Professional learning or professional development? Or continuing professional learning and development? Changing terminology, policy and practice

2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 683-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim O’Brien ◽  
Ken Jones
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Continuing Professional Learning

School-Based Professional Development Programs for Beginning Teachers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Madalińska-Michalak
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
High Quality ◽  
School Based

School-based professional development for beginning teachers must be seen as a dynamic identity and decision-making process. Teachers as lifelong learners from the beginning of their career should be able to engage in different forms of teacher education that enable them to progress their learning and development in ways that are relevant to their own individual needs and the needs of their schools and pupils. Teacher individual professional learning is necessary but not sufficient for sustainable change within groups in school and within school as an organization. It is helpful to consider three elements. First, note the importance to schools of recruiting and developing high-quality teachers. Teachers are among the most significant factors in children’s learning and the quality school education, and the questions why and how teachers matter and how teacher quality and quality teacher education should be perceived require serious considerations from academics, policymakers, and practitioners. Second, understand teacher education as career-long education, and problematize the issue of teachers and coherent professional development within schools, asking key questions including the following: “how do schools create effective opportunities for teachers to learn and develop?” Third, focus on the particular journey and the needs of beginning teachers because their early career learning and development will have an impact on retention of high-quality teachers. It is important that coherent lifelong professional education for teachers is planned and implemented at the level of education systems, individual schools, teaching teams, and individual teachers.

scholarly journals Making the most of mobility: virtual mentoring and education practitioner professional development

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel D. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Virtual Mentoring ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Knowledge Cultures

Learning provision, including professional learning, needs to embrace mobility (of knowledge, cultures and contexts – physical and cerebral) to enable education practitioners to interact locally and globally, engage with new literacies, access rich contexts, and to question, co-construct and collaborate. Virtual mentoring, also known as distance, remote, tele-, cyber- and eMentoring, offers a level of flexibility that enables mentors and mentees to maximise these concepts of mobility. There are Professional Learning and Development (PLD) initiatives that offer contextualised, individualised learning experiences via mentoring partnerships and Communities of Practice (CoPs), but not so many that have focussed on virtual mentoring and online CoPs. This article describes a Virtual PLD programme that has been offered in Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 to date and discusses findings from the associated research study, including benefits that can be specifically equated to the virtual nature of the mentoring and access to the online CoP. Also reported are shifts in mentees’ self-efficacy and perceptions of changes in professional practice.Keywords: online communities; professional development; coaching(Published: 16 September 2015)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2015, 23: 25566 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.25566

The Implications of Learning and Development for Teacher Professionalism

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-15
Author(s):  
Deisi C. Yunga
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Narrative Literature ◽  
Narrative Literature Review

This paper elaborates on the different concepts of professional learning and professional development in an effort to illustrate their importance in the improvement of the teaching profession and attainment of teacher professionalism. This study uses a narrative literature review approach on an array of available sources from available literature, which comprises scholarly materials, published and peer-reviewed articles, books, and reports from education institutions. The study shows that remaining informed about the changes in the teaching profession is core in attaining professionalism in teaching, proving the need for professional development programs to ensure the update of teachers’ skills and knowledge. Furthermore, the study advocates for a clearer academic distinction between professional learning and professional development, with professional learning facilitated by professional learning communities and workplace learning programs. Lastly, we discuss elements of effective professional learning and development and examine their importance.

scholarly journals Professional learning and development in early childhood education: A shifting landscape of policies and practice

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Sue Cherrington
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Early Childhood Teachers ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Education Literature ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Early Childhood Professional ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Childhood Professional

This article traces shifts in the New Zealand early childhood professional, regulatory and policy landscape, and examines how these shifts create challenges and opportunities for early childhood teachers’ engagement in professional learning and development (PLD). It presents current understandings about effective PLD for teachers in the early childhood and wider education literature before arguing that professional learning communities offer promising opportunities to support early childhood teachers’ engagement in effective PLD in a shifting policy and practice landscape.

scholarly journals Enhancing primary science teaching: Interconnections of content, policy and practice in a New Zealand professional learning and development programme

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven S. Sexton
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Effective Delivery ◽  
Ongoing Development ◽  
Primary Science Teaching

This paper reports on an ongoing professional learning and development (PLD) initiative in New Zealand. The Academy is designed to provide primary and intermediate classroom teachers with the knowledge, materials and support needed for effective delivery of The New Zealand Curriculum 's science subject area. Specifically, this paper reports on the Academy's interconnections of government policy, professional learning and development, teachers' practice and students' learning. Results indicate how relevant, useful and meaningful education through science has influenced classroom teachers' practice. The implications support the critical importance of effective connections between content, policy and practice in the ongoing development of teaching practice.

From Basic Participation to Transformation

2014 ◽  
pp. 446-473
Author(s):  
Diana Ayling ◽  
Hazel Owen ◽  
Edward Flagg
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Online Activity ◽  
Community Platforms ◽  
Online Communities Of Practice

In a time of great change and challenge in education, teachers have an “urgency” with regard to their professional development. Many educators are choosing to move away from traditional modes to participation in online communities of practice. The aim of this research was to verify that online communities of practice can support transformative learning and positive professional development experiences for members. Two community platforms were observed and examined in terms of online activity. In addition to the formal research methods, the researchers monitored the activity of a selection of community members, tracking their engagement and participation in the communities. The research demonstrates that rich and transformative learning and professional development can occur in online communities of practice. The authors highlight some of the values and skills required by both the community and active members. They conclude that well designed and deftly supported online communities have a bright future for professional learning and development.

The History of the National Writing Project

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Elrod Whitney ◽  
Yamil Sarraga-Lopez
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
National Writing Project ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Writing Project ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Professional Development Model

The National Writing Project (NWP) is a network of professional development sites focusing on the improvement of writing across schools and communities. Its origins as the Bay Area Writing Project led to a professional development model of teachers teaching teachers, a concept that hinges upon recognition of teachers’ knowledge and their capacity to become leaders within their professional community. In the ensuing years, with early financial support from the US government in the form of an initial grant and an eventual direct federal line item, the NWP expanded from one location to over 200 local sites across the USA’s 50 states and territories as well as international sites. These US and international sites, created in partnership with local universities or colleges, offer localized support to teachers of writing. The project’s model involves an intensive summer institute in which teachers spend their time writing, reading, and sharing their knowledge about writing practices and teaching. While its focus is on the teaching of writing across all levels and disciplines, the project has become a model example of a professional learning and development network. As such, the NWP has created a legacy in teacher learning and development that many within the field of teacher professional development wish to emulate. An examination of this history, highlighting the project’s beginnings within the Bay Area Writing Project and its eventual expansion, speaks to the vision that has driven its success.

scholarly journals Professional Learning Communities Approach: Implications for Policy and Practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 181-200
Author(s):  
Osama Al Mahdi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

Over the last decades researching and developing teachers‖ professional development frameworks and practices had underwent a paradigm shift. This shift was driven by the complexities of teaching and learning requirements, an increased necessity for reforming educational systems, and more need for accountability and quality outcomes (Vescio, Ross & Adams, 2007). The main feature of these new approaches is that they shift professional development beyond merely focusing on a teacher‖s simple attainment of knowledge and skills to a framework that requires teachers to deeply reflect on their own practices, to innovate new classroom pedagogy, and authentic understanding and expectations of student outcomes (Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995).These new approaches of teacher professional development include a variety of practitioner-based activities such as: peer observation and assessment, working cooperatively on shared projects such as curriculum development or strategy planning, engaging in lesson study groups, conducting action research, and participating in individually guided activities such as online distant learning or academic higher educational programs. When teachers engage in professional development activities that entail sharing questions, finding answers, experimenting practical actions and engaging in a productive dialogue, this may promote their sense of belonging as knowledge workers in their professional learning communities, and this would support them in achieving their learning and teaching goals which would reflect at the end on their students‖ knowledge, skills and values (Al-Mahdi, 2019a, Al-Mahdi, 2019b, Al-Mahdi & Al-Wadi, 2015). This chapter aims to explore professional learning community as an innovate approach in teachers‖ professional development and discuss possible ways for implementing it in Bahrain Teachers College, University of Bahrain. The following sections will focus on: defining professional learning community, characteristics of a professional learning community, leading professional learning community, international research on professional learning communities, professional learning communities research in GCC countries, and reflections on the educational context in Bahrain and implications for policy and practice.

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