The teaching profession faces challenges at primary and lower secondary level

Self-directed professional development is the process to develop professionally with the help of self-motivation, self-initiation, and strong willpower. Teacher development through self-direction is the concern these days in Nepal. The study explores the experiences of secondary-level English language teachers in the practice of self-directed professional development strategies within the theoretical framework of adult learning theory, more specifically, a key component of self-directed learning. Based on the telephone interviews with five English teachers teaching English at the secondary level of Dadeldhura district, the practice of the experience of practicing self-directed learning strategies was explored. The study reveals that the teacher teaching in secondary level challenges like large class, less or no effective teacher training, improper use of CAS, and lack of teaching material in the teaching profession. To tackle these challenges, they adopt different strategies themselves. Mainly this study showed that strategies like reading printed materials, use of internet and ICT tools, action research, reflection, and collaboration among teachers are some common among them. These strategies are very often and easy for their professional development. These strategies are adopted for solving mainly everyday problems. Despite being in remote areas of Nepal secondary level English teachers are self-motivated to adopt different strategies for their professional development.

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Teachers’ Workload: Evidence and Ambiguity on Professional Identity

The Open Sports Sciences Journal ◽

10.2174/1875399x01407010172 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 172-182

Author(s):

Miguel F. Coelho ◽

Rui M. Gomes

Keyword(s):

Professional Identity ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Secondary Level ◽

Teaching Profession ◽

State Control ◽

Work Time ◽

Daily Work ◽

Use Of Time ◽

Multiple Case ◽

Multiple Case Studies

Understanding changes in the teaching profession as means of State control implies the hypothesis of teachers’ identity reconfiguration. The use of time may be viewed as a powerful tool in rebuilding teachers’ identity as well as an important element in the process of developing professional identity. This study aims at describing and analyzing secondary level teachers’ actual workload, and it relies on the empirical data available concerning different national contexts, and on a description of the teachers’ work composition. This description was obtained through enquiries about the daily work of teachers from different subjects. The methodology used focused on multiple case studies, and the inquiries were conducted in two Portuguese secondary schools. The main results of these inquiries show the teachers’ overwork, and a significant dispersion through several types of tasks. Another important result shows that the available institutional data needs to be read along with the empirical studies conducted, for the latter reveal that teaching can no longer be considered a soft profession, particularly due to the workload and the need to develop very different but simultaneous skills. The increased control of the State over schools and teachers, and the increment of a wider set of tasks regarding school bureaucracy, organization and projects represent a significant percentage of the teachers’ work time.

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Ungdomstrinn i utvikling: Hvilke faktorer påvirker læreres kollektive engasjement for å stimulere elevers skriftlige ferdigheter i skolefagene?

Acta Didactica Norge ◽

10.5617/adno.4689 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Eyvind Elstad ◽

Eli Lejonberg ◽

Knut Andreas Christophersen

Keyword(s):

School Improvement ◽

Classroom Management ◽

School Leadership ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Secondary Level ◽

Teaching Profession ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

School Subjects ◽

Collective Engagement

I de siste årene har nasjonale utdanningsmyndigheter initiert flere skole-utviklingsreformer. En av disse reformene er «Ungdomstrinn i utvikling»: en nasjonal satsing med tilbud om støtte til lokalt utviklingsarbeid i klasseledelse, regning, lesing eller skriving. Et særpreg ved denne typen skoleutviklings-reformer er at kompetanse skal utvikles på kollektiv basis blant skolens personale på tvers av skolefag. En rekke utfordringer knyttet til design og gjennomføring har imidlertid blitt påpekt. Det er ledelsen på en skole som har ansvaret for å kommunisere reformens intensjoner og lede reformens arbeids-prosesser på skolen. Samtidig er det et kjennetegn ved læreryrket i Norge at lærerne har høy beslutningsautonomi. Med en slik bakgrunn er det interessant å studere styrkene i empiriske relasjoner mellom tydelig skoleledelse, lærernes opplevde autonomi og oppfattet nytte av å diskutere med kollegaer. Alle lærerne ved 5 ungdomsskoler deltok i en tverrsnittsundersøkelse basert på spørreskjema. Skolene disse lærerne arbeidet ved, deltok i en satsing på å stimulere skriving som grunnleggende ferdighet. Strukturell likningsmodellering ble brukt for å beregne styrken i de empiriske relasjonene mellom begreper som inngår i en teoretisk begrunnet modell. Begrepene baserte seg på flere indikatorer. Tydelig kommunisert lederskap er klart positivt relatert til lærernes kollektive diskusjon om skriving, som igjen er sterkt positivt relatert til lærernes kollektive vurdering av satsingen. Tydelig lederskap er derimot bare svakt, men positivt relatert til lærernes opplevde beslutningsautonomi, som igjen er svakt positivt relatert til lærernes kollegadiskusjoner. Imidlertid er ikke opplevd autonomi relatert til lærernes kollektive vurdering av satsingen. Implikasjoner for ledelse og for-bedringsarbeid drøftes.Nøkkelord: Ungdomstrinn i utvikling, kollektivt lærerengasjement, skoleledelse, opplevd autonomi, skolebasert kompetanseutvikling, utdanningsreformDevelopment at lower secondary level:Which factors influence teachers’ collective engagement for stimulating students’ writing skills in school subjects?AbstractIn recent years, Norwegian national education authorities have initiated several school improvement reforms. One of these is “Ungdomstrinn i utvikling” (Development at lower secondary level): a national reform which supports schools to encourage classroom management, numeracy, reading or writing. A characteristic of these school improvement reforms is that competencies are to be developed on a collective basis among school staff across school subjects. However, a number of challenges related to the design and implementation of “Ungdomstrinn i utvikling” have been identified. While the school administration is responsible for communicating the intentions of the reform and for its implementation, the teaching profession in Norway is characterized by teachers’ high level of decision autonomy. In this context, it is interesting to study the strengths of empirical relations between school leadership and the perceived autonomy of teachers as well as the perceived benefits of discussion with colleagues and the drive in teachers’ collective endeavor. All teachers at five secondary schools participated in a cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire. These schools all participated in an initiative to promote writing as a basic skill. Structural equation modeling was used to calculate the strengths of empirical associations between concepts from a theoretical model, based on several indicators. Clearly communicated leadership is strongly and positively related to the perceived benefit from discussions with colleagues about writing, which again is strongly and positively related to the drive of teachers’ collective endeavor. Clearly communicated leadership is only weakly, but positively, related to teachers’ sense of autonomy, which again is weakly, but positively, related to the drive of teachers’ collective endeavor. However, the teachers’ perception of autonomy is not related to the teachers’ overall perception of the school reform. Implications for leadership and improvement are discussed.Keywords: teachers’ collective engagement, lower secondary level, school leadership, perceived autonomy, school-based development of competencies, educational reform

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They Have a Write to Go To College Too: Challenges for Secondary Level Students

Perspectives on Language Learning and Education ◽

10.1044/lle16.1.9 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 9-13

Author(s):

Joan Aker

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Writing Process ◽

Secondary Level ◽

Written Language ◽

Language Disabilities ◽

Written Language Development

Abstract Children with language disabilities at the secondary level experience significant difficulty in all components of the writing process. This article discusses issues contributing to student’s difficulty in writing as well as suggestions for how to support written language development in this population.

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