Pedagogical examples: Purple Leadership Training

The Korthagen Onion Model is a model of teacher development and reflection, proposed by Dutch educator Fred Korthagen. The model suggests that teacher development occurs in layers, with each layer representing a different aspect of the teacher’s knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The outermost layer of the onion represents the teacher’s surface knowledge and skills, which are the most visible and easiest to change. This layer includes things like lesson planning and classroom management techniques. The next layer represents the teacher’s practical knowledge, which is more deeply rooted and harder to change. This layer includes things like the teacher’s beliefs about teaching and learning, and their understanding of subject matter. The innermost layers represent the teacher’s core beliefs, values, identity and sense of purpose, which are the most difficult to change. These layers include things like the teacher’s personal philosophy of education and their fundamental beliefs about the nature of human beings and the world. All the layers are influenced by and influence the environment in which the teacher operates. The model suggests that effective teacher development should focus on all layers of the onion, helping teachers to continuously reflect on and improve their surface knowledge and skills, while also exploring and challenging their deeper beliefs and values. This can help teachers to become more effective and responsive to the needs of their students, and to continually grow and improve as educators.

During the Purple Leadership Training, school leaders are introduced to Korthagen’s model not only as a tool for their personal development as teachers, but first and foremost as a tool for their development as mindful school leaders charged with fostering a profound organizational change. Through the model’s framework, participants are invited to continually and mindfully reflect on and question their mental models and perceptions of what a school leader and a teacher is and how they are supposed to act in the world with a beginner’s mind and a fresh approach. Since the model shines a light on the complexity of developing as a school leader (e.g. noticing whether there is an alignment or misalignment between the onion’s various layers as reflected in the a school leader’s ability to act according to their inner values, beliefs and sense of purpose, while thinking about “the bigger picture” – how this influences and is influenced by the schools’ environment), it nurtures systems thinking. The invitation to continually reflect upon one’s self and one’s school through the model’s framework also fosters systems sensing and a culture of continuous learning and development, with the final goal is to strive to a high level of coherence between the different levels represented in the model.