On Collaboration: teachers,self‐assessment and professional journals

... educational reformers have responded to the crises in public education by primarily offering solutions that either ignore the roles of teachers in preparing learners to be active and critical citizens, or they suggest reforms that ignore the intelligence, judgement and experience that teachers might bring to bear. (Aronowitz & Giroux, 1985, p. 23)     

浅议新课程标准下英语教师素质的自我培养

英语新课程标准带来了新的理念,在新的教学理念下．英语教师不仅要注重外部环境的变化,而且还要从自我角度出发提高自己的整体素质水平．如教学观念,专业能力．合作能力等。     

浅谈教师专业发展

本文以全面把握教师专业发展的特征及重要性作为切入点,着重分析影响教师专业发展的内在因素和外部条件,探讨基于教育教学实践促进教师专业发展的基本策略,旨在进一步提高中小学教师的专业化水平。     

Immigrant teachers: stories of self and place

Teachers’ lives have been the focus of much recent research on teaching, and we now have rich, detailed understandings of how teachers develop a ‘teaching self,’ in the context of concrete details of biography, school settings, relationships and educational systems within which teachers work. What we lack is a sense of the teacher in a place—a specific location that holds meaning, that matters to those who inhabit it. The concept of ‘place’ has been neglected in contemporary education, yet it seems to be an important one for postmodern times. This article will examine the stories of immigrant teachers in Israel, people who have undertaken to teach in a culture different from the one in which they themselves were educated. Teachers who have made a transition from one cultural setting to another are likely to have developed an awareness of teaching and schooling in the new culture that other teachers may not have. Their stories reveal what it means in the chosen culture to tell one’s story and give an account of one’s career and work as a teacher. The stories of seven immigrant teachers, in dialogue with the researcher’s story, highlight losses and gains in the journey toward a new teaching self, and reveal something of what the process of finding or making a place for oneself—both in the new culture and as a teacher—is like.     

Redefining self and success: becoming teachers and doctors

This study explores how twenty‐eight women graduates of a liberal arts college renegotiate personal and professional identities over a ten year period. Approximately half of these women entered college planning to pursue a career in medicine; the other half indicated some interest in the field of education. Each participant was interviewed six times over the course of ten years. Analysis suggests that prior designations of women's careers as “traditional” (i.e. teaching) and “non‐traditional” (i.e. medicine) no longer apply as women actively reconceptualize their lives, their identities, their definitions of success, and the meaning of their chosen career. Prior studies that examine the balancing of personal and professional lives also simplify a more complicated process experienced by women who explore multiple understandings of themselves within personal and social structures. The women in this study draw on the critical perspectives learned in college as they recognize and respond to competing social and cultural definitions and discourses of success, work, and self.     

The personal and professional selves of teachers: stable and unstable identities

In much educational literature it is recognised that the broader social conditions in which teachers live and work, and the personal and professional elements of teachers' lives, experiences, beliefs and practices are integral to one another, and that there are often tensions between these which impact to a greater or lesser extent upon teachers' sense of self or identity. If identity is a key influencing factor on teachers' sense of purpose, self‐efficacy, motivation, commitment, job satisfaction and effectiveness, then investigation of those factors which influence positively and negatively, the contexts in which these occur and the consequences for practice, is essential. Surprisingly, although notions of ‘self’ and personal identity are much used in educational research and theory, critical engagement with individual teachers' cognitive and emotional ‘selves’ has been relatively rare. Yet such engagement is important to all with an interest in raising and sustaining standards of teaching, particularly in centralist reform contexts which threaten to destabilise long‐held beliefs and practices. This article addresses the issue of teacher identities by drawing together research which examines the nature of the relationships between social structures and individual agency; between notions of a socially constructed, and therefore contingent and ever‐remade, ‘self’, and a ‘self’ with dispositions, attitudes and behavioural responses which are durable and relatively stable; and between cognitive and emotional identities. Drawing upon existing research literature and findings from a four‐year Department for Education and Skills funded project with 300 teachers in 100 schools which investigated variations in teachers' work and lives and their effects on pupils (VITAE), it finds that identities are neither intrinsically stable nor intrinsically fragmented, as earlier literature suggests. Rather, teacher identities may be more, or less, stable and more or less fragmented at different times and in different ways according to a number of life, career and situational factors.     

The work,perceptions and professional development of teachers

This article presents work from an ongoing investigation, where the objective is to understand the impact of recent Portuguese legislation – the Teaching Career Statute and its respective Evaluation of Teacher Performance regulations – on the (re)construction of teacher identity, the teaching career and professional development. From an analysis of the results obtained, it can be noted that the aforesaid legislation had a negative impact on the perceptions of teachers about their professional development, which is evidenced in their pedagogical practice, the educational success of their students, team work and professional investment for a significant percentage of teachers.     

Advanced skills teachers: professional identity and status

The teaching profession continues to struggle with defining itself in relation to other professions. Even though public opinion positions teachers second only to doctors and nurses in terms of their professional status and prestige research in the UK suggests that teachers still believe that they have much lower status than other professions. With teacher job satisfaction considerably lower today than the past and on-going issues with teacher recruitment and retention, new government policies have set out to enhance the status of teachers both within and outside of the profession. The Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) grade was introduced in 1998 as a means to recognise and reward teaching expertise and was framed as a way of also raising the status of the teaching profession. As to what a teaching professional should look like, the AST was in many ways positioned as the embodiment. Using survey data from 849 ASTs and in depth interviews with 31, this paper seeks to explores the ways that the AST designation impacts or not on teachers’ perceptions of their professional identity. In particular, the paper considers whether such awards contribute in positive ways to a teacher’s sense of professional identity and status. The results from the research suggest that teaching grades that recognise and reward teaching excellence do contribute in important ways to a teachers’ professional identity via an increased sense of recognition, reward and job satisfaction. The results from this research also suggest that recognising the skills and expertise of teachers is clearly important in supporting teacher retention. This is because as it allows highly accomplished teachers to remain where they want to be and that is the classroom.     

Mentoring: Immigrant teachers bridging professional practices

New teachers who enter Australian educational systems must acquire suitable knowledge that enables them to function effectively as a teacher in this country. For immigrant professionals new to the system mere transfer of knowledge does not suffice and does not satisfy their professional perception of self. Teachers who are born and trained overseas lack culturally specific educational knowledge. These shortfalls can initiate unforseen dilemmas for their professional development and shifts in their definition of self. Acquiring new knowledge requires teachers to understand the social elements of learning and teaching in local contexts and to apply them appropriately. Mentoring relationships can be a means of bridging the gap between the newcomers' former ways of knowing and current practice, thereby mobilizing their capacity to operate effectively as a teacher in their new contexts and develop a positive professional identity. In this paper we draw on interview data from a study that involved immigrant teachers.     

自传研究与教师专业发展

在教师专业发展概念由专业“角色”的客观要求转向专业“自我”的构建、叙事研究的兴起和传记研究重新兴盛的背景下。自传研究自20世纪70年代重新兴起后,日益受到广大研究者尤其是教师的关注。自传研究作为一种质的研究方法,有助于教师专业自省意识的提升、专业自我认同的建构、专业知识体系的构建和专业发展规划的形成,对教师专业发展意义重大。同时,在进行自传研究的过程中,我们也要注意自传研究中的反思以及自传内容的真实性等问题。     

中小学教师的职业紧张与舒缓

国内外研究表明,中小学教师群体的职业紧张普遍偏高,并对其身心健康产生不良影响。由于文化背景和社会认知的不同,我国中小学教师的职业紧张偏高是职业特点、本土原因和个体因素所引起的,其中长期形成的社会期望和中国特色的教师文化加剧了教师的职业紧张。应当采取有效的应对措施,矫正社会偏执,克服教师职业中的消极因素,从主客观两方面积极舒缓我国中小学教师的职业紧张,改善目前教师群体的心理现状。     

The experience of burnout among English language teachers in Iran: self and other determinants

Burnout in teachers is an important concern since it adversely impacts their instruction as well as their psychological, mental, and physical health. The present study examined the levels of burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment) experienced by Iranian English language teachers. Specifically, the relationships of participants’ gender, workplace context, grade level taught, and teaching experience to their burnout were investigated. Data were collected from 40 teachers using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Overall, findings revealed that English teachers (N = 40) were experiencing high levels of reduced personal accomplishment (M = 18.72) and emotional exhaustion (M = 17.80). Results of one-way ANOVA showed significant differences among English language teachers with respect to burnout subscales. Significant correlations were found between burnout, workplace context, and grade level taught. A number of helpful suggestions for programs and individuals involved in relieving stress and burnout among teachers are presented.     

The professional development needs of Hong Kong ESL teachers

In the light of changing needs for the professional development (PD) of ESL teachers in Hong Kong, this study investigates current practice and future needs within the context of the implementation of educational reforms by the Hong Kong Government. A cohort of ESL teachers, members of a knowledge sharing community project, participated in a survey to gauge their experience of, and attitudes towards, PD. The survey produced a 100% response. Data from the cohort indicated that experienced, well-qualified ESL teachers perceive the need for PD from a broader perspective than their less qualified, less experienced peers who are driven by more immediate needs. These findings resonate with those from countries where PD is viewed as an integral part of ongoing teacher development. The paper concludes with the recommendations that the current findings would be augmented by a further, qualitative study.     

教师的职业幸福感和教师的专业发展

教育职业是幸福的职业,教师应在自己专业发展的过程中感受到幸福,而不是出于某种目的,本文澄清了教师专业发展的误区,并试着从教师职业幸福感的角度来看待教师的专业发展。     

The impact of school-based continuing professional development: views of teachers and support professionals

Evaluating the impact of school-based continuing professional development (CPD), as with any other kind, is not without its challenges. This article reports on an evaluation of a CPD programme which was established to support implementation of a new primary school curriculum in Ireland. It examines what can be learned by comparing the views on the likely impact held by the teachers participating in the CPD and the support professionals providing it. The results show that both groups were very positive about the likely impact. However, support professionals anticipated a greater impact than the teachers themselves on teachers’ knowledge and implementation of the new curriculum. Likely explanations for these divergent views are discussed. The article highlights the importance of building in mechanisms within CPD to enable both teachers and support professionals to consider together the impact on an ongoing basis, and to use the available evidence formatively to inform planning for CPD. Incorporating a focus on impact in CPD is likely to become even more important in the years ahead given that teachers themselves are increasingly playing a greater role in decisions about what CPD is undertaken.     

The characteristics and perceptions of teachers engaged in leading professional communities

Following educational reform in Israel, teacher-leaders create and lead professional development communities (PDCs), which are professional learning communities with a focus on in-service professional development and/or improving pedagogical effectiveness. Interviews with 30 teacher-leaders and all four district-level program coordinators revealed that, prior to assuming the role, teacher-leaders developed their professional and leadership skills largely in a self-directed manner. They described their PDCs as cohesive and dedicated, cooperative, involving peer-learning, and as creating a knowledge bank of teaching methods and tools. PDCs enable teachers to advance projects within the school and affect school culture. Principals’ involvement with PDCs varied, with their usually considerable involvement very favorably regarded. This article describes these findings and discusses their implications for the professional development of teachers in the international context.