Pedagogy,values and career fulfilment: evaluation of a science CPD programme

Abstract

This article explores the potential of a residential Continuing Professional Development (CPD) model to promote sustained constructive dialogue between science educators, both on knowledge and pedagogy, and impact on teaching practice in a wide geographical area. It is based on a science education initiative shared by the local authorities in Scotland. These wider outcomes tend not to be planned for or evaluated (Guskey, 2000; Muijs et al., 2004; Wilson and Berne, 1999) in many CPD projects. This article examines these impacts and the model designed to deliver them through `training the trainer' approaches and enhanced career progression. Although the residential training of trainers model may seem relatively expensive, this article argues that it may be more cost-effective due to its greater impact on teaching than other CPD models. It encourages collaboration, dialogue and ongoing evaluation, and creates opportunities for teachers and researchers to build longer term collaborative networks in an attempt to explore actual, and not merely predicted, impacts of training on pedagogy and professional development (Wilson and Berne, 1999).