CHAPTER 4 : Conclusion and Implications

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For the majority of teachers coming to the training week, the administrator role was perceived to be one in which they would receive professional development in assessment in the specified curriculum areas. They expected the role would require them to be able to develop a good rapport with students and be a good listener to students' ideas. They perceived there would be a need to be organised and to follow instructions accurately.

At the end of the training process, having a positive rapport with children, being organised and following instructions (sticking to the script) which formed teachers' initial perceptions of the administrator role, were still perceived to be the most important skills for administrating. However, being able to use the ICT equipment effectively, working in a facilitating role as opposed to a teaching role and focusing on students' effort and not their performance were acknowledged as important skills learnt during the training. The training process had enabled teachers to develop their knowledge and understanding of the role and assimilate these into their perceptions of the role. After completing the administrating process, teachers' initial perceptions of the need to be organised and to have developed a good rapport with students were reinforced. The administration process reaffirmed the importance of focusing on students' effort and not their performance and the significance of the role of ICT equipment in implementing the tasks, which were noted as being important skills/understandings developed in training. Although the administration of tasks was not rated by many teachers as being an important skill learnt at the end of training, by the end of the administration period many teachers felt that the administration of assessment tasks was an important skill to have developed. At the end of administrating, following instructions accurately had declined in perceived importance.

By the end of the administration period teachers felt that they had developed their confidence with assessment practices. By the end of their training, teachers acknowledged the importance of working in a facilitating capacity and following procedures accurately. At the end of administrating this had caused some conflict with their perceptions of the role, as some teachers felt inadequately prepared for prompting students and rephrasing instructions without compromising the assessment process. Some teachers felt that they had not had the opportunities to develop and practice these skills in ways that would enable them to transfer them successfully to their new role of administrator in schools. From the results shown in Figure 5 it would seem that NEMP training was successful in providing teachers with knowledge and understanding of the new aspects of the administrators' role (Section 1.3). However, for some teachers, it appeared that this knowledge and understanding was not well integrated into the practical application as it contradicted their perceptions of the role. It is important that training methods are flexible enough to monitor and adjust teachers' perceptions as necessary, in order to achieve the best outcome in the situation they are being prepared for.

On completion of the administration process, a number of teachers found that they had experienced other situations that were not part of their perceptions of their new role. They found themselves in situations that they felt they had not been adequately prepared for, such as the need to be flexible and to have the ability to work collaboratively with another adult. These things affected their work as administrators. This seems to support the results of Creighton and Johnsons' (2002) study (Introduction). If the challenges faced in a new role are far removed from the perceptions of that role, it causes stress and anxiety, resulting in impaired performance. It is suggested that in order to perform a complex role effectively there is a need to have opportunities to practice certain procedures and strategies before being required to execute them in the 'real' environment. This allows for the opportunity to make mistakes, which serve to enhance learning and cultivate new perceptions.

Administrators who had participated in the marking process also reported on their perceptions of the administrator role. These administrator/ markers also retained the initial perceptions of being organised and building a rapport with students, as well as incorporating some skills and understandings from the training process. Following instructions and sticking to the script in order to follow the NEMP process was identified as being essential. This had declined in importance by the end of the administration period. Working in a facilitating role was considered to be important by the teacher markers. Although teacher administrators had considered this to be important at the end of their training week it was less important to them at the end of their administration period. Viewing a substantial amount of video taped assessment data and seeing the execution of the administrator role led to an awareness of the importance of the administration techniques and how the quality of administration affected student responses. Information provided through visual media had enabled teachers to develop a more thorough understanding of the administrator role. This contributed to changing the perceptions of that role for the markers.

In order for the administration role to be implemented successfully there were many components that had to be integrated. NEMP required teacher administrators to be able to establish a good rapport with students and colleagues. They needed them to be well organised in order to manage their time and equipment efficiently. NEMP required administrators to develop the technical skills necessary for managing the ICT equipment. They needed administrators to have a good, clear understanding of how NEMP worked so that they followed instructions and knew how to facilitate the assessments. They required teachers to develop knowledge of NEMP tasks and resources and know how to use the manuals. Teachers must know how to elicit the best responses from the students they work with. In order to minimize any discrepancies between the requirements of the role and preparation for the role the training process has to make teachers aware of these components. It must also include ways to incorporate them into their perceptions of the role and provide opportunities to practice procedures and strategies to integrate the role.

The majority of teachers assimilated their training into their perceptions of the role and performed the role successfully. Their comments throughout endorsed the quality and professionalism of the programme (Section 1.6). However, problems still occurred for a number of teachers. It is those problems, which have been identified through this study of the effects of teachers' perceptions, which are of concern. It had been noted that some teachers experienced difficulties with several aspects of this role. Working collaboratively with a partner was difficult for some teachers. Incorporating flexibility into their role was also an area of concern. Working in a facilitating role also caused problems. This included the ability to follow instructions whilst being able to rephrase and prompt, in order to get the best responses from students, without compromising the validity of the data. Teachers identified a need to develop their confidence and competence with the ICT equipment. It is therefore apparent that the training process was unable to completely prepare some teachers to amalgamate these aspects of the role successfully. As noted in the introduction to this study, where there are discrepancies between the perceptions of a role and the requirements of a role, it is necessary to identify factors that impact on changing those perceptions in order to enhance the acceptance and integration of a new technique or role (Smylie, 1988). Trainers need to develop strategies that selectively modify teacher perceptions where these are counter-productive to achieving the required result.

In order to resolve the discrepancies between the requirements of the administrator role and the present preparation for this role it is recommended that the training process incorporates a variety of strategies such as: role play, viewing relevant video scenarios and developing skills of collaboration. It is suggested that these will help teachers to make the transition from their teaching role to the role of administrator.

Timely exposure to the overall picture of any role can be of benefit to trainees, providing them with insights that might seem obvious to the trainers who are familiar with the end product. The NEMP training programme could provide opportunities for teachers to view good administration practice under guided discussion, thus providing a visual model to work towards. This was discussed in Section 1.12. Incorporating video clips of a variety of administrators working with children and attending to a different feature or perspective of the situation being viewed, would enable trainers to focus on specific aspects of administration practice, such as: prompting and rephrasing instructions; the technicalities involved with creating good video footage; physical set up of the procedure; what good administration 'looks like'.

Skills that were an asset to teaching were a problem in the administrator role, which required different skills, for example, working as a facilitator. Working in a facilitating role could be developed through providing opportunities for the role playing of administration scenarios, as discussed in Section 1.11. This would enable teachers to become familiar with the administration instructions (“the script'), the assessment tasks and using the ICT equipment, thus enabling them to develop more accurate perceptions of the administrator role.

Role playing also provides opportunities for effective feedback from both trainers and other trainees, which can develop confidence in both giving and receiving constructive feedback, enhancing relationships and communication. The importance of feedback to the teacher administrators was covered in Section 1.10. Given the critical importance that is placed on providing feedback to students in the teaching and learning process, that it should occur between adults during training, seems very sound. After viewing the video from the first week of administrating, any feedback subsequently provided by NEMP staff to administrators would be easier to impart, as administrators would be well used to receiving constructive feedback by this point. If it became necessary for a member of the NEMP team to call an administrator with feedback, both parties would feel more confident about the situation. As previously mentioned, written feedback could be posted to the next school, rather than to administrators' homes, as suggested by one administrator. This would avoid the difficulties of not receiving mail that some administrators experience if they do not return home at weekends. Placing a telephone call to administrators during their first week of administrating could also be employed as a useful technique for boosting administration performance.

NEMP requires administrators to work with a partner. Ravid and Handler (2001: 205) have suggested that collaborative efforts should be implemented with a realistic understanding of the complexities and difficulties involved, as well as the benefits.

Training could incorporate strategies for collaborative working, in order to minimise the impact that negative partnership behaviour has on the administration process. This was highlighted in Section 1.9. When requiring people to work collaboratively it is important that their training includes information that enables individuals to identify and monitor their conflict management style, and develop specific strategies for dealing with conflict. In order for all administrator partnerships to be more effective it may be necessary for NEMP to include information that enables individuals to identify and discuss issues that are likely to cause conflict. They could provide administrators with information that enables them to identify and monitor their conflict management style. By combining knowledge about what causes conflict, understanding one's response to conflict and developing specific strategies for dealing with conflict, people have the tools to manage conflict interactions more successfully.

It is important for educators to recognise that teachers' perceptions will have an impact on the success of any training programme. The programme outline needs to provide information that is both necessary and sufficient to inform applicants and create accurate perceptions of what is entailed. The selection criteria for any programme should be applicable to the role. The role of administrator requires people who are flexible in their working methods and can 'think on their feet'. They must optimise their time in each school, working within a variety of physical constraints and managing difficulties with implementing the assessment programme as they arise. Flexibility was not part of teachers' perceptions of the administrator role. In some situations this caused conflict when working in this role in schools, as discussed in Section 1.9. It seems that the need for flexibility has to be made explicit by NEMP to the trainee administrators. This will serve to place the idea that flexibility is part of the required role in the mind of the administrator so that it becomes a shared expectation (Biddle, 1979: 117). It may be advisable to include 'flexibility' as a prerequisite in the advertisements and information package that NEMP uses to recruit teachers.

Research suggests that it is important to acknowledge the effects of teacher perceptions on the assimilation of new learning. Given the importance that we place on establishing students' prior beliefs and understandings before teaching, it seems to be good practice to work with adults in a similar way and ascertain what perceptions they hold that may affect subsequent learning. Teachers' perceptions provide the foundation for any professional development to build on. If perceptions are affirmed through new learning it seems to enable those aspects of the role to be adopted more successfully. In this case, the importance of being organised and having a good rapport with students formed a solid basis for the administrator role that was maintained throughout the process. Similarly, if perceptions are contradicted through new learning, those aspects of the role may be adopted less successfully, unless strategies are put in place to overcome this. It is reasonable to suggest that teacher perceptions will change throughout training and implementing the process they have been trained for. In order to ensure that changes are consistent with the requirements of the role it is important that behaviour based on newly acquired knowledge and understanding is monitored during acquisition and application. By providing a practice field where new learning can be tried out, it is possible to monitor and adjust behaviour in accordance with acceptable role requirements.

This study has implications for schools and teacher education agencies that require teachers to engage in professional development that necessitates them to incorporate new pedagogical practices. For such programmes to be effective it seems that they need to consider teacher's perceptions of their role, along with providing relevant learning opportunities that enable teachers to effectively incorporate that role. Understanding the relative effectiveness of these strategies may help with constructing more powerful teacher professional development. There are often discrepancies between what a person knows and how they behave. In order to transfer new knowledge into practice, strategies that incorporate practice-rich experiences where competencies and dispositions can be acted out may be essential in preparing teachers to perform a different role (Murrell & Foster, 2003: 61). Perceptions are difficult to assess, but dispositions based in practice can be monitored. In order for education providers to assess how well teachers have incorporated new skills and understandings into their perception and implementation of a role, it may be necessary to provide such practice-rich experiences to enable teachers to demonstrate proficiencies gained from professional development programmes.