远程教育教师发展途径的成效分析

随着远程教育的快速发展,教师发展问题已经受到远程教育机构越来越多的重视。如何更好地促进远程教育教师的发展,即教师发展途径的问题,在理论和政策上已有诸多探讨,但这些探讨大多是从应然的角度对远程教育教师和教育机构提出的理想化要求,并没有切身关注教师的实际需求、期望和实效。以这一研究视角为切入点,通过调查某开放大学全体专职教师对教师发展途径实效的看法,结果发现：在我国远程教育系统目前主要存在的8种教师发展途径中,＂学历深造＂的认可度最高,＂自我反思＂是最具弹性和自主化的发展途径,＂同行交流与互助＂比＂专家指导＂具有更大的实效,＂校外培训＂比＂校本培训＂的实效更好,＂教研活动＂的实际帮助程度较低,＂竞赛和公开课＂的实效最低。为了促进远程教育教师持续而系统的发展,远程教育机构应积极探索新的远程教育教师发展系统,既要明确身份和定位,从制度和组织层面进行系统规划,又要为教师发展途径的选择提供弹性和灵活性,更要注重教师发展途径具体的实践性和情境性,以此来重构、重组和优化远程教育教师发展系统的可能空间。

The Effectiveness of the Measures for Faculty Development in Distance Education Institutions

Faculty development has become one of the most important issues with the rapid development ofdistance education. During recent years in theoretical literatures, suggestions have been actively given for the policyand practice of faculty development, that is, how to foster the development of teaching staff in distance educationinstitutions. However, there are still few studies on the effectiveness of different measures for faculty developmentbased on empirical data gained from faculty members working in distance education institutions. This paper is basedon a survey of all full-time faculty members from one of the biggest open universities in China, trying to make outwhat kind of faculty development measures work better actually for faculty members and what makes them workbetter. Research results show that, among the 8 most widely used measures of faculty development, ＂pursuit ofhigher degree＂ is regarded as the most effective measure, and ＂self-reflection＂ is taken as the most flexible andself-controlled one. Comparatively, ＂communication and support among peers＂ is reported to be better than ＂expertguidance＂, and ＂training run by outsides＂ is better than ＂institution-based training＂. While the impact of ＂teachingand research activities＂ on faculty members＇ development is regarded lower, and the worst one is ＂observed classand competition＂. The author urges that, to foster the continuous and systematic development of faculty members indistance education institutions, efforts should be taken to identify the role and function of distance education, andoffer measures for faculty development for its members with more flexibility, from both the system level and theorganization level. Practice orientation and situation appropriateness should also be seriously considered toreorganize,reconstruct,and improve the system of faculty development in distance education institutions.