Reassembling teacher professional development: the case for Quality Teaching Rounds

Conventional professional development, while still in full swing in many places, has been widely maligned for its passive approach to learning, its failure to address local differences, and its often single-event format. While the corrective move to more collaborative models of professional learning has been heralded, few empirical studies to date have demonstrated impact on classroom practice or student learning outcomes. What is missing in both approaches, we argue, is a focus on pedagogy that guides teachers’ efforts at improvement. To address this absence, we elaborate our ‘reassembled’ approach to professional development, Quality Teaching Rounds. We argue that bringing together approaches to teacher development that privilege collaboration, community, and context with a substantive pedagogical framework will deliver more powerful professional development that makes a substantial impact on practice and produces measurable effects.     

Understanding the complexity of teacher interaction in a teacher professional learning community

In this study, we examine a professional learning community of primary school teachers developing a joint school-based curriculum for science and technology (S&T) education. Team meetings were observed over the course of one school year and the participating teachers and school head were interviewed. An essential factor in the team’s collaboration was its ability to achieve synthesis, that is, the extent to which the teachers were able to abstract from concrete experiences in S&T education in order to formulate and develop a shared vision and curriculum. They exchanged many examples and were able to create a shared idea highlighting critical elements in their approach to teaching this school subject. However, the teachers experienced difficulties in determining the level at which a school-based curriculum should be defined. The outcomes of this team’s collaboration are discussed in terms of leadership and the aims of the S&T innovation.     

教师教育的有效途径——教师发展学校

教师发展学校是借鉴美国专业发展学校的经验构建的，是大学与中小学合作、以中小学为基地建设的、促进教师专业发展的新型学校。教师发展学校的建立对于创造新型教师教育，培养新型教师，实现教师教育一体化具有重要的现实意义。     

Tackling behaviour and attendance issues in schools in Wales: implications for training and professional development

In 2009, the Welsh Assembly Government published its Report on the review of behaviour and attendance in schools in Wales. The National Behaviour and Attendance Review (NBAR) in Wales was chaired by the author of this paper. Both the Review and the Welsh Assembly Government’s response contained recommendations related to the training and professional development needs of staff in schools and local authorities (LAs). A paper on the professional development needs of staff on behaviour and attendance based on the NBAR recommendations is published in the same edition of this journal. This follow‐up paper focuses upon the Welsh Assembly Government’s response to these recommendations and its implementation plan on which the author acted as the professional adviser. The Welsh Assembly Government accepted with cross‐party support that the training and professional development needs of teachers and LA staff in behavioural management and school attendance had been neglected over many years. For the first time, coordinated new training and continuing professional development programmes on behavioural management and school attendance will be introduced in Wales soon. The next stage will be to evaluate the effectiveness of these programmes.     

Competing priorities in professional development: an Australian study of teacher professional development policy and practice

This paper argues that neoliberal and managerial pressures external to the teaching profession, as well as more progressive and democratic approaches internal to the profession, have simultaneously influenced professional development policy and practice in Australia. In making this case, the paper reviews the nature of the teacher professional development that is supported in federal Australian policies associated with the recently defeated Liberal/National Coalition government (1996–2007) and research into how professional development has been enacted in practice in Australia, during this government's tenure. While acknowledging the significant impact of more neoliberal and managerial approaches and how such policy emphases contribute to the continuation of traditional, systemic/employer provided workshops, the paper also provides evidence of competing, more teacher‐centred approaches.     

美国教师专业发展学校的形成与发展

“专业发展学校”的建立是美国教师教育改革的新举措,它对美国教师教育的发展和教学质量的改善起了重要作用。该文从美国教师专业发展学校的产生因素、形成过程及其意义三方面对其形成和发展进行了探讨。     

我国教师专业发展学校:推广的必要性及对策

教师专业发展学校是融职前教师教育、在职教师培训、大学教师发展为一体的教师教育模式,推行广泛并取得了巨大成效。我国教师教育发展模式相对滞后的现状迫切需要我们认真学习国外先进经验,加快发展我国的教师专业发展学校建设。     

教师专业发展视野中的高师课程改革

从教师专业发展出发,高师课程应从三个方面进行改革:第一,从专业的角度出发,重视知识和技能的提高,重视学科与教育的整合;第二,从人生命的完整性出发,注重反思和探究精神的培养,注重对实践智慧的追寻;第三,从社会文化的角度出发,注重专业道德意识、专业身份认知的培养。     

Supporting teacher professional development through online video case study discussions: An assemblage of preservice and inservice teachers and the case teacher

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential value of online video case discussions among preservice and inservice teachers, and the video case teacher as a tool for the professional development of teachers. Participants included a total of 26 preservice and inservice mathematics teachers and a veteran teacher who appeared on the video case. Using content analysis techniques, we provided a thematic analysis of the teacher discourse and demonstrated the exchanges between the participating teachers and video case teacher. We also assessed the overall effectiveness of our online forum set up for the professional development of teachers. Results indicated that participant teachers were able to make theory–practice connections by articulating specific frameworks that guided our study. The inclusion of the video case teacher was beneficial for the other teachers in several ways. We contend that online forum discussions of video cases in which collective engagement of preservice and inservice teachers, and the case teacher have a great potential to support teacher professional development.     

The impacts of district policy and school context on teacher professional development

Teacher professional development has become one of the most important policy issues in the context of standards-based reform in U.S. However, our understanding of the contexts that influence teacher professional development remains limited. Using a series of 3-level Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM/3L) statistical analyses of a large nationally representative dataset, this article examines the impacts of multi-nested district and school contexts on teacher professional development. This article suggests that diverse and complex relationships among contextual factors at the district- and school-level encourage or limit time for teacher professional development. Finally, some implications are presented for school leaders and educational policy makers in attempting to broaden and enhance teacher professional development.     

Teaching as a collective work: analysis,current research and implications for teacher education

This article investigates teaching as collective work. The goals, functions and forms of teachers' collective work and changes in the professional representations or repertoire of actions through collective activity are identified. A synthetic framework is outlined and shown to be useful in addressing the data, by revealing the importance of interactions in professional competence acquisition. The article relates this framework to data collected from new teachers in the induction year in Scottish secondary schools (age range of pupils 11–18 years) and discusses the relationship of collective work to competence standards. Some issues for teacher educators and further research questions are identified.     

高师学生自我专业发展意识现状调查与分析

采用“高师学生自我专业发展意识问卷”对652名高师学生进行调查,结果表明:(1)总体上,我国高师学生的自我专业发展意识在性别、城乡上不存在显著的差异,在个别维度上存在着性别和城乡的显著性差异:女生的专业发展自我认同的水平高于男生;来自农村的学生在自我调节水平上高于来自城市的学生。(2)不同年级的高师学生的自我专业发展意识存在着显著的差异。四年级的学生无论是从总体上还是在各个维度上的发展水平均高于其他三个年级的学生。(3)教育教学实习对高师学生的自我专业发展意识有着显著的影响,参加教育教学实习能够提高高师学生的自我专业发展意识水平。     

A framework for Information and Communication Technology integration in schools through teacher professional development

Abstract

The demands of the twenty-first century require effective and sustainable use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education. Various ICT strategies and initiatives across South Africa have not resulted in system-wide, sustainable ICT integration in schools. Although the roles of principals are acknowledged in educational management, the question remains how principals influence teachers' effective and sustainable integration of ICT through teacher professional development (TPD). A matrix of theoretical criteria selected seven participants across diverse contexts. In-depth interviews produced an integrated dataset that revealed principals' patterns of influence, their perceptions and experiences, their leadership and management styles, their attitudes towards ICT integration, their knowledge on related ICT and related TPD issues, as well as their strategic thinking on ICT integration. The proposed theoretical framework illustrates the interrelatedness of aspects that influence principals' leadership through open distance learning.     

The tension in turkish teacher education: Conflict and controversy during the transformation from an academic approach to a professional approach

Most of the reforms, which have been undertaken in the last 30 years in the Turkish educational system, are about teacher education. When we examine the teacher education curriculum from the perspective of these reforms, it has been observed that there is a controversy between the academic and professional approaches used in these curricula. While the reforms undertaken in 1982 and 1997 were in favor of the academic approach, the latest reform undertaken in 2006 was made to strengthen the professional aspects of teacher education curriculum. In this paper, Turkish teacher education reforms are introduced in the light of the professional and the academic approaches, which have always been the topic of discussions about teacher education.     

Restrictive versus facilitative teacher professional development: a case from three public schools in Indonesia

Asia Pacific Education Review - This paper argues that the professional learning of teachers is shaped and conditioned by the circumstances, arrangements, and specificity of teacher professional...     

From isolation to symphonic harmony: Building a professional development community among teacher educators

Professional development among teacher educators requires a framework in which collaborative learning can support growth and change. This study describes a professional development project modeled on a professional development community focused on thinking education in a teachers college. Qualitative measures revealed a multilayered process consisting of breaking personal and professional isolation through interdisciplinary collaboration, talk about student learning, improvement of teaching through skill acquisition, and professional development with the adaptation of new teaching dispositions and a sense of efficacy. The community was characterized by a safe environment which encouraged risk taking and mutual support, enabling significant change in college courses.     

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.     

The professional development needs of staff in Wales on behaviour management and attendance: findings from the NBAR Report

This paper presents the evidence collected for the National Behaviour and Attendance Review (NBAR) in Wales on the professional development needs of staff on behaviour management and school attendance. These data were collected in two stages between 2006 and 2008. At Stage 1, data were collected from four pre‐selected professional focus groups who met throughout Wales to consider specific topics relating to the behaviour of children and young people in schools at the present time (n = 121). At Stage 2, relevant professional focus groups were established to specifically examine the themes of professional development and training in behaviour management and attendance in both North and South Wales (n = 62). This latter group activity built on the preliminary work of the NBAR review group’s own sub‐group on professional development and training. The paper considers the outcome of all these findings and their implications for future practice in Wales.     

Teacher participation in school-based professional development in China: does it matter for teacher efficacy and teaching strategies?

ABSTRACT

Although Chinese teachers commonly participate in school-based professional development activities, there is a remarkable scarcity of large-scale quantitative research into the effectiveness of teacher professional development in China, which is characterised as an institutionalised practice. Based on a conceptual framework applying recent research knowledge, this study investigates the relationships between teacher participation in school-based professional development and its individual and school contextual antecedents and effects on teachers and teaching in the context of mainland China. A total of 1506 secondary school teachers responded to a questionnaire survey. The results show that teachers’ willingness to attend teaching research activities and supportive principal leadership facilitated teacher participation. Among the three dimensions of teacher participation, it was collective lesson planning and teacher collegiality, not the frequency of participation, that improved teacher efficacy and the adoption of desirable teaching strategies. These results enrich the knowledge about the characteristics and effectiveness of teacher professional development in China. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

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。