教师职业承诺与专业成长

教师职业承诺是指教师认同所从事的教师职业的专业价值与规范,忠于职守的态度或行为倾向。教师职业承诺具体表现为教师对学校组织的承诺、对学生的承诺、对职业的承诺、对专业的承诺、对教学的承诺等。教师职业承诺具有鲜明的专业发展意蕴,学校组织、教师共同体和教师个人必须采取措施,提升教师职业承诺水平,致力于教师专业发展。     

Teachers' computer anxiety: implications for professional development

Changes in society's expectations mean that school teachers need to be able to use computers in education with minimal anxiety. Some 350 primary and secondary school teachers completed a questionnaire that identified sources of computer anxiety and provided teachers with the opportunity to suggest solutions. The teachers were very supportive of the use of computers in education, but reported moderately low levels of computer competence. A number of suggestions for the reduction of computer anxiety are made, based on teachers' first-hand accounts, and an analysis of trends in the quantitative data. The implications of these suggestions for teachers' professional development are explored     

Teachers' thinking elicited from interactive multimedia professional development courseware

This paper reports data obtained on practicing teachers' thinking as they interacted with a professional development interactive multimedia (IMM) courseware package. The data were obtained from 11 participating teachers via stimulated-recall interviews. Two types of thinking are detailed and discussed. The first type is those mediating processes engaged in by teachers during study sessions that related to the academic and professional content of the IMM package. The second type is those evaluative thoughts reported by teachers that related to instructional design aspects of the IMM courseware. The latter data were used to develop a classification system that provides a conceptualization of the major components, as perceived by the participating teachers, that relate to instructional design. He has been involved in teaching mathematics education courses at a distance via printed text to inservice teachers and through interactive multimedia (IMM) courseware to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teacher education students in their home communities. His current research interests focus on tertiary students' thinking while studying from IMM materials and their usage patterns of IMM courseware. He also supervises post graduate students in the area of teaching problem solving in upper primary and lower secondary school. Her fields of teaching and research interests concern the cultural contextualization of instructional design of interactive multimedia (IMM) and the World Wide Web (WWW). Other research interests focus on the mental models, thinking processes, and teaching-learning strategies used by teachers and learners when interacting with electronic databases, IMM, and the WWW. His areas of expertise are special education and distance education. His current research interests with respect to interactive multimedia (IMM) focus on tertiary students' thinking while studying with IMM materials and their usage patterns of IMM courseware. He is also involved in a number of school curriculum and systemic evaluations.     

Teachers' perspectives on competency-based testing

The study described in this article was designed to gather information about teachers' perspectives on achievement testing and to describe where the competency-based testing in Continuous Uniform Evaluation Systems (CUES) programs fits into teachers' overall plans for teaching and assessing students.The specific objectives of the research were (1) to develop a taxonomy of techniques that teachers use to assess students, (2) to describe teachers' uses and perceptions of various assessment techniques, and (3) to describe the implementation of various assessment activities in natural classroom settings. The results of the study have implications for the design and implementation of instructional systems in school settings.     

Teachers' perceptions of digital badges as recognition of professional development

This mixed methods study examined teachers' perceptions and uses of digital badges received as recognition of participation in a professional development program. Quantitative and qualitative survey data was collected from 99 K‐12 teachers who were awarded digital badges in Spring 2016. In addition, qualitative data was collected through semi‐structured interviews with a smaller sample. An analysis of the data suggests that teachers had a favorable view of receiving digital badges and many shared their badges through digital media. This paper also describes how the digital badges were shared, the impact digital badges may have on teachers' choices for professional development, and teachers' perspectives on current and future uses of digital badges.     

Teachers' conceptions of assessment: implications for policy and professional development

Teachers' conceptions of assessment can be understood in terms of their agreement or disagreement with four purposes to which assessment may be put, specifically, (a) improvement of teaching and learning, (b) school accountability, (c) student accountability, or (d) treating assessment as irrelevant. A 50‐item Teachers' Conceptions of Assessment (COA‐III) questionnaire was completed by New Zealand primary school teachers and managers (n=525). The COA‐III, based on the four main purpose‐defined conceptions of assessment, was analysed with structural equation modelling and showed a close fit of the data to a hierarchical, multi‐dimensional model (χ²=3217.68; df=1162; RMSEA=.058; TLI=.967). On average, participants agreed with the improvement conceptions and the school accountability conception, while rejecting the view that assessment was irrelevant. However, respondents disagreed that assessment was for student accountability. Improvement, school, and student accountability conceptions were positively correlated. The irrelevance conception was inversely related to the improvement conception and not related to the system accountability conception. Surprisingly, no statistically significant differences were found in mean scale scores for each conception regardless of teacher (age, gender, role, assessment training, or assessment practices) or school (size, location, or socio‐economic status) variables. Implications for the use of the COA‐III for policy implementation and teacher professional development are discussed.     

教师专业道德何以可能——试论普通高中教师专业道德培养

在教师专业化改革的进程之中,人们关注的重心往往放在了知识、技能等领域,对教师专业道德的建设投入力度不够。尤其是高中阶段更容易忽视教师专业道德的培养,提升高中教师专业道德水平势在必行。     

基于发展需求与外部支持的农村教师专业发展调查研究

本文以教师专业发展需求及外部支持为切入点,通过对河南省、江西省和安徽省2552名农村中小学教师的调查发现目前农村教师专业发展的主要问题有:专业发展留于经验,合作探究氛围不浓;教育理论知识匮乏,培训忽视受训者差异;外在支持形式单一,经费投入不足.因此,农村中小学教师专业发展应注重:提升教师专业自主意识及能力,充分利用校本优势;增加培训的针对性,培训类型多样化;完善农村教师培训制度,加大投入力度.     

Teachers' personal practical knowledge on the professional knowledge landscape

Though research on teaching has a long history, teacher knowledge research is relatively recent, mostly occurring in the 1980s and 1990s. Teacher knowledge research is part of a revolution in how educators think about classroom practice. In contrast to the concern for teacher characteristics and teaching/learning methods, the assumption in teacher knowledge research is that the most important area is what teachers know and how their knowing is expressed in teaching. There are several lines of such research. In this paper we describe one line of research focused on teachers' personal practical knowledge as it is developed and expressed on the professional knowledge landscape. In the paper we outline the methodology for undertaking this type of research. The methodology is illustrated by a case study of a teacher in China.     

Teachers' perspectives on student problematic behavior and social skills

This study examined program outcomes of student problem behavior and social skills, based on teachers' perspectives, before and after early behavioral intervention services. The study targeted students in kindergarten through grade 5 who were identified by the school system as being at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Students identified received early intervention services based on individualized positive behavior supports (i.e. social skills training, functional behavioral assessment, and team collaboration). The results indicate that early intervention services that teach social skills and use functional behavioral assessments to deal with problem behaviors are beneficial to children displaying behavioral challenges.     

Nurturing moments of transformation in teachers – comparative perspectives on the challenges of professional development

This article discusses teachers' views of their own learning. Two groups of teachers attending graduate programmes in Seattle, Washington in the United States of America (USA) and Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom (UK), participated in a project that encouraged them to discuss examples of effective professional development. The teachers from the UK were enrolled on a Masters degree course for staff working with pupils with autism. The teachers from the USA were enrolled on a Masters degree course specifically focused upon working with children who have moderate to severe difficulties. Both groups of teachers were working, at least for a portion of their timetables, with pupils who had low incidence disabilities. Phyllis Jones, of the University of South Florida, Elizabeth West, from the Department of Special Education at Boise State University, and Dana Stevens, who is working on her PhD in special education at the University of Washington, analysed the critical moments of professional development identified by the teachers in both contexts. Four themes emerged: seeing the relationship between theory and practice, the role of the professor or lecturer in mediating learning, learning from others and reflecting in action. In this article, the authors analyse the themes in relation to the subtle differences that occurred within, and across, the two contexts. This analysis will assist in the design of quality professional development opportunities that reflect teachers' voices. Teachers make meaning of their learning in highly personal ways and, although it is possible to nurture formalised learning opportunities, teacher educators need to be constantly aware of the contextual and personal meaning making that is at play.     

Teachers' perspectives on curriculum making in Primary Geography in England

The phrase ‘curriculum making’ has recently been used to describe medium-term planning and teachers’ enactment of such planning in the classroom. This narrows the term's initial use from that in the first half of the twentieth century when it was employed inclusively from national programmes to lesson planning. While considering related studies about curriculum making, this paper focuses on the interpretation described and used by the Geographical Association (GA) to encourage more open approaches to medium-term curriculum planning in England by teachers. It reports the outcomes of a small-scale study of primary teachers’ perspectives on their experiences of curriculum making during one GA project, ‘The Young Geographers Project’. It identifies a number of ‘curriculum dynamics’, including teachers’ feelings of liberation, children's agency in curriculum making, the importance of subject knowledge, engaging with children's everyday experiences and interests, and purposefulness for curriculum topics while retaining flexibility and openness. Reflecting on these findings, 10 features pertinent to curriculum making are noted.     

Teachers' technological readiness for online professional development: evidence from the US e-Learning for Educators initiative

Although online professional development (OPD) is recognised as a viable alternative to face-to-face professional development, there are some obstacles to the delivery of effective OPD. This study examines one such obstacle, teachers' technological readiness for OPD participation. In particular, this study examines six research questions regarding the technological readiness of US elementary and secondary educators who participate in OPD. The data source was ‘e-Learning for Educators', a large-scale OPD initiative implemented between 2006 and 2011 in the US. The data show that this population of teachers, in general, report that they believe online professional development is as effective as face-to-face professional development; have easy access to the required technology; possess the required computer/technical skills; and perceive some of these skills to improve with course participation. Though these findings are largely favourable from the perspective of OPD stakeholders, this study also finds some variability among teachers that might warrant possible mitigation strategies.     

Supervisors’ Inner World: professional perspectives

The study presents an attempt at revealing some professional perspectives of student‐teachers’ supervisors. The discussions of 12 supervisors in a teachers’ college were protocolled and content‐analysed. Content‐analysis yielded several guiding perspectives: professionalism, values, structure and organisation, integration. In addition, some personal distinct profiles emerged differentiating between emotional and rational orientations. Findings shed some light on the inner world of student‐teachers’ supervisors and these may contribute to better understanding of their supervisory behaviour and guide their professional development.     

Teachers' social class,professional dispositions and pedagogic practice

Through theoretically driven case studies, the research reported here considers the ways in which students in different social class settings are inducted into school knowledge. The paper brings to the centre the social class positioning of teachers in considering their role in schooling processes. The central question of the paper is whether we can establish a relationship between teachers' own social class backgrounds, their professional dispositions and their pedagogic practice. The interest emerges from a long-standing assumption that teachers are middle class, and reproduce the practices associated with that social location. The paper is exploratory and is not able to provide a definitive answer to the question of the relationship between class, professional disposition and pedagogic practice. Although it suggests a relationship between teachers' social class position and schooling practices, the main contribution of the paper is to offer a metric for exploring the issue further. That is, through a specifically selected sample, the paper provides a means for considering the implications of teachers social class background, professional dispositions and pedagogic practice for the processes of the reproduction of social inequality, and its interruption.