The ‘problem’ of teacher professional development in Australia: an analysis of TALIS 2018

Teacher professional education development is actually another type of development that crosses over into a category of teacher training development that encompasses two other types of teacher training—one of which is formal and the other is informal teacher training. The other approach to teacher professional development is quite different from the professional development of professional education. The focus of the professional development of teachers is a dynamic process of development in which teachers take the initiative, actively, and consciously pursue the direction of professional development of teachers. Therefore, how to observe and study the direction of teachers’ professional development from the perspective of teachers is an urgent problem that needs to be studied and solved. The professional development of teachers should be combined with their own social and teaching lives. In addition, information technology should be integrated into teachers’ daily teaching life, so that it can be used as a tool to support teachers’ professional development. Information technology has gradually become a tool and a means that teachers cannot do without in their teaching lives, so it is important to study and think about it from various aspects, such as the teaching process and teachers’ growth experiences, and to continuously study teachers’ professional development. Therefore, it is necessary to study how information technology can be used well by teachers and used by teachers to become a useful tool in teachers’ educational and teaching work from various aspects. This paper first argues that the main goal of teachers’ professional development is to gradually grow into expert teachers, while the main content of teachers’ professional development is to understand practical knowledge, and the specific tool used by teachers in teaching is the application of social software support that can support teachers’ professional development (Romanowski and Alkhateeb, 2022). This paper envisages that information technology can be integrated into the entire teaching environment and the teaching process of teachers, as a tool and a means to make the content of teachers’ teaching more concise and clear. Through the use of information technology and other tools, teachers can gradually identify what they need to improve and add to their teaching process, lay the foundation for their future development, and pave the way to become better teachers with a clearer plan for their future development.

В условиях социально-культурных и педагогических трансформаций высших образовательных организаций важным компонентом их модернизации становится реформирование системы профессионального развития педагогов, перед которой процессы глобализации и цифровизации выдвинули новые требования. Все это вызывает необходимость формирования у преподавателей вузов готовности к постоянному повышению своей профессиональной квалификации и непрерывному профессиональному развитию в контексте единого образовательного пространства. Следовательно, компаративные исследования проблем профессионального развития преподавателей вузов в России и за рубежом являются принципиально актуальными и своевременными. Данные исследования являются ответом на требования современного демократического общества к профессионально-личностным качествам педагогов и векторам их профессиональной деятельности в новых условиях. Готовность к профессиональному развитию у педагогов неразрывно связана с их стремлением к повышению профессионального мастерства и с достижением успеха в работе. Формирование данной готовности, так же как и процесс профессионального развития, в целом должны носить индивидуализированный и одновременно добровольный характер. Для этого необходимы определенные условия, в том числе реальная заинтересованность руководства вуза в профессиональном развитии каждого педагога, наличие различного рода ресурсов и развитая инфраструктура для организации данного процесса, разработанные и апробированные модели индивидуализации профессионального развития педагогов вуза. Бенчмаркинг как технология проведения сравнительно-педагогического исследования моделей профессионального развития педагогов показал свою эффективность в выявлении успешных практик в данной области и позволил выявить три основные модели в организации процесса повышения профессионального мастерства и развития в вузе. Представленные в статье зарубежные модели организации профессионального развития преподавателей вузов могут быть использованы в российских вузах при условии их адаптации к российским реалиям и образовательным традициям. In the context of socio-cultural and pedagogical transformations of higher educational organizations, the reform of the system of teachers’ professional development becomes an important component of their modernization, before which the processes of globalization and digitalization have put forward some new requirements. All this causes the need for university teachers to be ready to constantly improve their professional qualifications and be ready for continuous professional development in the context of a single educational space. Therefore, comparative studies of the problems of professional development of university teachers in Russia and abroad are fundamentally relevant and timely. These studies are a response to the requirements of modern democratic society for teachers’ professional and personal qualities and the vectors of their professional activity in new conditions. Teachers’ readiness for professional development is inextricably linked with their desire to increase their professional skill and achieve success in their activities. The formation of this readiness, as well as the process of professional development as a whole, should be individualized and, at the same time, voluntary. To do this, it is necessary to have certain conditions, including the real interest of the university leadership in the professional development of each teacher, the availability of various kinds of resources, and a developed infrastructure for organizing this process, as well as developed and tested models of individualization of the process of teachers’ professional development. Benchmarking as a technology for conducting a comparative pedagogical study of the models of teachers’ professional development has shown its effectiveness in identifying successful practices in this field and made it possible to identify three main models in organizing the process of increasing professional excellence and development at the university. Foreign models of the organization of professional development of university teachers, presented in the article, can be used in Russian universities, provided that they are adapted to the Russian realities and educational traditions.

Taiwan's 12-Year Basic Education, which was implemented in 2014, claims that primary and secondary school teachers must promote their professional development to improve students' learning. This study analyzes existing literature to achieve the following research aims: 1. To understand the connotations of professional development for teachers and the current situation in Taiwan, and to analyze the planning strategy for professional development for teachers after the implementation of the 12-Year Basic Education in Taiwan. 2. To analyze the main issues with the professional development of teachers in Taiwan after the implementation of the 12-Year Basic Education. 3. To analyze the main strategies to promote the professional development of primary and secondary school teachers after the implementation of the 12-Year Basic Education. Using a literature review, this study explores the direction and implications of professional development for teachers in Taiwan, the issues that affect teacher professional development after the implementation of Taiwan's 12-Year Basic Education and proposes strategies for professional development of primary and secondary school teachers. The recommended strategies for promoting the professional development of teachers are: (1) establishment of teacher professional standards and pre-service teacher professional literacy, (2) use of international surveys as a guide, (3) strengthening the effectiveness of educational leadership and (4) implementation of the Teacher Professional Development Support System.

Despite the affordances of professional development (PD) in teaching and learning in facilitating quality teaching and contributing to students’ learning outcomes, there is merit in exploring educators’ needs by enabling conditions to further develop their existing knowledge and practices. In fact, it is vital that PD in teaching and learning in higher education (HE) actively engages and meets instructor individual needs. This paper explores PD within the HE context and identifies corresponding categories common and in relation to quality teaching. Based on the review, most PD in teaching and learning could be identified within one of four categories that contribute to quality teaching: (1) assessment approaches; (2) instructional approaches; (3) communication and delivery approaches; and (4) affective responses. Equally important, instructor agency should be supported by encouraging instructors to identify and manage their PD needs via validated measures, which this review found lacking within the literature. With the expectation that such a measure would provide insights into the refinements of current PD in teaching and learning provisions, and enable HE institutions to facilitate PD in teaching and learning to better meet and fulfil instructor individual needs, it is recommended that such a measure be developed and deployed to identify instructors’ needs.

The use of makerspaces in education has exploded around the world over the past decade (Halverson & Sheridan, 2014); however, their employment in professional development for teachers has only recently emerged within the literature. Previous studies have found that makerspaces have the potential to radically transform how professional development is delivered to teachers by fostering nurturing opportunities to collaboratively engage in professional learning (see Girvan et al., 2016; Kjällander et al., 2017; Panganelli et al., 2017). Despite its emergence in the literature, the study of makerspaces in teacher professional development is limited to those studies inspired by STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math). Consequently, little knowledge exists about their use in professional development for second language teachers. While presenting data gathered from reflective feedback questionnaires of teacher participants taking part in makerspace workshops, this paper contributes to the conversation in the literature by exploring the utility and application of makerspaces as professional development for second language teaching. The goal of the study was to explore in what ways this type of experiential professional development might enhance professional learning and reflective practice and contribute to professional growth and development among early career second language teachers. Findings strongly indicate that makerspace professional development sessions offer second language teachers a positive and supportive space in which to reflect and expand on their professional knowledge of best practices in second language teaching by directly engaging with learning activities meant to support students in their acquisition of the target language.

Purpose. The article is devoted to the topic of the influence of international trends on the continuous professional development of higher education teachers, including sports universities, which is significant in modern geopolitical conditions. The subject of analysis is the process of continuous professional development of teachers. The author aims to determine and justify models of professional development, which are designed to ensure greater individualization of the process of professional growth of teachers. This goal required the solution of the following task: to identify and present some international trends that very visibly affect the professional development of teachers, including in sports universities. Method or methodology of the work. The study is based on methods such as analysis, synthesis, grouping, comparative analysis using elements of benchmarking technology, which allows identifying the best practices in this area. The author analyzed open data posted on the websites of sports universities and educational portals. The priority research method is a comparative analysis of teachers’ professional development in modern universities. The results of the work consist in the fact that the article updates the importance of discussions in the Russian pedagogical community about the prospects for modernizing the domestic system of higher education, including the system of professional development of teachers, after Russia’ exit from the unified educational area of Europe and the emergence of new opportunities for the development in the context of global challenges. The author proposed three models of teachers’ professional development (professional- pedagogical model, socio-pedagogical model, and personal-oriented model), which could serve as a guide for designing their own models for improving the professional skills of teachers in a particular university. The author assumes that the international trends, outlined in the article (internationalization, people’s diplomacy, digitalization, academic mobility), constructively affect the content of advanced training programs, as well as the choice of priority areas for the professional development of higher education teachers. Practical implementations. The results of the study can be applied in the field of higher education, as well as in the system of teachers’ advanced training in sport profile universities.

In educational literature, especially coming from the developed context, the role of school leadership in Professional Development (PD) of teachers has been portrayed in a quite ideal way. However, literature reports little evidence of any contribution of school leaders to PD of teachers in developing contexts specifically in many regions and countries of Asia. Taking Pakistan as a case, this paper reports the findings of a research that explored the role of school leadership in PD of teachers. Using qualitative approach and grounded theory framework, the research examined the views of 46 key participants including teachers, school leaders, PD providers and officials from the education department through focused group interviews. The findings support previous studies in the limited role of school leadership in PD of teachers. However, it identifies some unique influential factors such as less recognition of PD in the system, limited capacity of school leadership and lack of any monitoring and accountability mechanism. The research argues for a shift in the system to enhance the contribution of school leadership in PD of teachers. Such shift should happen in the form of PD-related expectations from school leaders, developing school leaders with a focus on their role in PD and extending ongoing coaching and mentoring support to them.

Purpose: The persistent academic underperformance in public secondary schools in Kenyan rural areas has raised concerns among educators, policymakers, and local communities. The purpose of the study is to evaluate how teacher professional training and development influence academic performance. One of the key factors believed to have contributed to this challenge is the lack of sufficient and effective professional training and development programs for teachers. There is a growing need to examine how teachers' professional training and development influence students' academic outcomes. The problem this study seeks to address is the unclear and under-researched relationship between teachers' professional development and students' academic performance in Ndhiwa Sub-County. Methodology: The study used descriptive research design and 15 public secondary schools, 113 teachers and 522 students were involved in the study as study respondents. The study used document analysis and semi structured questionnaires to collect the quantitative data, which was analyzed through descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages). Findings: The study reveals that teachers' professional training and development have a significant impact on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in Ndhiwa Sub-County. The findings also indicated that teachers who undergo continuous professional development are better equipped with modern teaching strategies, content knowledge, and student engagement techniques, which in turn positively influence students' academic outcomes. Teachers with higher levels of training and access to ongoing professional development demonstrate improved classroom management, increased use of learner-centered methodologies, and more effective assessment technique. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: From the study findings, the study recommends that schools and educational authorities should develop more structured and regular Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programs that focus on subject-specific training, pedagogical skills, and updated teaching methodologies. This is because the study findings likely indicate that teachers who engage in regular training and development show better performance in student outcomes. The education policy makers should come up with the programs that forge partnerships between secondary schools and local universities or teacher training colleges to provide advanced training opportunities and access to educational research.

As global education reform continues to advance and the knowledge economy is booming, building a learning society has become an irresistible trend of social development. In this context, improving the professional development and literacy of college teachers will inevitably become a critical link and a significant force to promote the sustainable development of higher education, and it is an essential topic of higher education research in all countries in the world. This paper uses the approach of comparative research to study the historical evolution, connotation, and organization of teachers' professional development in Chinese and British universities. It found that the professional development of teachers in Chinese and British universities is macroscopically aimed at promoting the high-quality development of education and serving students and society. On the micro level, China pays attention to the integrity of the development of teachers in colleges and builds an education and training system from top to bottom, while in the UK, the government, professional organizations, and universities establish professional development institutions for teachers, which are independent and cooperative with each other; the financial support for teachers’ professional development in the UK is flexible and diverse, while in China, the government allocates funds directly; the UK actively carries out international academic exchanges and cooperation for teachers' professional development, formulating rules and sharing experiences, while China pays more attention to domestic exchanges and cooperation for teachers' professional development, with less participation in international contacts.

Study on professional development of foreign language teacher in cross-cultural communication teaching

Teacher professional learning and development are critical to educational improvement efforts and teacher professional growth. Such learning and development can be facilitated in a range of ways, including more traditional ‘workshop style’ training programmes as well as coaching, mentoring, advisory support, teacher inquiry, and other activities that can contribute to teacher learning and change. Despite the extensive time, financial, and human resources invested in teacher professional learning and development in Aotearoa New Zealand every year, it is over 15 years since research on teacher development in this country was brought together in a published review. This paper presents a scoping review of n = 178 primary studies published in English in 2010–2023 that focus on teacher professional development in the Aotearoa New Zealand schooling sector. Looking across this body of literature, we provide a quantitative overview of characteristics of the literature base and identify shifts, trends, strengths, gaps, imbalances, and directions for future research. This paper offers a timely summary and synthesis of recent research on teacher professional development in Aotearoa New Zealand and also offers challenges and recommendations for researchers working in this area.

The article analyzes foreign experience in continuing professional development of teachers. It has been found that the system of continuing professional development of teachers in foreign countries has its own conceptual peculiarities determined by relevant contextual factors. It has been specified that all systems are characterized by personality-oriented approach to professional development of teachers, available organizational and pedagogical conditions for development, flexibility, diversity of forms and training content. Such an approach can enhance professionalism of teachers, their ability to provide students with high-quality and effective teaching in accordance with the needs of a market economy. It has been outlined that professional development of teachers is the most effective at the level of an educational institution in the course of daily teaching activities, provided the forms of this process organization are diverse. The key factor, which influences effectiveness of continuing professional development is the teacher’s ability to reflect, motivation, responsibility and academic mobility within professional development. It has been clarified that a number of countries apply national mechanisms for recognizing the results of teachers’ professional development, their certification. We believe it necessary to creatively use foreign innovative experience to enhance continuing professional development of teachers in Ukraine, namely, to create a multi-level system of continuing professional development of vocational education teachers and introduce motivational mechanisms for stimulating their professional growth.

The text addresses the theme of teachers’ professional development. The role of a teacher is defined by cultural and social events and the environment, and they influence the differences that occur in the concept of teacher roles within different cultures, societies, including the geographic environment. Thus, in the first part of the paper, based on an analysis of the literature, we identify factors that significantly influence teachers’ perception of their role and consequently, determine their professional identity. In the second part, based on the results of the empirical research, we show that factors such as teachers’ beliefs about their own qualifications, as well as years of work experience and subject area, statistically significantly influenced the development of the teachers’ professional identity. The main findings of the study are that teachers with several years of service experience feel better qualified to perform their duties (tasks related to planning and teaching were rated the most highly) than teachers with less work experience, and that teachers with more work experience evaluated the claims related to their educational activity statistically significantly higher. An important finding is that teachers define their professional identity and consequently, their role through their personality traits, which shows that we must not ignore teachers’ personality traits, as they play an important role in teachers’ professional development and identity.

The article addresses the problem of professional development of modern educators as one of the key issues in professional pedagogy, psychology of professional development, and activity psychology. It reveals the content of the concepts “development”, “professionalism” and “professional development”. The characteristics of the professional development of preschool education institution staff are highlighted. It is proven that effective professional development of educators is a key driver in the reform of education, as it promotes positive changes in the knowledge and beliefs of educational staff, educational practices, and improves the quality of education. The essential features of the professional development of an educator as a component of quality education and successful teaching and upbringing of preschool children are identified. The phenomenon of professional development, which has a certain structure reflected in motives, components, scientific approaches, principles of organization, conditions, and foundations of development, is characterized. The article identifies three groups of motives for the professional development of educators: real effective motives that arise without auxiliary external actualization, manifest in the process of professional activity, indicate an internal need for further development, a constant interest in the content of work, and a desire for self-improvement; understanding motives that arise under specific circumstances related to the need to improve the educational process and are characterized by the habit of conscientiously performing one’s duties; and forced motives characterized by apathy, lack of interest in further qualification improvement, and manifest in situations of undeniable importance and necessity. The principles of organizing professional development for educational staff are disclosed. The stages of professional development of educators are characterized. The article presents scientific approaches to the professional development of educators of preschool education institutions: acmeological, axiological, systemic, synergistic, competency-based, personality-oriented, and technological approaches, which play an important role in organizing educational activities.

This paper explores and discusses the role of research in teacher education and teachers’ professional development. It does so by presenting some perspectives on research-based teacher education and conceptual frameworks for teacher professionalism. The relationship between theoretical and practical knowledge is discussed together with central dimensions of teacher professionalism. Three metaphors and figures of thought for the theory–practice relationship are introduced and discussed: research as a mirror, as a compass, and as a stone in the shoe. Against this backdrop, a couple of examples of models for teachers’ professional development through critical engagement and enquiry are presented. Special attention is given to a critical dialogical model for teacher education and professional development that promotes reflective learning through sharing experiences and engaging with theoretical frameworks. This model integrates reflective-analogical, critical-analytical, and interactive self-building processes, enabling teachers and students to transform their knowledge and practices based on new insights.