教师在职培训课程基本特性分析

教师在职培训已成为教师专业发展常态性的期待,但由于理论上缺乏对教师在职培训课程基本特性的认识,教师培训实践出现了一定程度的偏差,教师在职培训的实效性受到了质疑。教师在职培训课程的基本特性是由教师在职培训的特殊性决定的,具体表现为课程目标的多样性、课程内容结构的非正规性、课程展开方式的实践性以及课程管理的开放性。     

Enhancing part-time in-service teacher training programmes to facilitate rural teacher development in China

Despite the frequent criticisms directed toward them, in-service teacher training (INSET) programmes remain one of the most commonly used approaches for enhancing teachers’ professional development. This article reports on a study that examined the effects of a part-time masters of education INSET programme based in Central China. The main source of data was reflective papers written by 38 teacher participants; classroom observations and informal interviews also helped reveal the teachers’ perspectives on the programme. Whilst the programme was very popular, and had a variety of positive impacts on the teachers’ professional development, the programme paradigm involved several drawbacks. The results suggest that part-time INSET programmes for rural teachers should be supplemented by various other forms of teacher development activities to meet the dual goals of developing such programmes and providing professional development for teachers.     

Impact of an in-service training in neurocognitive insights on teacher stress,teacher professionalism and teacher student relationships

The stressful nature of the teaching profession is recognised worldwide. Consistent with the recent international attention regarding the connection between neurocognition and education, the study ‘Learn2be@school’ introduced a training for teachers about the occurrence of stress and the relationship between human behaviour and the functioning of the human brain. This study investigates whether neurocognitive insights contribute to stress reduction in the professional and personal functioning of teachers, and focuses more specifically on the impact of the training on their attitudes (attitude level), understanding (knowledge level) and handling (application level) of complex stress situations. Using a quasi-experimental study design with 12 participants and 28 non-participants, data were gathered twice through the use of vignettes and in-depth interviews. The results indicated an impact of the training, not only on the stress experienced by teachers in their professional and personal functioning, but also at the level of the teacher–student relationship and team functioning.     

Collaborative knowledge building to promote in-service teacher training in environmental education

Abstract

This project was undertaken by researchers at three universities in England where there is a well established tradition of introducing student teachers to Information Technology. Questionnaires were administered at three key points in the course to a student group in each university, to establish how students' concepts of IT were developing and to identify key influences on their practice and their thinking. Selected students were interviewed towards the end of their teaching practice, as was the school mentor for each student wherever possible, and all staff in the student's host department were invited to complete a questionnaire. All tapes were transcribed. The study suggests that student teachers of English have a broader view of literacy than is currently predominant in schools and this view positively embraces the role of IT in literacy. Student teachers do not envisage the disappearance of books, instead they see a wider and more inclusive range of texts, including the electronic, as part of the normal focus of the English teacher. Practising teachers of English range from those with an essentially negative attitude to IT, to an increasing number who are themselves developing this broader view of literacy. Current pre-service provision appears to be succeeding in giving new English teachers a positive and committed attitude towards the use of IT in the current and future literacy curriculum.     

Meeting Needs but not Changing Goals: evaluation of in-service teacher training for sex education

Teachers' lack of sex education training has been widely regarded as a barrier to delivery, but very few in-service programmes have been evaluated. This paper evaluates the teacher training component of a theoretically-based behavioural sex education programme for 13–15-year-olds called SHARE. It combines data from participant observation, in-depth interviews, questionnaires and lesson observations. The teachers found the training very valuable, particularly in relation to collegiate support, familiarisation with the SHARE pack and reducing discomfort. The two main objectives of the training programme that were congruent with teachers' perceived needs were fulfilled: to make teachers more comfortable and confident to deliver sex education and to prepare them to deliver the SHARE pack. However, the introduction of social-psychologically informed skills based exercises, radically different to those normally followed, was the least successful aspect of the training, as one might predict from previous research on in-service training. This might suggest that theoretically based, behavioural health education programmes might be best delivered by specialist staff.     

Adjusting content to individual student needs: Further evidence from an in-service teacher training program

Adapting instruction to the specific needs of each student is a promising strategy to improve overall academic achievement. In this article, I study the impact of an intensive in-service teacher training program on reading skills offered to kindergarten teachers in France. The program modifies the lesson content and encourages teachers to adapt instruction to student needs by dividing the class according to initial achievement. While assessing impact is usually difficult due to the presence of ability bias and teacher selection, I show that in this context, a value-added model that controls for school and teacher characteristics constitutes a legitimate strategy to estimate the treatment effect. Results show that all students benefiting from the program progressed in reading skills at the end of the year. Besides, weaker students progressed faster on less-advanced competences (such as letter recognition), while stronger students improved their reading skills. This suggests that teachers adjusted content to students’ needs. Finally, a cost-effectiveness analysis reveals that the program is approximately three times more cost-effective than reducing class size in France.     

Expectancy and halo effects as a result of artificially induced teacher bias

This investigation examined the effects of deviancy labels on teachers' expectations of child behavior and their ability to evaluate child behavior objectively. One hundred elementary school teachers were randomly assigned to one of four label groups. Each group dealt with one label (emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, mentally retarded, normal), and each group participated in two separate treatment phases. During Phase I teachers identified behaviors they expected to be displayed by hypothetical children characteristic of the label condition. They were asked to complete a referral form for either a hypothetical normal, mentally retarded, learning disabled, or emotionally disturbed child. During Phase II, each group saw the same videotape of a normal fourth grade boy and completed a second referral form based on the behaviors displayed during this presentation. Experimental procedures were identical for the four groups, except each group was told the child was a member of a different category.Results indicated that teachers hold negative expectancies toward children categorized with a deviancy label and maintain expectancies even when confronted with normal behavior, behavior inconsistent with the stated label. Maintenance of this bias is sufficient to cause teachers to misinterpret actual child behavior, resulting in a halo effect. Results further indicated that the label of educable mentally retarded generated a greater degree of negative bias than did the labels learning disabled or emotionally disturbed, although all three deviancy labels produced negative expectancies and halo effects significantly different from those found under control conditions.     

From in-service teacher development to school improvement: factors of learning transfer in teacher education

In-service teacher development programs are perceived as a common way to foster school improvement. Nevertheless, program evaluation to date ends with the assessment of acquired knowledge, skills, and motivation, frequently disregarding the actual learning transfer and its conditions. This study aimed to investigate how individual and situational factors interact and contribute to learning transfer in an in-service teacher development program. We tested a transfer model derived from human resources development research. One hundred and twenty-nine teachers aged 25–62 years (87% female), participating in an in-service development program, were surveyed three times during the program. Results of path analyses suggest that not only especially individual factors are critical for learning transfer in the context of school improvement, but also that program and environmental factors have important effects. They moderated the effects of the individual factors.     

The role of pre-service and in-service teacher training (PITT) programmes in preparing teachers for HIV curriculum integration

Despite significant global efforts to mitigate HIV and AIDS, the epidemic continues to be a serious problem to the human race. It has claimed many productive individuals, including teachers, administrators, and parents, and has left millions of traumatized and orphaned children. Unfortunately, few teachers are prepared to take on the extra tasks of teaching and providing support that the disease creates within school settings. Teacher training institutions and governments are challenged to provide teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to take on these new and changing roles. This article explores the role of current pre-service and in-service teacher training (PITT) programmes and offers evidence that teachers need more and better training to integrate HIV education into the mainstream curriculum in Africa. We argue that the success of HIV interventions in the sector depends on the quality and relevance of the PITT programmes being offered.     

Online learning community development with teachers as a means of enhancing initial teacher training

A purpose‐built blend of teaching and learning activities was used with trainee teachers on a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course, and subsequently evaluated in a cyclical action research study, over a period of two years. The purpose of the blend was to engender the formation of a learning community, by giving them access to each other all through the course, in order to reduce the isolation often felt on school placement. The development of their social presence was encouraged by providing them with the social space in which to construct it. The findings indicate that this blend engendered the formation of a learning community through the creation of social presence and space that reduced isolation on placement for the trainee teachers. Positive voices from the research illustrate that trainees experienced an enhancement of their teacher training course through participation in the learning community.     

Towards an oral history of educational ideas in New Zealand as a resource for teacher education

Studies of the educational theories which have influenced teachers have traditionally relied heavily on the textual analysis of policy documents and syllabi. While such studies are crucial, they offer a “top-down” view of the educational terrain and can imply that teachers passively absorbed the dominant policy initiatives. This paper is taken from a wider study of the educational life—histories of 150 teachers and former teachers ranging in age from 21 to 98. The aim of the overall project is to map the tides and current of educational thought as lived by New Zealand teachers from the 1920s to the mid-1990s and to produce a resource for teacher education which will help dissolve the “theory-practice split” experienced by many of our students. Life-history methods enable a focus on how teachers create educational theories within the possibilities and constraints of their circumstances—biographical, historical and political, geographical, cultural and discursive. This paper uses three case studies as a basis for discussion of the impact of “neo-progressivist” (or student-centred learning) ideas in secondary schools from the 1950s to the 1980s.     

Transitions to becoming a teacher on an initial teacher education and training programme

This article is based on research with a group of one‐year Postgraduate Certificate in Education secondary trainee teachers during their initial teacher education and training in England. It considers tensions between trainees’ prior experiences and conceptions of teaching and their training programme. In doing so, it seeks to examine how a trainee’s dispositions as revealed through practice in various contexts are reflective of Bourdieu’s ‘habitus’. Associated with this, the paper also examines how particular forms of pre‐existing cultural capital and manifestations of biographical identity also pre‐dispose trainees to form affinities and disaffinities within particular fields. Lacanian concepts of the symbolic, imaginary and real are used to help explain how trainee teachers articulate resonance and dissonance during their field experiences, particularly in relation to ontological concerns of securing a professional stable sense of self.     

浅析成人英语培训机构中教师培训

随着教育产业的迅速发展,私立、民办培训机构对教师的需求越来越大。一些发展较早、具备一定规模或是发展较成熟的机构都开始重视培养专职教师,组织和鼓励教师进行教学活动研讨和交流,个别机构甚至研发出一套把新手教师培养成熟手教师的培训方案和系统。本文分析了当前成人英语培训学校的现状和影响其专任教师专业发展的因素,提出了利用反思性理论促进成人英语培训机构教师专业发展的模式和实现途径。