scholarly journals The school principal’s role as a leader in teachers’ professional development: the case of public secondary education in Athens

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-474
Author(s):  
Miltiadis Chalikias ◽  
Ioanna Raftopoulou ◽  
Georgios Sidiropoulos ◽  
Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos ◽  
Vassilis Zakopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Secondary Education ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
School Quality ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Principal's Role ◽  
The Public ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

This research aimed to examine the role of leadership in the school environment and leadership’s contribution to the effectiveness of teachers’ professional development in the public secondary education of Athens to improve the learning process and school quality. More specifically, this study highlights the school principal's contribution as a leader in teachers’ professional development. The choice of leadership style (education, administrative, transformational, ethical, participatory, and contingent) positively impacts teachers’ professional development. Data were collected from 180 teachers of the public secondary education of Athens, involving lower secondary schools, upper secondary vocational and general schools, excluding private and other types of schools. SPSS software was used to perform quantitative analysis of the collected data. The results showed no statistically significant correlation between teachers’ gender, skills, characteristics, and abilities. However, it was observed that there is a statistically significant correlation between age, tolerance, and rejection of educational techniques on teaching practice. The evidence from this study confirmed a direct impact of the school principal’s training on teachers’ professional development. Finally, it was concluded that the school principal – the leader should work as a learning manager to lead teachers in professional development and as a learning manager and an inspiration for lifelong learning.

scholarly journals Foreign Language Teachers’ Professional Development through Peer Observation Programme

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Miguel Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Peer Observation ◽  
Good Tool ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Observation Programme

<p>The<strong> </strong>purpose of the research is to explore the development of peer-observation programme for the use of an extension language school in Hong Kong. The research objectives were to explore teachers’ perceptions on a peer observation programme as a means to improve teaching practice, examine how teachers make sense of the peer observation programme after they have taken part in it and to suggest alternative approaches and measures by which schools can improve peer observation programmes in schools.</p><p>Data was collected from six teachers who participated in peer observation programme in Hong Kong through an interview process. The research has found out that peer observation can be a good tool for continuous professional development for teachers in order to develop their teaching strategies. This is especially important within the field of language education. From the analysis, most teachers are wary of the practicalities of peer observation due to the sensitivity that is associated with it. The research also found out that teachers think that if the peer observation approach is well developed, it can be potentially interesting or generate excitement among teachers.</p>

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 Benchmarking of University teachers’ professional development: successful European, Chinese, and Russian practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
pp. 01004
Author(s):  
Tatiana Tregubova
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Effective Practices ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
European Universities ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Higher Education Organizations ◽  
The University

In the context of socio-pedagogical transformations of higher education organizations, the modernization of the system of teachers’ professional development becomes an integral component of the reforms. Today university teachers have to be ready for continuous development and advanced training throughout their lives. Thus, the study of the problem of university teachers’ professional development in Russia and abroad is very relevant and timely as a response to the modern requirements of civil society for the personality of the teacher. The need for professional development among university teachers is closely related to his (her) desire for more successful indicators in teaching activities. To do this, it is necessary to fulfill several pedagogical conditions, including the teacher's own awareness of the need for professional development; the interest of the university administration and the availability of resources to organize an effective professional development system, etc. The purpose of the article is to show some successful practices of the teachers’ professional development in Russian, Chinese and European universities which the author observed while visiting those universities within the realization the project “Enhancing teaching practice in the universities of Russia and China”. The article presents the possibilities of benchmarking in higher education, in particular, the use of the benchmarking technology as a method of studying the effective practices of organizing the teachers’ professional development in a modern university.

scholarly journals Examining factors affecting beginning teachers’ transfer of learning of ICT-enhanced learning activities in their teaching practice

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas D. Agyei ◽  
Joke Voogt
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Transfer Of Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Professional Development Program ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Enhanced Activity

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> <p>This study examined 100 beginning teachers’ transfer of learning when utilising Information Communication Technology-enhanced activity-based learning activities. The beginning teachers had participated in a professional development program that was characterised by ‘learning technology by collaborative design’ in their final year of their pre-service preparation program.  Transfer of learning was proposed as characteristic of (i) the professional development program,(ii) beginning teachers and (iii) school environment. Beginning teachers held positive views about active learning and ICT use developed during the professional development program, which seemed the strongest predictor in transfer of their learning. The study also showed that a significant amount of explained differences in the level of transfer of ICT-enhanced activity-based learning innovation could be attributed to range of factors across individual beginning teachers and school environment characteristics. Implications of these findings are discussed.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 28.1pt 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="NL"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></p> </span>

scholarly journals Quality Teaching: Evaluating Teachers’ Professional Code of Conduct and Practices

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Muhammad Shakir ◽  
Muhammad Aslam Adeeb
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Professional Standards ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Professional Code ◽  
Punjab Province ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

The study aimed to assess teachers’ professional development and code of conduct based on national professional standards in Pakistan. The main objectives of the study were (a) to evaluate teachers’ professional development and code of conduct based on national professional standards in Pakistan (b) to categorize teachers’ professional competencies based on five levels define in rubrics and (c) to recommend appropriate professional code of conduct and professional standards for global teacher.  The population of the study was consisted of all the secondary school teachers of Punjab Province. To conduct the observational survey of this research, a sample of 453 participants from Punjab province was selected to observe the teachers in field directly. The collected data through observational check list was analyzed with the help of software SPSS by using statistical formulas of chi-square, simple mean and percentage. The analysis of various levels shows that 38.4% teachers occasionally understand how teaching practices can be innovative while only 36.2% secondary school teachers know the importance of teaching practice. It is concluded that more than half of the teachers were having poor knowledge about professional code of conduct; they did not now even the importance of teaching practice. Majority of the teachers seems incompetent in applying action research during the classroom. Study suggested that there is need to set career development direction through certificates, degrees, and career ladders, linked to compensation adequate with experience and qualifications. These achievements have to be adequately compensated financially, based on achievement and experience.

scholarly journals Reflective Practice: its Contributions for Initial Pre-service Teachers and Further Teachers’ Professional Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-116
Author(s):  
Muhamad Ahsanu
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Research Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teaching Quality ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Library Research ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

This article deals with the notion of reflective practice (RP) and how it may contribute to the professional development in teacher education programs especially for pre-service teachers and in-service teachers within the context of Indonesia. It aims to explore and explain the stance and features of RP and how it can serve to help both pre-service and in-service teachers improve their teaching quality and develop their teaching professionalism, especially those involved in English language teaching (ELT). This article examines the feasibility of this concept to be applied in Indonesian pedagogical contexts. Being widely accepted as an empowering teaching mode practice in most parts of the world, this RP plays a central role in triggering teachers' professional development, leading the teachers to be self-learning, autonomous learning, self-evaluating, and problem-solving-oriented practitioners. The research method used in this article is library research, through which the standpoint and characteristics of RP are explored and disclosed, and RP's potential can be maximized systematically. This library research method is realized based on the five research problems posed in this article. The same data on RP were extracted from research articles and textbooks on RP. The main findings suggest such aspects as the conceptualization of RP, defining features of RP practitioners, benefits teachers can gain from RP, and potential contributions of RP for both pre-service and in-service teachers' teaching competence and continual professional development. Hence, this RP article potentially provides a meaningful paradigm for language teachers and enriches their pedagogical repertoire.  Thus, this article brings about two important notes. First, it theoretically portrays how RP can meaningfully affect the efficacy of ELT practice in Indonesia. Secondly, it fundamentally sets out RP conceptualization as the basis for professional teaching practice through continuous learning and development. That is, learning to develop through a critical self-evaluation of teachers' teaching practice

Exploring teachers’ professional development through participation in virtual exchange

ReCALL ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Robert O’Dowd ◽  
Melinda Dooly
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Methodological Innovation ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Virtual exchange (VE) is an umbrella term used to refer to the engagement of groups of students in sustained online intercultural interaction and collaboration with international partners under the guidance of their teachers. In the computer-assisted language learning literature, telecollaboration and eTandem approaches to VE have been researched extensively. However, this research has principally focused to date on learner gains and the impact on teachers has been much less explored. This paper identifies the impact of VE on foreign language teachers’ practices and their professional development by examining the results of a qualitative study of 31 teacher trainers who engaged their classes in VE projects as part of a large-scale European project. The findings of the study suggest that participation in VE projects provides teachers with valuable experience in continued professional development and methodological innovation. In particular, VE was seen to open up opportunities for teachers to develop new professional partnerships, collaborative academic initiatives, to develop their own online collaboration skills, and also to introduce more innovative approaches in their current teaching practice.

scholarly journals Critical Reflection in the Professional Development of Teachers: Challenges and Possibilities

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-85
Author(s):  
Marjeta Šarić ◽  
Barbara Šteh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Personal Traits ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Support Students

Critical reflection in teachers’ professional development has received much attention in the scholarly literature, and there is an overwhelming consensus about its great significance to the quality of teachers’ work. Nevertheless, despite the well-established role of reflection, a large gap between the professed goals and the actual reflective practice of teachers remains. The article starts with a short overview of the different definitions of critical reflection in the context of teachers’ professional development and then underlines some empirical research findings on the problems that teachers and teacher educators face when putting reflective practice into practice, especially at the deeper and more complex levels of reflection. It continues with a consideration of teachers’ qualifications for in-depth reflection as well as the obstacles and challenges facing teachers and teacher educators. The obstacles occur at the level of individual teachers’ personal traits and at the level of the context in which reflection is done. Employing an analysis of the obstacles, the authors develop some guidelines on how to support teachers in their attempts at making critical reflection part of their teaching practice. It is crucial for this encouragement not to overlook the principal purpose of teachers’ critical reflection; to contribute to new insights, knowledge reframing, and the introduction of such changes in teaching that will support students’ learning and the development of the community for the better learning, work, and life of all its individuals.

scholarly journals Pedagogical opportunities to improve training system on the basis of advanced foreign experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 172-177
Author(s):  
A.J.Turekeeva
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
System Development ◽  
Training System ◽  
General Direction ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Modernization Process ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

The article describes the current stage organizing methods’ study of education system development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, intensification and the modernization process general direction, professional development of the public education system staff, foreign and domestic technologies experience and teachers’ professional development in the additional vocational education system in accordance with the theoretical literature the need to improve the continuous vocational education system, as well as vocational education programs in general, technology, teaching methods and forms’ development and modernization for adults.

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