Level of Use (LoU)

As a teacher moves through the stages of concern, the level in the change transition begins with the Non-User and then the User. According to Hall and Hord (2001), the stages that follow the Levels of Use move a teacher who has experienced working with innovations from Non-User to User. The distinction between Non-User and User is not quite as straightforward as it might first appear, and Dalin (1998) provides an interesting analysis showing how there are eight levels, two within the non-user stage, and a further six within the user stage, each providing a finer gradation of how change is approached and integrated.

Table 3.2 Level of Use (LoU) as adapted from Hall and Hord (2001:82)

Level 0 (Non-use)

At this level teachers have little information upon which to act or to change their behaviour. An innovation, if it exists within their schools is not in their sphere of knowledge; therefore they are unable to apply it. At the non-user level, teachers have no awareness of the change process related to an instructional innovation.

Level 1 (Orientation)

This is the basic awareness stage for a teacher who has just received exposure to an innovation. At this stage, a teacher will usually proceed with caution, assessing how innovation might impact on her and her classroom. Entering this stage, a teacher tends to become interested in the innovation, but proceeds with caution as to its adoption.

Users are categorised as follows

Level II (Preparation)

At this level a teacher is initiated to the innovation by using it for the first time. For example, the use of a new report card, a dual language immersion programme, a new pedagogy for teaching ESL, new curriculum materials, or introducing a new teacher’s edition of a recently adopted textbook series.

Level III (Mechanical)

A teacher at this level tends to go through the motions, not quite applying the innovation as expected by the change facilitator. Due to its newness, the teacher views the innovation as time-consuming and does not tend to invest the time needed for its full use. This level is characterised by simply learning fundamentals, or the basic tasks associated with the innovation.

Level IV (Routine) The teacher is now able to implement the innovation with slight modifications. But support must be provided to the teacher to ensure the effectiveness of successful implementation.

Level V (Refinement)

Through practice a teacher gains confidence in the application of the innovation. For school administrators and other change facilitators, this is the level at which reflection, changed behaviour, practice, and change in classroom pedagogy occurs. At this stage, a teacher gains the knowledge of how to solve problematic issues with classroom implementation of the innovation. At this stage, the teacher gains knowledge about adjusting the innovation to her style of teaching, and begins to focus on learner outcomes and achievement.

Level VI (Integration)

At this level, teachers begin to collaborate with their colleagues regarding the effects that the innovations are having as they apply them to daily teaching responsibilities. Teachers at this level tend to promote the innovation among themselves and other stakeholders.

Level VII (Renewal)

The teacher at this level has full cognition of how the innovation works and what its intended outcomes are for her classroom. It is at this stage that a teacher begins to critically analyse the innovation for the sustainability of its future use in attaining improved student outcomes.

Table 3.2 that identifies the Level of Use will be applied to the data analysis in my study. I will then use the framework to identify the Level of Use reached by the women ESL teachers participating in this study and to ascertain how their materials, approaches and beliefs have been altered to the Level of Use in the context of Independent Schools.

The marked difference between the Level of Use and Stages of Concern is that the Stages of Concern appear to reflect more of the feelings that teachers may have and the impact that change has on them: the affective domain, so to speak. Levels of Use on the other hand, are somewhat more behaviourally oriented in that the focus is on change in teaching practice during implementation. During this research I found both the Levels of Use and Stages of Concern to be beneficial, particularly in data analysis as they seek to capture different but potentially related stages in the change process at the point of implementation. This kind of systematic description and analysis can help to provide base line data for planning strategies and other activities to ensure that change is embedded and supported at classroom level.

In sum, the CBAM provides an approach to monitoring, and implementing change within schools.

As the model focuses on the change process before and during implementation, it has utility and applicability to schools and others involved. The CBAM also emerges as an approach that teachers

themselves might use as it has ‘clinical’ elements; that is to say, it follows a sequence that appears to be easily understood, though the stages may take longer time.

3.8 Chapter Summary

In this chapter I argue that for educational change to be successfully sustained and embedded in the culture of a school setting, exemplary professional development programmes are needed. I further argue that change needs to be sustained by relevant professional development based on

periodic needs assessments of teachers that can provide teachers with the continuous support needed for sustained educational reform that will be institutionalised over time.

The chapter presents literature on educational change and models of change, foregrounding the CBAM as a conceptual framework that is applicable to the analysis of the data grounded by the

study in Qatar. Early in the chapter, I looked at reform and educational change in the Arab world and noted that educational practices were in the past largely based on rote learning and recitation, meaning that professional development for teachers tended to be primarily focused on the minutiae of the curriculum and structural issues related to power and authority in the school. Because I am arguing that teachers are the heart of educational change and their roles and needs within a climate of change should always taken into account, I devoted the next four sections to this topic. I reviewed the literature paying particular attention to change in relation to stakeholders, stages, and the characteristics of the change process itself. I also touched on stages in the change process of initiation, implementation, and institutionalisation.

Finally, I considered several models of change that have been applied to research on educational innovation, and to aspects of the change process within schools and school systems, and I concluded that the most pertinent to this study is the CBAM (Hall and Hord, 2001).

In the following chapter, I present a literature review related to professional development and its relation to educational reform.

4.1 Introduction

Professional development is at the heart of this study. My research framework and the research questions attempt to understand professional development in the particular context of Qatar. I also argue that professional development needs for teachers are absolutely critical in the climate of change in Qatar. What this chapter shows is that teacher professional development is a complex issue, something clearly expressed in the respondents’ views I obtained during extensive interviews.

As I noted earlier, a considerable body of research has emerged about teacher professional development. This is important not only in educational reform, but in ensuring quality teaching and learning and improved educational outcomes. I believe it is also important that we understand what is meant by ‘professional development’ as the term appears in both common and specialised usage. Accordingly, I review different approaches to ‘professional development’ and I devise a working definition for the purposes of my study. Importantly, this addresses relationships between professional development and educational reform, the necessity of studying professional development, and the particular professional development approaches that have been deployed in Qatar’s Independent Schools.