Mentoring and teachers’ professional development in Albania

The role of teachers is becoming increasingly important in advancing student learning outcomes. This article discusses one area that is still in need of significant reform in Albania: the induction and mentoring of new teacher-candidates. Based on a mixed-method study involving 275 Albanian teachers and mentors, it provides insights into the benefits and challenges of current practices. The study identifies a number of key areas in need of improvement, including: the selection of mentors; professional training for mentors; communication among different stakeholders; and overall planning and coordination of mentoring services. These issues are discussed within a wider European policy context that situates mentoring as an important component of teachers’ ongoing professional development.     

Routines and collective orientations in mathematics teachers’ professional development

There is an increasing awareness of the social dimension in mathematics teacher education. Collaboration and co-operation are regarded as key factors in professional development. In this paper I will analyse some tensions that might arise when the professional development of mathematics teachers is considered a collective enterprise. I will present phenomenological group interview as a method that is designed to reveal the collective character of teacher development. Some primary teachers’ collective reflections on an ongoing professional development process will be interpreted by focusing on the concepts of routine and collective orientation. The discussion is centred on the ambivalence of routines, as facilitators of practice, and collective orientations, as socially-agreed-upon knowledge base, for mathematics teachers’ professional development.

Fostering teacher educators’ professional development in research and in supervising student teachers’ research

Most teacher educators who work at institutes for higher vocational education have faced a new role since the European Community aimed to upgrade the general quality of education. Research tasks have been added as a new important core business for institutes that used to be mainly focused on education. Teacher educators therefore have to become familiar with research knowledge and skills, and with the skills to supervise student teachers in conducting research. Professional development activities have been set up to prepare them for it. In this explorative study, we investigated the extent to which four different professional development activities within three Dutch institutes for teacher education contributed to the knowledge and skills needed for these new tasks. We gathered data by interviewing 12 teacher educators. In addition to some striking differences, we found corresponding positive experiences in all four activities. Exchanging experiences and discussing issues with colleagues was perceived to be the most outstanding part of each activity. This research has yielded necessary insights into constructing professional development activities. It is clear that any professional development activity about research should be consistent with teacher educators’ daily practices and concerns.     

A model of professional development: teachers’ perceptions of their professional development

This research aims to evaluate the manner in which teachers perceive their professional development process. Forty-three teachers from Israeli schools participated in the study. I used a semi-structured interview to understand the teachers’ perceptions about their professional development. The qualitative analysis identified two dimensions that teachers referred to in their professional development stories: the professional development motivation (intrinsic/extrinsic) and types of aspirations (lateral/vertical). Using these dimensions, four ‘professional development patterns’ emerged. Participants’ professional trajectories are described in terms of these patterns: Hierarchically Ambitious, Hierarchically Compelled, the Laterally Ambitious and the Laterally Compelled. This categorisation could serve as an essential tool to help principals and decision-makers analyse teachers’ personal course of professional development. Hence, the categorisation of the teaching staff according to individuals’ professional aspirations could be utilised to design professional development programmes and incentives that would correspond to teachers’ particular needs.     

The development of student teachers’ professional identity

This study focuses on student teachers’ perceptions of their professional identity. The respondents are students enrolled in a three‐year course in secondary education teaching at bachelor level. Questionnaires were filled out by first‐year, second‐year and third‐year students from two colleges. The questionnaire included four scales: commitment to teaching, professional orientation, task orientation and self‐efficacy. In the first five months of the first‐year course, a shift in students’ task orientation was observed: students developed a more pupil‐centred view on teaching. Practical experience with classroom teaching again caused a shift: students focused less on the subject matter, on maintaining order in the classroom, on the long‐term educational qualification targets and self‐efficacy decreased. Students with work placement experience developed a more ‘realistic’ view of learning and teaching compared to students without this experience. A final important difference in professional identity is based on students’ gender: while male students tend to attach more importance to discipline in the classroom, their female counterparts focus more on student involvement.     

Improving teachers’ assessment literacy through professional development

This study examined the effects of professional development on teachers’ assessment literacy between two groups of teachers: (1) teachers who were involved in ongoing and sustained professional development in designing authentic classroom assessment and rubrics; and (2) teachers who were given only short-term, one-shot professional development workshops in authentic assessment. The participating teachers taught Year 4 and 5 English, science, and mathematics. The findings showed that the assessment literacy of teachers who were involved in ongoing, sustained professional development had increased significantly during the second year of study. These teachers had also gained a better understanding of authentic assessment.     

The contribution of research to teachers’ professional learning and development

This paper summarises findings from several systematic research reviews about the contribution of research to effective continuing professional development and learning (CPDL) activities and their impact on pupils and teachers. It starts with a review of how teachers engage in and with research as part of CPDL, how teachers and researchers shape professional learning activities and identifies key processes linked to positive outcomes. Finally it explores how different research contributions can be developed to make a more visible contribution to CPDL.The paper highlights common characteristics of effective CPDL, including: sustained collaboration with professional colleagues, including both making use of specialist expertise and structured peer support for embedding specialist contributions; an understanding of and commitment to professional learning, including enquiry-oriented learning and learning to learn from looking; a focus on refining teaching and learning, working towards aspirations for specific pupils side by side with theory; and effective scaffolding and modelling of learning by both teachers and leaders for colleagues and for pupils. The key implications of these findings are explored in the conclusions and include the importance of conceptualising researchers’ contributions to CPDL as specialist expertise and/or researchers and Masters tutors harnessing the potential of peer support between teachers. They also explore overlaps between core research and teaching skills and the need for a shared language between teachers and researchers to enable concepts like analysis, theory and criticality to be valued as practical tools for enhancing professional practice.     

Tensions in beginning teachers’ professional identity development,accompanying feelings and coping strategies

This study examined tensions encountered by 182 beginning teachers during their professional identity development, the feelings that accompanied these tensions and the ways they tried to cope with these. Professional identity tensions stem from an unbalanced personal and professional side of (becoming) a teacher. Tensions that are often mentioned by beginning teachers concerned conflicts between what they desire and what is possible in reality. Female teachers reported more tensions than their male colleagues, while final-year student teachers did not differ from first-year in-practice teachers in the number of tensions they experienced. Tensions were often accompanied by feelings of helplessness, anger or an awareness of shortcomings. Most beginning teachers tried to cope with their tensions by speaking to their significant others or by searching for a solution themselves. Insights into professional identity tensions experienced by beginning teachers are important in order to form a better understanding of the support they need.     

Impact of professional development programme on teachers’ competencies in assessment

ABSTRACT

In the past few decades, increasing demands have been placed on developing students’ autonomy and critical thinking skills. To enhance students’ agency in learning, teachers have been encouraged to adopt alternative pedagogical practices. The revamp of pedagogy needs to be reflected in assessment as it is an integral part of instruction. Practising teachers, however, lack assessment knowledge due to inadequate training during the pre-service preparation programmes. The enhancement of assessment knowledge is being urgently called for, which demands the professional development of teachers. This study seeks to investigate the impact of a professional development programme organized by a university in Hong Kong on the development of assessment knowledge of four teachers in two elementary schools. Findings indicate that the acquisition of assessment knowledge is a long-term achievement, which requires ongoing professional development efforts.     

Enhancing in-service teachers’ professional learning through a school-based professional development programme in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

Lesson study is a collaborative model of professional development that provides teachers with the opportunity to learn from the planning, conduction and reflection of a specifically designed research lesson. Lesson study is increasingly incorporated in initial teacher education (ITE) and calls have been made to further detail the lesson study structures that support student teacher learning. In this paper the core organisational elements of incorporating lesson study in ITE are investigated as a comparative case study situated in two distinct educational and cultural settings: one in Ireland (post-primary) and the other in Norway (primary). Qualitative data, including student teachers’ planning notes, research lesson designs, and observation notes from live research lessons, were analysed and findings reveal three structural factors for the incorporation of lesson study in ITE. First, defined roles of mentor and university teachers as knowledgeable others; second, the engagement of student teachers at each phase of lesson study, with the inclusion of case pupils; and third, the conduction of the lesson study cycle on both university campus and in the classroom. These findings contribute to the growing literature of lesson study in ITE and may support the inclusion of lesson study in ITE programmes.     

Professional development for professional learners: teachers’ experiences in Norway,Germany and England

Proposals made by the European Commission in 2007 led to the Education Council adopting, for the first time, a European agenda for improving the quality of teaching and teacher education. This article reports on a small-scale longitudinal interview-based study with teachers in England, Norway and Germany demonstrating that while opportunities for professional development are increasing in all three countries, dissatisfaction is expressed by most teachers in relation to its quality and outcomes.     

Facilitating university teachers’ continuing professional development through peer-assisted research and implementation team work in China

ABSTRACT

Chinese university EFL teachers face challenges in teaching English writing effectively. On one hand, a lack of teaching strategies, heavy workload, and inability to meet students’ increasing expectations are driving them to seek continuing professional development (CPD) and adopt new pedagogies, e.g., peer assessment. On the other hand, their urgent need for CPD is overlooked by university administrators, who provide few opportunities for English teachers’ CPD in China. To help Chinese university EFL teachers to step out of the dilemma, the research proposes a CPD model, i.e., peer-assisted research and implementation team work. The model is characterised by its simultaneity with self-initiated research, instant communication of problems, implementation of strategies, and collaborative reflection of ideas with three major stages, i.e., problem identification, collective research and exploration, and pedagogy implementation and reflection. The findings show the model successfully contributes to Chinese teachers’ changing attitudes towards using peer assessment in the writing class. The model is of great practical value in improving teachers’ CPD collectively with minimal external help. The model can be widely promoted with modifications to cater teachers’ different CPD needs.     

Collaboration and the growth of teachers’ knowledge

Studies of teachers working together have exposed the capricious nature of collaborative activity: sometimes it seems to work well; at other times collaboration actually works against improvement. Success in collaborative relationships is best understood through an appreciation of how teachers form and use knowledge. The teachers’ knowledge perspective is used in this paper to interpret qualitative data from two successful collaborative relationships in schools. Evidence supports the contention that personal qualities, underscored by mutual trust and respect for knowledge, form the basis for successful relationships in teaching, operating in different ways, for different purposes, for different people. Providing that teachers are approached with respect, collaboration holds promise as a slow (but powerful) path towards educational change.     

Teachers’ professional development for differentiated instruction in mixed-ability classrooms: investigating the impact of a development program on teachers’ professional learning and on students’ achievement

The present article reports the results of a study performed to investigate and examine the characteristics of a teachers’ professional development program (Teachers’ Professional Development Program for Differentiated Instruction [PDD]) specially designed to support teachers in the design and application of differentiated instruction. Considering the characteristics of high-quality professional development programs (i.e. active learning, collective participation, closely related to the curriculum and the existing teaching realities, sufficient duration and continuance), the PDD aimed to facilitate change in both attitudes and practices of the participants. The study provides evidence of the success of the program, both in terms of teacher professional development and student achievement, and discusses the elements that made this program successful.     

Coaching between experts – opportunities for teachers’ professional development

Sharing experiences among teachers is an important part of professional development. Coaching is defined as an ongoing process in which experts engage with practice, with the purpose of continuous improvement. This article will discuss the principles of peer coaching in teacher development, by examining a specific case of peer coaching between two experienced teacher educators. From this analysis, we derive two major concepts as guiding the process of peer coaching: joint deliberation and metapedagogy. These two features are conceptualized using excerpts from the case study and from the literature.     

Uncovering changes in university teachers’ professional networks during an instructional development program

This study examined (1) the extent to which university teachers’ networks changed while they participated in an instructional development program, (2) which mechanisms supported or constrained network change, and (3) the extent to which value was created through networks. Longitudinal social network data combined with follow-up interviews were collected over a 2-year time frame from 16 university teachers participating in an instructional development program. Results showed that teachers’ networks increased and remained relatively stable after the program had finished. Several underlying mechanisms for network change throughout the program were identified (e.g., departmental culture, network intentionality, trust). Moreover, both expressive (e.g., venting) and instrumental value (e.g., getting ideas or feedback) were created through teachers’ networks. This research contributes to our understanding of the social side of instructional development.