Teachers’ Beliefs Shift Across Year-Long Professional Development: ENA Graphs Transformation of Privately Held Beliefs Over Time

2022 ◽  
pp. 191-206
Author(s):  
Anita M. Benna ◽  
Kyle Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Privately Held

scholarly journals Mobile Teacher Professional Development (MTPD): Delving into English Teachers’ Beliefs in Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 143-160
Author(s):  
Jepri Ali Saiful
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Potential Use

In recent years, mobile phones have been used for teacher professional development (TPD). However, the potential use of smartphones, a current-generation of mobile phones, to develop teachers’ pedagogical, social, personal, and professional competences remains underexplored. This mixed methods study, examining the potential use of smartphones for TPD by delving into English teachers’ beliefs, employed a sequential explanatory approach. A quantitative survey was completed by 81 participants, followed by qualitative interviews with 8 selected participants. All the respondents were English teachers in elementary, junior, and senior high schools in 11 provinces in Indonesia. The survey was tested for validity and reliability, and analysed using the descriptive statistics method, while the semi-structured interview was analysed using the content analysis method. Almost all teachers had very favourable and favourable beliefs about the use of smartphones for TPD, perceiving that a smartphone could facilitate the enhancement of their pedagogical knowledge, communication skills, positive characters and English proficiency. Very few teachers had unfavourable beliefs, but among those who did, they believed traditional face-to-face TPD was more beneficial and that smartphones would only lead to addiction. This study recommends that smartphones be optimally applied by English teachers for TPD activities and that governments facilitate such implementation by constructing smartphone TPD models and applications.

Teacher Data Analysis and Assets-Based Discourses about Multilingual Youth: Exploration of Relationships

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-42
Author(s):  
Daniella Molle
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Multilingual Students ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Mediational Role ◽  
Teacher Data ◽  
Over Time

Context The pervasiveness of deficit-based discourses about multilingual students has long been documented in the scholarly literature. Such discourses severely erode the learning and well-being of multilingual youth. One of the spaces in which deficit-based discourses about students may be transformed is professional development. Focus of the Study The study connects a key practice of high-quality professional development, the analysis of classroom evidence of student learning, to student-focused discourses about multilingual youth. The research questions the study addresses are: As they make sense of data together, (a) how do teachers discursively position multilingual youth? and (b) what factors reinforce and undermine assets-based discourses about multilingual youth? Research Design Leveraging a case study approach, I explore how a team of three middle-school teachers positions students while analyzing classroom evidence during a one-year professional development designed for educators of multilingual youth. I rely primarily on transcripts of professional development sessions to trace student positioning by the team over time as teachers analyze dissimilar types of classroom evidence. Findings The findings reveal complex mediational relationships among teachers’ data use, student positioning, and shared theories of student engagement. These co-constructed theories reinforce deficit views of students when student reasoning and participation in learning are obscured by the data teachers are exploring. When the data make the process of student engagement available for reflection, however, teachers shift toward assets-based discourses. In addition, the findings shed light on relationships between type of evidence and implications for classroom practice. The teachers in the study shift their focus from teacher-centered instruction to the scaffolding of student interaction when the data make visible student participation in learning. Conclusions The study contributes to a nascent knowledge base about the complex relationships between teacher analysis of classroom evidence and assets-based discourses about all students and multilingual students in particular. The findings expand current conceptualizations of teacher data use by foregrounding student positioning over time as a key element of teacher sensemaking, and revealing the significant mediational role that shared theories of student engagement play in teachers’ data use. In terms of practical implications, the study offers insights into the mechanisms through which assets-based discourses about multilingual youth can be fostered across learning contexts.

scholarly journals Exploring Change in EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Professional Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mohammadi ◽  
Khaled Moradi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Professional Development Programs

AbstractContinuous professional development (CPD) is important for teachers in attaining sustainable education. Accordingly, exploring teachers’ perceptions could be a significant endeavor as teachers’ beliefs impact their classroom practices, thereby, impacting student learning and, thus have educational implications. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate this fundamental issue via establishing professional development workshops to train teachers in order to promote sustainable professional growth. It examined 86 EFL teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward CPD before and after attending workshops for professional development. The data were collected through a questionnaire and a follow-up interview. Paired-samples t-tests were run to measure differences between responses of pre and post surveys. Moreover, raw frequencies and percentages were calculated in order to prioritize the items the teachers selected in each variable. The findings demonstrate that beliefs about CPD can change. Survey data collected before and after professional development workshops revealed a statistical significant shift in EFL teachers’ beliefs. This finding was also supported by semi-structured interviews. In addition, the results also revealed that the participants perceived customized professional development programs with professional development framework as a beneficial tool to be included in the professional development programs. The study may have some pedagogical implications to be utilized in the educational process directed at sustainable professional development.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Methodology: Qualitative Studies about Mobile Technology Implementation in Education

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Tsoghik Grigoryan
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Educational Technology ◽  
Mobile Technology ◽  
Technology Implementation ◽  
Qualitative Studies ◽  
Technology In Teaching ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Teachers Attitudes ◽  
Over Time

The description and understanding of the learning has changed significantly over time and is still in its transformational modern stage, which necessitates exploration and investigation of the pros and cons of innovative changes in the field of education. Some teachers resist those changes and do not feel comfortable teaching through or with mobile technology as they do not want to look incompetent when they are unable to troubleshoot. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the methodology of qualitative studies conducted on the integration of mobile technology in language classroom and teachers’ attitudes towards using technology in teaching. The paper aims at examining 15 studies published in educational journals between 2006 and 2016. The articles discuss two aspects of educational technology: mobile technology integration in education and teachers’ attitudes and professional development for implementing technology in language classroom.

scholarly journals Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs about Inquiry-based Learning after a Professional Development Course–An International Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Maass ◽  
Malcolm Swan ◽  
Anna-Maria Aldorf
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teaching ◽  
Influencing Factor ◽  
International Study ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Inquiry Based Learning ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Development Course

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a more student-centered approach to mathematics teaching that is recommended by many policy and curriculum documents across Europe. However, it is not easy for teachers to change from a more teacher-centered way of teaching to inquiry-based teaching as this involves a change of their role in class. Professional development courses are one way to help teachers with this endeavor. Within the discussion of effective professional development, beliefs are often named as an important influencing factor. In this respect, much research has been carried out on how beliefs on mathematics teaching impact the outcomes of the course. However, there has been much less research on what beliefs mathematics teachers develop on inquiry-based learning and how this might impact their (perceived) classroom teaching. Therefore, this paper presents an international research study carried out within the European Project Primas, in which professional development courses on inquiry-based learning were conducted in 12 countries. Using the case-study approach, this paper aims at answering the following questions: 1. What kind of beliefs about IBL do mathematics teachers across Europe develop? 2. How do these beliefs relate to teachers’ perceived enactments of IBL?

A Checklist for a New Millennium School Science Department

2011 ◽  
pp. 273-274
Author(s):  
Ed Hessler
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
School Science ◽  
Learning Science ◽  
Science Department ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Over Time ◽  
New Millennium

My focus is both narrow and incomplete, for it is limited to a single area of learning: science, and it is in the form of a working list, a beginning of things one might write down, not in any particular order—so that they might be remembered and edited over time, with colleagues. Improving schools, teacher preparation, and professional development are important national priorities as we enter a new millennium. Past emphasis on targeted innovations in the short term are now conceptualized into the idea of continuous improvements that are connected in the long term. Today, the idea of improvement itself is being challenged. “Improvement,” the term of the technocrat, is being recast in the context of student learning—that is, how can we educate our young or learners of any age?

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