Evidence-Based Professional Development of Science Teachers in Two Countries

of the domains and refinement of specific ideas within the individual papers. Some of
the central research questions that fashioned our approach were:

What are the qualities of an “accomplished” teacher of science?

What evidence can be collected by teachers to explore the teaching and learning
processes within their own classrooms?

How can the collection of evidence provide a focus for reflection within a programme
of continuing professional development for science teachers?

This set of papers reports mainly on the last research question although some details
relating to the first three questions will, by necessity, be reported also. This paper
provides the backdrop for the papers that follow. It begins by considering the
evidence-based approach and what we mean by accomplished teaching. It then
focuses on the design of the evidence-based CPD programmes and goes on to explore
the use that portfolios were put to as part of this process. The developmental aim was
to develop, adapt and hone a CPD programme in each domain and to produce a set of
materials that would help CPD providers introduce similar programmes in the future.
The research aim was to explore how involvement within an evidence-based CPD
programme affected teacher learning and practice for that domain.

This paper provides the backdrop and rationale for the papers that follow. It begins by
considering the evidence-based approach and what we mean by accomplished
teaching. It then focuses on the design of the evidence-based CPD programmes,
outlines the main research tools and analyses and goes on to explore the use that
portfolios were put to as part of this process.

The "evidence-based" approach

Effective CPD needs to provide an opportunity for teacher reflection and learning
about how new practices can be evolved or moulded from existing classroom practice.
Teachers need to familiarize themselves with new ideas and also understand the
implications for themselves as teachers and for their learners in the classroom before
they adopt and adapt them. If the new approach differs greatly from their previous
practice, this involves them reshaping their own beliefs regarding science teaching
and learning. It thus involves both considering core principles and issues as well as
contextualizing these in developing practice and approaches. The challenge comes
when teachers return to their schools, where their ideas developed during the CPD
sessions might falter outside the supportive climate of the Teacher Meetings. This is
particularly so where the innovations introduced differ markedly from the „normal’
practice within the school and, as such, challenge the “dominant structures and values
that hold habits in place” (Ruddock,1991, pp.27-28).

Conventional methods of conducting CPD have usually been too short and occasional
to foster change in teacher classroom practice (Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love and
Stiles 1998). Research highlights some important features that characterize effective
CPD programmes (e.g., Ball and Cohen, 1999; Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love and
Stiles, 1998; Bell and Gilbert, 1998; Kennedy, 1998; Marx, Freeman, Krajick and
Blumenfeld, 1998; Putnam and Borko, 2000; Roth, 2002; Borko, 2004).:

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