scholarly journals Investigating Teachers’ Perceptions of the Influence of Professional Development on Teachers’ Performance and Career Progression

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nesrin Tantawy
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Career Progression ◽  
Career Stage ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Personal Qualities ◽  
Performance Teachers ◽  
The Impact

Understanding a process is the key to maximizing the outcomes of such a process; teachers’ professional development (PD) can be further facilitated through fully apprehending the process by which they grow professionally and the factors that contribute to such growth. In this study, the author intends to explore the relationship between a school environment and teachers’ readiness for PD as well as how they perceive of the impact of PD on their professional and personal qualities, students’ performance, teachers’ career progression, and commitment to the job and workplace. The author administered semi-structured interviews with three English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers who are in their mid-career stage and work for private, American curriculum-based schools in Dubai. The results show that all three interviewees admit the positive influence of PD on their professional performance, personal qualities, students’ outcomes, career progression and commitment to the profession. How a progressive school culture would impact teachers’ inclination towards PD has also been brought to attention by the interviewees as a critical aspect. As potential areas of research on PD, it is recommended that students’ academic performance is to be looked into closely through examining their assessment results in order to muster tangible evidence on the significance of teachers’ PD. Also, a conversation analysis of classroom discourse following a number of classroom observations of teachers in different career stages would be another informative research method to investigate the impact of PD on teachers’ performance and on classroom dynamics.

Enhancing EFL Teachers’ Pronunciation Pedagogy Through Professional Learning: A Vietnamese Case Study

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368822095247
Author(s):  
Loc Tan Nguyen ◽  
Jonathan Newton
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teaching Skills ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The Impact

The role of teacher professional learning (TPL) in assisting teachers to teach pronunciation in English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts has received little attention. The study reported in this paper extends this line of research by investigating how six EFL teachers at a Vietnamese university transform and integrate the pronunciation pedagogical knowledge they received from a TPL workshop into teaching practice. It then examines the teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the workshop on their knowledge gains and pronunciation teaching skills. Data were collected from seven lesson plans designed by the teachers, video recordings of 24 subsequent classroom observations, and six individual semi-structured interviews. The study adopted a content-based approach to qualitative data analysis. The findings show that the teachers were all able to translate TPL into classroom practice of pronunciation teaching. The findings further show that workshops designed and implemented in accordance with research-based TPL principles can be effective for promoting teachers’ knowledge of pronunciation pedagogy and refining their pronunciation teaching skills. The study has implications for ESL/EFL teachers’ professional development in pronunciation teaching.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perceptions of the Impact of Professional Development on Learning and Teaching in a Developing Nation

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (11) ◽  
pp. 18-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parmeshwar Mohan ◽  
◽  
Govinda Lingam ◽  
Deepa Chand ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Developing Nation ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
The Impact

The Changing Role of the Teacher in ICT-Supported Foreign Language Instruction

2020 ◽  
pp. 333-349
Author(s):  
Saša Podgoršek
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Foreign Language Instruction ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
The Impact

This chapter aims to explore the teacher´s role in foreign language instruction (FLI) supported by information and communication technology (ICT). The recent research on the impact of ICT on the teacher´s role in FLI indicates changes in the role of the teacher. However, there has been little empirical evidence on the nature of this change in foreign language classes. To fill this research gap, a multiple-case study of three teachers and 78 students in three secondary school classes in Slovenia was conducted. This chapter presents an in-depth analysis of sections of semi-structured interviews and class observations exploring the five categories of change of the teacher role identified by Podgoršek. The findings confirm these categories in general, but they also show which sub-categories of change are hard to achieve in real school environment.

The influence of aesthetic investments on employees

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rune Bjerke ◽  
Nicholas Ind
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mobile Operator ◽  
Art Design ◽  
Corporate Art ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore new constructs related to organizations, art and physical environment. Further, an intention was to explain and discuss whether investments in the physical environment in the form of art, design and architecture do have an effect on employees. Design/methodology/approach – To conclude whether aesthetics had an impact on employees in terms of job satisfaction, motivation and their self-perception of their own ability to provide customer service, the authors undertook a quantitative study of 222 employees in seven companies. The authors subsequently commenced five in-depth, semi-structured interviews with four accessible corporate art buyers and one curator to identify the main motivations for purchasing art and placing it in the work place. Findings – With regard to perceptions of art, design and architecture, the physical environment is perceived as a whole and seems to play a significant role in organizational life for employees in companies that have invested in art. The research implies, however, that the companies that invested in art, design and architecture, despite the positive influence on employees’ self-perceived service ability, did not accumulate benefits on service ability relative to employees in companies without art. Practical implications – Managers should cautiously reflect on their motivations for investing in art, design and architecture. Useful motivations might include projecting a desired external image or decoration or expressing connection to a community. Investing in art, design and architecture independent of what the organization is trying to do strategically will create cosmetic solutions that lack any wider purpose. Originality/value – Despite increased corporate interest in aesthetics, little research has been done to determine the effect on employees. The research shortage may be due to the challenge of understanding the meaning of the visible expressions. This paper is a contribution to strengthen the knowledge of the impact of workspace aesthetics on employees (the authors subsequently undertook five in-depth, semi-structured interviews with four accessible corporate art buyers at Storebrand (insurance and banking corporation), Telenor (mobile operator), Hydro (aluminium company), Nordic Choice Hotels and one curator).

The Impact of Teacher Education on In-service English Teachers’ Beliefs about Self

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziwei Xiong
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Junior High School ◽  
Belief Change ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Teacher Belief ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
High School English ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Rich Data ◽  
The Impact

This was a qualitative study carried out in the context of 2013 National Teacher Training Program for Junior High School English Teachers in Chongqing China, intending to reveal the impact of the program on four in-service English teachers’ beliefs about self (i. e., about English teachers). Rich data were collected throughout the process of training which lasted for 100 days, including semi-structured interviews, teachers’ class analysis reports, professional development plans, periodic summaries and so on. The findings were interpreted with the help of the classification framework of teacher belief change proposed by Cabaroglu and Roberts, which showed that the impact of the program on these four in-service English teachers’ beliefs about English teachers’ roles, excellent English teachers and English teachers’ professional development was considerable, however, the degree, the nature and the sources of the impact varied across individual teachers.

scholarly journals Self-directed Teacher Professional Development in Saudi Arabia: EFL Teachers’ Perceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1359
Author(s):  
Hamad I. Alshaikhi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Workplace Learning ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional

This study explores Saudi EFL teachers’ perspectives, attitudes and experiences with regards to their teacher professional development (TPD) with special emphasis on workplace learning and self-directed initiatives. Using semi-structured interviews and reflective essays, the study managed to highlight a thriving workplace learning context in which teachers are involved in many forms of self-directed learning, including experiences stemming from the dailiness of the everyday realities of their schools. Data showed that Saudi EFL teachers are committed professionals who are well aware of a variety of TPD resources and opportunities; some of them are institutionalised while the majority are self-directed by teachers themselves beyond any institutional requirement. The study revealed that many participants had high preferences for self-directed learning over institutional provisions for its embeddedness in their context, the nature of their specialisation, and for the changing nature of their profession. Networking, collaboration, reflection and collegiality are some of the main features of self-directed learning as reflected in teachers’ current practices.

scholarly journals Classroom Observation: Linking Teacher Evaluation and Professional Development in TESOL

2018 ◽  
Vol III (II) ◽  
pp. 168-195
Author(s):  
Sayyed Rashid Shah ◽  
Roohul Amin ◽  
Hussain Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Evaluation ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Classroom Observation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Impact

This study examines the impact of increasingly challenging nature of classroom observation as part of teacher evaluation in English Language Teaching (ELT). This paper highlights the complex nature of evaluative classroom observation systems in various educational contexts. It also considers various issues that embody the challenging nature of classroom observation and teacher evaluation in connection to the professional development of teachers. In a small-scale study of Teaching of English to the Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) professionals in Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, it adopts an interpretive approach and utilizes semi-structured interviews to collect data. The results, presented in four major themes provide a detailed account of teachers’ perceptions of the role of classroom observation in their professional learning and development. However, this development has not occurred due to the observation as a tool to elevate teaching and learning standards, alternatively, the managerial demands and the fear of being fired or transferred to remote campuses have stimulated teachers to develop professionally and offset this challenge. Despite their personal drive to professionalize themselves in a collaborative and professional culture, the challenge of observation still prevails owing to the teachers’ lack of autonomy and some insufficiently trained observers’ subjective approach.

scholarly journals The impact of music making outdoors on primary school aged pupils (aged 7–10 years) in the soundscape of nature from the perspective of their primary school teachers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan Adams ◽  
Gary Beauchamp
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Learning Outdoors ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Primary School Pupils ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe benefits of taking pupils’ learning outdoors have been widely reported around the world. However, it is argued the simple act of stepping outside the classroom does not inevitably bring rewards. This study examines teachers’ perceptions of the impact of primary school pupils’ music-making in various outdoor rural locations. It analyses qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with seven teachers from six different primary school classes, who observed their classes as they took part in the music-making. The validity of the teachers’ perceptions is triangulated with evidence from semi-structured interviews with six groups of children from the six different classes. The analyses show the teachers perceived that the space, the new soundscape and the close contact with nature afforded by the different locations engendered enhanced experimentation and expressiveness. The teachers suggested that, as a result, the children became immersed in, and focussed on, their music-making. The study suggests teachers identify potential benefits for children aged 7–10 years in making music in outdoor locations. We conclude greater phenomenological, body-focussed understandings in education and an increased awareness of somaesthetic perspectives may be beneficial for teachers to explore in pupils’ music- making and in other creative areas of the curriculum.

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