P.
COURSE OUTLINE
TITLE
TIME
EDUCATION 487/807 SUMMER SESSION
PLANNING IN-SERVICE FOR SCHOOL
IMPROVEMENT
TUESDAY & THURSDAY. 8:30 - 12:30
(July 8 -
Aug.. 14)
(There
graduate
will
students
be an additional
enrolled In
12
807)
contact hours
for ?
'1
MPX 964119642
?
!.
Dr. Ray Bolam, University of
Bristol, O.E..C.0. Consultafli
Ian Andrews, Simon Fraser University.
LOCATION
INSTRUCTORS
1.
?
COURSE AIMS:
This course In intended primarily for people with
rSsponslblllty for,
or a particular Interest in, professional development and the IntrodUction
of change In schools, school districts and in-service
providingigencles.
It will aim to equip such participants with the
theoretical and
practical knowledge;
(a)
to analyse the effectiveness of contemporary
Innovation strategies
In education;
(b)
to analyse the actual and potential contribution Of
In-service ?
S
programmes to school improvement;
(c)
to plan, Implement and evaluate such in-service
progrmisssat school,
district and providing agency levels;
(d)
to evaluate these Ideas comparatively In the light of contemporary
International practice and research.
2.
?
CONTENT AND METHODS:
Two main theoretical perspectives will be adopted;
both drum from Or.
Bolam's work with the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and
Development.
First, the school will be analysed as a problem-solving,
self-renewing or
'creative' social system and the characteristics of the Internal
and external
roles, procedures and support structures needed to achieve this
end.wIll be
considered. Second, In-service will be analysed as
?
complex, innovation
process involving key agencies, tasks, methods and users, at province, district
and school levels, each with their own distinctive features
and values. Roth
theoretical perspectives will be illustrated and. criticised through the use of
a variety of practical examples; thus the actual and potential conflict between
the in-service needs of individual teachers and those
of the school
system
will
be considered in the Canadian and British case studies of school-focused In-
service
.
?
I...,
-2 -
Topics to be considered within these theoretical
perspectivl$
will
include:
th
e
poli t
ical, social and economic factors which influence in-
service programmes; induction programmes for beginning teachers; school
initiated, school-focus
ed
and school-base
d
programmes; the roles of teachers'
centres, universities, supervisors and professional associations; training
the trainers; evaluation techniques and problems; costing techniques a
problems; and innovative methods (e.g. consultancy, clinical supervision
and organisatlon development), roles (e.g. professional tutors, advisory-"
teachers and communit
y
members) and perspectives (e.g. adult learning theory
and recurrent education).
The core task will be based on a case study of an in-service program
from a school district within British Columbia. This case study has been
prepared from data collected this Spring as part of a research project at
Simon Fraser. The case study was designed to identify how In-service was
planned and Implemented in the district and how its effectiveness is perceived
by various aspects of the case study. For example, a course member with an
Interest in district co-ordination will focus his/her attention of that
aspect of the case study and could carry out an assignment on It. Similarly,
a participant with an interest in school-based in-service could carry out
his/her assignment on that aspect of the case study and possibly develop a
framework for planning in-service policy at the school level.
Use will also be made of examples drawn from ongoing research and
development work in OECD member countries, including the United Kingdom,
United States, Australia, Sweden and Holland, while reference will also be
made to the contrasting experiences of the Third World, notably Pakistan and
certain African countries.
3.
ASSIGNMEN
TS
:
Assignments will be negotiated individually within a framework which
will encourage participants to produce work which is relevant, practtcals
and theoreticall
y
rigorous.
4.
COURSE MATERIALS:
There will be no prescribed text
required readings of both a theoretica
Hence a $15.00 fee will be levied for
but rather an extensive list of
land practical nature will be presented.
printed materials.