Professional Development Efforts Research Articles

Learning to Improve Program Systems While Navigating Program and Institutional Constraints

Many youth worker professional development (PD) efforts tend to focus on individualized skill development, rather than learning as a contextualized phenomenon that impacts youth workers’ everyday experiences in the field. Youth worker learning is fundamentally embedded in a broader ecosystem of programs, institutions, and systems that influence how they make sense of and implement their learnings. Examining institutionalized experiences and how they shape youth workers’ response to PD requires attention to the larger ecology of the contexts in which they work. In this paper, I analyze a PD initiative facilitated by a school district in the Rocky Mountain West. Data collected during the PD show that participating youth workers made changes to their program systems. At the same time, participants reported a range of institutional constraints that did not cohere with the PD. I bridge sensemaking theory to research on youth worker self-efficacy to unpack youth workers’ reaction to and implementation of the PD, and I discuss implications for youth worker PD. I propose that PD efforts could more closely attend to youth workers’ institutional contexts.

An Innovative Approach for Integrating Mandatory, Longitudinal Spirituality Training Into the Medical School Curriculum.

Most Americans indicate they are religious and/or spiritual and wish to have their beliefs taken into account when engaging with health care providers, yet gaps in medical education and health care practice remain. To underscore the importance of spirituality as a significant social determinant of health, a team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York developed mandatory spirituality and health training for students integrated into all 4 years of the undergraduate medical education curriculum. From 2014 to 2020, a small group of faculty took an innovative approach, launching the initiative and expanding the team by engaging interprofessional faculty and staff from across the institution. The team used an iterative process to integrate 4 distinct modules into 4 existing courses, spanning the 4 years of medical school. The majority of students found that the spirituality and health curriculum was valuable to training and professional development. They appreciated the importance of patients' spiritual needs, valued learning about the role chaplains play in patient care and how to initiate a consult, and indicated they intended to integrate spiritual history taking in their patient care. With respect to process, 3 key factors-establishing an interprofessional team, working through an iterative process, and integrating the curriculum into existing courses-were critical to designing and implementing the modules. The team aims to expand and improve the curriculum by linking learning to specific standardized competencies as well as developing more specific performance assessments to demonstrate achievement of competencies. Professional development efforts will be enhanced so faculty can better model and reinforce the integration of spirituality into health care practices and expand the curriculum on spirituality and health into graduate medical education.

Shoulder to shoulder: why stance matters in instructional coaching

ABSTRACT Drawing on adult learning theory, this article proposes a coaching stance that is conducive to cultivating teacher agency and developing teacher effectiveness. As university-based teacher educators and literacy coaches in a large urban school district, the authors describe the evolution of three distinct coaching stances, based on a 3-year grant-funded school-based professional development effort. Using compelling vignettes and reflections from the field, the authors illustrate why the first two stances lack sustaining power; while the third one, that of a shoulder-to-shoulder stance, leads to productive coach/teacher collaboration and school-wide changes. Central to the effectiveness of this stance are 1), making student learning data accessible and meaningful to teachers; and 2), the positioning of the coach as a co-learner, thus turning the entire inquiry process as learning for everyone. This coaching stance is of value to teacher educators, coaches, designers of school leadership training programs – stakeholders who are interested in meeting the needs and demands of school-based professional learning communities.

“Experiencing theory first-hand was delightful and informative”: Bridging the Theory-Practice Gap in Online Language Assessment Training

It has been argued that successful professional development efforts, especially in assessment-literacy, need to address emotional components and the existence of implicit conceptions in order to raise consciousness and ultimately transform practice (Xu and Brown, 2016: p. 156). Experiential approaches have been shown to be highly effective for adult learning, especially in bringing about and sustaining changes in beliefs and practices. In this paper, I explore the use of an experiential approach in an online language assessment course, describing in depth two formative assessment (FA) activities and the technology tools that were employed. These activities served to (1) develop participants’ AL in formative assessment, including online formative assessment; (2) evoke emotions, raise consciousness about conceptions, and prompt a desire for transformation; and (3) bridge the theory-practice gap. This paper offers insights into approaches to FA and teacher development in online settings and seeks to contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field of assessment education.

Supporting teachers working with English learners: Engagement and impact of a professional development program

Despite the growing number of English learners in the United States, teachers continue to report that they do not feel well prepared to support English learners. It is critical to offer quality professional development accessible for all teachers and to engage teachers in exploring teaching applications involving English learners. In this study, the authors describe a yearlong strengths‐based professional development program with a focus on engaging educators in reflections on their teaching beliefs and practices. Based on both quantitative and qualitative data, the researchers report teachers’ beliefs and practices and highlight the impact of the yearlong professional development. Discussions and recommendations regarding future professional development efforts to support teachers working with English learners are provided.

Teachers Take Charge of Their Resilience Through Self-Study

This research arises from serious concerns surrounding teaching sustainability, given the everyday challenges teachers face as they learn and thrive. Internationally, teacher recruitment and retention are in crisis. COVID-19 has added to previous workloads resulting in many teachers describing their teaching experience as detrimental to their commitment, well-being, and health. This paper examines one teacher’s professional development efforts to promote her resilience via self-study research methodology. The findings suggest that an intentional focus on developing resilience through self-study positively impacted teaching practices. As a result, the authors suggest that teachers take charge of their resilience by conducting their own self-study.

Teacher’s Dialogic Prompts That Scaffold Students’ Participation in Classroom Argumentation: A Case of a Biology Teacher

In this qualitative case study, a male biology teacher teaching Bioethics in Senior High School was purposively selected for the documentation and examination of the types and functions of dialogic prompts he used to scaffold his students’ participation in classroom argumentation. Using various data such as classroom transcripts from audio- and video-records, interviews and field notes, these were subjected to microlevel analyses using the constant comparison method. Using an analysis framework with codes from literature that were subsequently merged with data driven codes, thematic analysis yielded three types of dialogic prompts: conceptual, analytical, and reflective with several functions such as providing background information, giving extended ‘think-time’, guiding students to formulate counterarguments, eliciting examples that either support or refute a claim, and asking issue-based questions which were sometimes backed up by stating personal arguments and reiterating students’ responses. Excerpts from video transcripts revealed that these dialogic prompts elicited students’ ideas which resulted to argumentative and collaborative inquiry. Findings of the study suggest that students’ participation to classroom argumentation should be understood together with teachers’ provision of dialogic scaffolding. More than conceptual and factual knowledge, teachers’ dialogic scaffolding for argumentation is a promising method for the gradual enhancement of students’ communication skills and honing of their reasoning skills. Since the results are only conclusive to the case teacher, the study informs the potentials of dialogic scaffolding to support classroom argumentation. It is therefore recommended that for future professional development efforts, both in-service and pre-service teachers should be influenced towards intentionality of harnessing talk inside the classroom as a tool to enhance the implementation of classroom argumentation.

Look Who's Talking: Teaching and Discourse Practices across Discipline, Position, Experience, and Class Size in STEM College Classrooms.

Students are more likely to learn in college science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classrooms when instructors use teacher discourse moves (TDMs) that encourage student engagement and learning. However, although teaching practices are well studied, TDMs are not well understood in college STEM classrooms. In STEM courses at a minority-serving institution (MSI; n = 74), we used two classroom observation protocols to investigate teaching practices and TDMs across disciplines, instructor types, years of teaching experience, and class size. We found that instructors guide students in active learning activities, but they use authoritative discourse approaches. In addition, chemistry instructors presented more than biology instructors. Also, teaching faculty had relatively high dialogic, interactive discourse, and neither years of faculty teaching experience nor class size had an impact on teaching practices or TDMs. Our results have implications for targeted teaching professional development efforts across instructor and course characteristics to improve STEM education at MSIs.

Grassroots Professional Development: How Teachers Use Twitter

In an exploratory study, we used survey, interviews and content analysis techniques to understand how educators appropriate Twitter and other social media in their practice. We report on teachers’ use of Twitter, structural features of their on and offline professional networks, and the institutional policies that shape their appropriation of social media for professional use. Most importantly, our analysis suggests teachers on Twitter tend to be eager adopters of technologies and well positioned to broker information as bridges between members of their local communities of practice and other networks of educators. Based on these findings, we discuss teachers on Twitter as participants in grassroots professional development efforts and the potential for them to be powerful fomenters and enactors of reform in educational communities.

Attrition, (De)motivation, and “Effective” Music Teacher Professional Development: An Instrumental Case Study

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore why and how a prototypically “effective” teacher professional development (PD) effort, reciprocal peer coaching (RPC), fell short. Despite RPC’s conformity with long-espoused best practices in PD—content-specificity, extended duration, collaboration, inquiry, and self-direction—only two in eight music teachers who began the 5-month coaching and observation trajectory completed it. We used instrumental case study analysis to understand teachers’ decisions to continue in or prematurely withdraw from RPC. Findings revealed motivational factors such as collaboration and affirmative support, growth-in-practice learning, and content relevance were, for the majority of participants, overcome by demotivational factors related to participants’ perceived lack of agency in shaping their work context and the incoherence and insufficiency of their policy environments. We advance implications for PD providers, researchers, and policymakers.

The Many Faces of Instruction: An Exploration of Academic Librarians’ Teaching Personas

While several studies explore whether librarians think of themselves as teachers, how librarians construct their teacher identities has received less attention in the literature. This project used semi-structured interviews with eighteen academic librarians in the United States to gain a sense of their teaching personas and how these have developed and evolved over time. The participants valued authenticity but were also able to quickly adapt their personas to different contexts. Librarians wish to be seen as friendly experts and develop their values-based teaching personas slowly over the course of their careers. The results of this study can help shape professional development efforts aimed at librarians who teach, as well as provide guidance to library and information science students as they learn about information literacy instruction.

"Doing What I can, but I got no Magic Wand:" A Snapshot of Early Childhood Educator Experiences and Efforts to Ensure Quality During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted early childhood programs serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in dramatic ways. After temporarily closing, many educators quickly adapted their procedures to ensure children’s safety as they reopened to provide childcare for essential workers and then the community at large. This manuscript reports on statewide efforts to continue quality improvement initiatives for early childhood programs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We first describe the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for over 2000 educators—teachers, administrators, and specialists—who completed surveys in the Spring and Fall of 2020. These survey data come from a statewide system called the Texas Early Childhood Professional Development System (TECPDS), designed to track the professional development needs/progress of early childhood educators. Second, we describe an example of how a statewide professional development and quality improvement program shifted to remote delivery during the pandemic. As an increasing number of educators turn to virtual training resources, we explain lessons learned from these response efforts and how they can inform future virtual professional development efforts, even amidst crisis, to ensure that a focus on quality improvement continues while supporting teachers’ individual needs.

The double-dip: quality discrepancies in out-of-school time STEM programs

ABSTRACT We report on national trends in STEM program quality using the Dimensions of Success (DoS), an empirical observation tool that provides a common definition of STEM program quality. We analyzed ratings for 12 dimensions of quality obtained from 452 DoS observations performed in 452 STEM-focused OST programs across 25 U.S. states by certified DoS observers. When plotted on a graph, the averages for the 12 quality dimensions display a ‘double-dip’ – a phrase that has been used in practice to communicate OST STEM strengths (higher ratings) and challenges (lower ratings). Nationally, OST programs excelled in quality indicators related to features of the learning environment, including preparation, materials, and space, as well as relationships. However, programs demonstrated less consistent evidence for quality in dimensions related to STEM knowledge and practices, including STEM content learning, inquiry, and reflection (dip #1), as well as areas related to supporting youth voice and STEM relevance (dip #2). This ‘double-dip’ persisted regardless of region, locale, season, and participant age or gender, though certain program and participant characteristics changed the magnitude of the scores. Ongoing professional development efforts are needed to address persistently challenging areas that are essential for building children’s STEM skills, content knowledge, and fluency. Key words: Informal education, STEM, research trend, professional development.

Evaluation of the implementation of professional development efforts in improving the professionalism of Geography teachers

This study aims to determine how the implementation of teacher professional development efforts and the government and/or related agencies' participation in supporting teacher professional improvement can formulate sustainable professional development efforts in improving the professionalism of high school geography teachers in Brebes Regency. This evaluation study used the discrepancy model. The method used was descriptive quantitative and analyzed using percentage descriptive techniques. The data in this evaluation study were collected through questionnaires, interviews, and observations. The sample in this study consisted of 30 high school Geography teachers in Brebes Regency, while the sampling technique used was disproportionate stratified random sampling. Regardless of the results of the study that Geography teachers had a good understanding of the duties and obligations that had to be fulfilled as professional teachers, that efforts for sustainable professional development had not been fully implemented properly. The result shows that the Sustainable Professional Development efforts carried out by Geography teachers are in the criteria of “Good Enough” with an average score of 66.83 (out of a maximum score of 120). From several programs supporting the teachers’ professional development, only a few programs are routinely carried out by Geography teachers, including internal coaching by supervisors, Geography subject forum activities, and workshops. Besides, several professional development programs deserve special attention from the government due to the lack of teacher participation, namely apprenticeships, short courses, distance learning, level training, and further education, given that some of these programs provide opportunities for teachers to update and develop their knowledge.

The role of generic examples in teachers’ proving activities

This paper explores how in-service teachers enrolled in a graduate proof course interpret, understand, and use generic examples as part of their proving and justification activities. Generic examples, which are capable of proving and justifying with strong explanatory power, are particularly important for teachers considering teaching proof in their classrooms. The teachers in our study used generic examples to produce three types of proof: example-based arguments enhanced with generic language; incomplete generic examples; and complete generic examples. We found that teachers conflate generic examples and visual representations, prefer visual generic examples for teaching, and consider a generic example with symbolic representation to be more convincing than a generic example without. We conclude with implications for secondary school teaching, as well as suggestions for future professional development efforts.

Integration of Catholic Values and Professional Obligations in the Provision of Family Planning Services

Religious leaders of the Catholic church created guidelines for practicing medicine, that involve reproductive care restrictions that may conflict with professional obligations. To explore how Catholic obstetrician-gynecologists integrate their religious values and professional obligations related to family planning services. In this qualitative investigation, in 2018, US-based obstetrician-gynecologists were recruited through an online survey and were invited to participate in audio-recorded telephone interviews using a semistructured interview guide. Participants were obstetrician-gynecologists who self-identified as Catholic and reported providing reproductive health care as follows: (1) provide natural family planning only (low practitioners), (2) provide additional contraceptive methods (moderate practitioners), and (3) provide family planning services including abortion (high practitioners). The study purposively sampled those with higher self-reported religiosity. Data were analyzed from November 2018 to February 2019. The primary outcome was understanding how participants describe integration of Catholic values with family planning service provision. The telephone interviews explored their integration of Catholic values and professional obligations, and 3 coders analyzed the responses using grounded theory. Among the 34 Catholic obstetrician-gynecologists interviewed (27 women [79.4%]), there were 10 low, 15 moderate, and 9 high practitioners from 19 states. Participants' description of morality was consistent with Albert Bandura's Social-Cognitive Theory of Moral Thought and Action. The findings were used to create a modified framework. Within each group of physicians, 3 themes demonstrating their reconciliations between Catholic values and professional obligations emerged; each of these themes reflected one of the medical ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, or justice. All 10 low practitioners primarily promoted natural family planning approaches to avoid iatrogenic risks and none provided abortion, reflecting nonmaleficence. Alternatively, moderate practitioners focused on nonmaleficence by offering contraception to prevent abortions. High practitioners primarily promoted patient autonomy by separating religious doctrine from medical practice. All had concerns for beneficence. In each group, 1 of the 4 medical ethical principles was underrepresented. In this qualitative analysis, Catholic obstetrician-gynecologists establish their family planning care provision practices by emphasizing certain moral and/or ethical principles over others. These findings highlight how physician morality in the realm of family planning service provision often involves certain religious and/or professional reconciliations. Understanding the dilemmas Catholic obstetrician-gynecologists face can guide professional development efforts and inform ongoing discussions about conscientious objection and provision.

Uygulamada Ders İmecesi: Yabancı Dil Olarak İngilizce Öğretmenleri Üzerine Bir Çoklu Durum Çalışması

Traditional professional development efforts aimed at changing teacher behavior through seminars sometimes fall short of meeting contextual needs of schools and teachers. Contemporary professional development points to a change in this ‘training’ perspective, and acknowledges professional development as a complex undertaking grounded in active teacher participation. Lesson Study can respond to the demands of this paradigm shift, yet its adoption in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts is limited. This multiple-case study aimed at exploring the Lesson Study process experienced by EFL teachers in a Turkish higher education context. Potential benefits of the model and what might prevent its effective implementation were investigated. Participants were 20 EFL teachers. Data from reflective reports, interviews and a questionnaire were analyzed through cross-case analysis. Results showed Lesson Study provided a collaborative learning environment, and improved teachers’ knowledge-in-practice. However, teachers’ misconceptualizing Lesson Study and lacking support mechanisms were detected among potential pitfalls. To accommodate teachers’ professional development needs, schools should adopt practices recognizing their potential as researchers, reflective practitioners, and change agents. It would be helpful to encourage teachers to experiment with Lesson Study, using it as a catalyst for change and benefiting from its advantages to teacher learning.

Leveraging Psychosocial Interventions to Motivate Instructor Participation in Teaching Professional Development.

To promote undergraduate education reform, teaching professional development (TPD) efforts aim to encourage instructors to adopt evidence-based practices. However, many instructors do not attend TPD. There may be many reasons for this, including low intrinsic motivation to participate in TPD. Psychologists have dealt with motivational barriers in educational contexts using psychosocial interventions, brief activities that draw on a rich history of psychological research to subtly alter key, self-reinforcing psychological processes to yield long-term intrinsic motivation and behavioral changes. Psychosocial interventions, for example, have been used to alter students’ noncognitive attitudes and beliefs, such as attributions and mindset, which positively influence students’ motivation and academic performance. Here, we propose that insights from research on psychosocial interventions may be leveraged to design interventions that will increase instructors’ motivation to participate in TPD, thus enhancing existing pedagogical reform efforts. We discuss psychological principles and “best practices” underlying effective psychosocial interventions that could guide the development of interventions to increase instructors’ motivation to attend TPD. We encourage new interdisciplinary research collaborations to explore the potential of these interventions, which could be a new approach to mitigating at least one barrier to undergraduate education reform.

Formative Evaluation of a Peer Video-Based Coaching Initiative

BackgroundFew opportunities exist for surgeons to receive technical skills feedback after training. Surgeons at hospitals within the Illinois Surgical Quality Improvement Collaborative were invited to participate in a peer-to-peer video-based coaching initiative focused on improving technical skills in laparoscopic right colectomy. We present a formative qualitative evaluation of a video-based coaching initiative. MethodsConcurrent with the implementation of our video-based coaching initiative, we conducted two focus groups and 15 individual semistructured interviews with participants; all interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. A subset of surgeons participated in a group video-review session, which was observed by qualitative researchers. Transcripts and notes were analyzed using an organizational behavior framework adapted from executive coaching. ResultsParticipation in the initiative was primarily motivated by the opportunity to learn from others and improve skills. Surgeons highlighted the value of self-video and peer-video assessment not only to learn new techniques but also for self-reflection and benchmarking. Barriers to participation included logistics (e.g. using the laparoscopic recording devices, coordinating schedules for peer coaching), time commitment, and a surgical culture that assumes the intent of coaching is to address deficiencies. ConclusionsVideo-based peer-coaching provides a platform for surgeons to reflect, benchmark against peers, and receive personalized feedback; however, more work is needed to increase participation and sustain involvement over time. There is an opportunity to decrease logistical barriers and increase acceptability of coaching by integrating video-based coaching into existing surgical conferences and established continuous professional development efforts.

Teachers’ Noticing, Interpreting, and Acting on Students’ Chemical Ideas in Written Work

Formative assessment is an important component of teaching as it enables teachers to foster student learning by uncovering, interpreting, and advancing student thinking. In this work, we sought to characterize how experienced chemistry teachers notice and interpret student thinking shown in written work, and how they respond to what they learn about it. Drawing on qualitative methods from different educational fields, we analyzed data collected during focus groups of middle and high school teachers. Using a “chemical thinking” lens, teachers’ formative assessment practices were characterized as descriptive vs inferential in noticing, evaluative vs sense-making in interpreting, and directive vs responsive in acting. Four major patterns emerged in teachers’ interpreting of student thinking and proposed acting. These patterns affected the diversity of ideas that teachers noticed in student work. Ways of using the findings are offered for chemistry teachers wishing to examine and diversify their own noticing practices, and for professional development efforts in this area.