scholarly journals Portfolio as a Tool for Self- Reflection and Professional Development for Pre-Service Teachers

Author(s):  
Arlinda Beka ◽  
Ganimete Kulinxha

Self-reflections, especially those done through the usage of portfolios, are an essential component of teaching. Portfolio reflections allow pre-service teachers to set professional goals. This research was conducted using qualitative methodology, and all semi-structured interviews were organised with students and graduates from the Early Childhood Department-Faculty of Education, University of Prishtina. The research results show that a portfolio provides future teachers with the opportunity to organise their work better while enabling cooperation between pre-service teachers, which ergo, directly affects their professional competencies. Owing to its benefits, portfolio should be integrated by the Faculty of Education of the University of Prishtina as an integral part of its work with students.

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-83
Author(s):  
Brett Williams ◽  
◽  
Bronwyn Beovich ◽  

Background: The use of casual staff within the university undergraduate educational setting is a widespread phenomenon worldwide. However a lack of understanding exists regarding experiences of recruitment, support, professional development and other perceived professional needs in this area. Although previous studies of the experience of sessional educators have been reported in the literature, this is the first to describe experiences within the paramedic discipline. Objectives: To explore the experiences of sessional educators in an undergraduate program within the paramedic department of a university in Melbourne, Australia. Methods: A qualitative methodology was used that involved 10 semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of sessional paramedic educators. Data collected from the interviews were thematically analysed to identify major issues from interview transcripts. The study was conducted in the paramedic department of a major university located in an outer metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. Results: Interview analysis identified five key themes of the sessional paramedic educator experience: informal processes, program inconsistencies, preparation for teaching, connection and support, and, educator benefits. Conclusion: This study fills a gap in the literature by describing the experiences of paramedic sessional educators, which was previously unreported. Many of the experiences expressed were commonly reported in the literature from other disciplines. Although the experiences was generally described as positive, the study identified a need for targeted support of these individuals, including formalisation of employment procedures, encouraging the open and timely transmission of information, as well as provisions for performance feedback and professional development.


Author(s):  
María Luisa García Rodríguez ◽  
Natalia Paíno Sánchez

Durante a permanência em dois centros educativos para cursar as disciplinas de formação básica Prática I e Prática II, do Mestrado em Educação Infantil da Universidade de Salamanca (Espanha), observaram-se desconsiderações, por parte das famílias, em relação às advertências das professoras. Coloca-se, assim, a conveniência de abordar o estudo das relações escola-família com o objetivo de contribuir para sua otimização. A indagação é abordada mediante a metodologia qualitativa, avaliada como a mais oportuna pela sua flexibilidade e sua grande riqueza de resultados. Coletaram-se os dados mediante entrevistas com professores/professoras e as famílias dos alunos entre 3 a 6 anos, de Salamanca e de Cáceres. Tal aproximação da realidade permitiu conhecer as sensações e vivências das pessoas entrevistadas. Mediante uma profunda análise da informação encontrada, chegamos a conclusões notáveis. Há coincidências em reconhecer que existem barreiras e um certo desencontro. Também se oferecem soluções para alcançar a harmonia e a coordenação entre ambas as instituições educadoras.Palavras-chave: Relações escola-família. Coordenação. Análise das soluções. Harmonia.AbstractDuring the stay in two Educational Centers to study the subjects Practicum I and Practicum II of the Early Childhood Education Degree at the University of Salamanca, thoughtlessness manners from the families to the warnings from the teacher are being observed. That way, it’s convenient to arise a study of the relationships between the School and the Families to contribute their improvement. The research has addresses through a qualitative Methodology. That Methodology is valued as the most accurate because of its wealthy results. Data was collected from different interviews with teachers, and 3-6 years-old students’ parents from Salamanca and Cáceres. The proximity to their reality allowed to know the feelings and experiences of the people interviewed. The conclusions arrived after a deep analysis of that information were coincident and remarkable. There is a recognized barrier in the relationships. There are also solutions to get the harmony and the coordination within both educational institutions.Keywords: Relationships between school and families. Coordination. Solution analysis. HarmonyResumenDurante la estancia en dos centros educativos para cursar las asignaturas de formación básica Prácticum I y Prácticum II de la titulación de Grado en Maestro de Educación Infantil de la Universidad de Salamanca (España), se observan desconsideraciones por parte de las familias hacia las advertencias de las maestras. Se plantea así la conveniencia de abordar el estudio de las relaciones Escuela-Familia con el objetivo de contribuir a su optimización. La indagación se aborda mediante metodología cualitativa. Se valora como la más oportuna por su flexibilidad y su gran riqueza de resultados. Se recogieron los datos mediante entrevistas a maestros/as y familias de alumnado de 3 a 6 años de Salamanca y de Cáceres. Dicha aproximación a la realidad permitió conocer las sensaciones y vivencias de las personas entrevistadas. Tras un profundo análisis de la información hallada se llegó a notables conclusiones. Se dan coincidencias en reconocer que existen barreras y cierto desencuentro. También se ofrecen soluciones para alcanzar la armonía y coordinación entre ambas instituciones educadoras.Palabras clave: Relaciones escuela-familia. Coordinación. Analise de las soluciones. Armonía.


Author(s):  
Theressa Madzingesu Zengeya ◽  
◽  
Gregory Alexander ◽  
Desiree Pearl Larey ◽  
◽  
...  

The aim of the study was to examine the contribution of talent management practices at the National University of Lesotho in the retention of talented academics. The university has immense competition within the local, regional and international labour market. It isthreatened by high mobility and low retention of highly qualified staff, which has affected the quality of learning, especially postgraduate programmes. The study employed Bourdieu’s social theory and Adam’s theory of equity as a theoretical lens to understand talent management practices to retain talented academics. Bourdieu’s theory was used to offer insight on the various forms of capital, and how the capitals could be instrumental in the design and implementation of talent management practices in order to increase retention of talent in universities. In this study ‘talent’ is used to refer to holders of doctorates, associate professors and professors or researchers of new information and theories and inventors of new technology with great potential to make a significant impact on the university’s productivity. A literature review was undertaken to examine how the social theory of Bourdieu, particularly the conversion of different kinds of capital (symbolic capital) are used by the university to recognise the value of talented academics in order to retain these academics. Following a qualitative methodology and purposive sampling, data was generated through semi-structured interviews and document analysis to advance a critical and interpretive understanding of the perspectives of talent management from both management and talented academics in the university. Thematic analysis was used to synthesise the data. The data from fourteen (14) participants composed of management and academics revealed that, though the university is implementing talent management practices, it does not have an official and structured talent management program, which is imperative in retaining academics. This study concludes by advocating the design and implementation of a formal, contextual and structured talent management framework, in consultation with all key stakeholders, in order to increase retention of talent academics in the National University of Lesotho.


TEM Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 724-731

This research aimed to present the learning styles according to the model of Alonso, Gallego and Honey in university students of the Faculty of Education within the University of the Basque Country (Spain). With that objective, a sample of 434 students was chosen. The Honey-Alonso Learning Styles (CHAEA) questionnaire was used. The data obtained reflect that the four learning styles proposed by Kolb are distributed in a balanced way among the participating sample; they also reflect that it is not possible to attribute a specific learning style to a specific Degree, except with active learning and Early Childhood Education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (35) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Ramírez Casalvolone

This study proposes an innovative approach for English professors who lack the time to engage in professional development (PD) programs, believe such programs are conducted in a decontextualized manner, or regard them as too expensive. Based on a qualitative case study performed from January to September 2018, this study addresses the following question: How can team teaching promote PD for mid-career English as a foreign language university professors? It investigates the types of PD that emerged when two English professors at the University of Costa Rica engaged in synergistic team teaching. Theparticipants team taught a course for students newly admitted into the English-teaching major. In this study, synergistic team teaching is understood as a method in which two professors share classroom space and teaching practices and engage in planning discussions together. To understand what the participants learned when practicing team teaching, data were collected through semi-structured interviews and coded following Creswell and Poth’s (2018) data analysis spiral. The coding was developed in light of the conceptualization of PD developed by Guskey (2002), Sparks (2002), and Johnson (2006). Accordingly, thisstudy identifies instances (during the interview or during the classroom observation) that can be interpreted as change of the classroom practices, change in the attitudes and beliefs of the professors (Guskey, 2002), continuous improvement of teaching and learning (Sparks, 2002), and teacher’s knowledge transformed into practice (Johnson, 2006). This study shows how team teaching offers professors a community of practice in which they can share, discuss, and implement new teaching knowledge. Through team teaching, teachers receive PD benefits that match their classroom context perfectly, enabling them to engage in authentic, fully contextualized learning opportunities.


Author(s):  
Marijana Zupanic Benic

The term ‘competences’ in this paper refers to a combination of knowledge, skills and abilities that students gain through initial teacher education and use for effective teaching in early childhood and pre-school settings. Activities in visual arts and music are important aspects of early childhood education, because they facilitate emotional, cognitive, social and psychomotor development. The role of educators is to provide children with a supportive environment where they can express themselves artistically and develop a certain level of competence in the arts; hence the purpose of this study was to measure and evaluate teaching competences of preschool education students in arts. We present the outcomes of a research on students in the third year of preschool education at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Education and at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Education who were self-assessment for their competences from the point of view of artisticdidactic contents. Keywords: Preschool education, competences, fine arts, music.


Author(s):  
Xiaoquan Pan ◽  
Zhengdong Gan

This study explored how 26 Chinese EFL teachers perceived community-based, technology-supported professional development practices. The methods of data collection in this study blend quantitative and qualitative techniques: 1) questionnaire survey of teachers' satisfaction about community-based technology-supported professional development practices; 2) online teacher discussion postings; 3) teacher self-reflection journals; and 4) semi-structured interviews. Data analysis revealed a generally positive attitude and empowering feelings in these Chinese EFL teachers who viewed technology-facilitated practices as affording constructive functions for their professional development. Results also revealed a range of factors that apparently mediated/limited EFL teachers' participation in the professional development activities. This study thus contributes to the understanding of the reality in relation to actual utilization of technological resources in second-language teacher development in the context of a developing country such as China.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-116
Author(s):  
Francka Lovšin Kozina

This paper presents the results of a study conducted among pre-service home economics teachers from the Faculty of Education of the University of Ljubljana with different levels of practical experience in teaching. The pre-service Home Economics teachers in the 3rd year of their studies had just completed their first class of teaching experience in contrast to thepre-service teachers from the 4th year of their faculty studies, who had conducted more teaching lessons. The results showed that the 4th-year pre-service teachers had fewer doubts and problems concerning the planning and conducting of a lesson. They also statistically significantly agreed that they are sufficiently prepared to teach than the 3rd-year pre-serviceteachers are. The results showed that the majority of the pre-service teachers agreed that the feedback from their colleagues was helpful for their professional development. The results suggest the importance of practical teaching experience in the context of professional development and the intention to continue a career in education. However, the results alsorevealed some critical points in the teacher’s development of competency. The results suggest problems related to the application of theoretical knowledge on the children’s development in practice and problems related to classroom management in specific situations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 117-132
Author(s):  
Yu Hong ◽  
Arnida Abdullah ◽  
Soaib Asimiran ◽  
Mohd Mokhtar Muhamad

Novice lecturer professional development is regarded as a continuous process that begins during pre-service lecturer training and continues throughout the academic career. It is focused on enabling and empowering lecturers by improving their professional confidence, teaching skills, and classroom management. The purpose of this paper is to explore the professional development practices of novice lecturers and to comprehend their situation and feelings about these practices at a public university in China. Using a qualitative case study, five novice lecturers were selected to participate in this study. Relevant programs and activities on professional development are analyzed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the perceptions of novice lecturers. Another data collection method was documentation. The findings indicate that the professional development practices of novice lecturers in this selected university were done by organizing lecturer teaching competitions, teaching ability training, establishing the mentorship system, information technology application ability training. Novice lecturers are generally satisfied with the implementation of these programs and activities and hope that the university could provide more opportunities to help them grow quickly.


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