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。     

Understanding teacher instructional change: the case of integrating NGSS and stewardship in professional development

The environmental education (EE) field has encountered persistent challenges in fostering the integration of EE practices in public schools, a challenge that may be addressed through integration of EE with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in the United States. In addition to the potential for fostering EE, the integration of EE and NGSS may provide a unique set of conditions for understanding how and why teachers shift their practice to incorporate more EE in their classrooms. Using a mixed methodology research design, this study examines the outcomes and processes of a professional development institute that integrated NGSS and student-driven environmental stewardship. This study provides evidence that integrating NGSS Science and Engineering Practices with stewardship may help infuse EE into classrooms. The research also contributes to theoretical understanding of the processes by which professional development shapes teacher change within an organizational context. Specifically, teacher instructional change was predicated on a shift in their beliefs that stewardship was possible in a standards and accountability-based educational context. The requisite shift in beliefs came about through the expectations and supportive resources provided by the professional development, teacher observation of student engagement, and the justification NGSS integration provided for stewardship activities.     

Reconceptualising academic work as professional practice: implications for academic development

Despite increasing research and scholarship in the area of academic development in recent years, it remains an under-theorised field of endeavour. The paper proposes that academic developers take a view on what constitutes academic work and see it as a form of professional practice. It discusses the features of practice theory that illuminate professional practice and identifies three foci for the application of these ideas within academic development: practice development, fostering learning-conducive work and deliberately locating activity within practice. It also suggests that academic development be viewed as a practice and points to features within its own traditions on which to build.     

世界职业教育制度改革和发展的新趋势

在新的挑战面前，世界职业教育正进行着各个方面的改革，其中职业教育制度是职业教育改革的重点。其改革和发展有四大趋势：职业教育终身化；职业教育上移化；职业教育与企业培训合作化；普通教育职业化和职业教育普通化。     

Driving change from ‘the middle’: middle leading for site based educational development

ABSTRACT

Educational researchers have invested much in isolating the specific ‘drivers’ that influence school change and teacher professional development. In this vein, this article draws attention to necessarily situated understandings of practice development through research into the nature of ‘middle leading’ for site based education development in one primary school district in regional Australia. Drawing on practice theory, the analysis reveals how developing and sustaining change in schools is contingent on middle leaders’ insider knowledge, shared responsibility and capacity to sustain and ‘drive’ teachers’ learning. The article argues more situated understandings of middle leading practices are essential for sustainable educational reform.     

The sustainability of change in teacher beliefs and practices as a result of an overseas professional development course

This article examines whether there are changes in students’ teaching practices as a result of their experiencing an overseas professional development course (PDC); the process of any such changes; and whether any changes found are sustainable in the long term. Three forms of data gathering are used, lesson observation, in-depth interviews, and email correspondence, in order to compare and capture the fluidity of changes over time. Results indicate that the teachers’ fundamental belief in certain concepts of teaching and learning did indeed change, but ultimately certain teaching practices could not be altered in the teachers’ home country due to the reality of its assumptions about teaching.     

The role of teachers’ orientation to learning in professional development and change: A national study of teachers in England

This paper uses results from a national survey of teachers in England to test a hypothesised model of teacher orientation to learning (consisting of beliefs, practice and experiences about learning) and its relationship to teacher learning change. Results from a structural equation modeling process of 1126 teacher survey responses show that teachers bring an internal, external and collaborative orientation to their professional learning. The beliefs and practices associated with these orientations are also shown to have a moderate influence, via path analysis, on teacher learning change defined as a composite outcome of change in beliefs, practices and students.     

Creating a responsive curriculum for postgraduates: lessons from a case in Ghana

A responsive curriculum addresses the changing needs of students, bridging the gap between universal knowledge and theories on one hand and contextual, continuously changing realities of everyday life and the world of work, on the other. Though several higher education institutions appreciate the value of making curriculum responsive, how to do this remains a challenge. This paper first identified unique attributes of responsive curriculum development based on literature and assessed their manifestation in the creation of a new Masters curriculum in natural resource and environmental governance in Ghana. The role of actors within and outside academia and its implications, were also investigated. The study was designed as participatory action research. Key process attributes identified include, among others, iteration, built-in learning within the curriculum development process, and the contribution of actors from outside academia to curriculum design and implementation. The study also shows the important role of the so-called champion of the process and the expert facilitators. The paper does not seek to provide a blue-print but rather provides a valuable example for future initiatives at creating curriculum that better responds to current needs of students.     

发展高等职业教育是调整高等教育结构的手段

我国单一的高等教育结构，虽然培养了大量的人才，但其规格与类型却不能满足社会对高层次实用型人才的需要，致使高等教育与经济的发展不相适应。对部分高等院校实行改革、改组和改制来发展高等职业教育，是调整我国高等教育结构的重要手段。     

A new sustainable change theoretical framework for the professional disciplines

This paper contends that one key reason for the lack of adoption of comprehensive change models based in higher education (HE) teaching and learning is that they lack a strong theoretical underpinning, thus potentially impeding their effectiveness in dealing with the complexities of human and organisational behaviour. Change theories that articulate the specific roles and influences of context, time and key actors in the change process are interrogated to highlight barriers to sustainable change in HE. A new theoretical framework for sustainable change is proposed that integrates these change theories in the context of HE professional disciplines. The findings provide several recommendations for university management in implementing change models including the provision of reciprocal feedback loops, enhanced learning for staff and students through scaffolding, developing workplace and professional networks, and implementing study and work unit flexibility.     

Special education professional development needs in Zimbabwe

Since 1980 when Zimbabwe obtained political independence, special education has not received the same priority as the entire education system. One of the manifestations of this discrepancy is the shortage of qualified special education teachers in the country. In order to address this trend and promote the development of special education, researchers have suggested the need for professional development in the area of special education. The purpose of this study was to identify the special education professional development needs of both special and general education in-service teachers in Zimbabwe. A semi-structured survey instrument, developed by the first and second authors, which included open- and closed-end questions was used in this study. The sample consisted of 204 schoolteachers drawn from two school districts of Zvishavane and Gwanda. The participating schoolteachers overwhelmingly expressed the need for more professional development in the area of special education. The schoolteachers also identified several topics that they considered to be important for professional development.     

Teacher professional development to support teacher professional learning: Systemic Factors from Irish case studies

Teacher professional learning is widely accepted as a mediating factor for enhancing student outcomes. While many teachers across the world engage in professional development (PD) to enhance their professional learning, what is less evident is how to support that learning to result in change following teacher PD. Acknowledging that not all teacher PD needs to result in new practices and change, this paper focuses on a transformative model of PD, focused on implementing and sustaining change. This paper offers evidence of successful implementation and sustainability of practices by drawing from in-depth semi-structured interviews with teachers and principals in five Irish case study schools. It reports on the Systemic Factors to support implementation and sustainability of change: Support, Initiative design and Impact and Teacher Agency. Implications are drawn for bridging the gap between knowledge and practice or teacher PD and change within schools.     

Examining instructional practices in Core-Plus lessons: implications for professional development

In the research reported in this article, we sought to understand the instructional practices of 26 secondary teachers from one district who use a problems-based mathematics textbook series (Core-Plus). Further, we wanted to examine beliefs that may be associated with their instructional practices. After analyzing data from classroom observations, our findings indicated that the teachers’ instructional practices fell along a wide continuum of lesson implementation. Analysis of interview data suggested that teachers’ beliefs with regard to students’ ability to do mathematics were associated with their level of lesson implementation. Teachers also differed, by level of instructional practices, in their beliefs about appropriateness of the textbook series for all students. Results strongly support the need for professional development for teachers implementing a problems-based, reform mathematics curriculum. Further, findings indicate that the professional development be designed to meet the diverse nature of teacher needs.     

Interactive learning in an urban environmental education online course

Online courses play an increasing role in professional development of environmental educators, yet little information is available on the interactive processes involved in online learning. We examined the relationship of three types of interactions in an urban environmental education online course – participant–participant, participant–instructor, and participant–content – to four course outcomes: participants’ motivation to learn, intent to adapt ideas and information learned through the course in their practice, actual adaptation of ideas in their practice, and development of professional networks. Content analysis was used to characterize participants’ and instructors’ weekly online posts and comments, and generalized estimation equation modeling was used to explore the relationships between interactions and outcomes. The results showed that participant–content interaction had significant positive relationships with participants’ motivation to learn, intent to adapt ideas, and adaptation of ideas. Participant–participant interaction had significant positive relationships with participants’ motivation to learn, and development of professional networks with each other. Finally, participant–instructor interaction had a significant positive relationship with participants’ development of professional networks. The results of this study can be used to improve professional development online courses for environmental educators.     

Liminal practice and reflection in professional education: police education and medical education

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a study of how liminality relates to the facilitation of reflective practice in professional education. Liminality refers to sites and positions that exhibit 'in-betweenness', or bordering positions, that might draw together different institutional conditions. The present project aims to examine the role of liminality in professional educational practice with a specific focus upon how liminality may support student reflection. Using a qualitative and comparative research approach, we analysed interview and observational data from police education and a medical programme. Observations and interviews explore practices of collective interactional (and hence observable) reflection at sites that are characterised by ‘betweenness’ of work and education. Findings indicate that situations that afford reflection are characterised by a sense of undeterminedness in terms of either the subject, space or activity. Thus, we conclude that there is some evidence that liminality affords reflection, but also that liminality and underminedness are fragile states that are not easily organised in a professional education curriculum.     

Forming the Professional Self: Bildung and the ontological perspective on professional education and development

Ontological perspectives in higher education and particularly in professional education and development have focused attention on the question of the learner’s being and becoming rather than on the epistemological concern of what and how they know. This study considers the formation of the professional self in the light of the requirements for professional practice. It raises the question of agency in relation to this formational process and considers the implications of the autonomy paradox which arises from the simultaneous influence of the sovereign self and the external authority of the profession on the formation of the professional self. This study considers a structural perspective on both of these matters and concludes with implications for professional education and development derived from constructive developmental theory and the notion of subject–object transformation.     

Practice stories in natural resource management continuing professional education: springboards for learning

The use of stories from professional experience in continuing professional education has been on the rise in many fields, often aimed at bolstering capacity through sharing professional knowledge and/or supporting reflective practice. Practice stories are also suggested to be beneficial in supporting professional learning of new concepts. These uses of practice stories are not evident in public natural resource management (NRM) continuing professional education. In light of greater public involvement in NRM practice over the last 20 years, however, the use of practice stories could now be particularly beneficial to NRM professionals. This study examines the use of practice stories in workshops aimed at deepening public NRM professionals' understanding of social science concepts suggested to be valuable in making sense of the social and political complexity intertwined in public involvement practice. Feedback from workshop participants suggests that practice stories may be able to support NRM professionals in reflecting on previous experiences, learning from colleague's practice experiences and serving as a springboard for learning by fostering linkages between social science knowledge and practice. The study also finds that the perceived benefits of sharing practice stories were comparatively less for some more experienced participants.     

The role of teacher professional development in financial literacy education: A systematic literature review

This paper examines the elements essential to effective teacher professional development (TPD) in financial literacy education by means of a systematic literature review. We provide a theoretical underpinning for the literature review by proposing a revised presentation of an existing general TPD model. Our results provide insight into the student learning goals in financial literacy education, the desirable teaching behaviour, the required teacher quality and the contextual factors that play a role. However, our findings also suggest a lack of studies that systematically investigate whether and how TPD initiatives enhance the effect of financial education on students' financial literacy. Furthermore, existing literature fails to provide insight in how the six key features of TPD should be implemented to optimize its effectiveness.     

环境工程特色专业的建设与实践

我校的环境工程专业通过优化课程体系,强化工程实践能力的培养,提高师资队伍水平等手段来提高教学质量;将部分本科专业教学内容与社会经济发展过程中迫切需要解决的环境污染问题紧密结合,以高水平专业实验室的建设带动科研水平和科研实力的提高等措施来突出环保设备与石化特色。经过近几年的建设,取得了系列成果,提升了我校环境工程专业的办学水平和人才培养质量。