Reflective Professional Development Journals for Constructivist Evaluation of Teacher Learning and Reactions

Abstract

Limited in scope, this paper deliberately foregrounds the evaluation stage of a suggested 5-month constructivist professional development (PD) programme for Algerian novice middle school English teachers (N=14) who were willingly involved in the whole process of its planning, implementation and evaluation and whose needs, preferences and reflections were valued. Evaluating this programme, assessment rubrics, classroom observation notes, project presentations and professional development journals (PDJs) were analysed. Precisely, amongst these constructivist evaluative tools, this study aimed to explore the participants’ post-programme learning and reactions through a qualitative content analysis of their reflective PDJs. The revelations of this evaluative analysis about the participants’ learning and reactions would inevitably assess the value of this constructivist programme as well as its effectiveness and help make decisions for its improvement. Additionally, this analysis would significantly confirm the usefulness of PDJs as effective constructivist reflective tools for teachers’ conceptual and practical development. After being collected, repeatedly read and qualitatively content-analysed, the participants’ coded PDJs (N=14) disclosed themes (N=6) and sub-themes (N=14) reflecting an amalgam of their learning and reactions. This cognitive and affective analysis of the participants’ reflections revealed signs of constructions of different ELT- and PD-related concepts, correction of some misconceptions together with traces of satisfaction, self-confidence and willpower. In the light of this study, the researcher strongly recommends PDJs for teachers to self/peer-assess and develop their teaching concepts and practice, and for programme facilitators to uncover and, therefore, meet teachers’ individual cognitive and affective needs.