scholarly journals Staff Development as an Imperative Avenue in Ensuring Quality: The Experience of Adama University

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Yilfashewa Seyoum
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
University Education ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Program Coordinators ◽  
Education Training ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The University

All endeavors were devoted to investigate the views and feelings of stakeholders on the implementation of teachers’ professional development and its contribution to sustain academic programs quality at Adama University. A case study that constitutes qualitative and quantitative method was employed. In an attempt to achieve the objectives of the study, evidences were collected from students, staff members, professional development program coordinators, and management bodies. The data-collecting instruments for obtaining relevant information were questionnaires, interview, observation, and document analysis. The finding in relation to this study uncovers the fact that though continuous professional development has been perceived as the most useful avenue of teachers continuous and lifelong learning, for the most part, it is relegated to adhoc committees or interested group or institutional units in the system of university education/training. Moreover, the absence of PDP in the university organizational structure, clear mission and vision, defined and well-articulated policy, strategic plan, representatives in university senate meetings, adequate resources, well-identified and -preserved training facilities, and unit library were circumstances that in one way or another negatively affected the provision of effective professional development programs/trainings that may have adverse effect in the deliberation of quality education/training in Adama University.

District Policy Choices and Teacher’s Professional Development Opportunities

1989 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-179
Author(s):  
Judith Warren Little
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Professional Community ◽  
Development Activity ◽  
District Policy ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The University

A comprehensive inventory of formal staff development activity and costs in 30 California districts yields a portrait of locally organized opportunities for teachers and reveals the policy stance taken by districts toward teachers and their professional development. Present patterns of resource allocation consolidate the district’s role as the dominant provider of teachers’ professional development; other sources, including the university or the larger professional community of teachers, are less visible. Expenditures reflect a conception of professional development based almost exclusively in skill acquisition, furthered by a ready marketplace of programs with predetermined content and format; other routes to professional maturation are less evident.

Professional development of university educators in ESD: a study from pedagogical styles

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 648-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Mercedes Callejas Restrepo ◽  
Norka Blanco-Portela ◽  
Yolanda Ladino-Ospina ◽  
Rosa Nidia Tuay Sigua ◽  
Kenneth Ochoa Vargas
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
University Education ◽  
New Professionals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Educator Training ◽  
The University ◽  
Higher Education Transformation

Purpose The aim of this paper is to present a vision for university educator professional development, based on self-analysis of pedagogical styles and production of knowledge about the practices that promote education for sustainable development (ESD). Design/methodology/approach The “STSE” course is part of the department’s Professional Development Program. The course aims to articulate the relationship between ESD processes and university educator training through reflection on their practices. To accomplish this objective, the course promotes interdisciplinary groups of educators from different backgrounds. These groups are encouraged to introspect regarding their pedagogical styles. A survey is applied to encourage self-analysis of the four pedagogical style dimensions. Findings University educators adopt their own pedagogical styles based on the evolution of their practices. This information is useful in generating education, formation and transformation of new professionals in their respective fields. This knowledge also raises questions about ESD, and the construction of processes, values and attitudes to aid this education. Research limitations/implications This paper only describes the characterization stage of the university educator pedagogical styles through practice-related self-analysis Originality/value This study builds pedagogical knowledge, promotes higher education transformation for sustainable development and strengthens the quality of university education.

scholarly journals Secondary School Teachers’ Professional Development in Australia and Shanghai: Needs, Support, and Barriers

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110269
Author(s):  
Guangbao Fang ◽  
Philip Wing Keung Chan ◽  
Penelope Kalogeropoulos
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Scheduled Time

Using data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS; 2013), this article explores teachers’ needs, support, and barriers in their professional development. The research finds that Australian teachers expressed greater needs in information and communication technology (ICT) use and new technology training for teaching, while Shanghai teachers required more assistance to satisfy students’ individual learning and pedagogical competencies. More than 80% of Australian and Shanghai teachers received scheduled time to support their participation in professional development, whereas less than 20% of Australian and Shanghai teachers received monetary or nonmonetary support. In terms of barriers, Australian and Shanghai teachers reported two significant barriers that conflicted with their participation in professional development: “working schedule” and “a lack of incentives to take part.” This article reveals implications of the study in the design of an effective professional development program for Australian and Shanghai teachers and ends with discussing the limitations of the research and future research directions.

scholarly journals Internationalizing teacher education curricula: opportunities for academic staff development

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Mónica Lourenço
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Global Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Staff Development ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of a collaborative workshop, aimed to support teacher educators in embedding a “global outlook” in the curriculum on their perceived professional development. Design/methodology/approach The workshop included working sessions, during a period of 13 months, and was structured as participatory action research, according to which volunteer academics designed, developed and evaluated global education projects in their course units. Data were gathered through a focus group session, conducted with the teacher educators at a final stage of the workshop, and analyzed according to the principles of thematic analysis. Findings Results of the analysis suggest that the workshop presented a meaningful opportunity for teacher educators to reconstruct their knowledge and teaching practice to (re)discover the importance of collaborative work and to assume new commitments to themselves and to others. Originality/value The study addresses a gap in the existing literature on academic staff development in internationalization of the curriculum, focusing on the perceptions of teacher educators’, whose voices have been largely silent in research in the field. The study concludes with a set of recommendations for a professional development program in internationalization of the curriculum.

scholarly journals “Education Abroad” for International Student Advisors: What is the impact on their professional development?

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 306-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Liu
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
International Education ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
International Student ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
Education Abroad ◽  
Education Professionals ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
The Impact

It is generally agreed that participating in study abroad programs, even short term, has positive impacts on students. But what would be the impact of an “education abroad” opportunity for staff members in international education? Reported in this paper is a 3-month long professional development program in a Canadian university for 52 international student advisors from 51 different Chinese institutions. Based on data from a survey and their comparative research reports, the study aims to glean the impacts of such an education abroad opportunity for international education professionals after their exposure to a different national context and different practices in international education. Findings of this study show that international comparison can serve as an effective approach to the professional development of international education professionals which enhances their historical, contextual and cultural understanding of their own work.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Professional Development on Media and Intercultural Education. Results from some participatory research in Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
Maria Ranieri ◽  
Andrea Nardi ◽  
Francesco Fabbro
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Intercultural Education ◽  
Intercultural Understanding ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
The Media ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
University Of Florence ◽  
The University

Abstract Media and intercultural education are being increasingly recognised as a fundamental competence for teachers of the 21st century. Digital literacy and civic competence are facing several new challenges in response to the intensification of migratory phenomena and the unprecedented spread of fake news, especially among adolescents at risk of social exclusion, but teachers’ professional development is still far from coping with this emerging need. Intercultural understanding and a critical use of media among adolescents have now become primary goals for the promotion of active citizenship. This article intends to provide some recommendations on how to support teachers’ professional development in the field of media and intercultural education. To this purpose, it presents and discusses the results of an action-research project aimed at teachers’ improvement of teaching skills about the media in multicultural public schools. The results are part of a larger European project “Media Education for Equity and Tolerance” (MEET) (Erasmus Plus, KA3), an initiative promoted in 2016–2018 by the University of Florence (Italy).

scholarly journals Benchmarking of University teachers’ professional development: successful European, Chinese, and Russian practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
pp. 01004
Author(s):  
Tatiana Tregubova
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Effective Practices ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
University Teachers ◽  
European Universities ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Higher Education Organizations ◽  
The University

In the context of socio-pedagogical transformations of higher education organizations, the modernization of the system of teachers’ professional development becomes an integral component of the reforms. Today university teachers have to be ready for continuous development and advanced training throughout their lives. Thus, the study of the problem of university teachers’ professional development in Russia and abroad is very relevant and timely as a response to the modern requirements of civil society for the personality of the teacher. The need for professional development among university teachers is closely related to his (her) desire for more successful indicators in teaching activities. To do this, it is necessary to fulfill several pedagogical conditions, including the teacher's own awareness of the need for professional development; the interest of the university administration and the availability of resources to organize an effective professional development system, etc. The purpose of the article is to show some successful practices of the teachers’ professional development in Russian, Chinese and European universities which the author observed while visiting those universities within the realization the project “Enhancing teaching practice in the universities of Russia and China”. The article presents the possibilities of benchmarking in higher education, in particular, the use of the benchmarking technology as a method of studying the effective practices of organizing the teachers’ professional development in a modern university.

Theoretical Rationale for Designing a Blended Learning Teachers' Professional Development Program

2014 ◽  
pp. 673-688
Author(s):  
Charalambos Mouzakis ◽  
Haralampos Tsaknakis ◽  
Chrysanthi Tziortzioti
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Learning Outcome ◽  
Professional Development Program ◽  
Theoretical Rationale ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

This chapter explores the underlying theoretical principles that provided the basis for the design and implementation of a professional development program for informatics teachers in Greece. A blended learning model was adopted combining live workshop meetings, face-to-face in-lab training sessions and online videoconferencing sessions. The framework of constructivism and experiential learning was used as a theoretical rationale for the combination of face-to-face activities with online learning experiences. It is shown that a blended learning design based on the principles of constructivism and experiential learning pedagogy can provide vital tools for the creation of an active environment for informatics teachers' professional development. Also, it appears that a promising direction for further investigation, in terms of improving the learning outcome based on the same theoretical principles, is the more detailed design of the sequence of learning activities and a closer look at the development of communities of practice among teachers.

scholarly journals Activating the Teaching-Research Nexus in Smaller Universities: Case Studies Highlighting Diversity of Practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-158
Author(s):  
William E. Boyd ◽  
◽  
Meg O'Reilly ◽  
Danny Bucher ◽  
Kath Fisher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Staff Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Panel Discussion ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Important Process ◽  
Dimensions Of Learning ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Teaching Research

The teaching-research nexus (TRN) has become an important process in the modern University, providing both identity to university scholarship and a device for the integration of academics’ work. Over the last decade many reports have identified the need to both establish institution-wide processes to embed and support TRN, and assist in academic professional development in adopting TRN. This case study reports one such institutional project, focussing on one element of the staff development program, a TRN panel discussion by academics who have engaged TRN. The discussion was structured around the five TRN dimensions of: Learning through research; Research-led teaching; Researching teaching; Teaching informed research; Learning how to do research. By reflecting on their personal experiences, the presenters provided example and discussion of the diversity of options within TRN. In evaluating this event, we consider the diversity of subtlety of TRN. There are clearly advantages for students and staff alike, and TRN allows the curriculum to have a significant authenticity. In terms of teaching, research becomes a core learning tool and foundation of the curriculum. TRN then becomes the catalyst for merging boundaries between teachers and learners, lecturers and researchers: TRN becomes a truly twoway relationship.

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