教师实践共同体:教师专业发展的新视角

本文分析了教师实践共同体的内涵和特点,指出作为一种学习机制的隐喻——教师实践共同体的建立,将是提高校本教师专业发展有效性的重要策略。教师实践共同体的建立有助于发展教师的实践性知识,培育合作性的教师文化,提升教师实践反思和解决问题的能力,从而提高校本教师专业发展活动的有效性与针对性。     

实践共同体:教师专业发展新视野

教师实践共同体无论对于学校教育还是社会发展乃至对于教师专业自身的发展都具有相当重要的价值。本文从建立实践共同体与教师专业发展的联系入手,阐述了教师实践共同体的基本特征,在创建实践共同体的知识共享机制、学习机制、反思机制、评价机制和管理机制方面提出自己的见解。     

教师专业共同体:教师发展的新模式

教师专业共同体是建立在教师专业化浪潮的基础之上,以学校为基地,以教育实践为载体,以共同学习、研讨为形式,在团体情境中通过相互沟通与交流最终实现团体成长的提高性组织.它是以求知和育人为基本活动内容的教师专业发展模式,其本身表征了一种共生意识与智慧,是对教师个人主义文化的匡正与补充.在教师专业共同体的创建上,应当明确共同体目标,形成平等、民主的参与规则,并要谨防共同体内部的矛盾与分裂.     

“实践共同体”及其对教师专业发展的启示

近年来有关实践共同体和教师专业发展的研究不断涌现,但人们对实践共同体的理解尚存分歧。根据溯源莱夫和温格等人的研究,实践共同体原本指特定活动系统中的社会关系。它对教师专业发展的启示主要在两方面:一是认识到教师群体作为一种实践共同体而存在;二是关注教师实践共同体中教师之间的交流与学习,以探索教师专业发展的机制和改进策略。     

构建反思性实践共同体 促进教师专业发展

教师专业发展是教育发展对教师提出的要求,在教学实践中教师通过对自己的教育信念、教育态度、知识技能和行为表现的不断反思,可以促进专业发展,而构建教师反思性实践共同体是推动教师专业发展的有效途径。     

专业共同体:教师发展的组织基础

在专业共同体中推动教师专业发展是教师教育改革的新方向。本文论述了教师专业共同体的概念、特征、理论基础、重要意义,并指出构建教师专业共同体的关键是学校文化的重建。     

构建“实践共同体”促进教师专业发展

构建教师实践共同体是当下教育改革中促进教师专业发展的有效途径。教师实践共同体的相关理论研究表明构建实践共同体具有重要意义。从实践共同体的特征——相互的介入、共同的事业和共享的技艺库出发,提出了促进教师专业发展的几点建议。     

构建反思性实践共同体 促进教师专业发展

教师专业发展是教育发展对教师提出的要求,在教学实践中教师通过对自己的教育信念、教育态度、知识技能和行为表现的不断反思,可以促进专业发展,而构建教师反思性实践共同体是推动教师专业发展的有效途径.     

构建学习共同体促进教师专业发展

学习共同体学校是一种学习型组织,是以先进的办学理念为指导,为实现共同愿景而促进全体师生员工在学习、思考与行动的积极互动中,不断完善与超越自我的优秀的学习型团队。下面分五个方面阐述一下东北师大附小在构建学习共同体、促进教师专业发展方面的一些有益的尝试。一、共同     

实践共同体——促进教师专业发展的新途径

对于实践共同体这一概念,最早是由莱夫和温格(Lave & Wenger)在《情境认知:合法的边缘参与》中提出的,用以表达一种基于知识的社会结构。他们认为,实践共同体实际意味着在一个活动系统中的参与,参与者共享他们对于该活动的理解,     

Teacher professional development as knowledge building: a Popperian analysis

This paper offers an analysis of how six experienced teachers, and two in particular, used portfolios to aid and chart steps in their own professional development. The key finding of the study was that the pattern of growth of professional knowledge conformed strikingly to the central features of the model proposed by the philosopher of science, Karl Popper, to account for the growth of scientific knowledge. That is, the use of portfolios assisted these teachers in identifying and formulating problems, in proposing tentative theories for their solution, in testing those theories against their experience of implementation, and in moving on to new problems of practice. The research therefore supports a Popperian structure for teacher professional development that coheres with a conception of teachers as self‐learners, or autonomous learners.     

Teacher development as professional,personal, and social development

This paper describes the findings of a 3 year research project on teacher development in which some New Zealand teachers of science were developing their teaching to take into account students' thinking and constructivist views of learning. The main finding was that the teacher development involved professional, personal, and social development. These three aspects are discussed in an overview.     

Teacher professional development: a different perspective

Reform in science education is a slow process. Current professional development experiences may slow the process even more if modeled after traditional top down approaches. The common practice of inviting “experts” to deal with specific local issues supports a covert message that classroom teachers are not capable of meeting the challenges of reform with the resources and expertise provided by their immediate community or network. What is being proposed here is not radical but merely an adjustment in thinking about learning at any level. In any given teacher network, the teachers overall are both highly educated in content and pedagogy, it makes sense to allow them the opportunity to address the obstacles of reform and provide assistance when requested; not mandate professional development that may or may not address the needs of teacher, school or district.     

Teacher collaborative inquiry as a professional development intervention: benefits and challenges

The paper reports on a collaborative learning project coded as the teacher inquiry community that was carried out over a year in a private higher education institution to improve the professional capability of language-based subject teachers. Nine teachers completed the project all of whom were females and shared work experience of 2–29 years. Six of them held some form of qualification in education, and all except for one possessed at least a basic degree in some field. The study focused on three questions namely teacher benefits, impact of practice, and application of solutions. Findings revealed that the former two questions were well substantiated for most teachers, but the same thing could not be said of the third. While a number of senior teachers benefitted at the level of classroom implementation, the others explained away their inability to incorporate new ideas in their teaching. Individual characteristics and personality, and culture seemed to make a difference. However, the study concluded that the collaborative learning model could serve as a viable mechanism for the teachers’ professional development.     

Teacher learning in a combined professional development intervention

The study examines geometry teachers' video club discussions in a two-year professional development intervention that combined lesson study, video clubs, and animation discussions to promote teacher noticing of students' prior knowledge. Most discussions pertained to student conceptions (78%), followed by pedagogy (19%). Discussion of students' prior knowledge surfaced only when talking about student conceptions or pedagogy. There was statistically significant evidence that teacher-initiated discussions of students' prior knowledge were more substantial than facilitator-initiated discussions. The findings suggest that the professional development model and the facilitators’ moves promoted and sustained teacher noticing of student thinking throughout the intervention.     

Teacher professional leadership in support of teacher professional development

Counteracting perceptions of teaching as a profession with a flat career trajectory may require professional leadership opportunities for experienced teachers that differ substantively from those typically available. This evaluation study investigated the results of a professional development initiative for subject specialist teachers seconded to a leadership role in their curriculum areas. Interview and survey data supported teacher growth in subject expertise and leadership capacity attributed to the opportunities provided by the new teacher-leadership role. The findings of this study indicate expanded leadership roles may further develop experienced professionals while simultaneously supporting teacher knowledge during a period of embedding educational reform.     

Introducing technology education: Using teachers' questions as a platform for professional development

This paper explores the issues and concems identified by a small group of teachers implementing technology ideas using the national document,A Statement on Technology for Australian Schools (Curriculum Corporation, 1994a), represented in four key questions they posed as a result of reflection upon their existing ideas and practices, early in the study. These same issues and concerns framed their later experiences as the study progressed. The case study of one of the teachers is used, to illustrate how the teachers implemented technology education working from their own perspectives and tackling issues and concerns that made sense to them. By reviewing the teachers' own questions about technology implementation, it is becoming, clear that what may be important for professional development in technology education is related to the questions that the teachers themselves are asking about their own, beliefs and practices.     

Teacher professional development as an effect of policy and practice: a Bourdieuian analysis

This article draws on Bourdieu’s field theory and related concepts of habitus and capitals, to explore policy implementation in relation to a particular case of teacher professional development in Queensland, Australia. This implementation process is described as an effect of the interplay between what is called the policy field and the field of teachers’ work. The policy field demonstrates intra‐field tensions between the federal Quality Teacher Programme (QTP) and a raft of state policies, particularly those associated with the Queensland meta‐policy, Queensland State Education 2010 (QSE2010). To investigate the effects of this complex policy ensemble, the article draws upon the experiences of principals and a group of teachers engaged in professional development across a cluster of six schools in south‐east Queensland, Australia. The specific focus is on the ‘Curriculum Board’, a cross‐school body created by the principals in the participating schools, and its mediated work in policy implementation and teacher learning. The article analyses the effects of the involvement of the principals in the creation of the board, the limiting impact of QTP requirements to involve consultants rather than support for teacher release, and the limited influence of the board on teacher learning and policy implementation in the individual schools. By doing so, the analysis shows the disjunctions between the logics of practice of the policy field and that of teachers’ work, and the ways in which the differing habitus of principals and teachers and teacher members of the board affected teacher learning and policy implementation. It is argued that effective implementation requires learning within and across fields, and more reflexive habitus of policy makers, principals and teachers.     

Teacher tensions: expectations in a professional development institute

The purpose of this study was to better understand teacher tensions in professional development. The population under study was practicing mathematics teachers engaged in a week-long professional development institute. Data sources included observations, interviews, and teacher products (such as registration forms, surveys, journals, and notebooks). The data were analyzed to determine what tensions were evident in the institute and how those tensions arose. In this paper, we examine participants’ tensions in a professional development situation when their expectations did not match reality. We have done so by presenting a theoretical model of professional development based on an instructional rhombus that illuminates the actual and applicatory aspects of teachers’ professional development experiences. The main tensions expressed by the teachers were related to the content and pedagogy of the institute. This study points toward the importance of teachers’ expectations in professional development.     

Teacher design teams as a strategy for professional development: the role of the facilitator

ABSTRACT

The goal of the current study was to explore the role and importance of the facilitator in teacher design teams. The study took place in the context of a pre-service teacher education institution in Belgium, where teacher design teams were set up to facilitate the professional development of teacher educators. The findings from focus-group discussions with team members and semi-structured interviews with facilitators confirm that the perceived importance of a facilitator depends on several factors, such as team characteristics and the design phase. Moreover, we found that a facilitator can fulfil three roles in a dynamic way: (a) providing logistic support, (b) scaffolding the design process, and (c) monitoring the design process. The discussion centres on how these results can be used to support facilitators for successful Teacher Design Teams.