7 Excellent learning environment through professional cooperation

The very basis for establishing good differentiated instruction lies, in my opinion, in the learning culture that exists in the school at any point in time. It is the basic perceptions about who we are as professionals, and the human and academic engagement we show in the encounter with the students that determine the quality of the work we do. What is our main focus every day we come to work? In our school, I find that the main focus is that the job must be done and it must be done in a professional manner. This is the mental focus that directs the daily energy on to solving the challenges we are facing in a constructive way.

Input from a head of school

The Committee points out that the professional cooperation between the teachers in a school is extremely important for creating a learning culture and ensuring good quality of differentiated instruction for students with higher learning potential. The teachers' professional assessment of the progression of the students must be the point of departure for the differentiated instruction in the subjects. The head of school and the teachers must discuss and assess the needs of individual students on an on-going basis and must differentiate the instruction in accordance with this. The quality of the cooperation and how this is embedded in the school's holistic work on collective professional development will determine whether the cooperation improves the students' learning.

An excellent learning environment refers to more than what the teacher does in the classroom. The work on learning through professional cooperation must be systematised, where the aim is to achieve high quality and good learning outcome. Cooperation and reflection must be goal-focused and must therefore be reflected in the quality descriptors that serve as guidelines for the national authorities, school owners, school leaders and teachers.

The key aspects of quality development are problem identification, analysis of current status and problem solving. Many schools lack the competence to work in this way. Often teachers do not have the necessary competence to differentiate instruction even though they expected to do this. This refers for example to the teachers' subject competence and pedagogical content knowledge. Teachers the Committee has been in contact with state that they also lack resources, training and support from their superiors – both the school leaders and school owners. Both have an important responsibility for supporting the educational activities. According to the OECD report Innovative Learning Environments1, students' learning must be at the centre of all the work carried out in a school. All planning and all work must scaffold and support students' learning. The report refers to several examples from a number of countries where teachers and school leaders are focused on the students' learning rather than the teaching strategies of the teachers because the instruction must be adjusted as the students learn and develop.

Germany, Poland, the USA and Singapore have general teachers as Norway does, but additionally train mathematics teachers to act as specialists in the primary school years. These subject specialists serve as important support for colleagues and assist in the differentiation of the instruction in the school.2 The Committee finds it important that the school has sufficient competence in all the subjects, which is a requirement for being able to differentiate the instruction for students with higher learning potential.

In all questions relating to differentiated instruction, the school's overall competence and the teachers' professional discretionary assessment determine the quality of the instruction the students receive.3 The Committee finds that it is the teacher's encounter with the students on a day-to-day basis, the teacher's relationship to the students and the teacher's professional assessments of students' needs that are decisive for the student's learning environment. The teaching profession has a great responsibility to ensure quality in the instruction for all students.

Teachers may see the attention given to students with higher learning potential as a major challenge, and call for more dedicated competence and support from their own colleagues, the school owners and the national education authorities. Many teachers do not work in teams, and they lack support from colleagues.4 Research findings also agree that students with higher learning potential need broad variation in the teaching activities if they are to be motivated by the instruction. The most effective methods for keeping them focused are to differentiate the instruction through systematic and lasting work (with measures being applied on a regular basis), to have broad variation in activities, to document the work through a structured process and evaluate this work with the aim of making improvements. Such practice must also be implemented with support from leaders on all levels.5

7.1 Responsibilities, tasks and expectations on all levels

Source Børte et al. 2016 p. 24

A fundamental requirement for raising the quality of the school programmes for students with higher learning potential is that all the levels in the education sector fulfil their responsibilities and carry out the accompanying tasks and duties, see Figure 7.2.

The Committee finds the need for national formulation and communication of clear expectations to all stakeholders – the national authorities, school owners, school leaders, the PPS, teachers and teacher-training institutions. The committee believes this will clarify responsibilities and roles, and also be a useful point of departure for necessary dialogues between the various stakeholders. Below we will highlight some ideas and aspects we think should be included in the description of expectations.

7.1.1 The role and responsibilities of the national authorities

Realising quality in school is the responsibility of the school owners, and through clear governance6 and targeted support the national authorities7 shall ensure that the school owners base their work on what research has found to enhance student learning. Furthermore, the national education authorities must ensure that the school policy is formed and realised in such a manner that it increasingly supports the opportunities of individual students to learn and develop. Knowledge about what promotes learning, what ensures collective school development and how effective school leadership gives results has been well documented and is readily available. What must be done to ensure that the school's practice is based on what research shows gives good effect is unclear. The Committee sees that the constellation of stakeholders is complex, and it takes time to change and achieve visible results. Not least, the national vision of goals is unclear and generally dominated by descriptions of activities, and much less dominated by descriptions of the results one wants to achieve.

The national authorities have the overriding responsibility for education and have an important role as the implementing body of the adopted reforms for the Norwegian school sector. The Committee addresses most of its recommendations to the national authorities to ensure better differentiated instruction for students with higher learning potential across Norway. The efforts to increase knowledge and improve practice must be coordinated nationally to ensure that this issue receives the proper amount of attention and resources and that results are attained – in other words, a common platform for creating change.

On assignment from the Swedish Government8, the Swedish Skolverket [national school administration] has prepared a resource site9 for heads of school and teachers, special-needs teachers and health staff working with children on how to work with students with higher learning potential, see Figure 7.3. The resource site with articles, research, a toolbox for teachers and various resources was up and running as of May 2015. This is a good example of how the national authorities can contribute to improving knowledge about this group of students, as we recommend in Table 1.1 in Chapter 1.

Source www.skolverket.se

7.1.2 The role and responsibilities of teacher training institutions

Teachers gain their basic competence through their education, and both the basic training and further education and continuing professional development (CPD) shall be knowledge-based and practice-oriented. Moreover, the teacher training must promote cooperation and collective professional development so that new knowledge is continuously transformed and integrated in the teachers' culture, their competences and their professional judgement. Teacher training is thus an important part of the work to ensure quality in the instruction for all students – including students with higher learning potential. The Committee endorses the goal and provision of on-going processes for an attractive high-quality teacher training as formulated in Lærerløftet [Raising teacher competence].10 Input received by the Committee shows that little attention is paid to students with higher learning potential in today's teacher training.

Teacher training should also provide more autonomy for teachers in the practice of differentiated instruction because student teachers find this very difficult to carry out in practice – regardless of whether this is for low or high achieving students.11

The findings in a recent study12 show that student teachers need more training in designing and carrying out differentiated instruction for students with higher learning potential. The researchers conclude that the student teachers should not only be given lectures about this, but that they also need guided training on campus before entering practice and reflecting on their practice afterwards. Teacher educators should also differentiate their own teaching and inform the student teachers how they go about doing this.13

The Committee understands that all teacher educators need more knowledge about this group of students, particularly about how differentiation and the student's needs can be addressed in practice. The Committee finds it important to highlight the following expectations for the teacher training- institutions to achieve better education for students with higher learning potential:

• Knowledge about and explanation of what characterises students with higher learning potential

• Knowledge about and explanation of what characterises differentiated instruction for all students

• Knowledge about and presentation of:

  • Principles of learning

  • Identification and acknowledgement

  • Organisational differentiation

  • Educational differentiation

• Promotion of practice-based research and presentation of research findings

• Cooperation and partnership agreements with the practice field, for example in connection with the schools' development activities and the training of student teachers

• Internal cooperation and participation in networks with other institutions to share knowledge about students with higher learning potential

Research on students with higher learning potential must be connected to teacher training. The research must originate in the school's practice, and the teacher training must contribute in a strong way to the training of new teachers and to the professional development in the schools. The Committee finds that the idea of having university schools, where excellent research is the point of departure for the development of student teachers and the pedagogical content knowledge of the teachers, may be a good way of strengthening teacher competence and differentiation. This may be particularly beneficial for students with higher learning potential.

7.1.3 The role and responsibilities of the school owner

Through input and dialogues with practitioners the Committee has observed that currently it is too random as to whether school owners, the PPS, school leaders and teachers have knowledge about students with higher learning potential and the competence to differentiate the instruction. Much depends on how committed to this issue the teachers and school leaders are. Some school owners have developed a plan for better differentiation for students with higher learning potential, but they are too few in number.14 The Committee finds that such a plan in itself does not result in better differentiated instruction for this group of students – strictly speaking, it should not be necessary to have a separate plan for such students – rather implementation of the requirements for an excellent learning environment for all students should be the goal.

Compared to other countries, Norway has few students who achieve on a high and advanced level in international studies, see Chapter 3. The role of the school owner as the official body responsible for quality in the instruction is decisive for changing the situation we have today. The Committee points out that it is through active school ownership, clear assignment of responsibilities, clear definition of roles and good professional environments in the schools that the students will be given high-quality instruction throughout their entire learning pathway – regardless of where they live or come from. As the official body responsible for quality instruction, the school owners must ensure that the teachers have the proper competence. The Committee finds that assessments must be made as to whether the responsibility of the school owner should be clarified through the development of national quality descriptors. If such descriptors are to function as clear premise setters from the national authorities to the sector, they must represent an agreed upon uniform approach that will have significance for practice and the interaction between the local and national levels.

Norway has many small school owners, the tasks are complex, and many need support. Such support may be given in the form of guidebooks and school development tools found on udir.no. In a questionnaire15 sent to schools and school owners, the alternatives reflection tools for use by school colleagues and guidebooks received good feedback as useful support in the responses from the local and county authorities. Education Scotland has developed resources for schools in the resource leaflet How Good is Your School?16 Here national quality descriptors have been formulated to help Scottish schools to develop school quality.

Textbox 7.1 Examples of quality descriptions

The framework consists of a set of 15 quality descriptors made to help teachers and school leaders answer three questions connected to work, learning and development in their school. The quality descriptors are divided into three categories:

1. Leadership and administration: How good is our leadership and our approach to improvement?

2. Instruction: How good is the quality of the care and instruction that we provide?

3. Success and achievement: How good are we at ensuring that all the students achieve the best possible results?

By combining the results of the quality descriptors in the three categories, the teachers and school leaders may find answers to the question: How good are we at implementing continuous improvement? Or put differently: How good can we become?

The model (Figure 7.4) illustrates the close connection between the three categories and the key question about the school's ability to improve. A selection of suitable results from each of the three categories is required to evaluate the school's overall quality. But it is still possible to apply only some of the quality descriptors, or only some of the themes from some of the quality descriptors to support school-based evaluation of specific aspects of school life and work.

Source Education Scotland 2015b

Based on input the Committee has received during its work on the report, we see there is a need to clarify what is expected of the school owners to increase the quality of the instruction. The principles of learning, cf. Figure 4.4, should be the point of departure for the school owner's work on systematising its efforts to realise a learning environment of excellent quality. The Committee wishes to recommend the following points as important expectations relating to how school owners can provide better instruction for students with higher learning potential:

• Build capacity so that the schools have knowledge about what characterises students with higher learning potential

• Create a common understanding and common responsibility in school for differentiated instruction for all students

• Establish systems for tracking progress and development

• Facilitate cooperation and communication in and between schools (have a common approach to and understanding of learning)

• Competence-raising

• Close cooperation with the PPS

• Follow-up/supervision

• Support the schools' work to provide more differentiated instruction for students with higher learning potential

Measures to support the school owner:

• Clarify and specify who the stakeholders around the school owner are

• Mapping tools, guidance material and resources supporting the work with the items mentioned above

Much important work is being done on the county authority and local authority levels for students with higher learning potential, and here we present some examples. The Committee has seen how the school owners in Asker, Bærum, Oslo and Stavanger are focusing on competence-raising of teachers and school leaders. These local authorities have seen the need to coordinate ideas and experiences in the schools because they believe that students with higher learning potential are an overlooked group. The school owners have each in their own way initiated pioneer projects aimed at raising the knowledge level of teachers so they will see and satisfy the needs of the students.

Bærum local authority has involved students with higher learning potential in the development of measures for this student group. They have developed guidance material for the schools with the purpose of satisfying the vision of the Bærum schools that all students should have the absolute best academic and personal outcome of their schooling. The guidance material provides knowledge about student characteristics and shows examples of how the schools may identify the students.17 Moreover, the local authority has initiated courses for teachers and involved students with higher learning potential in the development of a plan for this work.18

Source www.baerum.kommune.no

7.1.4 The role and responsibilities of the school leaders

Bearing in mind their approach to knowledge on and awareness of how students learn, the Committee finds it important that the school leaders and the school owners also give serious consideration to how teachers develop and change their practice in a professional culture. The school leader's ability to lead teachers' learning is a decisive dimension in providing quality teaching in each school.19 The school leader must have insight into and the ability to realise open discussions about teaching practices and student results. A head of school who personally participates in such discussions, and who is familiar with the quality of the teaching, will have better opportunities to direct the development in the school.

One should not think that just any type of collective learning for teachers will result in improved student learning. There are many ways in which learning efforts could go wrong. When teachers congregate, they sometimes end up reinforcing each other's misconceptions about the challenges the students have, and spend too little time exploring their own practice.20 Studies reviewed in the research summary also indicate that schools may be problem-oriented. One way of changing the focus from problem to possibility may be to speak about what the students need. For example, students with higher learning potential need to be seen and understood on their own premises, but they should not be “displayed” or be given unnecessary attention so that their co-students see them as different. Shifting attention from problems to needs represents a change in culture which requires initiatives from the school leaders, and which must be based on knowledge from research and input from students and parents, in addition to sound professional discretionary assessment.21 A well-functioning professional learning environment will bring greater diversity into analyses of one's own practice, thus enabling the environment to build capacity and together determine how the students learn in the best possible way.22

The Committee considers it very important that the school leaders call for the development of a common language to be used when analysing teaching quality, the learning environment and results.

The Committee finds that the following expectations for the school leader need to be clarified:

• Ensure that knowledge about the characteristics of students with higher learning potential is transformed into practice in the instruction

• Create a common understanding and a shared responsibility in the school for differentiated instruction for all students

• Knowledge about:

  • Principles of learning

  • Identification and acknowledgement

  • Organisational differentiation

  • Educational differentiation

• Establish systems for tracking progress and development

• Use available options, and give the students opportunities to progress and have in-depth studies

• Allocate time and plan for cooperation and communication at the school

• Work on local curricula on an on-going basis

• Have close cooperation with the PPS

• Ensure systematic cooperation between the school and the home for better learning conditions for the students

Measures to support the school leader:

• Clarify and specify who the stakeholders around the school leader are

• Provide mapping tools, guidance material and resources supporting the work with the above-mentioned items

• Train heads of school and provide other training for school leaders

These expectations should also have consequences for the content of Rektorutdanningen23 and other school leader training.

7.1.5 The role and responsibilities of the teachers

The strategy for competence-raising of teachers Lærerløftet [Raising teachers]24 highlights the following aspects of a good teacher: “There are many characteristics of a good teacher and what is good teaching. Solid knowledge in the subjects is a requirement for succeeding as a teacher. The importance of subject knowledge for the students' learning outcome has been well documented in research. Teachers who are confident about their knowledge of their subjects are less bound to fixed approaches and methods. They are able to vary and develop their teaching. They assign demanding tasks and encourage their students to think in abstract ways. Research on the subject of mathematics has shown that if teachers are uncertain in their subject knowledge, this may lead to poorer student performance.”

Subject competence and pedagogical content knowledge are the point of departure for teaching a subject. Moreover, the teacher must understand principles of learning and be able to analyse the level and needs of students. The Committee finds that the most important requirement for quality in education is what the teacher does in the classroom. Improving teaching practice is difficult. It is demanding to change routines and habits, but the greatest impact on quality development is when teachers test and evaluate new ways of teaching.25 The profession must therefore work together to acknowledge that high quality differentiated instruction is needed.

Much of the input the Committee has received suggests that the level of knowledge about students with higher learning potential is so low that some teachers have a need for in-depth knowledge which can then be disseminated in the school. The Committee recognises that teachers with special competence are needed in every school – or with each school owner – with special competence in identifying and differentiating instruction for students with higher learning potential. The Committee finds that it may be useful to have a resource person available during a transition period until all the teachers have acquired the necessary competence relating to this group of students. This should be considered in conjunction with alternative career paths for teachers, testing out the teacher specialist scheme and other measures in Lærerløftet [Raising teachers].26 Differentiated instruction for all students with higher learning potential should be included in further education and continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers in all subjects. Teachers who acquire knowledge about students with higher learning potential must be included in the school leaders' plan for professional development for all teachers. This means setting aside time to observe teaching, and to guide and present knowledge to colleagues.

Based on input to the Committee during its work, it is necessary to clarify that teachers are expected to have:

• Knowledge about what characterises students with higher learning potential

• Knowledge about the importance of and how to prepare differentiated instruction for all students

• Knowledge about:

  • Principles of learning

  • Identification and acknowledgement

  • Organisational differentiation

  • Educational differentiation

• The ability to transform knowledge into practice and test methods that can improve student learning

• The ability to establish systems for tracking progression and development

• Good dialogues in the school-home cooperation about the student's learning and development

Measures to support the teacher. They need:

• Clarification and specification of who the stakeholders around the teacher are

• Mapping tools, guidance material and resources supporting the work with the items mentioned above

• Further education and continuing professional development (CPD)

7.2 Cooperation across institutions

One of the requirements the research summary has pointed out concerns cooperation across institutions.27 Cooperation between professions and institutions on identifying students with higher learning potential is necessary, and in addition to this it is also necessary to develop and plan teaching measures for this student group. Cooperation across institutions will make it possible to exploit the available options, the opportunities and the competence that are found across the professions in the sector.28 The core duties of teachers are teaching, assessment and preparation and follow-up work connected to the instruction they give. But there are also a host of tasks in school requiring competence possessed by other professional groups than teachers. Many of these tasks concern the school's psycho-social environment and challenges individual students may have. The need for special teaching, social-pedagogical and health-service competence in school is high. Other vocational groups must satisfy important competence requirements and support functions in the school's daily affairs.

Cooperation on improving the student's total situation

Students and teachers express concern about the performance pressure many students experience in primary/lower secondary school and upper secondary education. This performance pressure is the result of values and expectations students experience both in and outside school.29

One study has shown that the students who experience the greatest pressure, regardless of school performance, report more depression, greater fatigue and lower self-efficacy than other students. This means that the increasing performance pressure in school has negative consequences for the mental health of many students.30

The Committee has received input from school counsellors who talk about the importance of different professions and persons cooperating so that students – including high achieving students – have a good total situation which served as the foundation for a healthy learning culture: “Talented students create a greater need for health services. They are super-stressed and afraid of not getting 6 [the highest grade] in all subjects. The stress about grades stems from the concern that getting less than the best grade may lower their overall average grade, thus closing some doors to tertiary studies.”

Cooperation across institutions will strengthen the dialogue about and with students so that they are able to realise their learning potential in a positive learning environment (Figure 7.6).

Cooperation between school and the PPS

The Committee has received much input on the need for closer and better cooperation between school and the PPS, and many teachers would like more guidance and support. Both school and the PPS state that they need more knowledge about students with higher learning potential, and how to differentiate the instruction for these students, see Chapter 5.

Communication across institutions

To ensure cooperation across institutions there must be an exchange of information and communication across institutions. For example, a good starting point for cooperation on the development needs for students with higher learning potential across school years could be joint development of individual learning plans, follow-up plans or action plans.

In cases involving acceleration – such as when a student moves ahead a year in school, or follows the teaching in some subjects on a higher level – the teachers in primary school may need to cooperate with teachers in lower secondary school, or teachers in lower secondary school may need to cooperate with teachers in upper secondary education. Cooperation between teachers across primary school, lower secondary school and upper secondary education will also support the transition for students from one school stage to the next. These may be critical phases for the students, and cooperation and dialogue about student needs will be particularly important.

Good transitions

Good transitions between school levels and flexible infrastructure are decisive for the students' perception of the learning environment. This requires good systems for the cooperation between day-care institutions and school and between the local and county authorities. Cooperation and dialogue with the home and the student him- or herself must be included in the work on positive transitions.31

The Quality Framework32 states that the cooperation between day-care institutions and school and between the main stages in school should be systematic to ease the transitions in the learning pathway. Early identification is important for the child's stay in the day-care institution, socialisation with peer groups and transition from day care to school. If children with higher learning potential are discovered and identified while in day care, teachers in year 1 can provide differentiated instruction and lay the foundation from which the students may exploit and develop their potential. In this way, teachers can prevent students from losing their motivation along the learning pathway, or from becoming part of the von-completion statistics in upper secondary education: “From the first day of school our school considers one thing: We must do our bit to prevent students from dropping out in upper secondary education; what I do today will help my students in 11 years.” (Input from a teacher in the first year of primary school).

Students with higher learning potential are a socially vulnerable group the school must address in a proper and caring just as it must do for all the other students. By developing a system of concepts and mapping tools, the school will have options in identifying students with higher learning potential and the possibility to cooperate across institutions based on a common understanding and approach.33

Previous knowledge reviews have shown that a common project or object to cooperate on is important for productive cooperation across institutions and professions.34

The Committee realises that if the cooperation between schools and other institutions is to be improved, the PPS, school counselling service and school health service must have sufficient resources and more knowledge about this student group.

7.3 Quality in processes and realisation of excellent learning environments

The Committee agrees that there is no simple path to the goal that all students with higher learning potential will have a better school programme and achieve on high and advanced levels. The path to be taken involves long-term work with quality development to create excellent learning environments for all. It requires quality implementation working with a keen focus on changing the situation, which the Committee has formulated as the three systemic acknowledgements in the Committee's main message (Chapter 1).

The research summary refers to implementation studies which claim that well-considered and effective implementation strategies on several levels are essential for any systematic attempt use research knowledge in practice. Implementation consists of a set of complex activities, and it is therefore impossible to conclude this report with a universal recipe for how to carry out processes and introduce measures.35 Meta-studies of implementation research used in the evaluation of the Knowledge Promotion curriculum36 showed that sustainable and systemic reforms require good links between the various governance and administrative levels. Important systemic connecting lines are:

• Dialogue and partnership between the levels

• Common understanding of the reform between stakeholders on all levels

• A clear and pervasive accountability regime

• Acceptance of the goals of the reform and confidence in the reform's measures and tools on underlying levels

• Financial and political support and incentives

• Competence development on the operative level

• Local leadership and commitment from school owners, teachers and local politicians

• Trust between the stakeholders on and between the various levels

• Connecting new measures and established practice37

The Committee believes that these requirements must be satisfied if good intentions are to translate into good practice.

7.4 Summary and assessment

The Committee finds that it is first through an excellent learning environment that all students will be ensured optimal conditions for learning and development. This requires comprehensive professional cooperation and leaders who are closely involved in the students' and teachers' learning. Expectations, support, cooperation and dialogues are needed on all levels in the education sector. Implementation of the recommended measures in this context therefore relies on systematic quality development.

The Committee recommends that school owners ensure that capacity is built in individual schools and between schools so that work is undertaken systematically to follow up students with higher learning potential.

Teacher competence is important for the quality of the instruction, and the Committee recommends that an expansion of the teacher specialist programme should be considered with a view to increasing the knowledge about students with higher learning potential and ensuring that the school has specialised subject competence. The Committee also recommends that the national authorities must ensure that differentiated instruction for students with higher learning potential is a topic in:

• School owner training and teacher training and special-needs training, and PPS education

• Further education and continuing professional development (CPD)

Moreover, the Committee recommends that the national authorities must ensure that competence programmes are developed for the PPS and special-needs teaching institutions relating to learning difficulties for children and young persons with higher learning potential.

If all students are to realise their full learning potential, a network of enhanced connections must be established in all directions in the education system: between research, teacher training, school owners, school leaders and the teaching practice. The different educational stages, from day care to higher education, must be closely coordinated. This will not only benefit students with higher learning potential, but contribute to an improvement in quality for all students. The Committee sees this as a complex task that can best be satisfied with knowledge, competence and a common vision of the goal shared by the various stakeholders in primary and secondary education and training. Students with higher learning potential need to be offered differentiated instruction that can help them to realise their learning potential.