Professional Development Experiences Research Articles

Teacher voices from an online elementary mathematics community: examining perceptions of professional learning

This study compares web usage data with interviews from 41 participants, who are members of an online professional development site called the Everyday Mathematics Virtual Learning Community (VLC), to explore how elementary school teachers learn from classroom video. Web usage data reveal that the commentary surrounding video posted to the VLC is sparse and surface level, possibly indicating a lack of serious attention to the videos. Interview data, however, indicate that participants felt they learned from this resource. Participants reported that the videos provided them with the opportunity to view and reflect on model lessons, plan curricula, and consider student thinking, among other learning outcomes. Participants also identified key factors that prevented them from posting comments to the site to convey their learning. These results can be used to understand not only how teachers perceive their own learning from classroom video, but also to redesign online professional development experiences to promote expression of that learning.

Middle School Science Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment Practice Throughout a Year-long Professional Development Experience

ABSTRACTClassroom assessment and the use of student performance data to inform instructional decisions have significant potential to help students meet the learning goals of science education. Research has shown that process-oriented assessment practices are challenging and sometimes ignored aspects of teaching, partly because teachers’ conceptions of assessment practice do not reflect a cycle of assessment that continually informs instruction. This study explores middle school science teachers’ conceptions of assessment practice based on drawn conceptual models and interviews that were gathered as part of a year-long professional development intervention. Results indicate that participants initially conceived of assessment practice in terms of tangible elements. Changes were seen, however, across the PD as several teachers developed conceptions that were more iterative, in which frequent assessment was used to inform future instruction. These findings raise important questions for how PD can most effectively support teachers’ adoption of research-based conceptions of quality science assessment practices.

Emerging, Existing, and Imagined Identities: A Case of Mid-Career and Late-Career Secondary Science Teacher Departure/Dropout

ABSTRACT In order to improve the retention of science teachers, studies have focused on understanding the issues teachers encounter and identities they construct. Most studies examined the early years of teaching science. However, fewer studies of professional trajectory and identity examine the departure/dropout of mid-career and late-career science teachers. Using a case study, this research addressed the question, “what are the changes in teaching identity for mid/late career secondary science teachers who chose to leave the profession?” The study extended existing research in following (for seven years) two urban teachers (Judith and Barbara) who were first introduced to the author as participants in a professional development (PD) project. Data collected during and following a four-year PD experience included teacher reflections, interviews, focus groups, observations, teacher artifacts, and researcher notes. Judith entered the PD having completed her fourth year and left at the end of her ninth year. Barbara entered having completed her 14th year and left teaching at the end of her 20th year. Data were analyzed drawing on identity theory and social practice theory. Each teacher’s case (story) was presented as her identity was formed and reformed. A cross-case analysis then provided five themes (wanted to teach, maybe a leader, leaving with deliberation, still a teacher, happy) that became evident from the teachers’ stories. Although no longer teaching high school science, neither teacher saw herself as a “dropout”. Both still associated with “teacher”. Interestingly, both attributed the PD as shaping their trajectory to eventual departure from teaching.

Development of elementary teachers' science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics planning practices

AbstractThe purpose of this instrumental case study was to understand elementary teachers' planning of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) curriculum during a two‐year professional development experience. This research was guided by the following question: What planning practices developed or changed during a professional development experience? Analysis of 25 teachers' planning documents indicated growth in the following areas: (a) tighter alignment to fewer standards, (b) more meaningful integration and broader definitions of arts and technology, and (c) increased use of formative assessment but persistent difficulties in summatively assessing the multiple disciplines of STEAM. The growth in teachers' STEAM instruction from the beginning to the end of this two‐year professional development was important in building our understanding of what constitutes sound design of STEAM inquiries.

Frontiers in Physiology Professional Development Programs Support and Develop Middle and High School Teachers Seeking to Implement Inquiry‐based Pedagogies

The American Physiological Society (APS) Frontiers in Physiology programs provide structured professional development opportunities for middle and high school teachers seeking to enhance their ability to develop and implement inquiry‐based pedagogy. A continually evolving program since 1990, the current iteration of Frontiers in Physiology was established in 2013 and involves a two‐tiered professional development experience. Teachers can first participate in a 10‐month Online Teacher (OT) Professional Development Program aligned directly with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the current state‐by‐state adapted national science standards for K‐12 education. OT participants complete nine online units. In addition to reading assignments, these units include participation in group discussions and submission of a peer‐reviewed traditional classroom activity transformed into an inquiry‐based laboratory project. After completion of the OT, teachers are eligible to apply for a Research & Community Leader (RCL) Fellowship. Working in the laboratories of current APS members, RCL fellows conduct a summer‐long research project to increase their understanding of the scientific process, further augmenting their ability to implement inquiry‐based teaching strategies in their classrooms. Here we present the findings of a grounded‐theory analysis of semi‐structured phone interviews with a representative sample of OT participants (n=18 of 44 meeting the inclusion criteria) and RCL fellows (n=7 of 27) which had completed their respective professional development experience between 6 months and 3.5 years prior to the interview. OT participants interviewed, which had not gone on to RCL fellowships, indicated that they were very satisfied with the OT program, especially the intentional alignment with NGSS. OT participants transformed a wide variety of laboratory activities into inquiry‐based student research projects. They valued examples provided by other teachers of how to implement inquiry‐based pedagogies. RCL fellows, all of whom had previously completed the OT program, expressed their time in the research laboratory was the most beneficial aspect of the Frontiers in Physiology programs. Conducting research was valuable to RCL fellows because it provided insight into the non‐linear nature of the scientific process, which they could then share with their students when conducting inquiry‐based research projects. OT participants and RCL fellows both commented on the unique and effective nature of long‐term professional development and highly recommended both programs. APS Frontiers in Physiology programs successfully develop middle and high school teachers striving to implement NGSS‐aligned inquiry‐based pedagogies, and therefore, serve as a model for the implementation of future K‐12 science teacher professional development programs.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by NIH funding (Project Number: 8R25GM129197‐05) awarded to American Physiological Society.

Power Up: Games and Gaming in Library and Information Science Curricula in the United States

Gaming provides a number of social and educational benefits, and while games are present to an extent in American libraries, content related to supporting games and gaming in libraries is largely lacking in library programs in the United States. The researchers used a survey to determine factors that affected LIS educators’ inclinations to include or exclude content related to gaming in their curricula. LIS educators who included gaming-related content tended to have had more experience with gaming, higher preferences for multiple genres of games, more teaching experience, and a position title indicating tenure. LIS educators who excluded gaming-related content tended to have less experience with gaming, lower preferences for multiple genres of games, less teaching experience, and a position title indicating untenured status. LIS educators who currently excluded gaming from their curricula but had an interest in including it indicated that professional development materials and experiences, such as conference workshops, course modules, or best practices guidebooks might encourage them to do so.

The what, how, and who, of early childhood professional development (PD): Differential associations of PD and self-reported beliefs and practices

ABSTRACT Although there have been calls in the early childhood field for effective approaches to preparing the workforce to support optimal early child development, there is a gap in understanding how different types of professional development predict teachers’ beliefs about children and their self-reported classroom practices. Using the National Survey of Early Care and Education, a nationally representative sample of the workforce, the present study analyzed the pathways through which different professional development experiences predict teachers’ beliefs and self-reported practices and the extent to which these pathways differed for teachers serving infants and toddlers compared to teachers serving preschoolers. Results indicated that professional development experiences differ among infant/toddler teachers compared to preschool teachers and that these experiences are differentially associated with beliefs and self-reported practices. For infant/toddler teachers, receiving coaching predicted less traditional beliefs and visiting other classrooms predicted a higher frequency of planned classroom activities. For preschool teachers, coaching was similarly related to less traditional beliefs as for infant/toddler teachers, and was also predictive of higher frequency of planned classroom activities, in addition to attending workshops. College coursework was associated with more progressive beliefs for preschool teachers. Implications for professional development are discussed.

Sustaining Passion: Findings from an Exploratory Study of the OST Program Workforce

It has long been understood that high-quality staffing is a major contributor to achieving positive outcomes for children and youth in out-of-school time (OST) programs. Yet, information on the current OST program workforce is outdated and understudied. The purpose of this study was to explore, via a convenience sample of OST program workers, the perceived features of the OST field and the relative importance of these features to workers in the field. The researchers were particularly interested in OST worker perception of features that may typically be associated with longevity in a profession. Improving understanding of the perceptions of the OST workforce may help employers to foster the work environments, staffing structures, compensation approaches, and professional development experiences that influence high-quality workers to stay in the field. The study findings illuminate the significance that workers in the OST field attach to passion for a field of work, and the central importance to them of building relationships with and fostering positive and healthy development for children.

Preservice and inservice teachers' pedagogical reasoning underlying their most‐valued technology‐supported instructional activities

AbstractWe examined teachers' pedagogical reasoning for and the technological knowledge underlying their most‐valued technology‐supported activities for teaching and learning. Data from 140 preservice and 100 inservice teachers included open‐ended, narrative responses to survey questions. Qualitative research methods guided analysis of the data that identified (a) the technology‐supported activities and (b) the technical tools, target users, types of uses, rationales for use, and the TPACK underlying each activity. Preservice teachers described mostly teacher‐focused and fewer student‐focused techno‐activities, and their reasoning for use focused on the technology's presentational and engagement effects. A majority of inservice teachers' techno‐activities were student‐focused, and their reasoning highlighted the technology's support for knowledge acquisition of higher‐order cognitive skills and collaborative learning. The knowledge underlying all teachers' techno‐activities was predominantly technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), but inservice teachers also evidenced technological content knowledge (TCK). These results may reveal differences in the teachers' respective learning experiences in teacher education and professional development or reflect a professional maturation process in that it takes teachers time in the field as professionals to broaden their techno‐activity repertoires to prioritize student‐focus. Sharing the reasoning patterns in this study with teachers may assist them in developing deeper justifications for their technological work in the classroom.

Japanese elementary teachers’ professional development experiences in physical education lesson studies

ABSTRACTBackground: Formal and informal professional development has played a central role in teachers’ growth in Japan for many decades [Collinson, V., and Y. Ono. 2001. “The Professional Development of Teachers in the United States and Japan.” European Journal of Teacher Education 24 (2): 223–248]. This is especially true for elementary school teachers, who are not licensed in a specific subject area. In Japan, teachers are trained for each school level separately, including kindergarten, elementary, secondary schools, and special needs education [Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology [MEXT]. 2018. “Principles Guide Japan’s Educational System.” Accessed August 6, 2018. http://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/overview/index.htm.]. The lack of in-depth subject-specific training is a challenge for elementary school teachers, who are responsible for teaching all subject areas. For many decades, school districts have used a lesson study approach. In Japan, lesson study (emerged in the 1920s as professional development opportunities for in-service teachers) helps various types of knowledge become more visible for teachers, which might include colleagues’ and mentors’ feedback and suggestions about pedagogy and students’ reflective and critical thinking. This also allows teachers to encounter new or different ideas and to refine their knowledge [Lewis, C. C., R. R. Perry, and J. Hurd. 2009. “Improving Mathematics Instruction Through Lesson Study: A Theoretical Model and North American Case.” Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education 12: 285–304]. The purpose of this study was to investigate Japanese elementary teachers’ professional development (lesson study) experiences using the conceptions of andragogy in physical education (PE) in a metropolitan school district.Participants and setting: Six participants were selected from one elementary school located in a metropolitan city in Japan. There were (a) 2 lesson study presenters, (b) 1 mentor, (c) 1 professional development coordinator, (d) 1 school principal, and (e) 1 school district PE coordinator. Approximately 600 children were enrolled in the school, and there was a total of 33,506 elementary children in the school district.Research design: The research method was descriptive-qualitative, using an in-depth, semi-structured interviewing approach [Seidman, I. 1998. Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. 2nd ed. New York: Teacher College Press]. Data analysis: A thematic analysis method [Fereday, J., and E. Muir-Cochrane. 2006. “Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis: A Hybrid Approach of Inductive and Deductive Coding and Theme Development.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 5 (1): 80–92] was used to explore, describe, and interpret the data. This allowed the researchers to uncover emergent themes in the data. In the conceptions of andragogy, through thematic analysis, the researchers searched for key or meaningful phrases or words that expose the characteristics of in-service teachers.Findings: Explainable by the conceptions of andragogy, three major interrelated and complex themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) challenges, (b) vitalness of a mentor’s role, and (c) self-directed learner. The lesson study approach is an effective way for teachers to reflect on their instruction and promote instructional change. To continue to support teachers to improve their quality of instruction, there is an ongoing need to heighten awareness among teachers, administrators, and researchers to ensure that attention is directed to the learning outcomes of children.

Women’s experiences of supervision and professional development.

Women’s experiences of supervision and professional development.

Teachers’ perspectives toward the implementation of bilingual immersion program in Indonesian private schools

This research was to find out teachers’ perspectives of the immersion program. For the mathematics, science and social subject teachers, it could ascertain how teachers cope with new challenges because using English to teach was a professional development experience and also could establish baseline approaches for implementing the immersion program. This study provided a picture of non-English teachers’ perception on implementing an immersion program at SMA Islam Sultan Agung 1 Semarang. The data was obtained from questionnaires and observation. The main challenge facing non-English language teachers was teaching and learning Mathematics, Sciences (Physics, Chemist, and Biology) and Social Subjects (Sociology, Economics, and Geography) in English. The study also showed that there were specific situations when teachers felt frustrated teaching an immersion class. This frustration always relates to lack of English language proficiency. In conclusion, this study shows the lack of English language proficiency is the main challenge faced by non-English language teachers and students in immersion classes at SMA Islam Sultan Agung 1 Semarang.

The professional sabbatical: A systematic review and considerations for the health-system pharmacist.

Sabbaticals are considered a professional development experience meant to foster growth and revitalize careers. The personal accounts of sabbaticals among medical professionals indicate high value from this experience. Benefits seen at the institutional and individual level include, but are not limited to, reduced burnout and increased job retention. Staffing issues, determining eligibility, and justifying time utilized may be just some barriers to implementing a sabbatical program accessible to the health-system pharmacist. In the literature, there is a dearth of information related to sabbaticals granted to the health-system pharmacist. However, many published experiences of nurses and physicians exist. A systematic review was performed to synthesize a qualitative yet evidence-based summary of information regarding sabbaticals. The primary aim of this review was to assess the reported benefits and prohibitive factors of taking a sabbatical as it may apply to the health-system pharmacist. Three hundred twenty-eight English-language articles were identified through searching Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL and Scopus from database inception through December 6, 2019. A total of 172 articles consisting of studies, descriptions of institutional processes, individual accounts, editorials and letters to the editor, and review articles were included in this systematic review. Rejuvenation and new perspectives/skills to bring back to practice should be regarded as important benefits by institutional/departmental leadership as well as the benefits of reduced turnover and improved job satisfaction. Numerous barriers to completing a sabbatical can be overcome with proper planning. This review provides limited insight into benefits and barriers to taking sabbaticals and serves as a basis for health-system pharmacy departments to consider initiating a program if one is not currently in place. Mini-sabbaticals may allow the health-system pharmacist to take a professional time away. Corollaries are drawn between a longitudinal pharmacy research award granted at Mayo Clinic - Rochester and ideas are provided for clinical or educational sabbaticals. It is clear that health-system pharmacy-specific information is lacking, and pharmacy department leadership should be encouraged to continue to share experiences of sabbaticals and outcomes.

The counselling self-efficacy scale for teachers: action research

ABSTRACT The action research describes the process of how the Counselling Self-Efficacy Scale for Teachers (CS-EST) was developed and explores its suitability as a teaching and learning tool using a pilot study of 178 students at Tallinn University, Estonia. The study integrated action research, interdisciplinary project-based learning, scale development and adaptation principles. During six counselling courses the SC-EST has been used both from the third-person perspective of the action researcher to reflect on the learning outcomes of students and from the student’s first-person perspective to support reflecting on one’s own counselling skills. The study showed that counselling self-efficacy in prospective teachers significantly raised during the courses. The scale can be used as an online self-assessment task in conjunction with reflective journaling during university-level counselling courses, as the study showed that together they form a useful formative assessment tool. The SC-EST seems to be suitable for Estonian and international students, however larger international studies are needed to further validate the scale. I consider the action research as a transformative learning experience in my professional development.

Using Japanese Lesson Study to Merge Inservice Professional Development and Preservice Clinical Experiences

For many years, lesson study has been woven into the professional lives of Japanese teachers. Recently, it has become more widespread in the U.S. Core elements of Japanese Lesson Study include collaborative lesson design, empirical trials of lessons, collective analysis of empirical trials, and subsequent lesson re-design. We describe how these core elements were implemented in a teacher education project that brought together prospective and practicing secondary-level science and mathematics teachers in interdisciplinary groups facilitated by university faculty members. The four groups described in this report designed and analyzed lessons about attending to scale factor in the context of microscopic images, constructing a geologic timeline, examining states of matter, and building a scale model of the solar system. The Japanese Lesson Study process helped these groups reflect on the nature of the content being taught, pedagogical concerns, and content-specific pedagogy. We found that discursive moves such as connecting separate strands of conversation and identifying mistakes helped facilitate group reflection. A growing body of research suggests that Japanese Lesson Study can be implemented in a wide array of contexts; we encourage others to include it among clinical experiences for prospective teachers because of its potential to give more undergraduates access to the most skilled mentor teachers and to counteract feelings of professional isolation that cause many to leave teaching. We offer our own experiences facilitating lesson study and dealing with challenges along the way to help others start to implement the model in their own professional settings.

Teacher implementation profiles for integrating computational thinking into elementary mathematics and science instruction

Incorporating computational thinking (CT) ideas into core subjects, such as mathematics and science, is one way of bringing early computer science (CS) education into elementary school. Minimal research has explored how teachers can translate their knowledge of CT into practice to create opportunities for their students to engage in CT during their math and science lessons. Such information can support the creation of quality professional development experiences for teachers. We analyzed how eight elementary teachers created opportunities for their students to engage in four CT practices (abstraction, decomposition, debugging, and patterns) during unplugged mathematics and science activities. We identified three strategies used by these teachers to create CT opportunities for their students: framing, prompting, and inviting reflection. Further, we grouped teachers into four profiles of implementation according to how they used these three strategies. We call the four profiles (1) presenting CT as general problem-solving strategies, (2) using CT to structure lessons, (3) highlighting CT through prompting, and (4) using CT to guide teacher planning. We discuss the implications of these results for professional development and student experiences.

How do English language teachers understand the idea of professional development in the recent curriculum reforms in China?

ABSTRACT The term Professional Development (PD) was first introduced to English teachers in China in the Revised Curriculum Standards (RCS). For PD to be effective, the teachers and policymakers involved in its implementation need to have a common understanding of its scope and purposes, but little is known about how English teachers in China understand the notion of PD. This study examined teachers’ understandings of the elements of PD identified in the RCS using a questionnaire with 227 teachers and interviews with 18 teachers. This paper argues that the aim of the RCS is to bring about a very significant reform of teachers’ roles in their own development, and the enactment of the curriculum; however, the teachers do not understand PD in ways that confer ownership or empower them to enact curriculum changes. This paper highlights that, from an international perspective, the development of PD for teachers must recognize teachers’ existing experience of the curriculum, experience of PD and the ways they understand the goals of PD, and must promote a shared understanding of policy intentions in relation to PD.

Understanding the Professional Development Needs of Teachers in Tribally Controlled Schools: A Phenomenological Study

This article reports on the experiences of 11 teachers attending professional development workshops at four tribally controlled schools in three states, with the goal of identifying the professional needs of these teachers. With limited access to high-quality professional development programming, it is important to assess the needs of teachers at tribal schools by better understanding their experiences in professional development. Three major themes emerged from the study highlighting teacher professional development needs in tribal schools: subject and pedagogical relevance, community building, and desire for improvement.

Mathematics Teachers’ Professional Traits that Affect Mathematical Achievement for Fourth-grade Students according to the TIMSS 2015 Results: A Comparative Study among Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and Saudi Arabia

This study investigated the professional traits of mathematics teachers that affected mathematical achievement for fourth-graders in the TIMSS 2015 study, including teaching experience, degree of educational qualification, teacher specialization, and amount of professional development, all broken down further by gender. This investigation compared TIMSS 2015 results of students in four countries (Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and Saudi Arabia) and used a causal-comparative design with data available through the IEA website. The findings indicated that the traits of professional development, specialization, educational qualification, and teaching experience among mathematics teachers were found to have various levels of impact on the achievement of fourth-grade students in the participating countries, as will be stated in the discussion of the results.

Professionalism, School Facilities, and Students’ Cognitive Performance in Science in Oyo State, Nigeria

Science plays a fundamental role in the contemporary society with the potential to improve lives gaining impetus to research works. The influence of professionalism and school facilities on students’ cognitive performance in science subjects in secondary schools in Oyo State was investigated. This was a descriptive survey research which was questionnaire based. The population of the study was all the public secondary schools (science teachers and students) in Oyo State, Nigeria. Purposive, cluster and simple random sampling techniques were used to select twenty public schools from each of the six educational zones in Oyo State making a total of one hundred and twenty schools, all science teachers (male and female) making a total of three hundred and sixty but three hundred and forty-two questionnaires were retrieved (95% of the sampled), and a total of eight thousand, two hundred and eighty science students from the selected schools were considered in the study. In each of the schools selected for the study, only science teachers were involved in the sample and the students that registered and wrote Biology, Chemistry and Physics WAEC examination of May/June 2018 in Oyo State, Nigeria. The data collected for the study were analyzed using descriptive statistics like percentage and mean, Multiple Regression analysis (ANOVA) and t-test. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that there was significant combined influence (F_1,340 = 16.786; p<0.05) of teachers’ professionalism (professional disposition, professional discipline, professional development and professional experience) and school facilities (well-equipped laboratories, library, classrooms and conveniences) on science students’ academic performance in Oyo State. It is recommended that professionalism should be reflected in the teaching of science subjects in secondary schools, training and re-training should be encouraged, and that the school environment should be made conducive for teaching-learning activities.