Overview of the State of Educators' Professional Learning Across Canada

• In Event: The Dreams, Possibilities, and Necessity of Educators' Professional Learning in North America

Abstract

Objectives: This paper introduces the study, including the main research question and sub-questions, followed by an overview of the evidence gathered across Canada’s provinces and territories, plus international literature, concerning effective professional learning. The main research question driving the study is “What is the current state of educators’ professional learning in Canada?” 

Methods and Data Sources: Funded by Learning Forward, the study employed a multi-method design that began with an extensive review of international research literature to situate the research within wider debates around what constitutes high-quality professional learning. This resulted in the identification of three key components and 10 features of effective professional learning. National and provincial/territorial data related to teacher professional learning in Canada was then collected to better understand how these components and features were being played out in the Canadian context. Data included policy documents, collective agreements with teachers’ organisations, frameworks for professional learning (where available), research reports and survey data from the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) (the umbrella organization for teacher organizations in Canada) and their member organizations, Pan-Canadian information from the Canadian Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and international analyses and comparisons of professional learning through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Original field research included three in-depth case studies to gain deeper insights into the specific professional learning experiences of educators in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. In each case study, a review of available documents and data was conducted, accompanied by interviews and focus groups with teachers, school leaders, district leaders, provincial professional organisations, government officials, professional development providers and other individuals/organisations as appropriate to each province.
Results: The findings from the study of professional learning in Canada are broadly consistent with the features of effective professional learning identified in the research review. Moreover, our findings show that, while there are many commonalities between current policies, practices, challenges and contentions within Canada and wider debates and developments for educators’ professional learning internationally, there are also variations in the conception and application of these features across jurisdictions. Sometimes these differences reflect the details of implementation within and across local contexts and to ensure diverse professionals’ and students’ needs are being met. However, in some instance, these differences indicate important nuances with respect to the underpinning conception of the purposes, practices, and intended outcomes of professional learning within and across Canada. This paper briefly explores each of these findings, in addition to outlining several examples of exemplary practices from jurisdictions that reflect the research informed principles outlined in the literature review. 

Significance: This works fills a critical knowledge gap in the academic literature as few studies have been undertaken at the pan-Canadian level that provide such a comprehensive overview of the state of professional in Canada, and how Canada’s approach to professional learning compares to other countries, including the US. 

Authors

• Carol Campbell, University of Toronto - OISE

• Pamela Janie Osmond-Johnson, University of Regina

• Brenton Cyriel Faubert, University of Western Ontario