scholarly journals Teacher Professional Development: Experiences in an International Project on Intercultural Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4171
Author(s):  
Michele Biasutti ◽  
Eleonora Concina ◽  
Sara Frate ◽  
Ibrahim Delen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Secondary Teachers ◽  
Migrant Children ◽  
Intercultural Education ◽  
Pedagogical Change ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Migrant Students ◽  
Development Experience ◽  
Teacher Professional

The present study reports on the analysis of a professional development experience within an international Erasmus+ project for primary and secondary teachers focused on intercultural education. The project consisted of intercultural education actions to promote the integration of migrant children in primary and secondary schools. A qualitative research method framed as a case study was chosen to assess the effects of the project activities. The perceived professional development was analyzed through the administration of semi-structured interviews with the teachers after the end of the project. The following six categories were identified in the qualitative analysis: attitudes, teaching approach, community of practice, communication with students, professional development, and implementation issues. The findings showed that participating in the project offered an occasion to discuss different pedagogical orientations, examine practices, and develop teaching strategies for intercultural education. Project activities provided teachers the opportunity to reflect on how their teaching approaches related to the integration of migrant students. Suggestions for professional development and the encouragement of a pedagogical change among primary and secondary teachers are proposed for further studies.

scholarly journals Cognitive Operations in Teachers’ Development of Reflective Skills: WANDA Group reflection in a Czech primary school

Pedagogika ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Poche Kargerová ◽  
Petra Vallin ◽  
Kamila Etchegoyen Rosolová ◽  
Kristýna Bajerová
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
Practical Standpoint ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Reflective Skills

In the current rapidly changing world, demands on teacher quality and teacher change are ever- increasing. One important and powerful way to transform schools is through teacher professional development focusing on teachers’ reflective skills. But the development of reflective skills is challenging not only from a practical standpoint but also in terms of the demands it places on teachers’ cognitive operations. In our study we examined how a specific highly-structured method called WANDA facilitates the development of teachers’ reflective skills. WANDA is a form of professional development through group reflection embedded in a five-stage reflective cycle. We connected the stages with cognitive operations employed in the development of reflective skills, and assessed how teachers respond to each stage. Our case study draws on a qualitative research inquiry including semi-structured interviews with nine WANDA participants who teach in a Czech primary school. Our results show that a crucial phase of WANDA that comes early in the process imposes very high demands on teachers’ cognitive operations. Teachers might be better prepared to engage in this phase if it comes later in the process and is swapped with another stage that the teachers found highly engaging and fun thanks to its playful form. Overall, WANDA appears to be a meaningful tool in developing teachers’ reflective skills, leading them to metacognition, the ultimate peak of self-reflection. Keywords: professional development, WANDA method, group reflection, professional learning communities

scholarly journals La resolución de problemas como estrategia de desarrollo profesional docente: tensiones que se generan en el profesor

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3 Noviembr) ◽  
pp. 101-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefa Perdomo-Díaz ◽  
Cristóbal Rojas ◽  
Patricio Luis Felmer
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Elementary Teachers ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Desarrollo Profesional ◽  
Development Experience ◽  
Beliefs About Teaching ◽  
Teacher Professional

Los programas de desarrollo profesional docente tienen como objetivo generar cambios en los profesores, en sus conocimientos, sus creencias o sus prácticas. Para que esos cambios se produzcan, la experiencia vivida en el programa de desarrollo profesional debe provocar que el profesor se cuestione aspectos relacionados con su profesión. En este artículo presentamos una estrategia de desarrollo profesional para profesores de matemática de todos los niveles educativos, centrada en el uso de la resolución de problemas, y mostramos un análisis de las tensiones que este tipo de estrategia provoca en los profesores participantes. Para ello se realiza el estudio de un caso, correspondientea un taller denominado RPAula, realizado en Chile, con profesores de educación básica. Los resultados muestran que la participación en este taller provoca tensiones relacionadas con las expectativas que los profesores tienen hacia sus estudiantes, sus creencias acerca de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje y sus modelos de enseñanza de la matemática. Teacher professional development programs aim to generate changes in teachers, in their knowledge, beliefs or practices. For these changes to occur, the professional development experience should cause the teacher to question aspects related to his/her profession. In this article, we present a problem-solving-based professional development strategy for mathematics teachers and we offer an analysis of the tensions which emerged. To do this, we carried out a case study based on a workshop called RPAula that took place in Chile with elementary teachers. The results show that participation in this workshop causes tensions related to teachers’ expectations about their students, their beliefs about teaching and learning, and their models of mathematics teaching.

Language Teaching during a Pandemic: A Case Study of Zoom Use by a Secondary ESL Teacher in Hong Kong

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822098178
Author(s):  
Anisa Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Technology Integration ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Pedagogical Beliefs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Online Mode ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Synchronous Online

This article reports a case study of an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in Hong Kong who conducted lessons via Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study focused on the factors influencing her technology integration in synchronous online teaching mode. Using data from classroom recordings, stimulated-recall and semi-structured interviews, this study uncovered how Zoom functioned as a substitute for face-to-face lessons. The findings revealed that although there were fewer interactions between the teacher and her students, teaching in synchronous online mode provided the teacher with opportunities to utilize certain online features to augment methods of checking student understanding. The study identified the teacher’s pedagogical beliefs, the context and professional development as factors that influenced the level of technology integration in her Zoom classes. The study concludes that embracing process-oriented pedagogies may be necessary for a higher level of technology integration among ESL teachers who have adequate professional development opportunities and school support.

scholarly journals INVESTIGATING EARLY-CAREER TEACHERS’ ADAPTATION CHALLENGES: A CASE OF INDONESIAN EFL TEACHERS

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 367
Author(s):  
Yogi Saputra Mahmud
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teaching Resources ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Teacher Professional

Teacher professional development has recently become a central focus in the Indonesian context, particularly after the implementation of the post-bachelor teacher professional education program or Pendidikan Profesi Guru (PPG) for both pre-service and in-service EFL teachers in 2013. However, studies reveal that the transition from teacher education programs to the initial teaching career at schools has been described as a challenging phase. Despite the growing attention of scholars in exploring beginning teachers’ challenges, studies focusing on the early-career Indonesian EFL teachers, particularly those who just completed the PPG program, are considered limited. Therefore, drawing on a qualitative case study with two beginning Indonesian secondary EFL teachers, this study aims to unravel the challenges during their first-year teaching experience at school after completing the PPG program. By thematically analysing the semi-structured interviews, this study indicated that the teachers experienced four significant challenges: 1) pedagogical (classroom management, lack of teaching resources, test-based learning atmosphere), 2) professional (complex self-identification), 3) social (maintaining rapport with senior teachers), and 4) personal (mood management).  Despite having been trained professionally through the PPG program, the result suggested that the beginning teachers still faced considerable challenges during their initial endeavour as an English teacher at school. Pedagogical implications are discussed in terms of the need for continuous professional development for the newly certified teachers during their initial career at schools.

scholarly journals A case study examining the mediating impact of Coach Educators delivering a professional development programme.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Sobolewski
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Personal Agency ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Coach Development ◽  
Professional Development Programme ◽  
High Degree

The important mediating influence of Coach Educators (CEs) delivering a programme of learning has been largely ignored in research seeking to find the key to effective CPD. This paper aims to bring CEs to the fore by reporting the experiences of 7 CEs and 2 Programme Managers delivering a sport National Governing Body coach development programme. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews and interpreted through the theoretical lens of relational interdependence (Billett, 2008) using a retroductive research strategy. The findings identified the subjective and idiosyncratic processes through which CEs developed their understanding of the programme resulting in individual differences in construal. The high degree of workplace affordance gave CEs autonomy to deploy their personal agency and intentionality to shape practice leading to wide variations in CPD delivery. The results suggest the subjectivity of CEs can have a potentially significant impact on the fidelity of the programme being delivered.

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.

Community of Inquiry as Teacher Professional Development in China

2017 ◽  
pp. 100-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiller A. Spires ◽  
Shea N. Kerkhoff ◽  
Meixun Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
New Literacies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Pedagogical Change ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
K 12

Over the past decades, improving teacher instructional quality has been a top priority in the Chinese government's K-12 educational reform agenda. Within this reform context, the purposes of this chapter are to share: (a) a community of inquiry model of professional development on new literacies that is being used with teachers in China; and (b) qualitative data from three teachers' perceptions of the professional development, their classroom practices, and challenges they are confronting as they implement changes in their educational system. Emerging themes indicated that teachers embraced pedagogical change along a continuum, from resistant to completely open, within the context of their school culture. Challenges to pedagogical change included teacher cultural identity and lack of time and commitment needed for implementation. Future research will include more in-depth analysis of the change process that Chinese teachers embrace as they conceptualize and apply new literacies and innovative pedagogies in their classrooms.

scholarly journals Live, online short-courses: A case study of innovative teacher professional development

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan E. Marrero ◽  
Jessica Fitzsimons Riccio ◽  
Karen A. Woodruff ◽  
Glen S. Schuster
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Development Tool ◽  
Collaborative Community ◽  
Short Course ◽  
Competitive Funding ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Short Courses

Teachers are searching for new venues through which they may meet stringent professional development requirements. Under competitive funding from NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Office of Education and the NASA Explorer Schools Project, U.S. Satellite Laboratory, Inc. created a series of live, online, interactive short-courses. In this case study, a mixed methods analysis of a variety of data sources reveals that diverse educators from a variety of classroom contexts view the short-courses as a useful professional development tool, both as a vehicle for a teacher’s own professional growth and for classroom applications. Teachers were particularly interested in the ability to participate in a collaborative community of practice with other educators, instructors, and scientists from across the country, and they found the flexible design of the professional development to be useful. This short-course design offers promise for future professional development opportunities.

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