Navigating Teacher Professionalism in Autoethnography: Ethical and Occupational Dilemmas in Professional Learning Reflections

"Teaching Practice is a critical phase of teacher education that provides opportunities for student teachers to reflect on the development of their teaching philosophies and put them into action. Self-directed learning pertains to a process where these students take responsibility for their own learning by setting outcomes, choosing material or human resources, selecting appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating their learning. E-portfolios as learning tools can be utilized to facilitate the development of skills for self-directed learning. Good quality mentoring in schools contributes to the development of critical professional skills of student teachers and ensures the best quality learning experiences for pupils. This paper is arranged as an ideas paper that seeks to explore the intersections between mentoring, self-directed professional learning of student teachers and the use of e-portfolios during teaching practice. The most common trends on these topics will be described and intersections identified, thereby exploring how self-directed learning could be supported by the use of e-portfolios and good quality mentoring. Findings showed that e-portfolios are practical tools for self-directed, reflective and collaborative professional learning. Further findings show that formal mentoring programs are essential to meet student teachers professional learning needs. These findings will encourage mentor teachers to optimally use e-portfolios to enhance student teachers self-directed professional learning."

This chapter discusses the role of an e-portfolio in professional learning and development. We begin by providing a better understanding of the concept of a portfolio by discussing its meaning, purpose, and uses in different contexts as well as the role of technological innovations, which paves the way for new practices in developing portfolios. This is followed by a comprehensive discussion about the use of electronic portfolios in light of recent research in order to provide an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of using e-portfolios. Current research suggests that e-portfolios are practical tools for supporting self-directed and reflective learning. In addition, e-portfolios have the potential to support collaborative learning among learners who are interested in sharing their works and in gaining feedback. At the end of the chapter, we discuss an approach to designing professional learning and development plans, which serves as a guide for individuals who are interested in taking control of their own professional learning and development.

This article examines the transformational possibilities for students and teachers of engaging in reflective inquiry for professional education and learning. The authors from the fields of teacher education and social work present three self-study cases of their own and their students' experiences of reflective inquiry in professional learning. One focuses on student and teacher interactions in learning, one on the effect of teachers' reflective learning on other teachers' learning, and one examines the elements of her own professional learning. All examine how the experiences of reflective inquiry promote professional education and learning, and consider three questions: Is this transformation? Does reflective inquiry facilitate transformational learning? How?

This case study examines Korean college students’ self-directed English learning practices performed outside of the classroom. In particular, the current study investigates what learning activities the students choose and carry out for their self-directed learning (SDL) and how they respond to the project as part of a general Englishc ourse. Based on Knowles’ (1975) conceptualization of the process that autonomous learners go through, the self-directed English learning project proceeded in five phases: reflecting on students’ own previous Englishle arning experience, researching information about how to study Englishand what Englishlearning materials to use, designing their own Englishlearning plans, executing the plans, and reflecting on their SDL practices. Students from two general English classes engaged in the SDL project for 13 weeks during the Fall semester of 2019, and a total of 51 students participated in this study. The main source of data was survey questionnaires administered during the project, which consisted of multiple-choice, 5-point Likert scale, and open-ended questions. As supplementary data, the students’ study logs and the instructor's teaching materials were also collected. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and display responses to the multiple-choice questions and Likert-scale ratings. Qualitative analysis was used for students’ responses to the open-ended questions to identify common themes among students. Analysis of the data revealed that the students most often chose input-oriented activities focusing on listening and reading as opposed to speaking, which was the area of English they most wished to improve. Depending on the area of English, learning materials were chosen differently, and speaking/writing activities were mostly conducted individually. In general, smartphones were preferred, but for those who used English learning sources designed for educational purposes, traditional tools like print books were preferred. The students showed overall positive responses to the SDL project and reported that it allowed them to have a new experience with English learning, to discover various English learning methods, and to improve their English ability. However, some difficulties carrying out the project were mentioned by the students, including the time to make for the project and the overall effectiveness regarding their English learning activities. The findings of the study indicate that the SDL project can positively impact students’ English learning by preparing them to be more autonomous English learners. The findings also suggest that bothi ndividual instructors and institutions should provide students with further assistance and scaffolding to support their self-directed English learning. Instructors are recommended to take advisory roles and offer appropriate assistance and guidance for their students to have successful SDL experiences and develop their SDL capacity in sustainable ways. In addition, institutional level supports such as various Englishlea rning environments, one-on-one consultation services, and extracurricular programs are suggested as effective ways to facilitate students’ self-directed language learning.

An investigation into effectiveness of different reflective learning strategies for learning operational software

Background: Several language learning theories exist to explain the language learning process. Reflective learning is one of the models that has received attention and has been employed to explain language learning and teaching. Purpose: The present study aimed to develop and validate a close-ended reflective language learning instrument to discover EFL learners’ reflective learning strategies while learning a language. Method: Based on a comprehensive literature review, 358 concepts were extracted for reflective language learning. Then, experts’ opinions on reflective language learning were gathered, leading to the extraction of 50 general themes. After the experts’ approval, the researchers transformed the concepts into statements and constructed the final version of the questionnaire. In the next step, the initial version of the questionnaire was piloted with 100 participants, reducing the number of items to 47. Then, the piloted instrument was administered to a sample of 398 students. The obtained data were entered into SPSS and LISERL for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to run an explanatory factor analysis. Varimax rotation was performed on the underlying construct of the 47-item questionnaire. The result was the removal of four items and forming a 43-item questionnaire. A six-factor model of second language learning encompassing twelve behavioral cognitive items, twelve behavioral evaluative items, six behavioral metacognitive items, six behavioral interactional items, four behavioral reflective journal items, and three behavioral retrospective items was obtained. Then, the researchers performed confirmatory factor analysis to verify the six factors. Finally, a reflective language learning model was developed. Results: The results showed that the newly developed Reflective Language Learning Questionnaire (RLLQ) was valid and reliable. The model formulated based on the data gathered from the administration of RLLQ also enjoyed acceptable fitness indices. Conclusion: The questionnaire could be used in future studies. Researchers interested in reflective language learning, language teachers intending to follow reflective practices in their classes, and syllabus designers believing that reflection promotes learning can employ RLLQ.

No safety without emotional safety

Teaching is a profession that requires ongoing professional development and learning. This ongoing learning can take place in professional learning communities, in structured professional development settings, and in literacy coaching contexts. This department highlights the ongoing professional development of literacy teachers.

Teaching is a profession that requires ongoing professional development and learning. This ongoing learning can take place in professional learning communities, structured professional development settings, and literacy coaching contexts. This department highlights the ongoing professional development of literacy teachers.

During the 2022-23 academic year, New Jersey became the first state in the United States to adopt learning standards that support climate change education K-12 across all subject areas, offering an ideal context for exploring the relationship between education and climate change. Although New Jersey has provided financial funding to support teachers in teaching about climate change, little is known about teachers’ preparedness to implement developmentally appropriate climate change instruction in K-12 settings. This study utilizes interviews from 50 New Jersey teachers who participated in a classroom observation study conducted during the 2023-24 academic year to describe their professional learning related to climate change. Though professional learning varied considerably across the dataset, most respondents indicated that self-directed learning was their primary mode of professional development about climate change, followed by attendance at workshops or webinars. Several participants reported having no access to professional development provided by their school or district on the topic, despite the introduction of standards. When asked about plans for future professional development related to climate change, the majority of interviewees asserted that they had plans, but these varied with their grade bands. The findings suggest that more coherent professional learning opportunities are needed to support teachers in integrating climate change into their teaching. More mechanisms should be implemented to acknowledge teachers’ self-directed learning on climate change.

<h3>Objectives</h3> Our objectives for the current research endeavor is 1) to develop an integrated point of care precise and concise voice activated web based clinical knowledge search engine for fast and time saving clinical information needs. 2) to provide a web based platform for capturing unanswered point of care clinical questions for knowledge and evidence gap identification for reflective practice. 3) to develop a personalized decision support system based on clinician’s own unique patients‘ demographics, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geography. 4) to develop a clinical information resource based on point of care clinical questions’ answers for robust personalized clinical decision support system for personalized patient care and for life long self-directed learning and professional development for health care professionals. We expect our platform will enhance point of care reflective practice to develop local patient population specific evidence based resources development and eventually improved patient care with personalized evidence medicine. <h3>Method</h3> We designed and implemented a cross platform (web,ios,android) for point of care voice enabled clinical search and clinical query capturing platform hosted at www.clinicalpearl.com. Salient product features included voice based precise and concise clinical information search engine for time saving, point of care clinical question capturing module for reflective learning and evidence based medicine, and a peer review editorial flow to ensure an authentic clinical knowledge base development for personalized clinical decision support. In addition, clinical discussion feature through user generated questions was also implemented to develop a crowd based continuous geographic topic specific knowledge base for clinician’s own patient demographics. <h3>Results</h3> Beta testing of the platform was conducted in a large medical school setting to assess the feasibility and feature testing along with bug fixing. Preliminary usability study ( N= 25) over a course of 8 weeks showed that point of care voice based search engine not only helped clinicians for a focused, instant point of care background questions’ search to save time, but also provided a reflective learning opportunity by capturing point of care patient specific foreground questions. Most users found it very helpful to search point of care knowledge needs with a voice based search engine to save time for evidence based patient care. Point of care clinical query capturing tool was considered an excellent innovative strategy to track personal knowledge gaps and to build user’s own personalized decision support system for continuous professional development and competence for life long reflective learning. <h3>Conclusions</h3> We have implemented a point of care voice based clinical search engine and clinical question capturing platform hosted at www.clinicalpearl.com. Preliminary evidence supports that this platform provides an opportunity for enhancing reflective learning, knowledge gaps identification and personalized evidence based practice for clinicians’ unique patient population. A personal knowledge repository for life long self-directed learning would benefit all healthcare professionals in coming years. Health care professionals at all levels of a career will be benefited from this planform. Lastly, this platform also provides an opportunity to develop a local evidence based medicine repository of questions specific to local patient population. We plan to design and randomized clinical trial to assess the role of clinical pearl in providing granular insights about clinicians’ daily clinical knowledge needs and impact of clinical pearl in enhancing self-directed learning activities and professional competence.

Editorial

Assessing for Practice-Based Learning and Improvement: Distinguishing Evidence-Based Practice From Reflective Learning.

Professional standards for teachers are being used around the globe to educate, certify, promote and regulate the ongoing professional practice and learning of teachers. In Australia, the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST), in part, aim to support the professional learning of teachers from the Graduate to Lead Teacher career stages. Preservice teachers have been identified as being positive about the APST, and their uptake with the standards at the Graduate level appears to be increasing over time. However, our research shows that preservice teachers are not making the connection between the APST and their professional learning. This paper will present seminal research detailing trends in preservice teacher use of the APST aligned to their professional learning within the theoretical and practical components of their study.

Background: In medical education, students need to acquire skills to self-direct(ed) learning (SDL), to enable their development into self-directing and reflective professionals. This study addressed the mentor perspective on how processes in the mentor–student interaction influenced development of SDL.Methods: n = 22 mentors of a graduate-entry medical school with a problem-based curriculum and longitudinal mentoring system were interviewed (n = 1 recording failed). Using activity theory (AT) as a theoretical framework, thematic analysis was applied to the interview data to identify important themes.Results: Four themes emerged: centered around the role of the portfolio, guiding of students’ SDL in the context of assessment procedures, mentor-role boundaries and longitudinal development of skills by both the mentor and mentee. Application of AT showed that in the interactions between themes tensions or supportive factors could emerge for activities in the mentoring process.Conclusion: The mentors’ perspective on coaching and development of reflection and SDL of medical students yielded important insights into factors that can hinder or support students’ SDL, during a longitudinal mentor–student interaction. Coaching skills of the mentor, the interaction with a portfolio and the context of a mentor community are important factors in a longitudinal mentor–student interaction that can translate to students’ SDL skills.