scholarly journals Samoan Educators' Perceptions and Experiences of In-service Training in Implementing Curriculum Reform

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Maimoana Janine Petaia
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
National Level ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Study Data ◽  
School Level ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Service Training

<p>This research study was undertaken in Samoa, a self-governing island nation in the Pacific. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of in-service training in implementing new curriculum reforms for senior history. This study sought to identify the barriers and facilitators of in-service training (INSET) workshops so that planning for future workshops can better equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to implement a curriculum. It also sought to obtain educators' views and understanding on any professional development policies. This study adopted an interpretive phenomenology methodology using a case study approach. Purposeful sampling was used to select the history teachers and Ministry of Education personnel for the study. Data was collected through the use of in-depth, semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that although the teachers found the INSET to be effective, there were several barriers that prevented teachers from fully implementing the training into classroom practice. One of the notable barriers was the lack of support offered to teachers from principals and heads of departments in the critical stages of implementation. Another notable barrier, both at the school level and national level, was the lack of monitoring and evaluation of the in-service training. Teachers felt that there needed to be continuous and consistent monitoring and evaluation carried out by principals and Ministry of Education staff to ensure that the programme was being implemented effectively within the classrooms. The lack of monitoring and evaluation resulted in teachers reverting to traditional styles of teaching and learning. Another notable barrier was teacher quality. The success of any reform programme is heavily dependent on teachers and their willingness to fully and effectively implement a programme. This study found that teachers' lack of interest and motivation resulted in the curriculum not being implemented effectively into classroom practice. In trying to minimise the various problems and difficulties of centrally-planned INSET and professional development activities, the local policy on teacher training is a shift towards school-based training. This study found that teacher's professional development was more effective and relevant if it focused on developing their training needs within their own environments.</p>

scholarly journals Samoan Educators' Perceptions and Experiences of In-service Training in Implementing Curriculum Reform

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Maimoana Janine Petaia
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
National Level ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Study Data ◽  
School Level ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Service Training

<p>This research study was undertaken in Samoa, a self-governing island nation in the Pacific. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of in-service training in implementing new curriculum reforms for senior history. This study sought to identify the barriers and facilitators of in-service training (INSET) workshops so that planning for future workshops can better equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to implement a curriculum. It also sought to obtain educators' views and understanding on any professional development policies. This study adopted an interpretive phenomenology methodology using a case study approach. Purposeful sampling was used to select the history teachers and Ministry of Education personnel for the study. Data was collected through the use of in-depth, semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that although the teachers found the INSET to be effective, there were several barriers that prevented teachers from fully implementing the training into classroom practice. One of the notable barriers was the lack of support offered to teachers from principals and heads of departments in the critical stages of implementation. Another notable barrier, both at the school level and national level, was the lack of monitoring and evaluation of the in-service training. Teachers felt that there needed to be continuous and consistent monitoring and evaluation carried out by principals and Ministry of Education staff to ensure that the programme was being implemented effectively within the classrooms. The lack of monitoring and evaluation resulted in teachers reverting to traditional styles of teaching and learning. Another notable barrier was teacher quality. The success of any reform programme is heavily dependent on teachers and their willingness to fully and effectively implement a programme. This study found that teachers' lack of interest and motivation resulted in the curriculum not being implemented effectively into classroom practice. In trying to minimise the various problems and difficulties of centrally-planned INSET and professional development activities, the local policy on teacher training is a shift towards school-based training. This study found that teacher's professional development was more effective and relevant if it focused on developing their training needs within their own environments.</p>

scholarly journals Hastening slowly: insights about teacher development from an evaluation of courses at the WCED’s Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Meyer ◽  
Lydia Abel
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Level ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Leadership Institute ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
The Impact

In the area of teacher professional development, South African education administrators face the challenge of reconciling two imperatives that have entirely different implications for programme time frames and budgets. On the one hand, there is an urgent need to improve the pedagogic content knowledge of many teachers to improve the overall standard of teaching and learning in the public school system. Considering the scale and urgency of the matter, centralised course-based in-service training seems to be the only affordable alternative. On the other hand, researchers have long warned that once-off course-based training on its own has limited impact on teachers’ practice, and has to be accompanied by further professional support in the school and classroom, or be abandoned in favour of more enduring professional learning communities. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has grappled with this dilemma in the Department’s various professional development initiatives for teachers, a mainstay of which is the training offered by the Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute (CTLI). This paper presents some of the data and findings from an external evaluation that ORT SA CAPE conducted in 2011–2012 of courses offered by the WCED at the CTLI. The hierarchy of INSET outcomes proposed by Harland and Kinder (1997) was applied to record changes in the practice of 18 teachers at eight schools. The progress of five of the teachers is discussed to illustrate the interplay between school-level factors and the experiences of individual teachers which influenced the impact of CTLI training on their teaching.

scholarly journals Effects of Teacher Participation in in-service Training on Achievement in Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination in Kirinyaga County, Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Damaris Kariuki ◽  
Florence Itegi ◽  
Norbert Ogeta
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Teacher Participation ◽  
School Level ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Teacher Professional

Teacher Professional Development is a key component of educational reforms across the world due to its effects on teacher effectiveness and learner outcomes. Teachers engage in different professional development programs to improve learner achievements. However, the effects of teacher participation in in-service courses on learners’ achievement have come under scrutiny due to persistent low learning outcomes. The study adopted convergent parallel mixed methods approach design. A sample of 194 teachers in 68 public and private primary schools was selected using stratified random and purposive sampling. Data collection instruments were questionnaires and focus group discussion guide. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study established that teacher participation in formal training programs had statistically insignificant effects on Kenya Certificate of Primary Examination achievement indicating that other factors like individualized attention to learners, prompt marking and revision of tests as well as supervision of teaching and learning contributed greatly. The in-service courses were found to be short term and infrequent. The study recommends engagement of teachers in continuous and frequent professional development activities and establishment of school infrastructure to support daily collaborative teacher professional development activities at the school level.

scholarly journals PERCEPTIONS OF MRSM ENGLISH TEACHERS ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR EXPECTATIONS ON IN-SERVICE TRAINING

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (42) ◽  
pp. 155-167
Author(s):  
Faizahani Ab Rahman ◽  
Nurul Afrahah Hussin ◽  
Sutha Sugumaran
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Question ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Training And Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Group Methods ◽  
Service Training

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.

scholarly journals Identifying Levers Related to Student Performance on High-Stakes Science Exams: Examining School, Teaching, Teacher, and Professional Development Characteristics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fischer ◽  
Brandon Foster ◽  
Ayana McCoy ◽  
Frances Lawrenz ◽  
Christopher Dede ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Level ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Reform Implementation ◽  
School Teaching

Background: Many students enter into postsecondary education without the college readiness skills that allow them to face the demands of postsecondary education. Increasingly, policymakers and educational researchers are responding to calls for reforming secondary education to provide more opportunity for all students to receive high quality education and to become career and college ready. Purpose: This study attempts to identify levers to increase student performance in secondary education. In particular, it examines relationships of school, teaching, teacher, and teacher professional development characteristics with student scores on high-stakes Advanced Placement (AP) examinations in the sciences.Setting: This study is situated in the context of the large-scale, top-down, nationwide AP curriculum and examination reform in the sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) in the United States. This is an unprecedented opportunity to analyze changing educational landscapes in the United States with large-scale national student-, teacher-, school-, and district-level data sets across multiple science disciplines and different stages of the curriculum reform implementation connected to a standardized and high-stakes student outcome measure.Population: This study analyzes nationwide data samples of the AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics population during the first, second, and third year of the curriculum reform implementation. Across disciplines and years, the analytical samples include a total of 113,603 students and 6,046 teachers. Research design: This empirical quantitative study uses data from web-based surveys sent to all AP science teachers. Additionally, College Board provided student- and school-level data for all students taking AP examinations. Data preparation methods included exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Associations towards student achievement were analyzed through multi-level ordered logistic regression analysis separately by science discipline and year of the curriculum reform implementation. Afterwards, the results were aggregated through a meta-analysis. Findings: Student performance is not pre-determined by students’ background, leaving roughly 60% of the AP score variance potentially malleable for teacher and school-level factors. In particular, teachers’ perceived administrative support, self-efficacy, teaching experience, and elements of classroom instruction were related to student performance. Notably, teachers’ professional development participation has a small, mixed impact on student achievement. Conclusion: The identified levers for improving student achievement provide a strong rationale for the continued efforts of policy makers to improve school environments and to support science teachers to ultimately both increase student learning and help all students graduate prepared for college and ready for their future careers.

scholarly journals Discovering Writing Difficulties of Malay ESL Primary School Level Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-39
Author(s):  
Nurul Jannah Ahmad Ghulamuddin ◽  
Siti Khadijah Mohd Mohari ◽  
Kamisah Ariffin
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Study Data ◽  
School Level ◽  
Writing Difficulties ◽  
Interview Session ◽  
Primary School Level

Writing is perceived to be one of the most difficult skills for English language learners to master. Although studies on challenges faced by ESL students in writing are replete, most of them have focused on students at secondary and tertiary levels of education. Studies on learners at lower level have been scarce. Thus, this paper aims to fill the gap by examining the major problems faced by ESL primary school level students in writing in English. Survey and interview sessions were conducted to fit the purpose of the study. Data were collected from a class of 26 students from Year/Standard 6 of the primary school level in Malaysia and an interview session with the English teacher of that particular class. The findings indicate that the major difficulties charted are rooted in the students’ poor mastery in vocabulary, inability to spell words correctly and L1 interference. Thus, in order to enhance the students’ skills in writing in English, the teacher implemented some remedial measures during the teaching and learning sessions. The findings have essential pedagogical implications on understanding students’ struggle to write in English at the lower level of education.

scholarly journals INITIAL AND IN-SERVICE TRAINING FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TO IMPLEMENT PROJECT-BASED LEARNING (PBL)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana María Ortiz-Colón ◽  
◽  
Rafael Castellano-Almagro ◽  
Javier Rodríguez-Moreno ◽  
Miriam Agreda Montoro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Project Based Learning ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Ongoing Training ◽  
The People ◽  
Service Training ◽  
University Training

The continuous evolution of technology, the gradual abandonment of the industrial society and the increasingly standardised inclusion of emerging methodologies in the teaching and learning processes have a significant impact on the quality and way of life of the people involved in them, making it necessary to integrate them in detail into the education system itself through initial and ongoing teacher training. This paper reflects on the initial university training that new Secondary Education teachers receive on new methodologies, specifically Project Based Learning (PBL), as well as the ongoing training that current teachers at this educational stage receive for their integration and incorporation as valid methodological systems for their daily classroom practice. Thus, through an in-depth review of the scientific literature on the subject and our experience as active teachers in the “Master's Degree in Teaching Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Language Teaching” at the University of Jaen (Spain), we have addressed these issues, determining that the quality of the pedagogical training of new teachers does not correspond to the reality that they will later face in the classroom, In addition, the in-service training that in-service Secondary teachers receive depends on the intrinsic motivations of the teachers or the manifest resources and legal requirements at the time and not so much on the real needs that the students in the context may require.

scholarly journals Trajectories of Teachers’ Perceived Curriculum Coherence in the Context of Finnish Core Curriculum Reform

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-49
Author(s):  
Jenni Sullanmaa ◽  
Kirsi Pyhältö ◽  
Tiina Soini ◽  
Janne Pietarinen
Keyword(s):  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Core Curriculum ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Profile Analysis ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
School Level ◽  
One Year

Teachers play a key role in transforming the national curriculum reform into classroom practice. This study explored individual variation in Finnish teachers’ (N = 901) perceptions of curriculum coherence during a one-year follow-up during the early stages of its implementation in schools. Latent profile analysis revealed five distinctive profiles. The development of perceived curriculum coherence over the two measurements and the perceived school-level impact of the reform differed between the profiles. The results imply that teachers may need various kinds of support to arrive at a coherent understanding of the curriculum over the process of its development and implementation.

What sustains the novice Malaysian teacher of English: a case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 585-597
Author(s):  
Ida Fatimawati Adi Badiozaman
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
Service Training

Purpose The study explores how a novice English teacher’s motivation is sustained as she navigates a range of complex educational contexts in her teaching career. Through the lens of self-concept, the purpose of this paper is to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of this construct when navigating the challenges often faced in the early stages of the teaching profession. Design/methodology/approach In this case study, data were drawn primarily from a series of interviews with one English teacher over the course of three years. Teaching materials, together with teaching evaluations, were used to compare and validate the information obtained during the interview. Findings Despite the challenges faced in each new teaching context, the teacher’s motivation and commitment to the profession were driven and sustained by the high integration of personal goals with one’s self, goal fusion. Furthermore, an inherently strong drive to minimise the discrepancy between her current self and her ideal future self, helped the novice teacher navigate each new setting and its respective demands. Practical implications English teachers need specific support and professional development that goes beyond pre-service education into in-service training. It is important that continuous professional development be undertaken to allow opportunities for the conception of reflective practice and reflective practitioners. Originality/value Self-concept is not only a means of self-evaluation, but also a key driver for goal-relevant cognitions and behaviours effective for teaching practice.

Adding the “Digital Layer”

2013 ◽  
pp. 345-357
Author(s):  
Troy Hicks
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Summer Institute ◽  
Digital Writing ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Writing Project

Opportunities for teachers to engage in professional development that leads to substantive change in their instructional practice are few, yet the National Writing Project (NWP) provides one such “transformational” experience through their summer institutes (Whitney, 2008). Also, despite recent moves in the field of English education to integrate digital writing into teacher education and K-12 schools (NWP, et al., 2010), professional development models that support teachers’ “technological pedagogical content knowledge” (Mishra & Koehler, 2008) related to teaching digital writing are few. This case study documents the experience of one teacher who participated in an NWP summer institute with the author, himself a teacher educator and site director interested in technology and writing. Relying on evidence from her 2010 summer experience, subsequent work with the writing project, and an interview from the winter of 2013, the author argues that an integrative, immersive model of teaching and learning digital writing in the summer institute led to substantive changes in her classroom practice and work as a teacher leader. Implications for teacher educators, researchers, and educational policy are discussed.

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