Learning “New” Instructional Strategies: Pedagogical Innovation, Teacher Professional Development, Understanding and Concerns

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 552-566
Author(s):  
Rita Elaine Silver ◽  
Galyna Kogut ◽  
Thi Canh Dien Huynh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Pedagogical Innovation ◽  
Cultural Appropriateness ◽  
Teacher Understanding ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Innovation Analysis ◽  
Pedagogical Innovations

Teacher professional development (TPD) through supported pedagogical innovations relies on teacher understanding (TU) of what is proposed, how the innovation can be enacted, and ways in which an innovation might be effectively adapted to local conditions. This article describes evolving TU during a 1-year reading comprehension innovation. Analysis, based on a two-dimensional neo-Bloomian framework, revealed that types of TU aligned with specific strategies used at specific times in the innovation program to some extent. Initial concerns about cultural appropriateness tended to fade as participating teachers came to their own understandings of how to employ the new instructional strategies. Other teacher concerns shifted from hypothetical to more concrete concerns about how to further enhance classroom interactions, evidencing evolving TU. Importantly, while examining in-class practices shows only the outcome of an innovation, tracking teachers’ developing understanding was important for gaining insights into the ongoing TPD process.

scholarly journals Effect of Instructional Strategies on Students’ Academic Achievement in Public Senior High Schools in Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Richard Kwabena Akrofi Baafi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Academic Achievement ◽  
High Schools ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
The Government

Teaching quality, as demonstrated by effective teacher instructional strategies, has dominated education process research in the recent past. This study sought to establish the effect of instructional strategies on student academic achievement in public senior high schools in Ghana. The study utilised a sample of 210 students and 160 teachers sampled through proportionate stratified sampling. The study attempted to establish which instructional strategies were inherent in public senior high schools in Ghana and how those strategies influenced students’ achievement in the national standardised mathematics test. The study found out that most teachers had an average experience of five years, with those over ten years’ experience exhibiting ineffective teaching strategies due to lack of structured teacher professional development. Further, the study established that classroom management strategies which promote discipline among students and teacher-prepared strategies were inherent among teachers. However, strategies which increase learner engagement, as well as those which increase learning during lesson delivery, were inadequate. The study recommends that the government of Ghana enhances a structured teacher professional development as well as effective school-based teacher supervision policies.

scholarly journals Online Professional Learning in Response to COVID-19—Towards Robust Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Alireza Ahadi ◽  
Matt Bower ◽  
Abhay Singh ◽  
Michael Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Perceptions ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Evaluation Approach ◽  
Online Mode ◽  
Evaluation Models ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Workshop Evaluation

As COVID-19 continues to impact upon education worldwide, systems and organizations are rapidly transiting their professional learning to online mode. This raises concerns, not simply about whether online professional learning can result in equivalent outcomes to face-to-face learning, but more importantly about how to best evaluate online professional learning so we can iteratively improve our approaches. This case study analyses the evaluation of an online teacher professional development workshop for the purpose of critically reflecting upon the efficacy of workshop evaluation techniques. The evaluation approach was theoretically based in a synthesis of six seminal workshop evaluation models, and structured around eight critical dimensions of educational technology evaluation. The approach involving collection of pre-workshop participant background information, pre-/post-teacher perceptions data, and post-workshop focus group perceptions, enabled the changes in teacher knowledge, skills, and beliefs to be objectively evaluated, at the same time as providing qualitative information to effectively improve future iterations of the workshops along a broad range of dimensions. The evaluation approach demonstrated that the professional learning that was shifted into online mode in response to COVID-19 could unequivocally result in significant improvements to professional learning outcomes. More importantly, the evaluation approach is critically contrasted with previous evaluation models, and a series of recommendations for the evaluation of technology-enhanced teacher professional development workshops are proposed.

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