Professional Development Sessions Research Articles

‘It’s more than a prop’: Professional development session strategies as sources of teachers’ self-efficacy and motivation to teach outside the classroom

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses findings from a small-scale empirical exploration of how professional development (PD) programme session strategies influence secondary science teachers’ practice. It draws on a series of session questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and lesson observations from six secondary science teachers participating in a 2-year outdoor teaching PD programme in England. This paper explores session strategies as sources of self-efficacy resulting in practice change. It is argued that strategies most influential are those that combined several self-efficacy sources. However, alongside self-efficacy, the motivating role strategies play are important to the successful outcome of PD programmes.

Early predictors of escalating internalizing problems across middle childhood.

The objective of this study is to examine the trajectory of internalizing problems across middle childhood among a population sample of Australian children, and to understand the timing of explanatory factors related to children's development of internalizing problems, by using multiple-indicator latent growth curve modeling. Participants were children, parents, and teachers in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) Kindergarten (K) cohort (n = 3,153). Mothers reported on children's internalizing problems at 3 time points (6-7, 8-9, and 10-11 years). Explanatory factors included gender, emotional regulation skills, externalizing problems, peer relationships, parenting behaviors, socioeconomic status, and maternal mental health reported by mothers and teachers at 2 time points (4-5 years and 6-7 years). Growth modeling identified an increasing trajectory of internalizing problems over time. Initial levels were predicted by concurrent (6-7 years) emotional dysregulation, externalizing problems, angry parenting, and maternal mental health problems, as well as earlier (4-5 years) peer problems and maternal mental health. Escalation in internalizing problems was predicted by externalizing problems, peer problems, maternal mental health at 4-5 years, and emotional dysregulation and peer problems at 6-7 years. Girls had both higher initial levels and faster escalation of internalizing problems than boys. The findings provide ecological and developmental evidence and insights for effective intervention. Identifying and addressing early problems with peers may be particularly important to avoid the risk of escalating internalizing problems. Professional development sessions for educators to promote and support children's emotional regulation and peer interaction skills are likely to have a positive impact on children's well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record

Beyond the Brown Bag: Designing Effective Professional Development for Informal Educators.

Most researchers are keenly interested in disseminating their work beyond traditional publication routes. With an eye to increasing broader impacts, scientists can benefit from partnerships with informal educators who interact daily with the public and see their role as translating science to increase the public's intellectual and emotional connections with the natural world. Typically, researchers give a one-time lunch hour talk, generally a modified version of a presentation aimed at scientific peers. Talks during which scientists show slides and interpreters mainly listen are a missed opportunity. They leave the scientist no wiser about the public's interests and the nagging questions interpreters have. Such talks leave the conscientious park educator with insufficient resources for overcoming challenges in interpreting the science for the public. The Interpreters and Scientists Working on Our Parks (iSWOOP) project proposes a model of professional development (PD) that involves a deliberate partnership where scientists and educators work together. During site-based PD sessions, they tease out the relevance to public audiences and begin to develop programs about the science. This article describes iSWOOP's approach to supporting productive collaborations that promote an understanding of scientific research to public audiences. Results from a pair of surveys indicate that both sides of this partnership benefit from extended contact and clear communication.

Science Education Professional Development for Primary/Elementary Teachers: A tale of two systems

This paper reports on the illuminatory and exploratory phase of a study into how two educational systems are interconnecting content, policy, and teaching practice into science professional development (PD). New Zealand implemented a new curriculum in 2007 for full implementation in 2010, which should have altered how science was delivered in primary classrooms. New Zealand, however, began limited PD in science education in 2012. The state of Arkansas in the United States of America endorsed the Next Generation Science Standards in 2015, adopted the new Arkansas K-4 Science Standards in 2016 and Years 5–8 in 2017. Arkansas, however, began its science PD in 2015. Through face-to-face discussions during PD sessions, this study investigated how the teachers were experiencing PD explicitly based on the interconnections of content, policy, and practice. The results of this first phase highlight how due to their participation in PD, teachers in both Arkansas and New Zealand are now talking about how they build on what their students’ know and have experienced. The implications of this research note teachers not only need both the time and opportunity to experience learning but also support as they then implement their new learning into their own classroom practice.

Teaching and Learning in Kenya: Examining the Shifts in Cultural Learning of Experienced Educators

This qualitative case study examined the cultural learning insights of four educators during and after an immersion experience in Kenya. During this experience the participants delivered professional development sessions to teachers in two rural Kenyan schools, and stayed with Kenyan families. Mezirow’s transformational learning theory, self-reflection, and cultural humility were utilized as a framework to examine the educators’ learning experiences. Data were collected through pre-trip planning sessions, journals, debriefing sessions, field notes, and a 6-month follow-up interview. Results of the data produced five main themes: (1) general observations; (2) recognizing biases and assumptions; (3) cultural insights; (4) cultural humility; and (5) spiritual insights. Even though these participants had prior interactions with different cultures, this trip expanded their experiences and provided them with further understanding of how to interact with different cultures abroad, and within their professional contexts. While cultural aspects tend to be emphasized in undergraduate programs, these experienced educators benefitted from this cultural immersion experience, which could be used to make a case for continuing the same emphasis in graduate programs.

Addressing the mismatch through culturally responsive literacy instruction

The American demographic is drastically changing from a largely white, European-American population to one that is extremely diverse. This shift in demographics has impacted on state schools. Students often experience a cultural shock due to a mismatched monocultural, monlinguistic curriculum in schools. This qualitative study explored the way four Reading Recovery teachers attempted to make their Reading Recovery instruction culturally responsive for their culturally and linguistically diverse students. Through constant comparative analysis of data collected through pre- and post-interviews, bi-weekly professional development sessions and debriefings, reflective journals, and artefacts, it was found that the teachers' practices shifted in three main ways: observation, conversation and instruction. Participating teachers found ways to utilize students' social, cultural and linguistic knowledge to establish links between the familiar and new to make learning to read and write easier for their students. Thinking intentionally about the tenets of culturally responsive teaching as well as students' linguistic, social and cultural knowledge, participating teachers found ways to enact culturally responsive teaching in their Reading Recovery instruction.

Effect of mindfulness and yoga on quality of life for elementary school students and teachers: results of a randomized controlled school-based study.

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of a yoga curriculum in an elementary school on student quality of life, and to assess teacher and staff perception of potential barriers to, and benefits of, introducing yoga and mindfulness into the classroom.MethodsA randomized controlled trial was utilized to assess the impact of a brief intervention on third-grade students who screened positive for symptoms of anxiety. Students were randomized to an intervention group of 20 students receiving small-group yoga/mindfulness activities for 8 weeks between October 2016 and February 2017, and a control group of 32 students receiving care as usual. The Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale-Peabody Treatment Progress Battery and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) served as outcomes. Teachers were invited to participate in two professional development sessions about introducing yoga and mindfulness into the classroom, and completed a survey following each of the sessions.ResultsIn generalized estimating equation models adjusted for time, the yoga-based intervention was associated with a 14.17 unit increase in student emotional PedsQL (p-value 0.001) and a 7.43 unit increase in psychosocial PedsQL (p-value 0.01). Results were not attenuated by adjustment. Teachers and staff reported using yoga more frequently in the classroom following the second of two professional development sessions (p-value <0.05). Perceived barriers to introducing yoga to the classroom were similar at two data collection time points, while perceived benefits remained high.ConclusionThe intervention was associated with a significant improvement in emotional and psychosocial quality of life in the intervention group when compared to the control group, suggesting that yoga/mindfulness interventions may improve symptoms of anxiety among students. Yoga/mindfulness activities may facilitate stress management among elementary school students and may be added as a complement to social and emotional learning activities.

Teaching with interactive computer‐based simulation models: Instructional dilemmas and opportunities in the High‐Adventure Science project

AbstractThe purpose of this descriptive study was to examine teacher instructional dilemmas and opportunities that emerged when students worked with interactive computer‐based simulation models during the High‐Adventure Science (HAS) project. The intervention included the HAS digital curriculum, designed for grades 7–12. Each curricular unit was framed to address scientific questions in earth and environmental science, currently being investigated by scientists. Instructional support was provided through a 2‐day professional development session and through reporting systems within the curriculum. During 1 academic year, data were collected from a cohort of 12 teachers, through baseline and postimplementation surveys. From a nine‐teacher cohort subset, observation, interview, and survey data were collected during the following year. Descriptive findings indicate that a designed digital curriculum with carefully sequenced interactive models has benefits but creates instructional challenges; teacher and student roles are often flipped during the implementation of such a curriculum; and teachers may need to shift their instructional approach and find new ways to make digital learning experiences relevant and compelling as they respond to both opportunities and challenges.

Examining Turkish Social Studies Teachers’ Beliefs About Barriers toTechnology Integration

The purpose of this study is to investigate technology integration related issues among Turkish middle school social studies teachers. The researchers administrated a 34-item survey to 259 middle school social studies teachers in Turkey. As indicated in the findings, the most highly identified barriers were external obstacles such as a lack of technology, restricted Internet access, and a lack of administrative and technical support. Moreover, a significant difference existed between teachers who attended technology-related professional development sessions and those who did not.

Legacies begun, legacies continued

Legacies begun, legacies continued

02. Teachers’ Perceptions of Professional Development in Chilean State-Funded Early Childhood Education

This article presents the results of a study on professional development in Chilean state- funded early childhood education. Based on a multiple-case study design and drawing on qualitative methods we explored teachers’ perspectives on professional development at two early childhood educational centers. Two centers’ directors and four early childhood teachers employed at the two major institutions offering initial education in Chile described and discussed their experiences in a variety of professional development activities. Findings reveal that, although participants value professional development and have access to a wide range of activities, their experience of professional development could be improved in several ways. Conditions identified as critical to maximize the benefits derived from professional development include (a) access to ongoing training activities for a greater number of teachers, (b) greater duration and depth in professional development sessions, (c) more opportunities to receive training guided by experts, (d) more training focused in topics related to language and socioemotional development, (e) improvement of teacher’s preservice education, and (f) improvement of working conditions. The article concludes with suggestions for teacher education programs, professional development designers, and policymakers, offered in the light of the results.

Examining Mathematics Classroom Interactions: Elevating Student Roles in Teaching and Learning

&lt;p style="text-align:justify"&gt;This article introduces a model entitled, “Responsive Teaching through Problem Posing” or RTPP, that addresses a type of reform oriented mathematics teaching based on posing relevant problems, positioning students as experts of mathematics, and facilitating discourse. RTPP incorporates decades of research on students’ thinking in mathematics and more recent research on responsive teaching practices. Two classroom case studies are presented. A high school unit on functions is explored utilizing individual research on the part of the teacher to enact RTPP lessons. A middle school teacher enacts a RTPP lesson on proportions and utilizes this model to bridge students’ incorrect additive reasoning strategies with correct multiplicative reasoning strategies. The results showed that both teachers were able to elevate students’ roles in classroom discussions through implementation of RTPP. Individual research conducted by the high school teacher informed his RTPP approach while participation in professional development sessions with a classroom embedded component influenced the middle school teacher’s enactment of RTPP lessons. Both teachers used specific teacher moves within RTPP to relinquish their role as mathematics experts in order to elevate their students’ roles in classroom discussions. The RTPP cycle is offered as a potential model for studying mathematics teaching and learning across a variety of secondary mathematics classrooms.&lt;/p&gt;

Extending the heritage language classroom: experiences of digital technology use in two community schools in Alberta, Canada

ABSTRACTResearch suggests that online support can enhance formal learning experiences. Access to tools such as wikis and blogs is relatively easy, free, and intuitive, even for beginner users, making these tools appealing to heritage language (HL) teachers whose access to resources is often limited. Given that little research has investigated how these tools affect learning in community HL schools, this paper examines the experiences of teachers and students from two HL community schools in Canada in relation to the use of asynchronous digital tools. Two teachers who had previously attended technology-based professional development sessions on the integration of digital tools participated in this study, as well as two of their students. The teachers seemed to intuitively use digital tools according to their basic affordances, which empowered them to engage students in creative ways. Students seemed knowledgeable and excited about technology-supported HL learning, helping them become more independent engaged learners. Additionally, the digital tools enabled teachers to flip aspects of their practice and create the necessary conditions for extending the HL classroom beyond the spatial and temporal limits faced by evening and weekend community schools. The article concludes with implications for research and practical recommendations for community HL schools.

A framework for planning and facilitating video-based professional development

BackgroundRecent transformative changes in science education require new learning opportunities for teachers—opportunities that include rich images of classroom enactment of the reform vision. One fruitful way for doing that is to use video clips of instruction.Teachers do not, however, learn how to improve their instructional practice from simply watching and reflecting on classroom videos. The videos need to be carefully selected and embedded in professional development in ways that—through facilitator-led, participant-centered discussion—can help teachers to notice and reason about important aspects of instruction and learning that occur in the video. Consistent with the recent efforts to identify planning and facilitation approaches that guide effective professional development (PD) programs, in this paper, we adapted the Five Practices Framework for orchestrating productive classroom discussions to describe how PD facilitators plan for and enact professional learning tasks to help science teachers learn within a video-based PD program. These practices include anticipating, sequencing, monitoring, selecting, connecting and two additional practices that set the stage for the five practices (i.e., setting goals and selecting tasks).ResultsOur analyses of the video-based discussions in the PD provide insights into how the facilitators engaged teachers in video-based conversations by using the practices of monitoring, selecting, and connecting. The monitoring moves, such as clarifying, countering, and redirecting, were used by the facilitator in nearly all the PD sessions. Similarly, selecting moves were used and were consistent with the goals of the PD. Finally, analysis of facilitators’ and participants’ connecting comments indicated their increased capacity to make connections to the bigger ideas of teaching science by maintaining the cognitive demand on students’ thinking.ConclusionsThis paper provides elaborated descriptions of the five practices for planning and facilitating video-based PD and the ways in which they were enacted in a video-based PD program in science. In so doing, it proposes five practices as a guiding framework to support teachers’ learning from videos. Overall, the study’s results endorse the promise of a goal-driven, theory-informed design that foregrounds careful attention to teachers’ thinking in ways that support their understanding of complex classroom interactions.

Content Analysis of an Open Online Forum for Band Directors

Abstract Music teacher concerns have been described using case studies, surveys, and mixed methods, but no research exists that compares music teachers’ online interactions with professional development offerings or how these online discussions may evolve over the school year. I used a content analysis approach (Neuendorf, 2002) to describe 6,430 topics in an online open discussion forum for band directors and the professional development sessions (N = 215) offered by one state’s music educators’ association and bandmasters’ association in 1 calendar year. Music repertoire, employment, festival rules and procedures, program administration, and work environment were chief conversation topics for this group of directors. Directors of beginning bands had specialized conversations differing from their peers. As directors moved through the calendar year, their top concerns evolved from music repertoire to festival rules, employment, and program administration. Professional development sessions mostly involved ensemble or individual pedagogy and program administration.

Improving Writing in Primary Schools through a Comprehensive Writing Program

This study examined the effects of an innovative comprehensive writing program in upper primary education on students’ writing performance and on teachers´ classroom practices, beliefs and skills. The program focused on the communicative nature of writing, on writing as a process, and on explicit teaching of five genre-specific writing strategies. It was implemented by 43 teachers in their regular classrooms (Grades 4 to 6, N = 1052), with three conditions: (1) a writing program condition, (2) the same program complemented by professional development sessions and coaching, and (3) a control condition in which teachers taught their usual writing lessons. Students’ writing performance was measured three times with multiple writing tasks. Data on teachers’ practices, beliefs and skills were collected through lesson observations, interviews, questionnaires, teacher logs, and a text assessment task. The comprehensive writing program had a beneficial effect on students’ writing performance and the extent to which teachers taught writing strategies. The complementary professional development and coaching had a direct effect on the number of lessons implemented, and an indirect effect on students' performance. Overall, the innovation proved to be effective for improving students’ writing performance in the upper grades of primary schools.

Professional development as product implementation training

Efforts to maintain tighter control over the curriculum by external stakeholders in the United States are evolving, and one such way this is occurring is through the reshaping of required professional development for practicing educators. To demonstrate how this is happening, this article critically analyses the seemingly common practice of bundling professional development session with the sale of curriculum materials and programs marketed to schools and districts. By approaching inservice teacher education as linked to specific curricula, these types of professional development sessions are constructed in a manner more likely to have greater similarity with forms of product implementation training.

Teachers interpreting data for instructional decisions: where does equity come in?

PurposeThough test-based accountability policies seek to redress educational inequities, their underlying theories of action treat inequality as a technical problem rather than a political one: data point educators toward ameliorative actions without forcing them to confront systemic inequities that contribute to achievement disparities. To highlight the problematic nature of this tension, the purpose of this paper is to identify key problems with the techno-rational logic of accountability policies and reflect on the ways in which they influence teachers’ data-use practices.Design/methodology/approachThis paper illustrates the data use practices of a workgroup of sixth-grade math educators. Their meeting represents a “best case” of commonplace practice: during a full-day professional development session, they used data from a standardized district benchmark assessment with support from an expert instructional leader. This sociolinguistic analysis examines episodes of data reasoning to understand the links between the educators’ interpretations and instructional decisions.FindingsThis paper identifies three primary issues with test-based accountability policies: reducing complex constructs to quantitative variables, valuing remediation over instructional improvement, and enacting faith in instrument validity. At the same time, possibilities for equitable instruction were foreclosed, as teachers analyzed data in ways that gave little consideration of students’ cultural identities or funds of knowledge.Social implicationsTest-based accountability policies do not compel educators to use data to address the deeper issues of equity, thereby inadvertently reinforcing biased systems and positioning students from marginalized backgrounds at an educational disadvantage.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills a need to critically examine the ways in which test-based accountability policies influence educators’ data-use practices.

Enhancing Student Teacher Supervision Through Hybridization: Adding e-Supervision to the Mix

Student teaching is a critical component of the preservice teacher preparation program which has a major role in preparing novices to teach. This capstone experience has been frequently examined and the subject of numerous reform measures. Clinical experiences for preservice teachers have recently seen new recommendations for increased supervisor observational visits to meet accreditation standards. In this study, we sought to determine Iowa State University student teachers’ perceptions of a hybridized supervision approach which included an electronic supervision component. Student teachers participated in one of two focus group sessions held during the final on-campus student teacher professional development session. A researcher not involved with the supervision or grading of the student teachers facilitated the interviews. Interviews were later transcribed and analyzed. Three major themes emerged: Benefits to Student Teachers, Improving the e-Supervision Process, and Benefits to the Teacher Education Program. We conclude that e-supervision has the potential to improve the quality of the student teacher experience and the teacher education program. Recommendations for implementation and further research are provided.

Integrating STEM in elementary classrooms using model-eliciting activities: responsive professional development for mathematics coaches and teachers

BackgroundThis research highlights a school-university collaboration to pilot a professional development framework for integrating STEM in K-6 mathematics classrooms in a mid-Atlantic suburban school division. Because mathematics within STEM integration is often characterized as the calculations or the data representations in science classrooms, technology labs, or outside-of-school programs, developing a reasonable and realistic conceptualization of STEM integration for mathematics teachers and coaches may be especially challenging. Using design-based implementation research, university facilitators worked with eight mathematics teachers and coaches to construct an accessible vision of STEM integration built upon the design features of model-eliciting activities (MEAs). The research team strategized a flexible and fluid professional development that would (1) situate participants’ breadth of experiences on a STEM curriculum integration continuum; (2) elicit a new vision of STEM integration through open-ended mathematics problems with client-driven, real-life contexts; and (3) focus on making mathematics content explicit.ResultsQualitative analysis of participant discussions and written reflections from a four-day summer institute indicates that the daily tailoring of the professional development design supported an evolving participant envisioning of STEM integration. Opportunities to engage with MEAs as learners, contrast MEAs with problem-based learning and draw from MEA design features to modify existing curricular tasks allowed participants to think more broadly about mathematics content within STEM integration. Participants communicated a readiness to use MEAs as a vehicle for K-6 STEM integration which maintains an important grounding in the teaching realities of grade-level standards and standardized test preparation. They also acknowledged the need for ongoing support as they considered the challenges of curricular pacing and administrative expectation.ConclusionsThe researchers continued to support the school division during monthly academic-year professional development sessions as the teachers and coaches created and enacted prototype lessons. Their shared investment in building STEM integration capacity with a specific focus on mathematics content can offer a model for STEM integration using MEAs that challenges one-size-fits-all professional development, encourages STEM instructional leadership, and promotes mathematical readiness for STEM citizenship and careers.