What does effective professional development look like?
Decades of research shows that traditional forms of professional development are ineffective. To make sustainable improvements to teaching and learning, teachers need to engage with all of the proven components of effective adult learning. These include access to theory, feedback and coaching.
Our research-led video platform makes it affordable and scalable to access all the activities shown by research to improve classroom practice.
Featured Research
EEF report evaluating the impact of IRIS Connect
“The overwhelming majority of teachers believed that the intervention was a good use of time and had improved their teaching. There was also strong evidence that the programme changed teachers’ thinking and classroom practice.”
Click here for a summary of the report’s findings.
Read the full report here
Live remote coaching found to be ‘transformative’ for teachers
Research conducted by MirandaNet found that using IRIS Connect’s video technology can enhance teacher practice and help reduce attrition rates.
It found that:
– Deep learning, which is replicable and sustainable over time, can be achieved through providing immediate and contextualised feedback that the teacher can instantly put into practice;
–Using the platform ensures that the deep learning is replicable and sustainable across and between schools;
–Pupils are cooperative and not disruptive when this approach is used;
–The focus on classroom practice in real-time strengthens not just the confidence and capability of early career teachers but of any teacher keen to actively support their performance;
–Innovation may be resisted if not managed by senior managers with sensitivity;
–Sustainability can be of concern if those who set up the programme leave without training others to make use of the investment;
–Further research is recommended to develop and consolidate what has been learnt here about the potential to transform teaching and learning.
Download the research paper
The importance of effective CPD
The Going Beyond CPD whitepaper moves discussion away from the importance of effective CPD for individual teachers (building human capital) to the importance of collaboration (building social capital).
Using video-based CPD to deliver training over distance in South Africa
In a revolutionary project, teachers in Johannesburg were given training and support using IRIS Connect’s video professional learning platform.
Six secondary schools in the Ekurhuleni South District of Johannesburg are piloting a new model for teacher training and development. Using our platform and video technology, the project’s aim is to establish an effective approach to supporting educators at schools who are reintroducing math at grade 10 (equivalent to GCSE in the UK). The use of IRIS Connect is enabling subject specialists to deliver scalable support over distance.
Using IRIS Connect to develop communities of practice
This paper summarises the initial findings of the impact of using IRIS Connect for developing communities of practice. Research undertaken by Professor Christina Preston, of the University of Bedfordshire and the MirandaNet Fellowship.
Key findings include:
– 99% of teachers reported an increase in conversations between teachers about teaching in their school;
– 96% felt they were willing to take more risks;
– 94% said their teaching had improved;
– 88% felt there had been a positive impact on collaboration;
– 88% said their confidence had risen.
Video observation and coaching
Read this overview of a project conducted by the EEF, Whole Education and IRIS Connect. This project piloted a professional learning programme with a group of schools using IRIS Connect to explore the use of video technology to support the development of classroom dialogue and feedback.
Guidance for using video observations
Download this free classroom observation toolkit from Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research. You’ll find practical guidance for educators on how to use video observations to accelerate teacher development.
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Further research and reading:
- External Evaluation of the University of Sussex In-School Teacher Education Programme (INSTEP) – University of Sussex
- The impact of self-regulated, independent learning on pupil outcomes – Education Endowment Fund
- The Camera in the Classroom: Video-Recording as a Tool for Professional Development of Student Teachers – Rachel Lofthouse and Peter Birmingham
- Teacher Collaboration and Sharing Across 5 Countries – Creative Classrooms Lab Project
- Experts in Teaching – Skive College of Education, VIA University College
- The Importance of Action Research in Teacher Education Programs – Gregory S. C. Hine
- Making the Network for Teacher – Graham Newell
- Improving the Impact of Teachers on Pupil Achievement in the UK – Interim Findings – Sutton Trust Research
- Investigating the Effectiveness of a Telepresence-Enabled Cognitive Apprenticeship Model of Teacher Professional Development – R. Shawn Edmondson, Ph.D
- The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of the Causal Evidence – Matthew A. Kraft, Brown University. David Blazar, Harvard Universylan Hogan, Brown University
- Changes in Teachers’ Instructional Skills During an Intensive Data-based Decision Making Intervention – Emmelien A. van der Scheer
