The cultural shift from performativity to Aspirations’ professional growth: A case study
Written by: Jan Hetherington
7 min read
Dr Jan Hetherington, Deputy Director, Aspirations Learning Institute, UK
The purpose of this case study is to outline the initial steps taken by Aspirations (a multi-academy trust) to rupture the prevalent culture of professional development and to privilege radical changes in practice over process (Lofthouse, 2018). In this practice development-led model (Lofthouse, 2018), individual professional learning is privileged through a growth framework – not ‘one meeting and a yearly review’ to secure performative-based appraisal objectives. Appraisal has been replaced by continuous coaching to secure individual-centred goals and impact via a professional growth conversation.
The problem
For too long, the professional development of those who teach and lead in education has been subject to a culture of performativity, whereby the focus of professional development has been the development of an organisation-led process (Lofthouse, 2018), reducible to data, making organisations amen
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