scholarly journals Digital teaching portfolios: Catalysts for fostering authentic professional development

2005 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie B. Milman ◽  
Clare R. Kilbane
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching Portfolio ◽  
Self Discovery ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study examining the role of digital teaching portfolios in teachers’ professional development and classroom practice. The participants, all teachers, took part in a formal course in which they develop a digital teaching portfolio. The findings suggest that the processes involved in creating digital teaching portfolios fostered their authentic professional development, and were a catalyst for their ongoing professional development. Furthermore, engagement in creating a portfolio was instrumental in these teachers’ self-discovery and learning.

Teachers’ Professional Development in a Climate of Educational Reform

1993 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Warren Little
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Educational Reform ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
School Organization ◽  
Reform Initiatives ◽  
Coaching Model ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Policies And Practices

This essay posits a problem of fit among five streams of reform and prevailing configurations of teachers’ professional development. It argues that the dominant training-and-coaching model—focused on expanding an individual repertoire of well-defined classroom practice—is not adequate to the conceptions or requirements of teaching embedded in present reform initiatives. Subject matter collaboratives and other emerging alternatives are found to embody six principles that stand up to the complexity of reforms in subject matter teaching, equity, assessment, school organization, and the professionalization of teaching. The principles form criteria for assessing professional development policies and practices.

scholarly journals Teachers Who Reflect, Teach Better: Reflective Practice at The Heart of Teachers’ Professional Development Programs

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-227
Author(s):  
Zuraimi Zakaria ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Teaching Improvement ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
The Relationship

While there is a significant amount of research and literature to explain the role of reflective practice in teaching, there is little research that reported the extent of such practice on classroom instructions and its spill effects on student learning outcomes. For this reason, this paper looks at the magnitude of reflective practice in shaping classroom instructions and how it facilitates for better student performance within the context of teachers’ professional development (PD) programs. Hence, the focus of the paper is two-fold: examining teachers’ PD programs that promoted reflective practice; and the relationship between reflective practice and student performance. The discussion on teachers’ reflective practice is timely. In particular, with the growing educational research and increasing body of evidence that pointed towards PD as having a significant influence on student achievement (Achinstein & Athanases, 2006; Fullan, 1990; Little, 2001). In addition, most PD efforts focused on teacher collaboration as a strategy for teaching improvement and eventually better academic performance of the students (Achinstein & Athanases, 2006). Many educators (Fendler, 2003; Loughran, 2002; Schon, 1983; Walkington, 2005) viewed reflective practice as situated at the heart of PD programs that sought teachers to examine their practice for improvement. This paper assists policy makers and education reformists in re-examining their PD efforts in targeting for variables that matter.

scholarly journals A matter of presence: A qualitative study on teaching individual and collective music classes

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 356-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Schiavio ◽  
Michele Biasutti ◽  
Dylan van der Schyff ◽  
Richard Parncutt
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Extended Mind ◽  
Music Pedagogy ◽  
Extended System ◽  
Raw Data ◽  
Cognitive Teaching

In the current study, 11 expert music teachers were asked to reflect on their own practice and compare their experience of individual and collective teaching settings. Adopting an approach based on grounded theory, two interrelated themes were identified in the raw data: teaching issues and professional development. In both categories, the notion of ‘presence’ emerged as a defining feature of the comparison. Teachers reported to be less present in collective settings, whereas one would expect that the higher (cognitive, teaching, etc.) demands associated with more learners would result in teachers being instead more involved in the unfolding dynamics of the lesson. Inspired by the conceptual tools offered by the Extended Mind (ExM) approach, we suggest that in collective settings teachers feel less present because they can offload the cognitive role of ‘teacher’ onto the learners, giving rise to a hybrid extended system that fosters a shared sense of responsibility, where pedagogical dynamics are functionally distributed across the whole group. In reporting excepts from music teachers, and adopting a novel perspective to frame our discussion, our research may contribute to existing literature in (collective) music pedagogy.

Teachers' Professional Development in the Digitized World

2016 ◽  
pp. 145-154
Author(s):  
Emsal Ates Ozdemir ◽  
Kenan Dikilitaş
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Constructivist Learning Theory ◽  
Personal Meanings ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

Professional development for in-service English language teachers has increasingly become a need in higher education not only in Turkey but across the world. Due to the limited time teachers have and the distance between the source of service and the potential participants, using digitized activities and materials have naturally become a necessity. The purpose of this research is to report the potential impact of the course described below and discuss the role of blended learning experience of professional development on the participating teachers. The theoretical background of the study is experiential learning initiated by Kolb and socio-constructivist learning theory by Vygotsky in that both theories highlight the role of experiencing the change and focus on personal meanings and learning with and from others in real and online environments.

Teachers' Professional Development in the Digitized World

2016 ◽  
pp. 681-691
Author(s):  
Emsal Ates Ozdemir ◽  
Kenan Dikilitaş
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Constructivist Learning Theory ◽  
Personal Meanings ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

Professional development for in-service English language teachers has increasingly become a need in higher education not only in Turkey but across the world. Due to the limited time teachers have and the distance between the source of service and the potential participants, using digitized activities and materials have naturally become a necessity. The purpose of this research is to report the potential impact of the course described below and discuss the role of blended learning experience of professional development on the participating teachers. The theoretical background of the study is experiential learning initiated by Kolb and socio-constructivist learning theory by Vygotsky in that both theories highlight the role of experiencing the change and focus on personal meanings and learning with and from others in real and online environments.

Assessing Teaching Practices Development With Multimodal Narratives

2019 ◽  
pp. 231-250
Author(s):  
Ana Edite Cunha
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Task Design ◽  
Epistemic Practices ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Productive Engagement

This chapter focuses on teachers' professional development, on the task design and on experimental work, as well as on the role of the teachers' mediation in the quality of student learning. The research problem was how the teacher can promote self-directed professional development, namely, improving the quality of teaching practices to influence the quality of students' learning, in their engagement in experimental tasks and epistemic practices. A longitudinal research methodology was followed during 10 years, based on a qualitative case study, from a curricular approach in secondary education. The analysis of data collection on teaching practices and students' learning over time and the teachers' professional pathways allow to formulate the following conclusions: (1) new traits of teaching practices were identified that promote students' productive engagement; (2) changes to the task design were enough to trigger differences in teachers' mediation, with consequences for students' epistemic practices and their productive engagement.

Transformative Learning and Educational Technology Integration in a Post-Totalitarian Context

2012 ◽  
pp. 128-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Griswold
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Educational Technology ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Transformative Learning Theory ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Continued Learning

This study focuses on the professional development experiences of teachers in the Altai Republic, Russian Federation. The Russian educational system is undergoing computerization, and teachers are learning to integrate educational technology into classroom practice. This qualitative study explored the potential perspective transformation experienced by teachers, using multiple sources of evidence (interviews with program and school administrators, school teachers, observation). Findings indicated that teachers are beginning to think and act in new ways based on their experiences with educational technology. Teachers are also collaborating in this learning process, which provides an important support for continued learning and growth. Findings also indicate transformative learning theory (TLT) is a useful framework for exploring transformative learning in this non-Western setting and helped to uncover elements of transformative learning which may be culturally determined.

scholarly journals Critical Reflection in the Professional Development of Teachers: Challenges and Possibilities

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-85
Author(s):  
Marjeta Šarić ◽  
Barbara Šteh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Personal Traits ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Support Students

Critical reflection in teachers’ professional development has received much attention in the scholarly literature, and there is an overwhelming consensus about its great significance to the quality of teachers’ work. Nevertheless, despite the well-established role of reflection, a large gap between the professed goals and the actual reflective practice of teachers remains. The article starts with a short overview of the different definitions of critical reflection in the context of teachers’ professional development and then underlines some empirical research findings on the problems that teachers and teacher educators face when putting reflective practice into practice, especially at the deeper and more complex levels of reflection. It continues with a consideration of teachers’ qualifications for in-depth reflection as well as the obstacles and challenges facing teachers and teacher educators. The obstacles occur at the level of individual teachers’ personal traits and at the level of the context in which reflection is done. Employing an analysis of the obstacles, the authors develop some guidelines on how to support teachers in their attempts at making critical reflection part of their teaching practice. It is crucial for this encouragement not to overlook the principal purpose of teachers’ critical reflection; to contribute to new insights, knowledge reframing, and the introduction of such changes in teaching that will support students’ learning and the development of the community for the better learning, work, and life of all its individuals.

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