of the research on both change theory and staff development, and the discussion of each reveals how the conclusions are supported by Fullan (1993) and Stoll & Fink (1996).

1. Recognize that change is both an individual and organizational process.

Research has clearly shown that the culture of the organization limits the impact that excellent people can have on the organization. Many have interpreted this finding as the need to focus on the culture of the organization at the exclusion of the individual. In fact it is this direction that has created difficulties for school improvement processes that have been employed in schools throughout the world (Stoll & Fink, 1996). If professional development and change efforts are to bring about improvements in schools then all efforts must focus on the classroom, with the realization that the school culture must value experimentation, be supportive of risk-takers, and provide opportunities for collaboration.

2. Think big, but start small.

While it is essential that all professional development occur in the context of a grand vision, it is essential that specific initiatives are small enough that they can be accomplished in a reasonable period of time, that they are realistic and clear, and that changes are measurable. Guskey (1994) states that there is one truism related to this issue of attempting changes in manageable steps: "The magnitude of change you ask people to make is inversely related to the likelihood of making it" (p. 44). It is important that teacher see that what they are doing makes a difference since teachers will only change practices when they see that they work.

3. Work in teams to maintain support.

Professional development efforts will be most successful if they occur in a context of a learning organization where norms of continuous learning and teamwork are established.

4. Include procedures for feedback on results.

If new practices are to become institutionalized then teachers must be convinced that they contribute to making a difference in student learning. Therefore, it is important that monitoring and evaluation is a critical component of professional development. Action Research is one professional development format that provides for the required feedback as it allows practitioners to become involved in systematic inquiry.

5 Provide continued follow-up, support, and pressure.

Progress toward implementation of something new is not a smooth linear process. As individuals experience the learning curve which is inherent in doing something new, they want to revert back to the tried and true practices of the past. An excellent example of this can be found through observation of people attempting to keep pace with the rapid changes in computer software. Just when they have begun to master one version of a word processing program, another more advanced program is released. Many resist moving to the newer, improved version because they know that the learning curve will be painful and, in fact while they are learning, they will be less efficient. Many who do not perceive themselves as software pioneers need some pressure to move from one program to the next. They only move to the next program either when someone else can convince them that it is indeed an improvement or if they find that their program is no longer compatible with programs used by others and is beginning to cause them difficulty. Those that have easy access to support systems and are expected by peers or by organizational expectations progress to each new advancement much more readily.

6. Integrate programs

Fullan (1993) contends that "...the main problem in public education is not resistance to change, but the presence of too many innovations mandated or adopted uncritically and superficially on an ad hoc fragmented basis" (p. 23). To avoid a perception that each new initiative introduced is yet another passing fad, it is critical that they are introduced as a component of an integrated school development plan. Improvement must be perceived as enhancement, rather than replacement. Staff Development in a Restructured Environment

There is little doubt that performance and accountability are watchwords of the nineties (Louis, 1994; Newfoundland and Labrador, 1997; Sheppard & Brown, 1996; Stoll & Fink, 1996). While governments throughout the world remain committed to performance indicators and a means of external assessment and accountability, to structural reform, and to improvements to efficiencies of their educational delivery, unfortunately, there is very little evidence to support that such changes result in substantial improvements in student learning (Cranston, 1994; Fullan, 1993; Murphy & Hallinger, 1993; Sarason, 1990; Sergiovanni, 1995).

In light of uncertainty created by reform efforts, the concept of the learning organization provides the basis of a promising theoretical framework for the development of improving schools. Louis, Kruse and Raywid (1996) contend that,

the current reform movement focuses on structural and curricular changes as the main ingredients of effective schools, but pays less attention to altering the day-to-day work of teachers. When schools are seen as learning organizations and professional communities, however, attention is focused on teachers' work as the key instrument of reform. By emphasizing needed changes in the culture of schools and the daily practice of professionals, the reform movement can concentrate on the heart of the school--the teaching and learning process. (p.7)

Fullan (1995) contends that if we are to succeed in bringing about meaningful improvement "schools must become learning organizations" (p.234). Handy (1995) argues that:

In an uncertain world, where all we know for sure is that nothing is sure, we are going to need organizations that are continually renewing themselves, reinventing themselves, reinvigorating themselves. These are the learning organizations, the ones with the learning habit. Without the habit of learning, they will not dream the dream, let alone have any hope of managing it. (p. 45)

The concept of the learning organization is grounded in the five" learning disciplines -- lifelong programs of study and practice" expounded by Senge (1990):

• Personal mastery -- learning to expand our personal capacity to create the results we most desire, and creating an organizational environment which encourages all its members to develop themselves toward the goals and purposes they choose.

• Mental models -- reflecting upon, continually clarifying, and improving our internal pictures of the world, and seeing how they shape our actions and decisions.

• Shared vision -- building a sense of commitment in a group, by developing shared images of the future we seek to create, and the principles and guiding practices by which we hope to get there.

• Team learning -- transforming conversational and collective thinking skills, so that groups of people can reliably develop intelligence and ability greater than the sum of individual members' talents.

• Systems thinking -- a way of thinking about, and a language for describing and understanding, the forces and interrelationships that shape the behaviour of systems. This discipline helps us to see how to change systems more effectively, and to act more in tune with the larger processes of the natural and economic world. (Senge, Roberts, Ross, Smith, & Kleiner, 1994, p.6)

Empirical research (Brown & Sheppard, in press; Leithwood, Dart, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1993) has convinced us that in schools as learning organizations all educators must function both as members of teams engaged in organizational learning and also as leaders of leaders. The success of such a shift in the teachers' role (from an individualistic approach to active engagement in collaborative models of leadership which will require continued learning) is dependent upon teachers assuming a professional leadership role. In such a redefined role, teachers must have a critical professional knowledge such as knowledge of child development, and multiple teaching and assessment strategies; they must also develop norms of collaboration and continuous improvement. Stoll and Fink (1996) note that "Many teachers and others say they do not want to 'be developed'. In other words they are not looking for other people to be responsible for their learning" (p. 164). In a learning organization, "ultimately everyone, supported by colleagues, is responsible for their own learning" (p. 164). Alternative Staff Development Formats

While professional development is inherent within a learning organization, the shift in professional development formats that must occur in such an organization will represents a "paradigm shift" (Sparks, 1996). Such a shift requires that we move away from the era when professional development usually meant either a presentation by an outside consultant or a "one-shot" inservice day. Professional development will be based on "three powerful ideas that are currently altering the shape of [our] schools" (Sparks, 1994, p. 26): results-driven education, systems thinking, and constructivism. As a consequence of results-driven education, the goal of staff development must be directed at student outcomes. As educators begin to recognize the interconnectedness of all parts of the system, staff development must not be approached in a piecemeal manner. And if educators accept the constructivist assumption that knowledge is constructed in one's mind, rather than simply transmitted from one person to another, then:

Constructivist teaching will be best learned through constructivist staff development. Rather than receiving 'knowledge' from 'experts' in training sessions, teachers and administrators will collaborate with peers, researchers, and their own students to make sense of the teaching/learning process in their own contexts. (Sparks, 1994, p. 27)

Among the most important of the shifts that must occur are:

an increased focus on both organizational and individual development; staff development efforts driven by clear and coherent strategic plans; a greater focus on student needs and learning outcomes; an inquiry approach to the study of the teaching/learning process by teachers; an inclusion of both generic and content specific pedagogical skills; and greater recognition that staff development is an essential and indispensable part of the reform process. (Sparks, 1996, p.260)

In an extensive review of models of professional development, Sparks and Loucks-Horsley (1989) identified five models of professional development that revealed movement towards constructivist staff development:

• Individually-guided. Teachers plan for and pursue activities they believe will promote their own learning.

• Observation/assessment. Opportunities are provided for classroom observation by a peer or other observer. This provides teachers with objective data and feedback regarding their classroom performance.

• Involvement in A Development/improvement Process. Teachers engage in developing curriculum, designing programs, or engaging in a school improvement process to solve general or particular problems.

• Training. Teachers attend sessions to acquire knowledge or skills through appropriate individual or group instruction (May be synonymous with professional development in the minds of many educators)

• Inquiry. Teachers identify an area of instructional interest, collect data, and make changes in their instruction based on an interpretation of those data. An example is action research.

Although the potential is there to incorporate Sparks' (1995) ideas on results-driven education and systems thinking, they are implicit and not at all emphasized. More recently, Glickman et al. (1995) identify a variety of new formats for staff development which have emerged over the last several years. Some examples follow:

• Mentoring programs: An experienced teacher is assigned to a novice for the purpose of providing individualized, ongoing professional support.

• Skill-development programs: This consists of several workshops over a period of months, and classroom coaching between workshops to assist teachers to transfer new skills to their daily teaching.

• Teacher centers: Teachers can meet at a central location to engage in professional dialogue, develop skills, plan innovations, and gather or create instructional materials.

• Teacher institutes: Teachers participate in intensive learning experiences on single, complex topics over a period of consecutive days or weeks.

• Collegial support groups: Teachers within the same school engage in group inquiry, address common problems, jointly implement instructional innovations, and provide mutual support.

• Networks: Teachers from different schools share information, concerns, and accomplishments and engage in common learning through computer links, newsletters, fax machines, and occasional seminars and conferences.

• Teacher leadership: Teachers participate in leadership preparation programs and assist other teachers by assuming one or more leadership roles (workshop presenter, cooperating teacher, mentor, expert coach, instructional team leader, curriculum developer). The teacher-leader not only assists other teachers but also experiences professional growth as a result of being involved in leadership activities.

• Teacher as writer: This increasingly popular format has teachers reflect on and write about their students, teaching, and professional growth. Such writing can be in the form of private journals, essays, or reaction papers to share with colleagues, or formal articles for publication in educational journals

• Individually planned staff development: Teachers set individual goals and objectives, plan and carry out activities, and assess results.

• Partnerships: Partnerships between schools and universities or businesses, in which both partners are considered equal, have mutual rights and responsibilities, make contributions, and receive benefits. Such partnerships could involve one or more of the previously described formats. (p. 340)

In these formats too, the emphasis is on teachers having opportunities to learn, but there is no mention of linking professional development and student outcomes. Again, as with the earlier five models identified by Sparks and Loucks-Horsley (1989), there is the potential for systems thinking, particularly through networks and partnerships, but the emphasis is on the use of these formats in order to provide opportunities for teachers to learn rather than on the need to integrate the parts into the whole, or to see the big picture. The concept of the school as a learning organization allows better integration of the various components of professional development and incorporates Sparks' three powerful ideas of results-driven education, systems thinking, and constructivism, noted above. The Learning Organization Project is an example of how it was developed in one school district.

One Example of Professional Development in Schools as Learning Organizations

Two researcher at the Faculty of Education, a school district, and several schools have developed a partnership in research and development and engaged in an Organizational Learning Project. The objective is to collaborate to develop the district and the schools as learning organizations and to thereby enhance the level of student learning (Sheppard & Brown, 1996a).

As part of this project, the university researchers play the role of "critical friends" and the school staffs assume a critical-reflective role which actively involves them in the research process (Lieberman, 1995, p.3). A "critical friend" is "a trusted person who asks provocative questions, provides data to be examined through another lens, and offers critique of a person's work as a friend. A critical friend takes the time to fully understand the context of the work presented and the outcomes that the person or group is working toward. The friend is an advocate for the success of that work" (Costa & Kallick, 1993). The staff provides the closeness necessary for greater depth of understanding of practice, whereas, the university researchers are more able to distance themselves in interpreting what is happening. The district and schools get the support of two critical friends who help with data collection and analysis, collaborate in change initiatives, assist in specific professional development activities, and share current theory. The faculty researchers gain access to schools and the district for research, access to data, and access to practitioners as action researchers.

In all participating schools, a leadership institute was provided for school leadership teams at the beginning of the project (Sheppard & Brown, 1996a). Following the institute, on-going support has been provided to leadership teams in each school through both a district support network and the faculty researchers. The Learning Organization Project is consistent with the conceptual framework of the learning organization. It accepts Sparks' (1996) contention that "to become learning organizations schools must engage in organizational development activities...based on continual data collection, analysis, and feedback, focusing on the development of groups and individuals to improve group functioning" (p. 262). Schools who are participating in the project must therefore engage in action research which requires ongoing research on student outcomes, school culture, leadership, professional learning, and classroom practices. In this action research process, they gather and use new information to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate in a continuous learning cycle. Additionally, to assist in the implementation and evaluation components of the cycle, all school are provided with a problem-solving implementation tool, in the form of a district framework for implementation, based on current principles of change theory (Sheppard & Brown, 1996b) .

How is this different than past efforts?

The Learning Organization Project builds on the strengths within the district, particularly the work begun in school improvement and the expertise in the district office. However, it is a different model for professional development in that it:

• recognizes that implementation is a process that occurs at the school level and requires on going support for teachers and administrators;

• engages professionals in both theory application and theory building at the same time -- teachers and administrators construct new meaning;



• focuses on classroom issues and challenges traditional approaches to teaching and learning;



• is driven by research and particularly student outcomes;



• recognizes that training is but one component of professional development;



• represents a global, comprehensive approach to professional development that requires new images of leadership and school organization -- team leadership and professional learning;

• provides a role for "insiders" and "outsiders" that is understood by all and which facilitates systems thinking;



• requires that teacher and principal supervision practices be tied to professional development in a meaningful way.

Results of the Learning Organization Project

After only one year in one school, a comprehensive analysis (teacher surveys, observations and interviews) of this approach to school growth and professional development revealed remarkable success relative to both teacher growth and changes in the classroom practices (Sheppard & Brown, 1996b). This rural Newfoundland high school had been engaged in school improvement initiatives for a number of years, but had witnessed a steady decline: Student attitudes toward school were generally poor, enrolment in advanced classes were quite low, mathematics scores were lower than the provincial average, student behavior was problematic, and classroom practices were primarily large-group and teacher-directed. The following comment by one teacher is indicative of the professional growth that occurred in the school after adopting the new approach:

It has led to the professional growth of the staff; it has created an air of excitement that did not previously exist ... it has brought about collaboration among staff members; it has ensured a more concrete connection between the school and district office; and has given a focus to professional development efforts. (p.5)

Another comment reveals the changes in classroom practices that are occurring within the context of this emerging model:

I find it quite difficult to put a percentage on the number of teachers using cooperative learning, but what I can tell you is that there is enough use to make me feel uncomfortable about my limited amount of use. It is forcing me to get serious about cooperative learning as a practice that can improve my teaching. (p.4)

Similar findings were revealed in another study (MacDonald, 1997) of an urban elementary school with a staff of 24 teachers, most of whom were mid-career and beyond . Like the school described above, this school had been engaged in school improvement within a learning organization framework for a period of one year. Results of this study revealed that it led to renewed staff emphasis on seeking a better education for all students through teacher leadership and collaborative decision-making. One teacher commented that the new approach contributed to readiness for innovation:

You have to always be looking for ways to improve yourself and be ready for any new programs, technologies, and ideas. This process readies the school by looking for new ideas, getting parent and student input to provide the best school environment. (p.68)

Another stated that efforts at the development of a learning organization in the school led to improved teacher efficacy:

I feel the leadership team has made a big difference. Being on the team made me feel that I was truly a part of hashing out what we were going to do and deciding if it was worthwhile to take back to everyone. I really felt that I was a big part of the staff this year, more so than before. Everything has become better this year, even our discipline. We are all more in consensus than previously. We tried to let everyone in on everything before, but we have really made a conscious effort this year. (p. 69)

In respect to decision-making, a mid-career teacher that had spent most of her career in this school noted a dramatic change:

Our principal brought her personal experiences to her role but over the year this position, I think, has changed dramatically. Now there is less authoritarianism and less decision-making centred in the office.... (p. 71)

Findings from a district wide study conducted at the end of the second year of the learning organization project revealed that the new model of professional development provided the methods and tools that facilitated the exploration of new ideas (Sheppard & Brown, 1996a). These new ideas resulted in changes in the traditional structures, and over time began to change aspirations, skills and capabilities, attitudes, and beliefs. These changes illustrate the claim of Senge et al. (1994) that such "surface movements" lead to change that really matters.

Finally, in addition to the findings reported above that support this as a viable model of professional growth in schools and school districts, results reveal that the following must be considered if this model is to be most effective:

• School Team leadership appears to work best when the principal is recognized as a significant source of leadership as well.




• Leadership is often perceived as administration. If professional development is to occur from a constructivist perspective, it is essential that new images of leadership be developed throughout all levels of the system.

• A desire on the part of senior administrators to shift from an "expert" model to a "constructivist" model of professional development is not readily accepted and may be viewed with some suspicion by other educators throughout the system.

• Institutes directed at team leadership training must include the presentation of methods and tools that assist in the application of theory and must allow practice time in their use.



• On-going support and follow-up with high expectations for change in professional development approaches are essential.




• Administrative structures which limit teacher flexibility, and inhibit collaboration and team planning can be major obstacles to the development of newer models of professional development that are consistent with the continuous learning cycle of a learning organization.

• Student outcomes must drive the entire process.

If educators are to accept the lessons related to professional development presented herein, they must be committed to both individual and organizational learning. While it is clear that individuals can learn without any contribution from the organization, it is also apparent that learning can be helped or hindered by the organization. Additionally, because schools are human endeavours, it makes intuitive sense that organizational learning will not occur unless individual are learning. This interactive model of learning in which individuals and the organization are interdependent requires a new constructivist approach to professional development that has its foundation in research and theory. Also, it requires systems thinking and a focus on student outcomes. Our current mental images of professional development must be challenged, and new images must be constructed in order for our schools to become centres of continuous learning that will serve our students in the new millennium.

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1. The headings are direct quotations from Fullan's "Eight Basic Lessons of the New Paradigm of Change" (pp.21-40). The descriptions are extracts from and summaries of the main ideas.

2. The headings are taken directly from Guskey, 1994, pp. 44-46, but the discussion summarizes the main ideas of Guskey, and integrates ideas from Fullan (1993) and Stoll & Fink (1996).