scholarly journals Developing a collaborative model in teacher education – An overview of a teacher professional development project

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anttoni Kervinen ◽  
Anna Uitto ◽  
Arja Kaasinen ◽  
Päivi Portaankorva-Koivisto ◽  
Kalle Juuti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Collaborative Model ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

The article discusses the development of an educational model intended to support teachers’ professional development in science education. In this research and development project, LumaLähetit, pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators formed teams to collaboratively plan teaching and produce material for inquiry-based and integrative science instruction in primary schools. The results are based on three design cycles of the model. Thus far, ten schools, 24 in-service teachers, 30 pre-service teachers, and 560 pupils have participated. The results, which are based on the qualitative content analysis of participants’ open answers to a questionnaire, indicate that the developed collaborative model for science education supported preservice teachers and in-service teachers’ professional development in many ways. Several processes mediating the embodiment of the designed model were identified, especially during the second or third design cycles. Participants reflected on theory and practice. They experienced increased knowledge about inquiry and integrative approaches, collaborated in teams to some extent, and found this to be supportive during the project. Also, pre-service teachers appreciated the opportunity to teach in the schools. In general, careful goal setting, collaboration between the participants, and guidance by teacher educators during the initiation of the project were found to be crucial to the further success of the project. The results highlight a need for further research in order to better meet to the challenges of team teaching, inquiry-based instruction, and integrative teaching. The designed model was developed between the cycles and must be further developed in the future, especially in terms of supporting collaboration and clarifying theoretical concepts during the project.

Rhetorically speaking: on white preservice teachers’ failure to imagine an anti-racist English education

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
S.R. Toliver ◽  
Heidi Hadley
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
English Education ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This paper aims to identify how white preservice teachers’ inability to imagine an equitable space for Black and Brown children contributes to the ubiquity of whiteness in English education. Further, the authors contend that the preservice teachers’ responses mirror how the larger field of English education fails to imagine Black and Brown life. Design/methodology/approach Using abolitionist teaching as a guide, the authors use reflexive thematic analysis to examine the rhetorical moves their preservice teachers made to defer responsibility for anti-racist teaching. Findings The findings show preservice teachers’ rhetorical moves across three themes: failure to imagine Black and Brown humanity, failure to imagine a connection between theory and practice, and failure to imagine curriculum and schooling beyond whiteness. Originality/value By highlighting how preservice teachers fail to imagine spaces for Black and Brown youth, this study offers another pathway through which teacher educators, teachers and English education programs can assist their faculty and students in activating their imaginations in the pursuit of anti-racist, abolitionist teaching.

scholarly journals Client Analysis in Teacher Education: What Some Canadian and South African Teachers Identify as their Professional Development Needs

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Epstein
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Professional Development Needs ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

The client analysis conducted in this study explores the professional development needs of11 language teachers, five in South Africa and six in Canada. The study employs a questionnaire and interviews to discover how each teacher's background and context affects his or her perceived professional development needs. Interviews show that teacher educators cannot necessarily predict teachers' professional development needs based on their backgrounds and contexts alone. A variety of inputs from recipients over an extended time is desirable and would yield more accurate predictability of an individual's professional development needs. This would result in teacher education programs that more accurately meet a teacher's real needs.

scholarly journals Language Assessment Literacy: Insights for Educating English Language Teachers through Assessment

HOW ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 78-92
Author(s):  
Frank Giraldo
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
The Status ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

At some point, language teachers need to be engaged in language assessment in their profession. Because language assessment is such a primary task for teachers, the field of language testing is encouraging research around the knowledge, skills, and principles that are foundational for sound assessment. In this paper, I provide a definition of Language Assessment Literacy (LAL), especially when it comes to teachers, by reviewing existing models. I then discuss ongoing issues in this area and end the paper by offering language teacher educators suggestions for fostering LAL among pre- and in-service teachers. In the article, I argue that, if more LAL initiatives take place, we are collectively raising the status and nature of language assessment and its impact on teachers’ professional development.

scholarly journals The Influence of Teachers’ Professional Development Activities on the Factors Promoting ICT Integration in Primary Schools in Mongolia

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengru Li ◽  
Shinobu Yamaguchi ◽  
Javzan Sukhbaatar ◽  
Jun-ichi Takada
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Ict In Education ◽  
Ict Integration ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

This paper examines the influences of professional development activities on important teacher-level factors that are important for the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education for primary school teachers in Mongolia. The study utilizes the survey data collected in 2012 (n = 826) and 2016 (n = 1161) to identify the changes in factors that are important to the use of ICT in education. The study result shows that six teacher level factors that are important for the ICT integration have been improved over time through professional development activities. These are professional competency in educational use of ICT, collaboration for ICT integration, benefits on use of ICT, autonomy to innovate, recognition as a professional, and skills and practices in educational use of ICT. This provides supporting evidence to educational practitioners for the implementation of effective professional development programs to promote ICT integration in education, especially in the developing country’s context.

scholarly journals Teaching Science at the Primary school Level: “Problems Teachers’ are facing”

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yassanne Marcia Garraway-Lashley
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Science Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Teaching Science ◽  
Continuous Professional Development ◽  
School Level ◽  
Primary Level ◽  
Area Of Interest

This study aimed at ascertaining the problems teachers face teaching science at the primary level. Literature reviewed relating to school science have suggested that students lack interest in science. This lack of interest on the part of the students may be as a result of problems teachers face implementing the science curriculum at the primary level. These problems if not identified may affect the quality of science education. The study was guided by one research question which was further sub- divided into two sub- questions.  A descriptive survey research design was used. A 20 item questionnaire was administered to eighty teachers from ten primary schools from the administrative regions five and six in Guyana. . Validation of the instrument was achieved through the contribution of a science educator from the University of Guyana. A reliability coefficient of 0.77 was obtained using Spearman-Brown split half coefficient. Data collected were analysed using mean and percentages. The finding showed that teachers admitted that they need continuous professional development sessions to enhance their science instruction and science content knowledge. It was therefore recommended that a research study be conducted to ascertain the teachers' specific area of interest for continuous professional development in science education.

Theoretical Foundations of Teachers' Professional Development

2010 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Helleve
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Online Learning Communities ◽  
Educational Environments ◽  
Personal Attitudes ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

To be a professional teacher or teacher educator means to participate in an ongoing learning process. The main concern of teachers is to guide and help students to learn. This means that teaching is by its nature closely connected to personal attitudes and values. Accordingly teaching and teachers’ professional development cannot merely be dictated by policy-makers. Ongoing learning and reflection concerning education has to be built on teachers’ own participation. Recent research shows that teacher educators undergo the same kind of development as teachers do. Throughout this chapter the author argues for a close connection between teachers and teacher educators as a prerequisite for ongoing professional development in education. Possibilities to communicate through online learning communities have made reflective activities through action research between distant educational environments easier to organize and facilitate.

Creating Synergies for Change

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (12) ◽  
pp. 1-52
Author(s):  
Joanne Carney ◽  
Marilyn Chu ◽  
Jennifer Green ◽  
William Nutting ◽  
Susan Donnelly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Research Question ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Research Practice

Background/Context The challenges documented in the literature on research–practice partnerships and similar school–university collaborations are outlined in the literature review in this issue. Yet only a collaboration among multiple educational and community organizations could create a synergy powerful enough to achieve the multifaceted goals of this project: (1) enhance instructional practices to better meet the needs of diverse learners; (2) better prepare teachers and teacher candidates to engage families in support of their children's success; (3) develop a community of practice in which preservice teachers, teacher educators, in-service teachers, administrators, and other educational and human service professionals participate in ongoing, collaborative professional development; and (4) recruit and retain more teacher candidates from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study analyzes features and outcomes of a six-year school–university partnership funded by a large state grant. Project goals included developing innovative models for closing the achievement gap in an elementary school with a high percentage of English language learners and high-poverty measures. Using an inquiry-action model, the partners worked to better engage and support families as they enhanced teacher preparation and professional development. Research Design This case study uses mixed methods research to analyze how one research–practice partnership navigated the challenges inherent in such collaborative work. Data Collection and Analysis Data sources included student standardized testing data, teacher and intern surveys, semistructured interviews, a formative assessment of partnership processes, student and intern work samples, and observations in classrooms and teacher professional development activities. Conclusions/Recommendations This partnership avoided or overcame many of the challenges typical of school–university partnerships. Four factors appeared to be significant to the project's success. First, all the key coordinators of the partnership, including the school principal and teacher education faculty, remained in place for five years. Similarly, there was very low turnover among teachers in the school, which meant that professional development was sustained. Second, the personal and professional characteristics of the people involved in the partnership were the right mix for the task. Shared meaning was fostered and school–university status hierarchies leveled as late-career university faculty spent large amounts of time in the school, participating in professional learning communities with teachers and teacher candidates. Third, trusting relationships were fostered within the school by the principal; there was a high level of trust from the outset. Fourth, both school and university leaders waited for indications of “readiness” among teachers and faculty, drew on expertise within the team, and demonstrated a commitment to organic evolution.

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