Professional Development Path Research Articles

What Potential Does an Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) Have in Addressing the Learning Needs of Educators in Malta?

This paper reveals the potential benefits and challenges of using the Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) to support teachers’ learning needs. The IPDP is used by human resources management across different industries including education to assist in the planning of professional development and career paths. This strategic tool is used to recognise and document skills, knowledge and training options required to achieve short-term and long-term goals. Results of this study exposed potential benefits as being improved reflective practice; exposure to strategic planning; motivation to learn; and consideration of students’ needs. The potential challenges were recognised as being teachers’ negative attitudes towards PD; lack of experience in self-reflective practices and goal-setting; time restraints; imposed union directives; and teaching conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also examined the potential use of the IPDP by senior leadership teams. The results show that the IPDP could potentially promote community learning; goal-setting alignment with school development plans; alignment with student needs; and different forms of PD.

Continuing professional education experiences and expectations of nurses in Chinese military hospitals: A quantitative and qualitative study

BackgroundContinuing professional education (CPE) is important for maintaining the competencies of nurses. The evaluation of training needs is necessary for well-organized CPE programs. ObjectivesTo obtain a deeper understanding of the past experiences and future expectations of CPE among nurses in Chinese military hospitals in order to provide empirical support for planning effective CPE programs. DesignWe implemented a two-phase procedure to investigate the experiences and expectations of CPE. SettingsTwenty one hospitals across China. Participants382 nurses in quantitative study, and 20 nurses in qualitative study. MethodsSelf-designed questionnaire was used to quantitatively measure past experiences, willingness to participate, and future expectations of CPE via a cross-sectional study. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to explore the characteristics of CPE activities among military nurses. ResultsA total of 293 (76.7 %) participants had experience with CPE in the past, and 362 (94.8 %) were willing to take CPE in the future. The top five training items they wanted to learn about in the future were combat casualty care, emergency and critical care, military skills, trauma care in an austere environment, and specialist nursing. We identified the following 5 themes in the qualitative data: military missions, military training content, military medicine training content, training methods, and professional development paths. ConclusionsNursing administrators and educators should consider designing hierarchical, categorized CPE programs to meet the needs of self-development and professional growth among nurses.

Compétences clés des futurs enseignants de FLE : l’apport des textes littéraires choisis

Understanding of literary texts and cultural knowledge acquisition are not the only objectives of French or Francophone literature courses that are part of the university program for future FFL teachers. Reading excerpts of literary texts allows students to develop their key skills, especially their cultural awareness and expression, but also their ability to communicate in a foreign language which is the fundamental goal of language teaching. This study presents an example of pedagogical mediation during which various skill sets (global, professional, key, etc.) are being developed through a number of selected lite­rary texts. Pedagogical mediation is understood as a thoughtful process during which students develop the self-awareness in the role of foreign-language and foreign-culture mediator by acquiring the skills necessary for their personal and professional growth, using the full potential of literary texts. At the same time, by deepening the receptive language skills, reading of texts develops also the productive language skills, i.e. speaking and writing, and to the awareness of students’ didactic thinking. Students’ lesson plans show the level at which they are at the moment on their professional skills development path.

A Global NDE 4.0 Roadmap - From the journey to its creation towards a pathway for its sustainability and evolution an updated perspective

Regardless of its local name, fahrplans, hoja de ruta or feuille de route, Roadmaps through time have been instru-mental for guiding and thrusting sociocultural, economic, technological and even political changes around the world. When recently a diverse community of NDE 4.0 stakeholders, dispersed over continents and industries, began to interact and bring together a series of common challenges and collaboration initiatives, two questions materialized from those early interactions: “Does the integration of a global NDE 4.0 roadmap is feasible?” and “Does creating such global roadmap truly matters?”. This presentation, and its associated article, aims to provide an answer to both questions by succinctly portraying: 1) The journey to a create a Global NDE 4.0 Roadmap, understanding it as a milestone initiative, through a process that comprised from the mapping of the NDE 4.0 national ecosystems to the definition of a strategic path to reinforcing a Global NDE 4.0 Ecosystem. 2) The pathway for its sustainability and evolution through the integration of specific reinforcing mechanisms and processes since its early design. By merging strategy and innovation, our purpose is also to contribute with the global NDE community by provid-ing valuable practical insights related with: 1) Using and adapting the global NDE 4.0 roadmap to specific needs in order to create specialized roadmaps by industry or geographic region, that are both feasible and relevant. 2) Presenting a strategic sustainability perspective towards the future that may serve as guidance and inspira-tion to keep those specialized roadmaps relevant and useful 3) Integrating the human perspective into NDE 4.0 through professional and personal development paths and certifications, and finally 4) Outlining an agenda of future research aligned with the purpose of NDE 4.0 of contributing to creating a safer and more sustainable word.

Teaching Professional Development and Learning Career Paths: Autobiographical Narrations by Science Teachers from Chile

Different studies show that personal, social and educational aspects, among others, interact in the continuous learning of teachers, with certain specificities in science teachers. A study was conducted with teachers who participated in the Program of Scientific Inquiry for Science Education (ICEC) of the Ministry of Education, in a university in the center of the country, using a biographical-narrative study with micro-stories. The professional development of science teachers and some learning generated from the Covid 19 pandemic was described. For this purpose, the study was conducted in two cases, asking about the story of being a teacher in Case 1, and, about the story of being a teacher in the pandemic in Case 2. Case 1 showed the place of initial teacher training in the biographies, the relationship between professional and personal learning, as well as the transcendental and social meanings of the teaching profession. Case 2 showed the prominence of collective and individual professional learning in contexts of crisis, as well as the new definitions of the professional role. These findings are discussed in relation to learning ecologies, personal learning environments, and inquiry in professional development.

‘I don’t want to be a teacher’: a collaborative autoethnographic inquiry into the construction of university ELT instructors’ professional identity

ABSTRACT Believing teachers as agents who actively make meaning about their professional identities, we depict the construction of our identity as three mid-career female English language teachers. Anchored by collaborative autoethnography (CAE) and arts-based educational research (ABER) approaches, we explored and reflected on our lived critical incidences significant to our professional learning and identity development. By expressing and reflecting upon literary and visual data that we concurrently collected and iteratively analysed, we are becoming more aware of how our identity as ELT instructors has been historical, socio-culturally, and institutionally shaped and reshaped. Our collaborative work has helped us to forecast our future professional development paths and inspired us to extend the collaborative research that promotes community capacity building among us and the wider academic community.

Health work and skills in the last mile of disease elimination. Experiences from sleeping sickness health workers in South Sudan and DR Congo

ABSTRACT Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is considered a highly promising candidate for elimination within the next decade. This paper argues that the experiential knowledge of frontline health workers will be critical to achieve this goal. Interviews are used to explore the ways in which HAT workers understand, maintain, and adjust their skills amidst global and national challenges. We contrast two cases: South Sudan where HAT expertise is scattered and has been repeatedly rebuilt, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where specialised mobile detection teams have pro-actively tested people at risk for almost a century. We describe HAT careers where skills are built through participation in HAT technology trials and screening programmes; in the DRC expertise is also supported through formal rotations in screening teams and HAT referral centres for new health workers. As cases fade, de-skilling is a real threat as awareness of populations and authorities diminishes and previously vertical programmes evolve, re-configuring professional development and career paths and associated opportunities for HAT practice. To avoid repeating the mistakes of the 1960s, when elimination also seemed close at hand, we need to recognise that the ‘last mile’ of elimination hinges on protecting the fragile expertise of frontline health workers.

On the Strategy of Post-Professional Development of Primary School Teachers

Elementary education carries the hopes of the country and the nation, and improving the level of post-professionalism of primary school teachers plays a vital role in the reform of elementary education. The theory and practice of post-professional development of primary school teachers mainly focuses on the two basic issues of "what kind of teachers to train" and " what is the quality of the teachers trained". What kind of primary school teachers to train will give different answers in different eras. With the development of the professional process of primary school teachers, the new era puts forward newer and higher requirements for teachers' abilities and qualities. What is the quality of the primary school teachers trained that is a question about the evaluation of the teaching quality of primary school teachers. The special nature of the professionalization of primary school teachers lies in the fact that they are educated to underage primary school students and are in the stage of becoming growth. The post-professional development of primary school teachers and the growth of primary school students have a natural internal logic, and the path of post-professional development of primary school teachers must follow the growth regularity of primary school students, and the growth space of primary school students determines the choice of the path of professional development of primary school teachers after service. Based on the value-added evaluation perspective of student growth. Therefore, this paper constructs a value-added evaluation index system model based on "student-growth", and proposes a strategy for selecting the path of post-professional development of primary school teachers, and in order to provide guidance for the reform of elementary education in the new era.

Quantum technologies: a course for teacher professional development.

We present an educational path for teacher professional development whose primary purpose is to enhance physics teachers’ knowledge and awareness of topics related to quantum computation and quantum information, and of their relevance for technological advancement. Besides their objective importance, also stressed by several authors and projects, the choice of topics not traditionally covered in the final year physics curricula also arises from the concrete possibility of developing a multidisciplinary path, able to represent under a unified perspective several subjects treated in secondary school physics and mathematics. The project is realized in the context of the Italian PLS (Plan for Science Degrees) and the education section of the Quantum Flagship. Due to the limitations related to the COVID-19 pandemic it was entirely delivered in the form of synchronous distance learning and was attended by around 30 teachers. Asynchronous discussion was performed using both generally available tools (Google drive, forms etc.) and a dedicated online forum set up on the servers of the University of Pavia. We discuss the structure of the educational path and the results of the first part of the course whose purpose was describing the transition from classical to quantum computation. In general, from both the written pre-questionnaire and the mid-course interviews, strong appreciation and fascination emerge for the cultural significance of the introduced topics and connections.

Overseas Research on Teacher Collaboration: Progress and Enlightenment

Teacher collaboration is of great significance to improve the professional ability and development of teachers. This study shows that the traditional path of teachers' professional development has gradually lagged behind the pace of the development of the times, and the new path of teachers' professional development with teachers' collaboration as the core is attracting much attention. This study examines and reflects on the hot topics in the concept and practice of teacher collaboration from the aspects of the theoretical implication, manifestation and implementation dilemma of teacher collaboration. In fact, under the development concept of teacher collaboration, there are many implementation difficulties. Providing time guarantee for teacher collaboration, guiding teachers to correctly understand teacher collaboration and balancing the limits of teacher autonomy and collaboration are very important to promote teacher collaboration.

Toward Somatic Coherence: Five Teachers Engaged In Embodied Ways In Their Professional Development Path

According to Johnson (2007), learning and teaching arise from a human being’s bodily experience in relationship with others and the environment (embodiment). Many teachers perceive and mobilize their bodies in rather unconscious ways. Becoming conscious of their perceptions can help them teach. It can also influence their internal/external coherence (Korthagen, 2004), link between sensations, intentions, and actions. Five elementary teachers participated in a study meant to look at their bodily learning processes, based on a phenomenological methodology (van Manen, 2014) and using somatic approaches (Eddy, 2016). Data analysis shows that they underwent body consciousness learning processes with various effects on their teaching, many posited at a relational level (with students) and all accompanied by a changing perception of self.

Assessing the Impact of the MOOC Learning Platform on the Comprehensive Development of English Teachers at College Level under “Double First-Rate” by Utilization of the SWOT Analysis in Hunan Province, China

This research is to investigate the impact of massive open online course (MOOC) learning platforms on teacher development, promote the development and innovation of online learning models under the “Double First-Rate,” and especially expand the application of the MOOC platforms combining language learning with professional development paths. The MOOC online learning platform has a problem of a high abandonment rate. This paper first proposes a MOOC learning recommendation algorithm based on the learning sequence and similarity distance analysis as well as evaluates its accuracy. Then, the reliability test and the MOOC learning recommendation algorithm are used to evaluate the quality evaluation system of English teaching in the MOOC utilizing the structural equation model. Finally, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) are determined to analyze the impact of the MOOC regarding the English teaching platform on teachers' comprehensive development. The results show that the MOOC platform-based learning recommendation algorithm has higher recommendation accuracy and efficiency, improving the learning effect with the utilization of the MOOC. Also, it can effectively reduce the abandonment rate and has a positive effect of resolving the interaction problem pertinent to characteristic differences and sequences in the learning recommendation. The quality evaluation system of online English teaching in the MOOC has higher reliability and convergent validity, which shows better stability and consistency in all dimensions. If teachers can actively learn from the resources of the MOOC platform, then they continuously update teaching concepts, improve online teaching, give full play to their language advantages, accurately locate student needs, and develop unique courses. Therefore, it will promote the overall development of their careers and improve innovation.

Teaching artist preparation and professional development: perspectives from the youth orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) program

Professional development can help to ensure teaching artists have the requisite knowledge and skills to lead effective instruction. However, the specific format of professional development can vary. One organization that provides professional development for their teaching artists is the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) program, which is an El Sistema-inspired program. In many communities there is a lack of access to a quality music education, and El Sistema-inspired programs attempt to provide opportunities for access to musical experiences through private lessons and large ensemble settings. Grecia Serrano Navarro provides a unique perspective concerning El Sistema-inspired programs, as well as the backgrounds, preparation, and professional development of teaching artists. Her story outlines her experiences of pursuing classical music study in high school, earning a degree in music education, her public school teaching experience, and her current role as a provider of professional development for teaching artists at YOLA. Through examining Grecia’s experiences, along with related literature providing contextual support for her perspective, the role of El Sistema-inspired programs is considered, including the structures of support that these programs provide aspiring musicians. The varied paths of preparation and professional development for teaching artists who work for El Sistema-inspired programs are also examined, including the impact of music teacher education on the field of teaching artistry.

Early Childhood Teachers' Professional Development Paths from a Cultural Ecology Perspective

Exploring the path of early childhood teachers' professional development from the perspective of cultural ecology is in line with the lifelong education advocated by the state, and is also beneficial to teachers' professional and long-term development. Based on this paper, we analyze the significance of cultural ecology to the professional growth of early childhood teachers and the three factors that affect their professional development, with a view to finding the paths of professional development of early childhood teachers from the perspective of cultural ecology from the following three perspectives: creating a superior material culture, constructing a strict institutional culture, and creating a positive spiritual culture.

International trends of nursing career path

On-the-job professional development activities allow nurses to increase their knowledge and skills without needing to leave the work environment. However, a clear career path for nurses' professional development is still lacking. Our systematic review aims to identify the national and international trends regarding on-the-job training for nursing career-path development. We conducted an electronic search for studies published from 2000 to 2019 using the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, and Medline databases. We included a total of 18 studies. The on-the-job professional development activities we included in the review were of short, medium, and long durations. In all studies, the activities increased nurses' knowledge and skills. No data were reported about nurses' retention in most of the studies. Only one study reported that using e-learning and clinical training with nurse–mentors in a community setting for a long period of time increased their retention. Accordingly, a clear career path for nursing professional development needs to be developed, especially for nurses holding diplomas.

The Professional Development Path of Senior High School English Teachers under the Background of Core Literacy

Under the background of international globalization, core literacy education has become the focus of attention of most countries. By summarizing the connotation of subject core literacy and teacher professional development, this paper introduces the present situation of professional development of senior English teacher in China, then analyzes the factors that affect the professional development of senior English teachers from two aspects: individual internal factors and external environmental factors. This paper puts forward the professional development path of English teachers in senior high schools under the background of core literacy: formulating unified basic principles, strengthening teacher training programs, and promoting teachers' self-development.

Mapping organizational complexity: a network-based approach to behavior through machine learning tools

The current uncertain, dynamic scenario calls for a systemic perspective when referring to organizational complexity and behavior. Our research contributes to the analysis of organizational complexity through multidimensional behavioral mapping. Our method uses machine learning tools to detect the interconnections between the different behaviors of a person in his/her operating context. First, the research project dealt with prototyping a model to read the organizational behavior, the related detection tool, and a data analysis methodology. It used machine learning tools and ended with a data visualization phase. We set our model to read the organizational behavior by comparing the literature benchmark theories with our field experience. The model was organized around 4 areas and 16 behaviors. These were the basis for singling out the indicators and the questionnaire items. The data analysis methodology aimed at detecting the interconnections between behaviors. We designed it by joining univariate analysis with a multivariate technique based on the application of machine learning tools. This led to a high-resolution network map through three specific steps: (a) creating a multidimensional topology based on a Kohonen Map (a type of unsupervised learning artificial neural network) to geometrically represent behavioral relationships; (b) implementing k-means clustering for identifying which areas of the map have behavior similarity or affinity factors; and (c) locating people and the various identified clusters within the map. The research highlighted the validity of machine learning tools to detect the multidimensionality of organizational behavior. Therefore, we could delineate the networking of the observed elements and visualize an otherwise unattainable complexity through multimedia and interactive reporting. Application in the field of research consisted of the design and development of a prototype integrated with our LMS platform via a plugin. Field experimentation confirmed the effectiveness of the method for creating professional growth and development paths. Furthermore, this experimentation allowed us to obtain significant data by applying our model to several sectors, namely pharmaceutical, TLC, banking, automotive, machinery, and services.

Инклюзивная грамотность студентов вуза: общая характеристика, способы формирования, влияние в контексте профессионального развития

The paper aims to ground the need to develop undergraduate students’ inclusive literacy which directly influences the process of projecting individual paths of university students’ professional development. The article describes inclusive literacy as a qualitative term to characterize modern university students; analyzes the practice of organizing students’ initiative project activity which is considered a resource for formation of undergraduate students’ inclusive literacy; ascertains the connection between the level of students’ inclusive literacy and the dynamics of their professional intentions and interests which influence the process of projecting individual paths of professional development. The scientific originality of the research lies in the fact that it proves that inclusive literacy is a factor which influences the actualization of individual paths of students’ professional development in the context of specification of its leading vectors towards specific professional direction, initiative project socially-oriented and scientific-educational activity. As a result, the data on the practical approbation of complementing the models of learning process organization that aim to form students’ inclusive literacy which is considered a resource for initiative project activity have been summarized; the conceptual principles of the socially-oriented scientific-educational metaproject “University of inclusive literacy” have been presented; the main effects of inclusive literacy in the context of projecting individual paths of students’ professional development have been identified.

Turnover of Civil Servants in the Executive Power Administration

Based on an actual and objective observation of the processes in Bulgarian administrations, it is possible to summarize the assumption that the relatively high number of civil servants leaving the executive power administration and the relatively short period of time they work in, are due to several factors: In the first place, a lack of substantial and clear perspective of professional development and career path planning for each civil servant. Second, the relatively poor atmosphere (micro-climate) in several divisions and departments in the administration. Third, the lack of sense of belonging / esprit de corps (strong organizational culture) to the government’s executive power administrations. It is not prestigious to work for the administration. Fourth, the work overload of certain civil servants compensating for others. This in turn increases the risks of errors and mistakes by the former. The relatively lower salaries in comparison to the private sector are only in fifth place.

Peculiarities of the police officer's profession image in their attitude

Aspects of choosing a profession and career planning are closely related to the description of the features of the image of the profession, otherwise known as the image of the profession. The choice of profession is an essential part of life, which has a significant influence upon the person and their further occupation. Furthermore, the choice of profession and job is related to the satisfaction of financial, social and personal needs. Therefore, it is very important that the choice of profession is as accurate as possible and that the profession evokes a strong feeling of vocation. A career develops accordingly, if a person is satisfied with the job and one’s current expectations meet the current situation, then the career development is successful and thrives as individually sought. For a career to follow a successful developing process it is vital to meticulously systematize the characteristics of a particular profession that would help to decide whether one wants to choose it not. Due to these reasons whilst researching the police officer’s image it is crucial to assess the point of view of current police officers in regard to the officer’s image. Correspondingly, the purpose of the article is evoked - to reveal the perception of police officers of the image of their profession. To achieve it, the concept of choosing a profession is discussed, emphasizing the importance of vocation and the path of professional development - career; the change in the attitude of police officers about the image of their profession and its factors are determined. The hypotheses are confirmed disparately. After an empirical study, the first hypothesis - the average of the respondents' assessment of the current attitude towards the characteristics of the police officer profession is statistically significantly different from the attitude before choosing this profession - was confirmed. The second hypothesis was only partly confirmed. It was revealed that the average assessment of the characteristics of the police profession for both men and women decreases depending on the degree of the police officer.