Classroom Observation for Professional Development: Views of EFL Teachers and Observers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eman Alshehri
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Classroom Observation ◽  
Efl Teachers

Classroom Observation for the Professional Development of Myanmar University Lecturers in a Singapore Cross-Cultural Context: Perception of Abilities and Learning Based on ‘Nine Events of Instruction’

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-49
Author(s):  
Siew Hong Lam
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Classroom Observation ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Potential Applicability ◽  
Pedagogical Framework ◽  
Events Of Instruction

Abstract Continuing professional development is important for improving and reforming teaching.Classroom observation of others’ teaching has been used for the professional development of eight lecturers from three Myanmar universities who visited the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore over a period of three weeks.To bridge the socio-cultural and educational background differences, Gagné’s ‘Nine events of instruction’ was used as a pedagogical framework to guide and evaluate the classroom observation and learning as it is well-established for instructional design and resonate well with educators.This study aimed to evaluate the participants’ abilities and their learning through classroom observation based on their perceptions of the ‘nine events of instruction’.The study found that most of the participants have positive views of their abilities in relation to the ‘nine events’, especially in practicing the early events of instruction. The classroom observation has benefitted them with respect to the ‘nine events’, particularly ‘Informing the Students of the Objective/Outcome’, ‘Stimulating Recall of the Prior Knowledge’ and ‘Presenting Information/Content/Stimulus’.Notably, ‘Assessing Performance’ was the most perceived ‘event of instruction’ that the participants wanted to improve on and that the participants perceived will benefit Myanmar lecturers the most.Qualitative feedbacks by the participants revealed lessons learned, their potential applicability and desires to reform and share.The study further demonstrated that the ‘nine events of instruction’ is a useful pedagogical framework for guiding and evaluating perception of abilities and learning in classroom instruction and observation for continuing professional development in a cross-cultural context.

A New Vision for Professional Development

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 560-565
Author(s):  
Peter M. Eley ◽  
Kelly J. Charles ◽  
Latonya L. Leeks
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Classroom Observation ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Stem Fields ◽  
New Vision ◽  
Meaningful Data

Classroom observation presents evidence that using meaningful data and exciting presentations can help strengthen student interest in STEM fields.

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 Teacher Learning Community and EFL Teacher Professional Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 54-58
Author(s):  
Hongmei Han ◽  
◽  
Jinghua Wang
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Teacher Learning Community

This study explores the impact of teacher learning community on EFL teachers’ professional development. The participants are 17 EFL teachers from Hebei University in China. A year-long study was conducted on these teachers' group leaning activities through participatory observation and in-depth interviews. The preliminary results are as follows: 1) Generally speaking, through conversation, interaction and online peer evaluation in learning community, participant teachers have improved professionally in terms of critical thinking, academic writing, reflective thinking and research awareness; 2) In learning activities of the community, the experienced teachers focused more on the construction of knowledge regarding research methodology, through interaction with others and participation in teaching-based research activities, to reconstruct their knowledge about teaching and research; while the novice teachers placed more emphasis on the reconstruction of knowledge regarding pedagogical theories and the way these theories are applied in teaching practice, through social interaction with other teachers.

scholarly journals Professional development of English language teachers in Malang, Indonesia: Institutional and individual perspectives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anik Nunuk Wulyani
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Ict Skills ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Individual

<p>Two important areas of professional development for teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Indonesia identified in the 2003 Law on National Education System and 2005 Law on Teachers and Lecturers are disciplinary knowledge and ICT skills. The present thesis investigates institutional and individual aspects of EFL teacher professional development (TPD) in Indonesia in relation to the development of these two areas of expertise.  Three studies were carried out. The first study measured Indonesian EFL teachers’ target language (English) proficiency as a core component of their professional knowledge and how it is maintained and developed by the teachers. EFL teachers’ language proficiency in this study was operationalised as their lexical, reading and writing proficiency and measured using the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), IELTS-like reading comprehension test and IELTS-like academic writing test, respectively. The results showed that the teachers’ length of service correlated negatively with their knowledge of academic vocabulary, as well as reading and writing proficiency, indicating issues with the outcomes of the TPD in this area. To triangulate the test results, teacher perceptions data were also gathered using questionnaires and interviews. It was found that the EFL teachers tended to overestimate their own overall English language proficiency.  The second study used a longitudinal blogging activity with the EFL teachers as a form of personal professional development that targeted their English language and ICT skills while reflecting on topics related to their professional (teaching) activities. Qualitative analysis of the blog entries of three EFL teachers suggested that the individual teachers’ blogging, critical reading and reflective writing skills were very uneven. Interviews with nine teachers and 11 educational stakeholders were then conducted to understand their views on blogging as a form of professional development. The results revealed that the perceived obstacles and drawbacks outweighed the perceived benefits of blogging as a form of personal professional development.  The third study examined Indonesian national TPD policy documents, how these policies were translated into local professional development programmes in Malang district. It was found that the needs for EFL teachers to maintain their English proficiency and ICT skills were only partially addressed in TPD policy and implementation. In addition, the interviewed teachers and stakeholders perceived the definitions, goals, administration, evaluation, benefits, and challenges of TPD differently.  Taken as a whole, the present findings show that institutional implementation of TPD policies in Indonesia needs to better target individual EFL teachers’ English proficiency and ICT skills, and that opportunities for better professional development need to be sought at both personal and institutional levels. At the individual level, self-motivation to continue learning is crucial for English language teachers who want to keep up with change and innovation in English language teaching. At the institutional level, needs analyses and environmental analyses are essential in designing programs for maintaining and developing teacher professional competency.</p>

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