scholarly journals Engaging EFL Teachers in Reflective Practice as A Way to Pursue Sustained Professional Development

Author(s):  
Joko Nurkamto ◽  
Teguh Sarosa

<p>Reflective practice has become a significant aspect in determining good teaching and learning practices and is an important part of professional practice and professional growth. However, English teachers in Indonesia has not been able to perform reflection on their teaching in order to improve their teaching practice. This study reports the results of an intensive training held by PKM UNS to help teachers develop a reflective teaching habit. The participants were 30 English teachers of Islamic Senior High School in Solo Raya. Observation field notes and teacher assignments were used as the main data collection method. From this program, it was found that the English teachers encountered plethora of challenges in developing reflective practice due to their lack of understanding of reflective teaching. However, the teachers show an improvement in implementing reflective teaching strategies after their participation in the training. Recommendations to include reflective practices in teacher professional development programs is drawn based on the findings.</p>

Author(s):  
Maisoun Alzankawi

Teacher professional development is a life-long and continuous process in which teachers are expected to upgrade their knowledge, master new skills, and change their practices since advancement in their teaching career is finally for their students and education reform. Besides, teachers and their professional development must be seen as an investment. This study is designed to investigate the English teachers’ attitude towards professional development in Kuwait and the problems encountered by those teachers, and their need for professional development programs. It intends to devise innovative approaches for English teacher’s development in Kuwait based on teachers’ requirements to provide those teachers with all they need to overcome the obstacles they face in their professional lives. It will also assess teachers’ preferences of the pedagogical tools that enable them to convey the instructional material. The participants in this study were 20 experienced in-service English teachers who were chosen randomly from three different institutes at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) in Kuwait. Data were gathered from two main sources: Interviews with in-service teachers of English, and questionnaires. Specifically, the study aimed to address questions related to the teachers’ future development and the possible problems facing them or expects that might face them in the future, and their feedback about the challenges and difficulties of teaching English in Kuwait. The findings revealed a lack of teachers’ development in some particular areas that need more skill development of English teachers. Intensive training courses should be applied for the in-service teachers, and professional development programs should promote and enhance teaching effectiveness and support professional growth. Teachers’ professional development should permit the transition to higher status and responsibility roles within the teaching profession. Therefore, teachers need access to new research and acknowledgment in teaching literacy, language development, and an integrated curriculum. Moreover, they need appropriate up-to-date qualifications in both the content area of the subject and teaching methodology. They also need opportunities to share expertise with other experienced teachers and educators, leading to reflection on practice. Furthermore, high-quality teaching should be focused on developing a strong, well informed, and well supported professional body to respond to community and educational concerns. Also, access to professional development is of paramount importance as it enables teachers to improve students’ learning outcomes. Finally, English teachers can actively participate in evaluating teaching practices and programs; and actively participate in the implementation of local state and national curriculum initiatives. 


The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) has been increasingly changing the ways of teaching and learning and teacher development. While the literature shows a proliferation of studies exploring various issues of applying ICT in teacher development and teaching practice, there is a lack of overview of the literature in this field. This study aimed to address the gap by reviewing the literature in two themes: (1) ICT in teacher professional development (TPD), and (2) ICT in teaching practice. Six journals of a high impact in the field of teaching and teacher education were selected, from which 85 articles involving ICT applications and published from 2013 to 2019 were identified. Among them, 18 empirical articles highly relevant to the two themes were analysed. The content analysis of these publications identified a set of specific ICT applications in TPD and in teaching practice. Moreover, the analysis revealed the key features of these ICT applications in terms of their functions, their effects on teaching and teacher development, the factors influencing their applications, and the problems in existing applications.


2020 ◽  
Vol V (I) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Sumera Imran ◽  
Amir Zaman ◽  
Abdul Ghafar

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the reflective practice as a process of continuing professional Development (CPD) implemented in different parts of the government primary schools of Pakistan recently. Case study design was adopted for a single school as it aims to understand the perceptions of primary school teachers about reflective teaching practice with the help of enriched data using semi structured interview. For data analysis content analysis method was applied and analysis was presented thematically for clarity and vividness. It was revealed that most teachers perceived reflective teaching as a helpful tool in improving professional capacity, valuable to share reflective practice with colleagues, constructive in receiving guidance in professional development and useful for assessing self-skills and considered its role in identifying developmental needs of their skills and prospective training. It is suggested that primary school teachers should engage in reflective practice on regular basis and should be provide internet facilities at school to strengthen their knowledge of using creative applications of reflective practice.


Author(s):  
Li Qingyun

Reflective teaching is a relatively important issue in the field of teachers’ continue professional development. In this study, the author reviewed previous studies that investigated reflective teaching had positive influence for teachers’ progress in the long run. There were 13 different experiments analyzed in this article. Through a series analysis, five positive impact factors of reflective teaching were extracted: (a) Reflective teaching is correlated with the coefficient of the teacher’s CPD, (b) Teachers using reflective teaching will enhance teaching energy and confidence, (c) Teaching journal writing causes positive effects on the promotion of teaching quality, responsibility and consciousness, (d) Positive reflection attitude, academic qualifications and the overseas study experience promote the efficiency of teacher’s CPD, and (e) Based on group reflective discussions, teachers have more enthusiasm to share their thinking and get some new and creative teaching methods. Whereas, this study also showed that lack of theoretical knowledge restricts the teacher’s autonomous reflection ability. In addition, the researcher pointed three implications are used for teaching in class. Firstly, the reflective consciousness should be cultivated. Secondly, teachers need to focus on the combination of reflection theory and teaching practice. Thirdly, school and society should supply training activities and relax the environment for English teachers to enhance the quality of their reflection.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celinmar Montes Cornito ◽  
Manuel Caingcoy

The principal as a reflective leader plays a critical role in today's fast-paced school environment. Although the growing role of principals in improving decisions through reflection, few researchers have studied the reflective habits of the minds that involved principals. Hence, the study intends to review existing literature on reflective habits of the minds among principals and to track what was contributed to understanding reflection and its effect on ethical leadership and decision-making. A comprehensive search of major databases was undertaken which identified 32,896 studies on the topic; 13 met the inclusion criteria. Using a systematic literature review, data were extracted and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the analysis: reflective habits for teaching and learning, reflective habits for professional development, and reflective habits towards authentic and transformational leadership. Studies focused on the heart of the reflective practice of school principals as an instructional leader as a critical tool for learning and professional growth. It also shows the inspiring ways of how authentic and transformational leadership through reflective practice could change the educational system. As a result, the literature review pointed to the following discussion points, which are the areas that require further research: (1) diverse reflective practices among school principals in instructional leadership, (2) continuous reflective professional development activities, and (3) reflection-inaction towards transformational leadership.


Author(s):  
Jepri Ali Saiful

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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bekim Samadraxha ◽  
Veton Alihajdari ◽  
Besim Mustafa ◽  
Ramë Likaj

Vocational Education Teachers are one of the main important assets for workforce development. This study of the workforce of VET teachers in selected partner countries has two main goals. The aim of this research is to evaluate the level of teacher’s development and training programs and test as well, to inform national policymakers about the situation and the needs of the VET teachers and, secondly, to help monitoring the implementation and the change of the teacher professional development. The methodology to be used is based on qualitative research methods, including interviews und surveys. A major focus of the survey is to enable policy makers to understand what is required to bring along improvements in the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) quality, effectiveness and responsiveness, as well as factors affecting teacher effectiveness in general, such as their motivation and career structure. Professional development for teachers and trainers is widely recognized as a vital tool for the educational reform (Bicaj, 2013). Research shows that the professional development can enduring improve the quality of teaching and learning, enhancing the effectiveness of education and training and providing added value to students, teachers and employers. There is no doubt about the importance of the Continuing Professional Development of VET teachers. Kosovo has for many years developed extensive policies to address this issue, and currently these policies are being implemented.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Kwabena Ntim

This survey measured the perspectives of teacher trainees, classrooms teachers and stakeholders in teacher education regarding factors that could enhance teaching and quality teacher education in Ghana. Findings from the survey indicate that teachers’ content knowledge was considered appreciable, but more emphasis needed to be paid to cultivating critical and inquiry skills among Ghanaian teachers. Additionally, efforts were to be made in teacher education towards a more constructivists approach to teaching, with focus on student-centered teaching and attention to student diversity, as well as enhancing teacher professional development, especially in the area of academic research. Implications for policy and practice suggested among others, are that teacher education in Ghana needs a more professional development that is both data-based and standard driven, as well as collaboratively developed, as criteria to assess teacher quality and possible certification.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (42) ◽  
pp. 155-167
Author(s):  
Faizahani Ab Rahman ◽  
Nurul Afrahah Hussin ◽  
Sutha Sugumaran

This paper looks at the perceptions of MRSM (Majlis Amanah Rakyat or also known as People’s Trust Council) English teachers on their current professional development and their expectations on in-service training. As teachers, they are often expected to act as a source of motivation to their students apart from being accountable in providing instructions, knowledge, and skills in their respective academic subjects. However, very often, teachers are not provided with sufficient and appropriate training that would prepare them to be the kind of teacher that they are required and expected to be. This prompts this study that determines whether the in-service training provided is sufficient and aptly to help the teachers produce academically excellent students. This case study used a qualitative approach with purposive sampling of seven English teachers at Maktab Rendah Sains MARA, Beseri in Perlis with teaching experiences between 10 to 30 years. Semi-structured interviews and focus group methods were used to answer the research question which dwells on the MRSM English teachers’ expectations of professional development teacher training of their students’ achievement. The findings of the study revealed that teachers expect to have more professional development in terms of pedagogy, proficiency level, technology integration, and stress management. They also believe that improvement in professional development can positively affect their students’ achievement as teaching and learning processes can be done more effectively. It is therefore recommended that MARA should highlight its current in-service training and development policy to be consistent with the needs of teachers.


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