Re-thinking teacher’s professional development:An analysis of National Professional Qualifications for school leaders in England

In this paper we consider teachers’ professional development and the implications for teacher recruitment and retention. Our discussion is sited in the UK government’s policy for leadership development in schools in England. The focus is the suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) as represented by the frameworks published by the Department for Education to guide providers in delivering these qualifications. The methodology is case study, although we consider these qualifications not as a ‘bounded case’ but comparatively in the context of global policy influences. We engaged in a document analysis of the NPQ frameworks for headteachers, Special Educational Needs<br/>Coordinators (SENCOs) and leading primary mathematics. Our analysis followed Wallace and Poulson’s (2003) critical reading approach which called for us to consider ‘what is being claimed’; ‘to what extent claims are convincing and theoretically backed’; ‘what implicit or explicit value stances might affect those claims; relation to other work’; and ‘consistency with the researcher’s own personal experience’ (pp.28-32). To do this, a systematic process of ‘coding’ (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2000; p.148) of the NPQ frameworks took place. Through the analysis we established the claims made in the NPQ<br/>frameworks and the values they contain. The discussion the data uses a conceptual framework developed by Evans (2014) that considers the behavioural, attitudinal and intellectual dimensions of learning. We argue that NPQs focus heavily on what Evans (2014) calls the ‘behavioural component of professionalism (p.191)’; the processes and procedures that people apply to their work resulting in output, productivity and achievement. This is important, we argue, because such a functional or instrumental focus neglects two key aspects of teachers’ professional identities: the ‘attitudinal’ and the ‘intellectual’ (Evans p.191). These two elements relate to teachers’ own self-perception, analytical reasoning and ultimately, their agency. We propose that this way of thinking<br/>about the NPQs allows for a productive way forward to potentially reform these<br/>qualifications. We argue NPQs in their current form are failing to make teaching an attractive profession in England and diminish professional judgements. However, there are opportunities to build on NPQs productively. Our recommendations include a slimmed down range of qualifications which embrace a wide range of research and theoretical underpinning. These revitalised NPQs would therefore provide an opportunity to reaffirm<br/>teacher agency as an integral element of professional learning in schools.