The professional conversation : a new approach to professional learning in early childhood education and care

In 2009, Australia celebrated the introduction of a national Early Years Learning Framework. This is a critical component in a series of educational reforms designed to support quality pedagogy and practice in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and successful transition to school. As with any policy change, success in real terms relies upon building shared understanding and the capacity of educators to apply new knowledge and support change and improved practice within their service. With these outcomes in mind, a collaborative research project is investigating the efficacy of a new approach to professional learning in ECEC: The professional conversation. This paper provides an overview of the professional conversation approach, including underpinning principles and the design and use of reflective questions to support meaningful conversation and learning.

Professional conversations : a new approach to professional learning in ECEC

In 2009, Australia celebrated the introduction of a national Early Years Learning Framework. This is a critical component in a series of education reforms designed to support quality pedagogy and practice in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and successful transition to school. As with any policy change, success in real terms relies upon building shared understanding and the capacity of educators to apply new knowledge and support change and improved practice within their service. With these outcomes in mind, a collaborative research project is investigating the efficacy of a new approach to professional learning in ECEC: the professional conversation. This paper reports on the trial and evaluation of a series of professional conversations on the Early Years Learning Framework, and their capacity to promote collaborative reflective practice, shared understanding, and improved practice in ECEC. The paper details the professional conversation approach, key challenges and critical success factors, and the learning outcomes for conversation participants. Findings support the efficacy of this approach to professional learning in ECEC, and its capacity to support policy reform and practice change in ECEC.

Professional growth through working together : a study of reciprocal benefits for teacher and education advisor through classroom based professional development

Teacher professional development provided by education advisors as one-off, centrally offered sessions does not always result in change in teacher knowledge, beliefs, attitudes or practice in the classroom. As the mathematics education advisor in this study, I set out to investigate a particular method of professional development so as to influence change in a practising classroom teacher’s knowledge and practices. The particular method of professional development utilised in this study was based on several principles of effective teacher professional development and saw me working regularly in a classroom with the classroom teacher as well as providing ongoing support for her for a full school year. The intention was to document the effects of this particular method of professional development in terms of the classroom teacher’s and my professional growth to provide insights for others working as education advisors. The professional development for the classroom teacher consisted of two components. The first was the co-operative development and implementation of a mental computation instructional program for the Year 3 class. The second component was the provision of ongoing support for the classroom teacher by the education advisor. The design of the professional development and the mental computation instructional program were progressively refined throughout the year. The education advisor fulfilled multiple roles in the study as teacher in the classroom, teacher educator working with the classroom teacher and researcher. Examples of the professional growth of the classroom teacher and the education advisor which occurred as sequences of changes (growth networks, Hollingsworth, 1999) in the domains of the professional world of the classroom teacher and education advisor were drawn from the large body of data collected through regular face-to-face and email communications between the classroom teacher and the education advisor as well as from transcripts of a structured interview. The Interconnected Model of Professional Growth (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002; Hollingsworth, 1999) was used to summarise and represent each example of the classroom teacher’s professional growth. A modified version of this model was used to summarise and represent the professional growth of the education advisor. This study confirmed that the method of professional development utilised could lead to significant teacher professional growth related directly to her work in the classroom. Using the Interconnected Model of Professional Growth to summarise and represent the classroom teacher’s professional growth and the modified version for my professional growth assisted with the recognition of examples of how we both changed. This model has potential to be used more widely by education advisors when preparing, implementing, evaluating and following-up on planned teacher professional development activities. The mental computation instructional program developed and trialled in the study was shown to be a successful way of sequencing and managing the teaching of mental computation strategies and related number sense understandings to Year 3 students. This study was conducted in one classroom, with one teacher in one school. The strength of this study was the depth of teacher support provided made possible by the particular method of the professional development, and the depth of analysis of the process. In another school, or with another teacher, this might not have been as successful. While I set out to change my practice as an education advisor I did not expect the depth of learning I experienced in terms of my knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices as an educator of teachers. This study has changed the way in which I plan to work as an education advisor in the future.

Professional capabilities for twenty-first century creative careers : lessons from outstandingly successful Australian artists and designers

Artists and designers are positioned at the centre of the 21st century creative economy. In order to recognise and make the most of the opportunities afforded by this new era, artists and designers still require the creativity, disciplinary depth of knowledge, and technical skills traditionally possessed by professionals in these fields – skills which are a core strength of higher and further art and design education. However, they may also require a range of other, ‘21st century’ creative capabilities which are harder to define, teach for and assess, and are not the focus of traditional art and design pedagogies. This article draws upon the findings of nine in-depth interviews with award-winning Australian artists and designers about their careers and working practices, along with recent international research about the characteristics of the 21st century creative career, in order to highlight the importance of certain professional capabilities for art and design. It discusses the implications of these findings for art and design educators in universities, and curricular and pedagogic considerations associated with embedding these capabilities into undergraduate courses.

Collaborative academic/practitioner research in project management : examples and applications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a cost-benefit interpretation of academic-practitioner research by describing and analysing several recent relevant examples of academic-practitioner research with a focus on doctoral theses carried out at universities and business schools in clusters of research centred in North America, Australia and Europe. Design/methodology/approach – Using case study examples, a value proposition framework for undertaking collaborative research for higher degree level study is developed and presented. Findings – Value proposition benefits from this level of collaborative research can be summarised as enhancing competencies at the individual and organisational level as well as providing participating universities with high-quality candidates/students and opportunities for industry engagement. The project management (PM) professional bodies can also extend PM knowledge but they need to be prepared to provide active support. Practical implications – A model for better defining the value proposition of collaborative research from a range of stakeholder perspectives is offered that can be adapted for researchers and industry research sponsors. Originality/value – Few papers offer a value proposition framework for explaining collaborative research benefits. This paper addresses that need.

Learning and acting in project situations through a meta-method (MAP) a case study : contextual and situational approach for project management governance in management education

The paper introduces the underlying principles and the general features of a meta-method (MAP method) developed as part of and used in various research, education and professional development programmes at ESC Lille. This method aims at providing effective and efficient structure and process for acting and learning in various complex, uncertain and ambiguous managerial situations (projects, programmes, portfolios). The paper is developed around three main parts. First, I suggest revisiting the dominant vision of the project management knowledge field, based on the assumptions they are not addressing adequately current business and management contexts and situations, and that competencies in management of entrepreneurial activities are the sources of creation of value for organisations. Then, grounded on the former developments, I introduce the underlying concepts supporting MAP method seen as a ‘convention generator’ and how this meta method inextricably links learning and practice in addressing managerial situations. Finally, I briefly describe an example of application, illustrating with a case study how the method integrates Project Management Governance, and give few examples of use in Management Education and Professional Development.

The relationship between organizational and professional commitment in the case of project workers : implications for project management

The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between organizational and professional commitment of project workers. We first present (1) role-conflict theory and exchange theory to establish the multiple dimensions of commitment (affective, continuance, and normative) and (2) social identity theory to support our argument for different foci of commitment—organization and profession. Building on these theoretical lenses, we present the literature review that compares organizational and professional commitment of project workers with respect to the three dimensions of commitment. Adopting a positivist approach and a sample of 141 project workers, we use Pearson’s correlation to identify the relationship between affective organizational and affective professional, continuance organizational and continuance professional, and normative organizational and normative professional commitment. We report significant correlation between affective organizational commitment and affective professional commitment of project workers. The correlations between continuance organizational commitment and continuance professional commitment and normative organizational commitment and normative professional commitment are moderate. We then discuss the implications of these findings for the project management profession.

Understanding the very nature of Project Management : a praxiological approach

Foreword: In this paper I call upon a praxiological approach. Praxeology (early alteration of praxiology) is the study of human action and conduct. The name praxeology/praxiologyakes is root in praxis, Medieval Latin, from Greek, doing, action, from prassein to do, practice (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Having been involved in project management education, research and practice for the last twenty years, I have constantly tried to improve and to provide a better understanding/knowledge of the field and related practice, and as a consequence widen and deepen the competencies of the people I was working with (and my own competencies as well!), assuming that better project management lead to more efficient and effective use of resources, development of people and at the end to a better world. For some time I have perceived a need to clarify the foundations of the discipline of project management, or at least elucidate what these foundations could be. An immodest task, one might say! But not a neutral one! I am constantly surprised by the way the world (i.e., organizations, universities, students and professional bodies) sees project management: as a set of methods, techniques, tools, interacting with others fields – general management, engineering, construction, information systems, etc. – bringing some effective ways of dealing with various sets of problems – from launching a new satellite to product development through to organizational change.

Learning and acting in project situations through a meta-method (MAP) : a case study : contextual and situational approach for project management governance in management education

The paper introduces the underlying principles and the general features of a meta-method (MAP method – Management & Analysis of Projects) developed as part of and used in various research, education and professional development programmes at ESC Lille. This method aims at providing effective and efficient structure and process for acting and learning in various complex, uncertain and ambiguous managerial situations (projects, programmes, portfolios). The paper is organized in three parts. In a first part, I propose to revisit the dominant vision of the project management knowledge field, based on the assumptions they are not addressing adequately current business and management contexts and situations, and that competencies in management of entrepreneurial activities are the sources of creation of value for organisations. Then, grounded on the new suggested perspective, the second part presents the underlying concepts supporting MAP method seen as a ‘convention generator' and how this meta-method inextricably links learning and practice in addressing managerial situations. The third part describes example of application, illustrating with a brief case study how the method integrates Project Management Governance, and gives few examples of use in Management Education and Professional Development.

The relation between organizational and professional commitment in case of project workers : implications for the project management

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between organizational and professional commitment of project workers. We first present (i) role–conflict theory, and exchange theory to establish the multiple dimensions of commitment—affective, continuance, and normative; and (ii). social–identity theory to support our argument for different foci of commitment—organization and profession. Building on these theoretical lenses, we present the literature review that compares organizational and professional commitment of project workers with respect to the 3 dimensions of commitment. Adopting a positivist approach and a sample of 141 project workers, we use Pearson’s correlation to identify the relationship between affective organizational and affective professional, continuance organizational and continuance professional, and normative organizational and normative professional commitment. We report significant correlation between affective organizational commitment and affective professional commitment of project workers. The correlations between continuance organizational commitment, and continuance professional commitment; and normative organizational commitment, and normative professional commitment are moderate. We then discuss the implications of these findings for the project management profession.

Work motivation as a determinant of organizational and professional commitment in case of temporary organizations : theoretical perspectives

The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework to investigate the relationship between work motivation, organizational commitment, and professional commitment in temporary organizations. Through a review of theory, we contend that work motivation has two major patterns- internal motivation (that includes intrinsic, need-based, and self-deterministic theories), and external motivation (that includes cognitive or process-based theories of motivation) through which it has been investigated. We also subsume the nature of employee commitment to be of three types- affective, continuance, and normative. This commitment may either be towards organization or profession. A literature review reveals that the characteristics of the temporary organization - specifically tenure, and task - regulate the relationship between work motivation, and organizational commitment, and professional commitment. Relevant propositions are presented.

Identity development in career-changing beginning teachers : a qualitative study of professional scientists becoming school teachers

This qualitative study provides a critical case to analyse the identity development of professionals who already have a strong sense of identity as scientists and have decided to relinquish their professional careers to become teachers. The study followed a group of professionals who undertook a one-year teacher education course and were assigned to secondary and middle-years schools on graduation. Their experiences were examined through the lens of self-determination theory, which posits that autonomy, confidence and relationships are important in achieving job satisfaction. The findings indicated that those teachers who were able to achieve this sense of autonomy and confidence, and had established strong relationships with colleagues generated a positive professional identity as a teacher. The failure to establish supportive relationships was a decisive event that challenged their capacity to develop a strong sense of identity as a teacher.

Effective professional fundraising leadership

While experts identify leadership as a key ingredient for success in fundraising, the question of what specific leadership characteristics and approaches are most relevant to fundraising remains unanswered. There has been little examination of what, if any, different characteristics and approaches may exist for successful volunteer leaders and professional leaders in fundraising.