Abstract
Using data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS; 2013), this article explores teachers’ needs, support, and barriers in their professional development. The research finds that Australian teachers expressed greater needs in information and communication technology (ICT) use and new technology training for teaching, while Shanghai teachers required more assistance to satisfy students’ individual learning and pedagogical competencies. More than 80% of Australian and Shanghai teachers received scheduled time to support their participation in professional development, whereas less than 20% of Australian and Shanghai teachers received monetary or nonmonetary support. In terms of barriers, Australian and Shanghai teachers reported two significant barriers that conflicted with their participation in professional development: “working schedule” and “a lack of incentives to take part.” This article reveals implications of the study in the design of an effective professional development program for Australian and Shanghai teachers and ends with discussing the limitations of the research and future research directions.
Highlights
There is a strong perception that teachers’ teaching effectiveness and their students’ performance can be improved by teachers participating in professional development programs (Garet et al, 2001)
This study revealed that teachers need professional development training in teaching the specific domains of scientific topics as well as various aspects of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), such as knowledge of students, instructional strategies, and knowledge of curriculum and assessment
Shanghai teachers stated stronger professional development needs in a number of categories in comparison with Australian teachers
Summary
There is a strong perception that teachers’ teaching effectiveness and their students’ performance can be improved by teachers participating in professional development programs (Garet et al, 2001). Many studies try to address this problem and provide answers on the features of effective professional development, such as a focus on curriculum and subject content, connect with teachers’ daily practice, align with educational authorities’ standards for teachers, and provide learning opportunities for teachers (Borko, 2004; Darling-Hammond et al, 2017; Garet et al, 2001; Loucks-Horsley et al, 2003; Penuel et al, 2007) These features are perhaps too broadly defined to give specific guidance for us to design an effective professional development program. Identifying teachers’ professional development needs and confirming that teachers can conveniently participate in professional development programs are regarded as a solution to the misalignment in design of professional development programs and will earn many researchers’ attentions than before (Darling-Hammond et al, 2017; Tooley & Connally, 2016)
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