香港校长的专业持续发展

The quality of principals is pivotal for quality education. It is only through continuing professional development (CPD) that principals can further enhance professionalism. In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the responses of 194 principals and vice-principals. The research findings show that Hong Kong principals are facing challenges posed by ever-changing school environments of the 21st century and educational reforms. Based on this study, implications for future continuing professional development of principals in Hong Kong are speculated.      

Educators' perceptions of continuing professional development for teachers in South Africa: A qualitative study

Abstract

The effectiveness of educational reform initiatives depends on the quality of teachers. Professional development (PD) of teachers has therefore become a major focal point of school improvement initiatives. The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development (2007) attempts to address the need for suitably qualified teachers in South Africa. The study discussed in this article was qualitative within purposefully selected schools. Its aim was to explain educators' perceptions of continuing professional development in the light of the national policy. The following major findings emerged from the data analysis: (1) overall view of PD in the education system, (2) experience of types of PD programmes, and (3) impact of PD programmes on schools.     

我国物理教师专业发展研究述评

物理教师专业发展是目前我国物理教育理论界关注的热点。诸多学者对物理教师专业发展进行了深入的理论研究,并取得了一定成绩。物理教师专业发展研究的不足之处在于：理论研究水平有待提高;实践研究急需加强;忽视了物理教师的主体地位;物理教师教育与基础教育课程改革脱节。     

Leadership for professional development and learning: enhancing our understanding of how teachers develop

The educational research community has made great strides in clarifying and enhancing our understanding of professional development and how it occurs. Yet in relation to one question – How do people develop professionally? – this knowledge base falls short, for while much research has been directed at addressing the question, findings have tended to lack the specificity that offers the kind of elucidation that may usefully inform professional development-focused leadership policy and practice. In particular, the micro-level cognitive process of professional development – what occurs inside an individual’s head in order for her/him to experience a professional development ‘episode’ – remains under-examined in educational research. This article makes a contribution towards addressing this short-fall. It presents the author’s conceptual analyses of professionalism and professional development – revealing the multidimensional componential structure of each – and examines how understanding of this multidimensionality may help school leaders promote and facilitate professional development.     

论教师的行动研究与专业发展

实现教师专业的持久性发展是一个值得关注的问题。教师的行动研究对教师教育科学理论的完备与深化、教学实践知识的养成以及教学研究能力的发展具有重要意义。目前 ,教师行动研究的有效开展还存在明显的障碍 ,应树立正确的教师教育 (教学 )研究观 ,依据实际情况 ,采取分阶段突出重点、复合型培训等策略 ,并改革学校管理 ,为行动研究的有效开展营造良好的环境与条件     

Developing collaborative approaches to enhance the professional development of primary mathematics teachers

This research project promoted a collaborative model of professional development between lead teachers from three schools, supported by a project coordinator and a researcher from a local university. Each lead teacher worked with their head teacher to design, lead, and evaluate an innovative, personalised, and school-based mathematics continuing professional development (CPD) programme in their school. University staff helped to facilitate project meetings across the schools and monitored impacts within each school. Professional development meetings, involving all teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) from the schools (n?=?55), were designed to encourage a whole-school approach. The project also provided structured opportunities for the lead teacher to work with colleagues in the classroom, for example, through lesson observation and/or collaborative teaching. The outcomes from this project confirmed that collaborative models of CPD, as opposed to transmission, formal training, and ‘top-down’ models, were welcomed by teachers and head teachers – some of whom reported early indications of improvements in student performance. Commenting on what constitutes the most effective forms of CPD, there was a reiteration of the importance of combining peer and external support through a collaborative process.     

高校大学英语教师专业发展——走合作教学路径

根据《大学英语课程教学要求》和基于目前高校大学英语教师专业发展现状,深入剖析通过合作教学实现高校大学英语教师专业发展的可行性,最后提出具体对策分析。     

Teacher collaboration and professional development in the workplace: a study of Portuguese teachers

This article reports on findings from research aimed at investigating teacher collaboration and professional development in the workplace. It draws upon a broader study carried out in a school in Northern Portugal. Data were collected through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and written reflective accounts. In total, 80 teachers participated in phase 1, 11 key informants participated in phase 2 and 10 teachers participated in an intervention/training project (phase 3). Findings suggest that problems and limitations in relation to collaborative work are situated at the organisational level, such as time and working conditions. Lack of training in collaboration, and issues such as motivation and personal difficulties, also emerged from the data. Teachers tend to stress the importance of interpersonal relationships at school, but they also identified formal meetings when they described the contexts and opportunities to work collaboratively in the workplace, namely department meetings and projects driven by central government or school administration initiatives. Implications for teacher collaboration and professional development are discussed.     

浅谈高中语文教师专业化发展

如何培养教师的自我发展意识,让教师自主发展,这已经成为教育研究者的共识。如何提高语文教师和语文教学的专业化水平这是当前课程改革过程中每一个语文教学的研究者和从教者都必须思考的问题。文章紧扣语文课程中教师这一环节,从规划教师职业生涯、更新教学理念、明确语文教师发展方向、开发校本课程进行反思性实践等几个方面探讨语文教师的可持续专业发展的问题。     

Learning subject content through a foreign language should not ignore human cognitive architecture: A cognitive load theory approach

Several widely implemented educational approaches aim to provide academic content in a foreign language. While Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) works because it focuses both on content and on foreign language learning, approaches aiming at transmitting academic content through a foreign language should not be implemented without explicit foreign language instructional support. Based on cognitive load theory, there are theoretical reasons to hypothesize that exposure to new content in a foreign language without any foreign language instructional support may interfere with rather than facilitate learning compared to learning language and content separately. In three experiments conducted in higher education, a text was presented to 294 students in three different conditions: native language, foreign language, and foreign language with a translation into the native language. We varied the foreign language (English, German) and the domain (Law, Computer Science). Our results indicated that reading in the foreign language was never the best condition to learn either language or academic content. We concluded that considerable care should be taken when transmitting academic content in a foreign language, without explicit foreign language instructional support.     

Critical reflections of action research used for professional development in a Middle Eastern Gulf State

This article describes and critically reflects on an action research project used for professional development purposes in a Middle Eastern Gulf State. The aim of the project was to improve professional development experiences for a group of in‐service teacher educators, who were English as Second Language advisers. The initial discussion highlights different ideological and methodological approaches to action research and identifies core characteristics that were framed to evaluate the project. Second, the background to the local context is described followed by the action research project, the methodology and outcomes. Using an evaluative framework, the subsequent discussion describes the successes of this project. These include encouraging reflection in a collaborative environment, promoting a culture of learning and supporting the participant’s reconstruction of professional knowledge situated in practice. Finally, there is a critical reflection around a number of challenges, tensions and questions that emerged from the project, centred on the loss of core democratic values underpinning action research. These concerns highlight power relationships and the ownership and control of research, which become more apparent in mandatory situations and hierarchical contexts.     

Linking literacy teaching with assessment: a continuing professional development initiative for secondary schools

As part of a professional development initiative helping secondary school teachers use assessment data to guide their instruction, teachers in this study changed their knowledge, skills and dispositions. Over time, they were able to identify assessments, administer these assessments, interpret the results and plan instruction. As a result, the students who were tutored by these teachers increased their achievement compared with a control group.     

Personally driven professional development: reflective self-study as a way for teachers to take control of their own professional development

This article is about personally driven professional development through the use of reflective self-study. The argument that teachers need to take responsibility for their own learning while also taking decisions on how and in what areas to develop is strongly made throughout the article. Data for this article were gathered over a 10-year period where the author engaged in several studies using self-study as methodology. Between studies, the author kept using reflective self-study as a professional development tool, and it is these data between various studies that were analysed using thematic and reflective analysis. Such analysis resulted in various overarching themes that show how reflective self-study can be of benefit if used by teachers researching their own classrooms. Benefits include teachers taking full ownership of their learning, relevance of learning, learning that is ongoing and not restricted to specific times and places, taking problematic situations as learning opportunities and how other sources take on new relevance through reflective self-study. Some implications for teacher-education programmes and current school structures are also discussed.     

发展为本的课程目标与中小学教师的专业发展

基础教育正在进行新一轮课程改革．从课程目标、教学方法到学生的学习方式以及成长要求,都在发生根本性的变革。课程目标由社会为本、知识为本转变为以人的发展为本。这就要求中小学教师的教育理念、能力素质随之变革和发展。     

Changing professional views of continuing professional development doctorates in educational psychology

Continuing professional development (CPD) doctorate programmes may not be the only learning and development opportunities which universities and other organisations can provide for educational psychology practitioners (EPs). However, as Morris and Brightman pointed out in 2006 Morris, S. and Brightman, C. 2006. In what ways can universities make a relevant contribution to the provision of relevant continuing professional development (CPD) activities for EPs?. CPD Link, 28: 3–24.  [Google Scholar], they are likely to continue as important sources for professional development for some years to come. Such programmes serve the purposes of providing continuing professional development for individuals, conferring higher status on the professional group and, for some, developing specialist skills and knowledge. This paper reports on two studies carried out nearly a decade apart. The first involved the collation of data from eight focus groups in London and the Home Counties who discussed the costs and benefits of setting up part‐time doctoral programmes for experienced practitioners in 1998, as discussed by Cameron in 1999 Cameron, R.J. 1999. “Continuing professional development in educational psychology: Practitioners’ views on a new part‐time doctoral programme at UCL”. (Unpublished internal report: available from the author on request.) [Google Scholar], and the other was a small‐scale follow‐up survey in 2007 using a questionnaire which was based on the issues arising from the earlier focus group discussions and which was designed to explore consistent, changed and evolving views and opinions of practitioner EPs towards this extended form of EP professional training. While both studies uncovered evidence of the research–practice divide which has been a feature of EP practice for many decades, it was clear from the 2007 survey that much of the ambivalence of practitioners to the “academic dimension” of training, present in the first investigation, had dissipated and that national doctorate programmes for experienced practitioners had become a familiar feature of the educational and child psychology landscape. Some theory/research versus practice tensions still remain, however, and these, together with their likely implications for current and future developments in the profession, are also considered. Finally, some key issues arising from both the 1998 and the 2007 studies are used to illuminate the potential role of CPD doctorates in enabling EPs to address future challenges in the practice context.     

From pre-service to in-service teachers: a longitudinal investigation of the professional development of English language teachers in secondary schools

This study reports on a longitudinal inquiry into professional identity construction among six novice cross-border English language teachers from mainland China, who completed their pre-service teacher education in Hong Kong (HK) and began their teaching practice in local HK schools. The findings indicate that the participants navigated obstacles in teaching by deploying their own multiple languages as a cultural and linguistic repertoire. The findings also show that the teachers experienced difficulty legitimising their professional identity in the teaching community, where contextual issues and power interplays mediated the process. Furthermore, it is found that the participants’ commitment to teaching was negatively influenced by their non-legitimate position in the teaching community and the discordance between their teaching beliefs and the norms and values of their workplace. This study suggests that complex inter-relationships between marginal status in and legitimate membership of the community, between historical and cultural background, present practice, and future expectations, between social discourse and personal location, are involved in the process of identity construction. Measures to legitimate these teachers’ position and to transform the linguistic and cultural repertories of these teachers into valuable resources of the local schools are suggested. Implications for future research are outlined.     

Investigating advanced professional learning of early career and experienced teachers through program portfolios

Since closing the gap between different levels of professional development for teachers has been identified as a particular need in our profession, capturing the results of professional coursework can help teacher educators better understand and meet the unique needs of teachers with different levels of experience. This study examined the effects of professional development on early career (EC) and experienced (EXP) teachers during an advanced master’s degree programme in the USA. Qualitative analysis of 47 teacher portfolio reflections and 11 post-programme interviews investigated how EC and EXP teachers engaged in programme learning experiences to determine the ways that coursework influenced their professional growth. Differences between EC and EXP teachers were noteworthy, indicating that these two groups responded to professional development experiences differently. Ongoing research to determine effective differentiated approaches toward professional development for both novice and EXP teachers remains a key area for teacher education research, most particularly with a goal of measuring the results of professional development on improving PK-12 student performance.     

Environmental education professional development for teachers: A study of the impact and influence of mentoring

Rivers2Lake helps teachers learn to provide watershed educational experiences for students through a summer institute followed by mentoring. Teacher focus groups were conducted to investigate the impact of mentoring, as well as toward understanding what was influential in bringing about those impacts. Mentoring impacted teachers in affective ways and helped them use what they learned at the institute. The influential nature of the mentoring may be due to the mentors providing a sense of accountability, personalized support, as well as encouragement of reflection and assistance with navigating barriers. Teachers also articulated qualities of effective mentors: invested, flexible, and responsive. With teachers varying in the degree to which they felt they could continue R2L implementation without the support of mentors, implications are discussed.