Future Professional Development Research Articles

Perspectives of speech and language therapists in paediatric palliative care: an international exploratory study.

The involvement of speech and language therapists (SLTs) within paediatric palliative care (PPC) settings has been recognized within the extant literature. However, there is little understanding of SLT's specific roles and practices when working with this vulnerable cohort of children and their families. As part of a larger body of work to develop consensus-based recommendations for SLTs working in PPC, it is important to investigate demographic and caseload characteristics. This exploratory study aimed to gather previously undocumented international demographic data pertaining to SLT service provision, caseload and training in PPC. Additionally, it sought to ascertain the current treatment and assessment approaches of SLTs, and if variations exist in beliefs and practices. An anonymous cross-sectional survey was designed and reported according to the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES). The online survey consisted of 40 items spanning four domains: (1) demographic information, (2) caseload information, (3) service provision and (4) training and education. SLTs from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the United States were recruited using a purposive snowball sampling approach. Descriptive analysis of closed-ended survey responses and content analysis of open-ended responses are presented. A total of 52 respondents completed the survey. SLTs worked in a variety of PPC settings, with patients of varying age and disease groups. Over 50% of participants reported working in PPC for ≤ 4 years. Genetic disorders (34%), oncology (27%) and neurological conditions (21%) made up a significant portion of respondents' caseloads. Reported treatments and assessment approaches used by SLTs are not unique to a PPC population. Barriers and enablers for practice were identified. A portion of participants did not feel trained and prepared to assess (19.2%) or treat (15.4%) PPC clients. This study confirms that SLTs internationally have a role in the management of communication and swallowing impairments in a PPC context. However, whether current training and resources adequately support SLTs in this role remains questionable. This paper helps to provide SLTs, administrators, professional associations and tertiary institutions with foundational data to help inform workforce planning, advocacy efforts and training priorities. What this paper adds What is already known on the subject The published multidisciplinary literature has identified that SLTs have a role in PPC. However, there has been no targeted research investigating the professional characteristics of clinicians in this context, nor any detailed information regarding associated clinician beliefs or management approaches. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study is a snapshot of attributes, practice patterns and beliefs of SLTs who work with a PPC population. It highlights SLT perspectives of education and training, as well as meta-perceptions of themselves within the multidisciplinary team. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Data presented in this paper will help to enable SLTs, organizations and associations to augment service provision and determine future professional development priorities within the field of PPC.

Teaching music in the early years in schools in challenging circumstances: developing student teacher competence and confidence through cycles of enactment

ABSTRACT The call to raise UK educational standards has a focus on the underachievement of pupils attending schools in challenging socioeconomic circumstances. Research suggests that music can have a significant role in developing children’s phonological awareness, language and future reading ability. Many generalist primary school teachers feel that they do not have the confidence or pedagogical knowledge required to teach music in a way that engages and stretches pupils. Student teachers may not, therefore, have the opportunity to observe good practice or to teach music whilst on placement. A teacher educator carried out an action research project using discursive group and individual interviews. The aim was to improve understanding of how to support student teachers in developing confidence and competence to teach music in the early years. Undertaken as part of Hope Challenge, a project that brings together a university Initial Teacher Education programme and primary schools in challenging circumstances, the action research consisted of a cycle of enactment involving the teacher educator, student teachers and class teacher in modelling, reflecting and acting. This action research approach played a crucial role in developing confidence, pedagogical knowledge and enthusiasm for teaching music and offers a model for future teacher professional development.

Estrategias de aprendizaje de universitarios en español como lengua extranjera para el sector profesional: estudio de caso en Alemania

En el contexto europeo de enseñanza superior, el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera (LE) es fundamental para el desarrollo de los futuros profesionales. Este estudio de caso analiza las estrategias de aprendizaje de lengua (EAL) que utilizan estudiantes alemanes de español como lengua extranjera (ELE). Para este estudio se ha utilizado como herramienta fundamental el cuestionario de estrategias SILL-Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (OXFORD, 1990) en diferentes universidades del estado de Baviera. Los resultados indicaron que: las estrategias social y compensatoria son las más utilizadas; las mujeres utilizan en su mayoría las categorías mnemotécnicas y compensatorias mientras que los hombres emplean las metacognitivas y cognitivas; y la variable de LE influye en la frecuencia de uso de la categoría compensatoria. Estos resultados esperan ser una pequeña contribución al conocimiento de EAL de los aprendientes de ELE europeos.
 Palabras clave: contexto europeo; enseñanza superior; EAL; ELE

P080: Trauma experiences of rural emergency physicians: a self assessment

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify, through self-assessment, how comfortable rural emergency medicine (EM) practitioners are in treating critically ill trauma patients, the resources available to treat such patients and their comfort with performing trauma procedures. Our goal is to enhance rural trauma care by identifying obstacles rural EM physicians face in Saskatchewan. Methods: This was a cross sectional survey study, emailed to family physicians practicing rural EM in Saskatchewan identified through the Saskatchewan Medical Association database. Inclusion criteria included physicians who are providing EM care currently or within the past year. Rural was assumed to be communities in Saskatchewan that were outside of Saskatoon and Regina. The survey was an anonymous self-assessment regarding demographics, training, hospital resources and comfort. Results: 113 physicians of the 479 rural physicians agreed to participate, 78 met our inclusion criteria. Most (67%) were from communities with less than 10,000 population, 70% had less than 300 ED visits per month. Most (68%) were less than 45 years of age. In terms of training, 57% had completed undergraduate training out of Canada and 63% had completed residency training in Canada. Most had been practicing for more than 2 years (76%). Most (59%) had current ATLS credentials, however only 37% had ever completed the EDE course. Regarding available resources, most centers had plain radiography (99%), POCUS (68%), PRBC (78%) and TXA (93%). However, fresh frozen plasma (41%) and platelets (26%) were not widely available. Comfort was measured on a Likert scale. The types of trauma that respondents were least comfortable with included pediatric (39%), vascular (46%), spine (56%) and genitourinary (60%). The types skills that participants were least comfortable with included pericardiocentesis (19%), and surgical airway (25%). The majority had not performed Pediatric endotracheal tube insertion (79%), surgical airways (99%), pericardiocentesis (99%), central venous line placement (80%) and needle thoracentesis (71%) within the past 12 months. Conclusion: This self-assessment helped us identify aspects of rural trauma medicine that are the most challenging for rural practitioners. Understanding the most difficult challenges in light of the critical resources available to rural trauma medicine providers will inform future professional development initiatives.

Value of Comparative-dialectological Competence in the Future Russian Language Teachers Professional Development

Value of Comparative-dialectological Competence in the Future Russian Language Teachers Professional Development

Socialization of Gender Stereotypes Related to Attributes and Professions Among Young Spanish School-Aged Children.

Modern societies increasingly show more egalitarian attitudes related to sexism and gender equality. However, there is still an important gender gap in wages and professions as well as in expectations surrounding male and female characteristics. Developmental studies carried out from an ecological perspective confirm that these influences come from the closest environments (mainly family and school) but also from more distant systems such as media or cultural values. As children are socialized in these norms and values, they increasingly internalize those schemes and use them to judge others, to choose friends and playmates, and to construct expectations of them. On this basis, the aim of this study was to examine the degree of gender bias internalization in a group of Spanish children. Two tasks were applied to a group of 149 public school boys and girls (aged 4–9 years). Results showed that, already from an early age, the participants had internalized traditional gender roles, especially when asked to assign masculine attributes. Moreover, group differences were found given that boys seemed to be more aware of expectations surrounding masculinity and girls assigned the attributes associated with femininity to women more often than boys. Furthermore, a developmental pattern similar to one obtained in previous studies was observed. Younger children already apply gender roles as part of their increasing acquisition of knowledge in the social field, but there is a big increase in the strength of this bias as they grow older. Psychological and educational implications of these findings are discussed, especially considering that the male gender role seems to be more rigid and less malleable. In this regard, developmental and environmental studies should be considered when designing early intervention programs to reduce sexism and to promote equity in schools and families. As research has already shown what type of environments affect children’s acquisition of traditional gender roles, society must make an effort to promote more egalitarian environments that will serve as protective factors in their future psychological, social and professional development.

Healthcare students' personality traits and competence-based learning methodologies.

The European Higher Education Area was implemented more than a decade ago with the aim of improving internationally the competitiveness of European university education putting the spotlight on skills and competence development (and not only on knowledge acquisition). This work intends to analyze the impact of competence-based teaching methodologies on university students, as well as to contribute to the study of the individual personality traits differences regarding this impact. For this, a descriptive, quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted with a non-randomised sample of university students. The sample was composed of a total of 499 students of the University of Huelva (350 from the Health Sciences degree, and 149 form other degrees), who completed a questionnaire on professional skills and teaching methods developed ad hoc for this research, as well as the brief version of the Spanish adaptation of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. The results show that Health Sciences students feel more satisfied with the most participative and active methodologies, and they consider these better contribute to their future professional competence development. On the other hand, in relation to the big 5 personality traits studied, links have been found between competence development perception and personal preferences and the dimensions of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience. This last factor, openness to experience, appears when analyzing the main differences among both groups, being Health Sciences students more intellectually curious, showing more openness and diversity of interests, in addition to being more creative, innovative, and flexible.

We're Still Taking X‐Rays but the Patient is Dying: What Keeps us from Intervening More Quickly in Resist‐Refuse Cases?

Professionals frequently lament the fact that the dynamics of resist‐refuse cases are often entrenched before the family receives effective intervention. Dysfunctional behavior patterns can become entrenched, with severe impairment of children's ability to function. Assessment is a critical component in the process of assisting families, but can come to so dominate the process that the situation is unrecoverable once the assessment is completed and meaningful interventions begin. The authors will describe commonly encountered obstacles to early intervention in resist‐refuse cases, ranging from systemic stressors to the persistence of inaccurate beliefs and information and practices that undermine accountability. Practical strategies, including a broader conceptual model, integrating assessment into intervention, encouraging lawyers and courts to take earlier action, and suggestions for future professional development will be addressed.

Leadership, professionalisation and impact: lessons from a national survey of non-profit leaders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

This article reports on a unique, first-of-its-kind national survey, which is investigating people’s motivations for participating in the non-profit sector, challenges to professionalisation and perceptions of impact. Using the participants in an annual non-profit conference in Dhahran in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia (KSA) as a sample, this survey seeks to understand the key fundamentals of how they learn about leadership, how their practice is impacted and what they see as their impact. The aim of the article is to understand the most important factors that determine and shape leadership development among Saudi non-profit professionals. The study of leadership in this context is seen in the broader context of the ‘professionalisation’ of the Saudi non-profit sector. The lessons from this survey can impact how future professional development programmes are designed, delivered and followed up. The survey can also be a good baseline for future studies of the non-profit sector in KSA.

Conflicting Demands of Chemistry and Inclusive Teaching—A Video-Based Case Study

Almost every country in the world is obligated to implement education policies to enable an inclusive school system. However, implementing techniques to be inclusive in schools is a major challenge to teachers, especially to those teaching a subject at secondary level and higher. Most of the literature concerning inclusive science education was published in recent years, and is more normative than empirical. Teachers struggle to transfer these normative demands to their accustomed way of teaching science. In this study, we analyze conflicts a teacher experiences when teaching a so-called ‘hard science’ like chemistry at an inclusive school. On the one hand, inclusive science education should facilitate participation in science specific learning processes for all learners. This broad perspective on inclusion demands that everyone can take part in everyday classroom life. On the other hand, chemistry strives for the understanding of abstract concepts, theories and models, which forms a barrier to learning chemistry for many people. This paper presents an explorative case study focusing on these conflicting demands. To reconstruct the inconsistencies, we analyzed a videotaped teacher–student discourse on atoms. Using the documentary method, a qualitative approach developed by the sociologist Ralf (Bohnsack et al., 2010). distinguishing between explicit and implicit knowledge, it was possible to reveal the orientational frameworks guiding the teacher’s actions. On the surface level, traditional scientific educational approaches structure the discourse. Reconstruction of the discourse is deep, as evidence was found for a participation-oriented framework as well as for the challenges the conflicting demands of chemistry and inclusive teaching put on teaching. We implicate that future professional development courses must not only concentrate on combining chemistry with inclusive pedagogies, i.e., how to teach, but also on the reflection of implicit beliefs concerning inclusive chemistry teaching.

Evaluation of an Online Early Mathematics Professional Development Program for Early Childhood Teachers

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This is an evaluation study of the effectiveness of an online early mathematics professional development program for early childhood teachers. The eight online courses, along with the Math at Home: Early Math Matters website and resources, introduce early childhood teachers to mathematical concepts such as math literacy, number sense, patterns, geometry, measurement, data collection and math processes. Over 9,711 early childhood professionals participated in this professional development program, and a sample of 2,332 participants who gave consent to use their data reported on their course experiences, took quizzes, and provided qualitative feedback. In addition, a subsample of 95 participants took pre- and post-surveys on their attitudes, confidence, beliefs, and knowledge in teaching early math. The descriptive statistics of the participants’ self-reported course experiences, regression analysis of program effectiveness, and the pair wised t-test analysis of the survey data showed that program participants had positive experiences with this online professional development program, and that engagement in the program was effective in positively impacting their attitudes, confidence, beliefs, and knowledge in teaching early math. The participants’ positive experiences were associated with their demographic characteristics and their use and engagement with the course materials. Practice or Policy: Implications for future professional development efforts are identified, including scalability and the use of online professional development to impact early math learning and practice.

Putting students at the center: Empowering urban alternative education teachers through culturally relevant and sustaining unit planning

Conducted in an urban alternative education program for adolescents ages 17—21, this study provides an overview of a professional development program that sought to support teachers in developing unit plans that incorporated backwards design principles and culturally relevant and sustaining instruction. The authors offer a qualitative thematic analysis of teachers’ subsequent instructional products and classroom observations, highlighting the ways in which the teachers addressed cultural competence, potential for student academic success and intellectual growth, and sociopolitical consciousness. Implications for future professional development and research are highlighted, particularly for administrators, coaches, researchers, and teachers who work within urban alternative settings with students of various abilities and who are linguistically and ethnically diverse.

Science teachers' sensemaking of the use of epistemic tools to scaffold students' knowledge (re)construction in classrooms

AbstractThis study explores the process of teacher scaffolding student engagement in epistemic tools from the critical sensemaking perspective. Epistemic tools are contextual artifacts manipulated to investigate and evaluate ideas to construct knowledge within the constraints of a disciplines' representational means. The main sources of our data are ~50 min‐long semistructured, responsive interviews with the 14 secondary school science teachers who participated in our professional learning environment (PLE) and implemented the activities from the PLE in their classrooms. We utilized the tools of discourse analysis to explore teacher sensemaking while they learned to teach science with epistemic tools. We then looked at intertextualities of meaning across multiple sets of data such as students' artifacts, pre/postsurveys, audio and video recordings of the workshops, and teachers' written implementation feedback forms. As a result, we recognized a pattern across different classrooms. Teachers would begin with a contextualized goal, and use a pedagogical strategy to scaffold their students as they worked to achieve that goal. Then, all teachers reported they faced some sort of ambiguity (such as grappling with failure, different levels of students). When faced with an ambiguity, teachers would then revise either their contextualized goal or their initial pedagogical strategy to help their students to reach their goals. Finally, we utilized constant‐comparative analysis to identify themes for teachers' contextualized goals. Four major themes emerged, including communicating connections to core ideas of science, making sense of how science works, assessing students' learning process outcomes, and fostering students' epistemic agency. The findings of the study have implications for future research and professional development activities on the use of epistemic practices and tools in classrooms with unique contextual characteristics.

Future trends in transport workforce based on demographic, behavioural, cultural and socioeconomic factors

This paper was conducted in the framework of the "SKILLFUL - Skills and competences development of future transportation professionals at all levels" project, financed by the European Commission. The objective of the paper is to map the major trends of the transport workforce with regards to demographic, behavioural, cultural and socioeconomic factors, in the short, mid and long-term. The correlation of these factors with existing and emerging professions in the transport sector will also be identified. The analysis of the aforementioned different factors and their impact on transport workforce are considered to be key-issues regarding the evolution of the workforce and the future market needs. The methodology for mapping each factor is based on the analysis of recent literature sources and the synthesis of the main findings. Key-input and ideas from transport experts and the results of the related interactions have also been embodied in the findings. Overall, it seems that the future transport workforce will not only be influenced by the changing and evolving needs of the sector,its associate business schemes and enabling technologies. It will also be shaped by the prevailing social trends in Europe.

Double the challenge: Reflections on supervising qualitative and critical dissertation projects

Drawing on our own experience, we reflect on the documented challenges of undergraduate supervision faced by qualitative researchers, and extend this discussion by further considering the issues raised by supervising projects that engage with critical perspectives. Concerns are identified regarding the dominance of traditional psychological thought in psychology programmes and the lack of teaching around critical psychology. We outline the implications for students embarking on critical qualitative projects and the additional demands placed on supervisors using examples within the fields of gender and sexuality. We end by emphasising the value of projects that require engagement with critical frameworks for students’ future personal and professional development. The importance of teaching critical psychology and critical ideas as a staple and integrated part of the psychology curriculum is made clear.

Studies of impact of specialized STEM training on choice further education

The specialized training influence to the choice of further direction of study is considered in the work. The assumption that early involvement of students in the study of natural and mathematical disciplines, in particular mathematics is given. It will stimulate young people to get STEM education in future. The essential element in future professional choice, development and formation is the issue of motivation for learning. It is important that modern students are gradually losing their incentive to study. Almost a third of those who choose the appropriate study profile have contradictions between professional self-determination and the availability of the necessary knowledge for the profession, between choosing a higher education institution and being able to enter in it. The contradiction requires purposeful formation of a conscious choice of future activities. The conducted research has shown that the basis of the motivational component of the choice of STEM-learning is studying of natural and mathematical disciplines by modern teaching technologies and organizing of additional lessons system based on the projected teaching methods. It satisfies the growing needs for intelligence, knowledge, motivational beliefs to understand the specifics of the future profession.

LA EXTENSIÓN COMO ESPACIO DE CONSTRUCCIÓN COLECTIVA EN PROYECTOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN ACCIÓN PARTICIPATIVA

This article systematizes the experience of an outreach project of the National University of Entre Ríos that aimed to integrate teaching, outreach projects and research by means of participatory action research. The project aimed to plan outreach curricular practices, providing opportunities for students to get involved in community problems, working in contexts where learning and teaching are bidirectional; another aim was to provide the opportunities for students to develop social interactive skills. Whereas for teachers, the project involved problematizing and giving new meanings to practices as well as experiencing other forms of teaching, learning and evaluating to strengthen the integral professional development of future professionals, generating spaces where specific curricular contents based on popular food knowledge are built according to a scientific analysis.

Методика проведення відеолекцій та он-лайн трансляцій в системі підготовки бакалаврів з кібербезпеки в умовах освітньо-цифрового середовища

The article presents the method of conducting video lectures and online broadcasts in the system of training bachelors in cybersecurity in an educational and digital environment. It is determined that professional training of personnel in various industries in the modern world is an extremely important task of the state. Its solution becomes significant depending on how close these or those specialists are to the sphere of society. The meaning of the concept of "training" is defined, which is defined as a set of special knowledge, skills, qualities, work experience and norms of behavior that provide the opportunity to work successfully in a particular profession; as a process of communicating relevant knowledge and skills. " It is specified that the educational and digital environment can be understood as a set of organizational and pedagogical conditions for learning that contribute to the motivation of higher education students to self-development, self-education and is a key component of professional development of future professionals through information resources and services. It is emphasized that video lecture is the main form of conducting educational classes in the educational-digital environment, intended for mastering theoretical material. Each individual lecture is a component of the course of lectures in the educational and digital environment of the course discipline. Let's outline the general requirements for video lectures for bachelors in cybersecurity in the educational and digital environment. It has been determined that online broadcasting is a convenient way to communicate with bachelors in cybersecurity in real time in an educational and digital environment. At the expense of such broadcast it is possible to arrange for them game streams, to hold online seminars or to answer questions. The presented method of conducting video lectures and online broadcasts for the training of bachelors in cybersecurity is characterized by mandatory professional training for bachelors to obtain the qualification of information security specialist in information and communication systems and provides practice to provide training conditions in the real environment of future professional activities. Prospects for further research are the development of technology for the introduction of video lectures and online broadcasts in the system of training bachelors in cybersecurity and verification of the results.

Leading sustainable schools in the era of Education 4.0: identifying school leadership competencies in Malaysian secondary schools

The purpose of the study was to develop an empirical School Leadership Competency Model for the era of Education 4.0 (SLCMEduc4.0) to identify school leadership competencies that facilitate and maximise effectiveness in leading sustainable schools in Malaysia. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was employed to identify the underlying factors whereas Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied to test the measurement models using Structural Equation Modelling. A total of 444 and 931 respondents completed the survey with usable data for EFA and CFA, respectively. The results suggested that the SLCMEdu4.0 can be explained by eight factors namely; Leading for Learning, Emotional Intelligence, Critical Thinking, Communication and Ethics, Collaboration, Decision Making and Problem Solving, Digital Dexterity and Entrepreneurial with good fit statistics; normed χ² = 2.628, TLI = .950, CFI = .954 and RMSEA = .042. The SLCMEduc4.0 is a coherent premier model that provides useful feedback for practitioners in planning, designing and evaluating future professional development programmes for school leaders.

Instructional change following formative instructional practices professional development

ABSTRACTSignificant funds have been allocated in the United States at the federal, state, and local levels to provide teacher professional development aimed at bringing about instructional change and resulting in improved student achievement. One important indicator for quality and effectiveness in professional development is change in teaching practice. This study was designed to observe instructional change among 45 classroom teachers across three data points: at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of a two-year statewide professional development initiative focused on incorporating formative instructional practices into daily classroom work. Repeated measure analysis results indicated significant changes in providing effective feedback and encouraging student ownership of learning. Change patterns in the classrooms included in this study informed future professional development focus, design, and delivery. Researchers found that implementing a comprehensive teacher professional development initiative to improve instructional quality is promising yet challenging because of differing local implementation plans, organizational structures, priorities, and resources.