Professional Learning: A research report for Trinity Grammar

In April, 2016, Trinity Grammar invited Monash University, Faculty of Education, to conduct a research project designed to explore and better understand the nature of, and possibilities for, professional development at the school.A presentation by the research team (Cooper, Fitzgerald, Loughran, Phillips and Smith) to the secondary school staff in mid-May 2016 led to an exploratory project involving: focus group interviews (n=6); consolidated group interview (n=1); an open-ended survey; and, an online questionnaire based on data drawn from the interviews. In total, 80 staff participated in interviews, 69 completed the open-ended survey and 67% of staff completed the questionnaire.This report is structured around four major aspects of the research project. The first section offers a brief discussion about the nature of professional development (PD) and professional learning (PL), the second section describes the research conducted at the school, the third section explores the Professional Review and Reflection (PRR) program in terms of linking to organised professional growth, and the final section offers a discussion about possibilities for recognizing and rewarding professional growth as one way of responding to the research findings.