Strangers No More: Collaborative Inquiry Through Narrative as Teacher Reflective Practice

Two teachers and a professor engaged in collaborative inquiry through narrative as a form of reflective practice, pedagogical growth, and practitioner research. Using a Deweyan lens and elements of narrative inquiry, we consider our stories of teaching through a supportive, growth-based sharing process. Viewing pedagogical experiences through this lens enabled us to enter each other’s worlds and engage in reflection—together. Our work speaks to the situations that arise when expectations conflict with reality. The process of reflecting and re-reflecting led us to the conclusion that engagement in this fashion is a valuable reflexive method for teacher professional growth.

A Systematic Review of the Continuous Professional Development for Technology Enhanced Learning Literature

There is a large body of international research on raising the quality of education, with particular emphasis on CPD to support professional and pedagogical growth. From an educator’s perspective, there is widespread agreement that effective CPD is an important component of educational success. Therefore, it is unsurprising that research interest in this area has grown, particularly in light of the digital agenda. In a TEL context, educators report one of the main barriers to effective use is the lack of training in this area. This review of literature will examine some of the key ideas that form successful TEL CPD delivery, more specifically with relation to transformative models of CPD. Likewise, the section attempts to understand the context in which educators are operating and make sense of the challenges that relate to continuing professional development (CPD). In order to fully explore this phenomenon, personal development (PD) frameworks are explored, with a specific focus on Aileen Kennedy’s (2005) 9 typologies.

Development of pedagogical competencies of the vocational teachers in Italy and Lithuania: implications of competence-based VET curriculum reforms

Purpose The present study aims to reveal common and diverging trends in the development of pedagogical competences of vocational education and training (VET) teachers and trainers in Italy and Lithuania. Design/methodology/approach A structured survey was administered to Italian and Lithuanian teachers. The collected data were analysed and compared. Findings Results show that there are many common challenges and problems in the development of pedagogical competencies of the VET teachers in both countries; e.g.: the marginalisation of the VET teacher's work and working conditions, especially the dissatisfying wages and poor career opportunities, and the absent or weak institutionalisation of the VET teacher's qualifications and training. Originality/value The emerged results can be useful for directors of VET-centres and VET-schools to manage training and pedagogical growth of teachers both in Italy and in Lithuania. Moreover, the outputs can be considered as a set of suggestions also by the policymakers both at national and European level.

Alexander Reichstein’s Performative Installations as a Subject-spatial Development Environment

The paper shows the potential of the cultural ap-proach in preschool pedagogy. The authors consid-er performative installations of the famous European artist of Russian origin Alexander Reichstein as pedagogical spaces for the first time. The text at-tempts to reveal the hidden mechanisms that make Reichstein’s exhibitions extremely popular not only among adults, young people and schoolchildren, but also among preschool children. Reichstein’s exhibitions provide an opportunity for educating adults (teachers and parents) to discover the poten-tial of preschoolers and find new mechanisms for their own pedagogical growth. The authors show that the cultural approach used in modern cultural studies is no less effective in pedagogy and is the basis of Reichstein’s expositions.

Chapter 11: The interaction of training and observation in one teacher’s development

Marc Jones discusses his story of professional growth in a large chain eikaiwa school and the affordances for training, reflection, and observation that he was able to capitalise on during the early stages of his career. Through his personal experiences in eikaiwa, Marc presents provides examples of ways in which he was able to proactively utilise the resources around him to stimulate his own pedagogical growth in a teaching environment lacking in formalised professional development opportunities.

CoCAR: An online synchronous training model for empowering ICT capacity of teachers of Chinese as a foreign language

<span>In response to the need to cultivate pre-service Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) teachers' information and communication technology (ICT) competency in online synchronous environments, this research adopted a three-stage cyclical model named </span><em>cooperation-based cognition, action, and reflection</em><span> (CoCAR). The model was implemented in an 18-week program to prepare pre-service CFL teachers for online synchronous teaching. A qualitative approach was adopted to analyse the collected data. The results demonstrate that the CoCAR model benefits the pedagogical growth of the pre-service CFL teachers, and helps them to make progress in online synchronous teaching activity design and tool usage. The proposed model also creates a positive climate for technological and pedagogic knowledge to overcome some common problems in conventional teacher training programs. The CoCAR model, which emphasises cognition, action, and reflection, is considered suitable for the training of online synchronous teaching skills among CFL teachers, and can be applied to general training programs to enhance the ICT capacity of teachers.</span>

Paulo Freire in Chile, 1964–1969: Pedagogy of the Oppressed in Its Sociopolitical Economic Context

In this article, John Holst presents findings of his historical research on Paulo Freire's educational work in Chile from 1964 to 1969. Freire's Education as the Practice of Freedom, which was written in 1965 from notes he brought from Brazil, was informed by a liberal developmentalist outlook. In contrast, his Pedagogy of the Oppressed, written toward the end of his stay in Chile from 1967 to 1968, was influenced by Marxist humanist ideology. Considering this relatively rapid change in Freire's educational philosophy, Holst explores the manner in which Freire's time and work in Chile affected his ideological evolution. Holst contributes to Freirean studies by demonstrating that Freire's work in the Chilean political context proved to be decisive in his ideological and pedagogical growth. Freire's ideological evolution inspired his writing of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, widely considered one of the most important books on education in the twentieth century. Ultimately, Holst argues that Freire's pedagogy, like all pedagogy, can only be understood fully when seen within the specific sociopolitical and economic contexts within which it developed. Pedagogies are collective in nature, and Freire's, as he himself recognized, was no exception.