Model Of Teacher Professional Development Research Articles

Developing teachers’ PCK about STEM teaching approach through the implementation of design research

Since the introduction by Shulman in the early 1980s, Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) has been identified as a key teachers’ knowledge that influence teachers’ classroom activity. The identification of this particular type of knowledge developed awareness that the improvement of teachers’ competencies should take the teachers’ PCK into account. If the teachers’ classroom activities need to be improved, the professional development programs should also aware of the teachers’ knowledge and beliefs related to their daily classroom practices. This research was aiming at developing a teacher professional development model with the development of PCK as a main improvement indicator. The research implemented Design Research method. The participants of the research were science teachers and mathematics teachers of Junior High School in Yogyakarta participating in the STEM approach project. The data collected during the processes of preparation, implementation, and evaluation-reflection of the implementation of STEM approach through interviews, focus discussion group, and questionnaires. The research resulted a model of teachers’ professional development program that focuses not only on the teachers competencies but also the teachers’ knowledge that drive their activities in the classroom. One of the main features of the model is on its time allocation dedicated for teachers to be aware of their value and knowledge system and to reflect on the extent to which their value and knowledge system influence their teaching practices.

Professional Development for Primary School Teachers in Cameroon: Is the Cascade PD Model Effective?

Teacher professional development (TPD), a constant concern on the minds of education leaders, is conducted in various ways in education systems around the world. Using Guskey’s professional development assessment model, we evaluated a cascade model of teacher professional development in Cameroon’s primary education system by examining the responses of the teachers who experienced these activities. Our findings indicate that the professional growth activities undertaken in cascade format, particularly professional development (PD) days, teacher evaluations, demonstration and group lessons did not adequately address the teachers’ training needs and expectations and this because this model of training is not suitable to improve teaching practices in the context.

Educators for Change: Supporting the Transformative Role of Teachers in Contexts of Mass Displacement

Education in contexts affected by mass displacement is typified by political instability, the marginalization of refugee learners, and a lack of educational resources, including learning spaces, relevant curricular materials, and mechanisms for the accreditation of learning that takes place outside formal educational institutions. In these situations, teachers often become the students’ most powerful and inspirational education resource. This paper stems from a qualitative study of how Syrian refugee and Lebanese teachers understand “ future education” in the context of the protracted crisis in Lebanon. Drawing from Aronowitz and Giroux’s (1993) concept of transformative intellectuals, we argue that transformative approaches to professional development can enable teachers to capitalize on their local knowledge, professional abilities, and creativity to create spaces in which learners feel they have greater control over their lives and can envision a better future. We propose a transformative model for teacher professional development that is based on the ideal learning space envisioned by teachers in a refugee context and on a critical understanding of their existing learning environments. The intention is to support teachers as they reshape the learning environments in which they work to bring them closer to their imagined ideal. The use of available digital technologies enabled these teachers to create spaces in which they could harness and share the transformative education practices already in place and facilitate change through massive open online collaborations.

Co-design for Curriculum Planning: A Model for Professional Development for High School Teachers

This paper describes a model for teacher professional development as co-design for curriculum planning in which facilitators with design and pedagogical expertise iteratively work with groups of secondary school teachers, one school at a time, to plan whole terms of work, as a form of teacher professional development. It contains preliminary results from a design-based research study involving co-design with digital technologies teachers in two Australian secondary schools. It describes two phases of design involving workshops, strategies and instruments that work to facilitate effective co-design with teachers. Results from this pilot study suggest that the co-design for curriculum planning model leads to high quality teacher professional development for 21st century learning.

Lesson Study for Professional Development of English Language Teachers: Key Takeaways from International Practices

Even though various professional development practices are provided for language teachers worldwide, these practices are still considered ineffective in addressing teachers’ needs in their classrooms. The effectiveness of these practices is stalled when teachers do not actively engage in their professional development processes. When language teachers are not involved as active decision makers regarding their own professional development practices, the outcomes may not be as desirable as policymakers plan. Considering the deficiencies of the current language teacher professional development practices in Turkey, this paper provides a systematic review of lesson study as a professional development model for language teachers which promotes agency and reflective practice. Comparing the current practice of lesson study in Turkey to the international practices reported in the literature, this review suggests that lesson study has potential to support teacher professional development in the country in alignment with the educational visions of decision makers. Given the empowering dimension of lesson study model both in terms of content and form, it can be adopted as a model for effective and sustainable language teacher professional development.

Beyond labels: what are the salient features of lesson study and learning study?

ABSTRACTLesson Study and Learning Study are popular teacher professional development models across the world. Drawing on an extensive review of research and literature, this paper aims to identify the features of the two models to contrast and establish their similarities and differences particularly with regard to their application in practice. The paper focuses on their impact on teaching and learning as well as the rationale behind the process of Lesson Study and Learning Study. Four major distinctions between the two models are revealed: ways of identifying a topic for teaching, views and methods for understanding student learning, the focus of teacher collaboration on lesson design and implementation, and the overall instructional design. The paper concludes that the two models appeal to different practitioners depending on their aims and objectives in teaching and learning as well as their broader perspectives on education. In addition, this paper suggests that the two models could complement each other to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning in different contexts.

Exploring a Transformative Teacher Professional Development Model to Engender Technology Integration in the 21st Century ESL Language Classrooms

A 21st century teacher must communicate in the language and style of their students to ensure that their learning is meaningful. However, this is challenging, especially for teachers who are less familiar with using technology in teaching. To inspire a group of ESL ‘digital immigrant' teachers, a professional learning community (PLC) was set up. PLC consisted of both pre-service teachers (digital natives) and in-service teachers (digital immigrants). The two groups exchanged knowledge through a series of sharing sessions to demonstrate the technical aspects of technology, as well as to provide an understanding that technology has affordances and constraints. This case study investigates a group of in-service teachers who adopted the IDDIRR instructional design model (introduce, demonstrate, develop, implement, reflect, revise) to develop technology-based lessons for their ESL classrooms. The data for this study were collected through three main instruments: surveys, interviews and written reflections. The survey data was descriptively analysed using SPSS Version 24, while the reflection and interview data were assessed using thematic analysis. The findings suggest that the IDDIRR-TPACK + PLC model, along with a supportive PLC environment and the presence of more knowledgeable peers (MKO), helped enhance teachers' TPACK and inspired them to integrate more technology in their classrooms.

Diffusing education technology: A model for language teacher professional development in CALL

This conceptual paper adapts Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DIT; Rogers, 1995/2003), integrating it with the teacher technology education literature, in order to provide a model for professional development in computer-assisted language learning (CALL). The model consists of two stages that teacher educators can consider when developing and providing CALL professional development for teachers. Each stage was designed to address key issues in the literature. In Stage 1, persuasion, knowledge, and practice are the key issues addressed. Stage 2 focuses on providing an enabling environment for teacher growth. After presenting the literature that grounds the model, this paper describes an example of the strategies in use. The goal is to guide teacher educators to think about effective CALL professional development and to help address teachers’ resistance toward adopting CALL technologies.

Supporting outdoor inquiry learning (SOIL): Teachers as designers of mobile‐assisted seamless learning

AbstractExtending teaching beyond the classroom walls has been known for its potential to promote inquiry learning in various disciplinary domains. Current technologies can enhance these benefits, especially by enabling supports for seamless learning between contexts. But even without technology, teachers tend to refrain from implementing outdoor inquiry due to the many complexities involved. To address this challenge, a design‐based research (DBR) was employed to develop and explore a teacher professional development (TPD) model for supporting teachers in designing TEL environments for outdoor inquiry. The study included two exploratory iterations, both implemented within TPD programs comprised of three stages (teachers‐as‐learners, teachers‐as‐designers, teachers‐as‐enactors). Analysis of the TEL environments' teachers designed in the first iteration revealed insufficient supports for students' seamless learning. Based on these findings, we developed the Supporting Outdoor Inquiry Learning (SOIL) guidelines to support teachers in designing seamless flows of activities for learning within and between four dimensions: scientific practices, outdoor learning, physical settings and social activity structures. Findings from the second iteration, in which the SOIL guidelines were embedded in each of the TPD stages, indicate that they enabled teachers to productively analyze and design TEL environments for outdoor inquiry.

Reinforcing Indonesian EFL Teacher Self-Efficacy: Accomplishing the Responsibilities and Avoiding Absenteeism

Indonesian EFL teachers are currently facing many oppressive burdens regarding their profession. They are commanded to conduct effective English teaching as part of their pedagogical responsibility including constructing an English milieu at school. In other sides, they are required to cope with non-pedagogical tasks which are likely in a form of administrative things. Moreover, they are mandated to conduct several events and publish papers in accredited journals, of which those tasks can seize up their teaching responsibilities. Such phenomena can tragically cause the presence of teacher burnout that further shrinks their eagerness to perform better. The condition might also influence their self-willingness to commit with teacher absenteeism or even an early retirement as a result of teachers’ handling-capacity overload. Therefore, this study proposes a theoretical contribution that reinforcing teacher self-efficacy can be a penetration to make a robust teachers’ eagerness to perform better pedagogical and non-pedagogical responsibilities. This study is also supplemented with a teacher professional development model as an effort to reinforce teacher self-efficacy. Further, this study is expected to come in useful for Indonesian government to effectively hold certain programs in connection with enhancing Indonesian EFL teacher self-efficacy.

The Scientist in the Classroom Partnership program: an innovative teacher professional development model

ABSTRACTThis article presents an in-depth study supporting the Scientist in the Classroom Partnership (SCP) program as a model of effective professional development (PD) for K-12 teachers. The goal of this study was to determine the core and structural features of the SCP program necessary for effective teacher PD. The SCP partners a classroom teacher with an STEM graduate student or postdoctoral fellow to co-teach 1 day per week during the academic year. During the summer, the teacher and fellow work together in a 10-day workshop to build the partnership, learn inquiry-based pedagogical strategies, and develop curriculum. Teacher participants from 9 years of the program were surveyed to determine the impact on the participants. In addition, teachers attended a 1-day retreat that allowed for data collection during storytelling and focus-group sessions. Likert surveys were analyzed, and the storytelling and focus-group data were coded for analysis. Five core and three structural features emerged from this analysis. The core features included gains in discipline and pedagogical content knowledge, inquiry strategies, and renewal of teaching. The structural features included the duration of PD (over 200 h), PD focused on specific grade levels, and the use of multiple types of PD approaches.Abbreviations: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

Building capacity for professional development: the development of teachers as facilitators in Ghana

ABSTRACTIn low- and middle-income countries, cascade models of teacher professional development are often used as routes to educational reform. In these models, external agents deliver professional development, which is then disseminated by in-country facilitators. However, little is known about how to support facilitators of professional development, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In this study, we report on a model of capacity building for professional development in Ghana. In the context of a large-scale programme of science teacher professional development, a group of Ghanaian teachers gradually assumed responsibility for professional development facilitation, working alongside experienced facilitators from the UK. Using interviews focussed on a storyline technique, we explore the experiences of the Ghanaian teachers as they reflected on their roles. We found the teachers’ epistemological beliefs about teaching were coherent with those of the programme and suggest that this may be an important factor in the success of cascade models of professional development. The teachers gained self-confidence and improved their knowledge and skills of teaching and of professional development facilitation. We propose that this is useful learning for all facilitators and that the model described here is one which is potentially useful for capacity building in other contexts.

Collaborative action research: facilitating inclusion in schools

This paper explores the ways in which collaborative action research can facilitate the development of inclusive practices and thinking in schools. The paper uses examples from a study that involved three countries and eight secondary schools to illustrate how the process of collaborative action research promoted inclusive thinking and practices. The study combined a well-established approach of professional development – lesson study – and a framework for engaging with the views of students. This led to a distinctive model of teacher professional development that has at its core the idea of engaging with the views of students. Thematic analysis of data collected from all the settings over three years, highlighted three ways in which collaborative action research led to the promotion of inclusive practices and thinking in schools: through teacher collaboration; through the development of reflective practice; and through student active participation. It is argued that what was distinctive through the process was the fact that collaboration occurred between adults and students, something that is less evident in the collaborative action research literature. Through this process, inclusive thinking and practices were developed.

Enhancing teachers' use of web-based resources: A case study of secondary technology teachers

The need for teachers to develop their content knowledge and understanding of the nature of technology remains an issue for technology education in New Zealand, and although web-based resources (WBRs) offer an effective means of supporting teachers in this endeavour, and have acknowledged potential to transform education, teachers are not necessarily well prepared to integrate WBRs effectively into their pedagogy. This research set out to investigate how teachers could be supported to enhance their classroom use of WBRs in secondary school technology education. This involved investigating the nature and extent of the participants’ existing classroom practice using WBRs, designing and implementing a sustained intervention programme to support them to expand and enhance the ways in which they integrated WBRs into their technology programmes, and evaluating how and why this influenced their classroom practice. The participants—seven experienced secondary school technology teachers—were from three different schools, had a range of backgrounds, and taught a range of technological areas including food, textiles and structural technology. The study employed an interpretive research design and qualitative research methods, and was underpinned by a sociocultural theoretical perspective. The design of the intervention was informed by literature on characteristics of effective teacher professional development in general, ICT professional development in particular, sociocultural theories of learning, and Bell and Gilbert’s (1994) model of teacher professional development which emphasises the importance of addressing three dimensions of teacher development (personal, professional and social). The intervention incorporated the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) as a tool for communicating the complex knowledge base required for effective integration of WBRs. The framework was also used to analyse participants’ developing knowledge as they integrated new ideas and approaches in the classroom. This research concludes that when particular components are included in a professional development programme, teachers can be supported to enhance their classroom use of WBRs and to become empowered to continue their own ongoing development, even when they have limited skills and knowledge and face significant constraints. While the critical elements of the intervention were not new, the particular combination of components was unique. The study also draws attention to the complex range of variables that can influence individual teachers as they progress in their integration of WBRs and development of TPACK. It explores, using velocity as an analogy, how various factors, and their interactions, impacted on the degree, and rate, of change of the teachers’ integration of WBRs. Findings indicate that in the current educational and ICT environment, and in technology education in particular, with recent curriculum and assessment changes, teachers are likely to acknowledge a need to increase and/or enhance their classroom use of ICT and are therefore willing to engage in professional development that appears relevant and manageable in their particular teaching context. Although examples of transformative use exist, the overall impact of ICT in education remains limited despite government funding for ICT initiatives and increasing use of ICT in education. Therefore, the conclusions of this study are particularly relevant in the current educational environment. Although the research is limited in scope to integrating WBRs in technology education, it is likely that the key principles of the intervention can be more broadly applied to ICT professional development in other subject areas.

The TAKE Action Training Protocol: A Model for Teacher Professional Development

The <i>TAKE Action</i> Training Protocol: A Model for Teacher Professional Development

Collaborative Oer Adoption by a Professional Learning Community, a Model of Teacher Professional Development

The authors, as members of IT for Change, an NGO working in the area of digital technologies and social change, participated in the ‘Subject Teacher Forum program (STF), an in-service Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program for government high school teachers across Karnataka, between 2011 and 2016. The primary purpose of the Subject Teacher Forum was to demonstrate a technology mediated model of continuing teacher professional development, introducing teachers to different digital tools for creating resources and and for connecting with one another through a state-wide mailing list based Professional Learning Community (PLC). As a part of the Subject Teacher Forum program, the DSERT began a related initiative called the ‘Karnataka Open Educational Resources’ (KOER) to publish the resources shared in the state-wide mailing lists. A core group of mathematics, science and social science teachers, members of the state-wide PLC, were selected to lead this development of Open Educational Resources (OER). This core group learnt to access, create, revise, remix and publish OER on the KOER repository. The aim of the paper is to understand how an OER creation process embedded within a PLC can support the adoption of OER in a government school system as well as provide a method of TPD.

Different strokes for different folks: scaling a blended model of teacher professional learning

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe an innovative model of teacher professional learning that has evolved over a decade (2006 to 2016).Design/methodology/approachWorking in a range of different school contexts, in conjunction with an ongoing engagement with the research literature, has enabled the development over three phases of a robust yet flexible framework that meets teachers’ expressed needs. At the same time, the framework helps to shift teachers’ pedagogical orientations, as the learning design supports school-focused, job-embedded teacher professional learning, which challenges more traditional instructional environments by infusing digital technologies and other elements of twenty-first century skills into teaching and learning.FindingsBuilding on the experiences of the first two phases, the paper reports the most recent phase which expands on the emergence of a fourth wave of online learning to design and develop a massive open online course (MOOC) that potentially enables the massive scaling up of access to this already validated model of teacher professional development. The importance of maintaining key elements, threshold concepts and signature pedagogies in the design of MOOCs for teacher professional learning are discussed, and the paper concludes with early lessons from this latest work in progress.Originality/valueChallenges are identified relating to the design of the social supports within the MOOC structure to sustain the collaboration, dialogue and ongoing reflection observed across Phases 1 and 2 that are necessary for the changes in pedagogical orientation and classroom practices.

Online Teacher Professional Development for Gifted Education: Examining the Impact of a New Pedagogical Model

This article theoretically develops and examines the outcomes of a pilot study that evaluates the PACKaGE Model of online Teacher Professional Development (the Model). The Model was created to facilitate positive pedagogical change within gifted education teachers’ practice, attitude, collaboration, content knowledge, and goal effectiveness. Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s model of training evaluation suggests that trainees should evaluate the training for satisfaction at the time the training is completed, as well as 6 months after, to evaluate for behavior change. Applying Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s model, findings indicate that teachers were immediately satisfied with the Model’s effectiveness, adequacy, and overall quality. Six months after the online teacher professional development, teachers indicated a strong positive change in each of the five gifted education pedagogical components. Overall, these preliminary findings suggest that the use of the Model creates a positive change within teachers’ gifted education pedagogy.

Teacher Perceptions of Their Curricular and Pedagogical Shifts: Outcomes of a Project-Based Model of Teacher Professional Development in the Next Generation Science Standards.

In this study, we conducted a model of teacher professional development (PD) on the alignment of middle and high school curricula and instruction to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSSs), and evaluated the impact of the PD on teacher participants’ development. The PD model included a 4-day summer academy emphasizing project-based learning (PBL) in the designing of NGSS-aligned curricula and instruction, as well as monthly follow-up Professional Learning Community meetings throughout the year providing numerous opportunities for teachers to develop and implement lesson plans, share results of lesson writing and implementation (successes and challenges), provide mutual feedback, and refine curricula and assessments. Following the summer academy, six female teachers were interviewed about their current conceptualizations of NGSS, the extent of curricular shifts made that are required by NGSS, their self-perceptions regarding their level of accomplishment in curriculum writing, and the benefits of the PD in reaching their goals related to NGSS. Interviews were supplemented with an analysis of lesson plans written while participating in the PD program. The interviewed teachers suggested that they had made important conceptual and pedagogical shifts required by NGSS as they participated in the PD, and also noted a variety of challenges as they made this shift. While all teachers were relative novices at NGSS curriculum writing before the PD, most of the teachers interviewed felt that they had achieved the status of an “accomplished novice” following the summer academy. An analysis of their written lessons suggested a great range in the extent to which teachers effectively applied their understanding of NGSS to write lessons aligned to NGSS. Interviewed teachers believed that the PD model was helpful to their development as science teachers, and all reported that there were no aspects of the PD that were not helpful. Even though most teachers obtained a basic understanding and conceptualization of NGSS and PBL, their application of this understanding in their curriculum writing varied. The present study may help to inform future efforts to support teachers to align curricula and instruction to NGSS through teacher PD.

Developing and sustaining an educative mentoring model of STEM teacher professional development through collaborative partnership

In this paper, we present details of a partnership undertaken by four universities with field-based, alternative STEM teacher preparation programs and a large urban school district to provide ongoing professional support for teachers serving as mentors for individuals preparing for careers in high-poverty schools. We also present key findings related to our implementation of an educative mentoring professional learning community (PLC) as a professional development (PD) model for these mentors. Our analysis reveals that mentors as well as candidates identified the PD program as addressing their specific interests and concerns, and that they were regularly and deeply engaged with key activities that were part of each session’s agenda. These findings signal how key elements of PD workshops can contribute to creating and sustaining a local but replicable PLC utilizing an educative mentoring model to support mentors and the future teachers whom they support.