Science Teachers’ Conti nuous Professional Development in Europe Case Studies from the PROFILES Project (original) (raw)
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Kershner Pedder Doddington 2013 Teachers and Teaching
An extensive body of research has indicated the benefits of collaborative, contextualised and enquiry-based learning for teachers' professional development and school improvement. Yet professional learning is also known to be constrained by a number of factors, including the organisational limitations of schools, conflicting cultural practices and wider political demands. Schoolsuniversity partnerships have been developed to overcome some of these difficulties by transcending particular school contexts and offering alternative theoretical and practical perspectives. The complex combination of motivations, backgrounds and working contexts in such partnership work calls for attention to the individual and collective learning experiences of those involved, including the ways in which school and university contexts are, or could be, effectively bridged. This paper focuses on understanding the learning experienced by a cohort of teachers and school leaders involved in a two-year schools-university partnership Master of Education (M.Ed.) course in England. A mixed group of 15 experienced primary and secondary teachers and school leaders reflected on their learning at five points of time during and shortly after completing their M.Ed. course. Qualitative analysis of the group's interview responses and reflective writing led to the identification of six related aspects of personal and professional learning experience: being a learner; learning as part of professional practice; widening repertoire; changing as a learner; personal growth; and critically adaptive practice. The identification and visual representation of these aspects of experience emerging within the group offers useful insight into teachers' perspectives on learning in school and university contexts and their experiences of progression over time. We conclude that more explicit and central attention to the professional and personal learning elements of schools-university partnerships can help to resolve some of the binary 'theory-practice' tensions that have been extensively discussed in relation to partnership programmes and teacher professional development. There is a need to acknowledge variation in teachers' learning experiences within schools-university partnerships, bearing in mind the ongoing nature of this reflective process with each new group of school and university colleagues. Analysis of participants' learning experiences in school and university contexts also draws attention to the wider structures, values and cultures that influence, and are influenced by, schools-university partnership work.
European Journal of Alternative Education Studies, 2018
Most pre-service teacher training programs around the world conform to the traditional model in which student teachers undergo intensive theoretical coursework training on campus followed by an extended classroom practice in schools. In this qualitative research study, the National University of Lesotho science teacher training curriculum, pedagogies and methodologies employed on campus and in practice schools were explored. That was triggered by persistently reported observations of student teachers' inadequacy in classroom teaching during Teaching Practice. The thrust of the research question was the development of the student teachers in learning to teach. The directly involved people who were interviewed and provided their written reports included: two Teacher Educators for Year IV Curriculum Studies courses, ten Student Teachers from each course and their twenty Teaching Practice Tutors. The relevant documents complemented the primary data from the interviews and the produced written reports. The main findings revealed relevant teacher knowledge domains and their components dealt with in the preparation of student teachers for their work in schools. Four main findings that distinctly had a perceptible bearing on student teachers' learning and practice were the exclusion of assessment as a topic in the course content and teaching, the cross-cutting fragmentation, limited time and teacher educators' modeling. A limited follow-up study conducted introduced an intervention program targeting one area of fragmentation in the training program. It was implemented in one practice school with one student teacher and his mentor. That was done to explore the possible means of a collaborative rather than cooperative partnership based on the expectations of the Faculty of Education about the field learning experience for the student teacher. European Journal of Alternative Education Studies-Volume 3 │ Issue 2 │ 2018 68 that could inform program improvement as discussed and the recommendations made thereof. It was hoped that the results of the two studies would form the basis for or add to the research into other areas of teacher training and teacher education policies and practices that could curb the fragmentation in order to achieve the aspired beneficial and quality education.
1997
The Center for the Development of Teaching (CDT) is a research and development center, within the Center for Learning, Teaching, and Technology (LTT) at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). The goal of the Center for the Development of Teaching is to learn, with teachers, how teachers' practice can be transformed so that it supports students' construction of knowledge. The Center is now focusing on mathematics and science teaching, but will expand to include the teaching of history and/or language as well. The Center carries out a coordinated program of research and action projects that address the issues involved in teacher change at three interacting levels: (1) teachers' beliefs and knowledge about their subjects and about learning and teaching; (2) teachers' classroom practice; and (3) the complex social system that extends from the school and school district to the society at large. This CDT Paper Series is intended as a vehicle for discussion of research on teaching and teacher development as they relate to education reform. Publications in this series will contribute to the community's understanding of the practice and profession of teaching, as well as to the process of change. It is our editorial policy to have papers reviewed by a panel of four readers three named by the author and one chosen by CDT. People in the education community who would like to contribute to this discussion are invited to submit papers to be considered for publication, along with the names of three potential reviewers.
Pages 63-79 PROFILE Issues in Teachers' Professional Development
Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 2015
The main objective of this paper is to briefly present roles of different teacher supervisors according to distinct models, highlighting the importance of collaborative dialogues supported by video recordings. This paper will present results from a qualitative study of an English as a foreign language teacher education course in Brazil. The results indicated that collaborative supervision was an efficient tool to address adversities within educational contexts and that student teachers who observed their pedagogical actions through videos became more reflective and self-evaluative, as they provided a deeper analysis regarding their practice. With collaborative supervision, teacher candidates can be encouraged to recognize and understand the complexities of language learning and teaching both locally and globally. El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar diferentes roles de profesor supervisor según modelos distintos y destacar la importancia de diálogos colaborativos con apoyo de grabaciones de video. Para lograrlo, se muestran resultados de un estudio cualitativo desarrollado en un curso de formación de profesores de inglés como lengua extranjera en Brasil. Los resultados indicaron que la supervisión colaborativa fue eficiente frente a la adversidad de contextos educativos. Se concluyó que los estudiantes-profesores que observaron sus acciones pedagógicas a través de videos se volvieron más reflexivos y lograron autoevaluarse, ya que hacían un profundo análisis de su práctica. Con supervisión colaborativa, se alienta a futuros profesores a reconocer y comprender las complejidades de la enseñanza y aprendizaje local y globalmente. Palabras clave: reflexión colaborativa, sesiones de post-observación, supervisión docente. * This article is based on the PhD study entitled, "The process of pedagogical practice (re)construction of pre-service English language teachers ," which was supervised by Prof. Dr. Maria Helena Vieira-Abrahão and financed by FAPESP (number 08/53911-2 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Consultation is possible at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
2011
This paper describes a school’s participation in a project designed to support critical reflection of teachers’ beliefs about best practice in early childhood education, and how these beliefs and practices intersected with shifting policies and trends in the broader early childhood field. The “Professional Learning” Project (PL project), was conducted in collaboration with a local university. As the project unfolded, multiple influences were found to affect its ultimate outcomes, including the tensions associated with day-to-day classroom commitments and varying levels of willingness to engage in what were at times confronting and challenging discussions. As a result, engagement, collaboration and participation ebbed and flowed
Innovative Aspects of the PROFILES Professional Development Programme Dedicated to Science Teachers
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015
A major direction of the educational reforms made in the last 20 years in Romania-same as in other countries from the European Union-was the restructuration of the initial and continuous training of the didactic personnel. In this respect, nowadays, the teacher must see and act beyond the horizons of the taught discipline, in order to form pupils' competences which are necessary for life as a whole. Reported to the multiplication of the roles confined to those who embrace a didactic career, a corresponding psycho-pedagogical and methodical reformation must be made. This implies a demarche of redefining the necessary competences for the exertion of the didactic profession and an identification of new curricula resources, which are to be used as a support, in order to obtain those competences. At the same time, all those changes made in the field of initial and continuous training must be regarded in the context of unitary learning strategies, along the entire life. This paper proposes an analysis concerning the way in which the continuous professional development programmes are held in Romania, especially those dedicated to Science teachers (Chemistry, Physics and Biology). At the same time, in this context, it is presented the innovative aspect supposed by the CPD programme "PROFILES-Education through Sciences", where the target group has been constituted of Science teachers from secondary schools of Dâmboviţa, Buzău and Teleorman Counties.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN MEETING ACADEMICS PEDAGOGICAL PROCESSES: CASE STUDIES OF TEACHERS
in Patel & Srivastava (2020), Contemporary Education in India: Policy and Practice, Inter-University Centre for Teacher Education (IUCTE): Vadodara, Gujarat, India, 2020
RATIONALE AND BACKGROUND ar. A7 of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 included in the Education 2030 wOrk for Action says that education must cnsure that all learners acquire the ledge and skills needed to promote Sustainable development, including, among through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human siphts, gender cquality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global tizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture's contribution to Sistainable development. This commitment calls for equipping children with knowledge, titudes, and skills that empower them imbibe values such as equality, empathy, responsibility and reciprocity, respect for rights, culture, relationships, health and wellbeing etc. With regard to the question of target 4.7 of SDG 4, the Indian approach is very positive and the language of official documents is fully in tune with global development thinking and trends. Scanning through all policy documents and official statements it indicates that every document expresses concem over developing knowledge and skills among children and adolescents about healthy well-being and dignity; respectful social and sexual relationships; consider how their choices affect their own well-being and that of others and, understanding and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives and measures for effective implementation. Findings of researches in this area reflect that a wel-designed curriculum and good textbooks inclusive of these concerns will not result in preparation of learners for handing such issue, unless it has the backing of professional development of teachers to contribute to a teaching-learning process of a kind that equip learners' knowledge and skills needed to handle such issues and challenges. For instance, Darling Hammond (2000: p 1) reached to the conclusion that professional development of teachers make an important difference in the capacities that teachers bring to their work. Hill et al. in Raimundo Olfos et. al. (2014: p 916) mentioned that teachers require knowledge of content and students (KCS), knowledge of content and teaching (KCT). and knowledge of curriculum in handling the teaching-learning process successfully and further produces effective teaching. At the national level, the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE)-2009 of National Council for Teacher Education for Two Year B.Ed. Programme and revised guidelines brought out by NCT in 4014 Included three broad curricular areas in teacher education curriculum () perspective in education; (ii) curriculum and pedagogical studies; (ii) engagement with Lne field. Each curricular area includes four to six courses. Perspective in Education has 203 NCERT, (2005).