Education policies and teachers' professional development : the perceptions of elementary school teachers (original) (raw)
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2013
This paper is part of a research study undertaken with Portuguese teachers. The main objective is to understand the impact of recent educational legislation on the quality of teaching and the professional development of teachers. In this context the following research questions were formulated: ‘Do the education policies of the government encourage teacher development?’, ‘Will opportunities for teacher development be created in schools?’, ‘Will the goal of improving the quality of teaching be achieved in education contexts sustained by teaching mal-aise? ’ This paper seeks to explain the perceptions of elementary school teachers recounted in written and oral biographical narratives and in three discussion groups set up for the purpose. The professional experiences recounted by the teachers suggest outcomes different from those foreseen by educational policy-makers, thus emphasising the weaknesses and inapplicability of the core objec-tives established by recent Portuguese legislation.
The work, perceptions and professional development of teachers
This article presents work from an ongoing investigation, where the objective is to understand the impact of recent Portuguese legislationthe Teaching Career Statute and its respective Evaluation of Teacher Performance regulationson the (re)construction of teacher identity, the teaching career and professional development. From an analysis of the results obtained, it can be noted that the aforesaid legislation had a negative impact on the perceptions of teachers about their professional development, which is evidenced in their pedagogical practice, the educational success of their students, team work and professional investment for a significant percentage of teachers.
Educational Policies and the Quality of Teaching: Perceptions of Portuguese Teachers
The educational and curricular policies of the last two decades reflect attention to the quality of teaching by associating it with educational success, the improvement of student learning and the professional development of teachers. In this article we present some of the results of an investigation carried out with Portuguese teachers from the first cycle of basic education, who had, as their main objective, the understanding of the impact of educational and curricular policies on the development and identity of teachers, as well on the quality of teaching. We took as references various legal documents, especially the new Statute for a Teaching Career (STC) and the Evaluation of Teacher Performance (ETP) and other programs implemented by the Portuguese Ministry of Education. This longitudinal study was carried out over three years and it adopted a methodology of both a qualitative and quantitative nature, which permitted us to understand the perceptions of teachers of the first cycle of basic education using: 1) written and oral biographical narratives; 2) discussion groups formed specially for the purpose; and 3) replies from 249 questionnaires returned by teachers of this cycle. In this text we will report the results of analyzing the replies from the questionnaires and the statistical analysis made with the Chi-squared Test and the T-Test, which corroborate other studies carried out, particularly at an international level and which reveal that the teachers felt that the educational policies interfered negatively with their work, thus provoking: a weakening of their professional relationships, interaction with their peers and their collaborative work, as well as professional demotivation and disinvestment with a resulting negative impact on the quality of their teaching.
Standards for Teacher Professional Development and the Model of Teacher Career
Education in a Changing Society, 2014
The aim of the project was towork out the different level of eight main teacher competences developedearlier.Four different methods wereused for obtaining the necessary data:- analysing and synthesizing theliterature concerning teacher education, the competences, the teacherappraisal,- analysing the teacher education and teacher appraisal practices innine EU countries:, and in the UnitedStates,- interviewing Hungarian teachers, school principals, teacher educators,stakeholders,- experts’ workshops.As a result, we have found 6different stages of career-development: The presentation will include the special criteria and means of evaluationfor each of the teacher standards. The system of standards serve as a basis fordesigning teacher education programs, the induction period, the CPD, andteacher assessment on different levels. The teacher development according tothe career ladder and salary levels can be assessed by these standards.KEYWORDS: teacher education, professional developme...
Education policies, and in particular those related to teacher education, are central to the construction of Europe as a knowledge society and for facing the social and economic challenges that European countries must respond to in this millennium. This article presents an analysis of studies on the evaluation of inservice teacher education conducted in Portugal since 1992. Based on the results of this analysis, the study develops a reflection on the concepts, policies and practices of in-service teacher education, contextualising it within a wider equation related to teachers’ education in Europe. The study consisted of content analyses of scientific articles, research reports, studies of evaluation and legal documents that provide the guidelines for in-service teacher education in Portugal. At the end, a final reflection and some general recommendations for teacher education are presented. There is a focus on the importance of placing in-service teacher education at the centre of educational contexts and on the problems that this causes in teachers’ work, emphasising its importance for social justice in Europe.
Profesorado, Revista de Currículum y Formación del Profesorado, 2017
The article analyses the model of initial basic education teacher training in Portugal resulting from the commitments made in the framework of the Bologna Process. This analysis focuses on the impact that the policy guidelines-that point to an improvement in education quality-have on the socialization with the teaching profession. The empirical study analyses policy guidelines for teacher training and the opinions of teachers responsible for initial teacher training courses obtained through a survey. Overall, the data show a moderate agreement with policies concerning teacher training and some tensions regarding the training model adopted. On the one hand, it is pointed out that this model offers reduced opportunities of professional socialization, but, on the other hand, it is considered that it allows greater flexibility in obtaining a degree to teach in different levels of the education system. From this point of view, it can be considered that this model resolves educative system problems related to teachers placement, currently facing an elevated number of teachers which is higher than necessary in some school levels.
Identity and Meaning of Work for Portuguese Teachers
The processes of transformation that contemporary societies are now going through have contributed to the reconfiguration of and stress in the different realities of work and of the professions. In Portugal, during the last few decades it has been proved to be true that the different constitutional governments tended to legislate for reforms concerning the structure of the central administration. In the educational field, these political measures were expressed in countless decrees and standards, which have had repercussions on the lives of schools and teachers. New regimes were proposed like professional reclassification and reconversion and, more recently, the loss of teaching posts by mutual consent and the requalification of the workers, who were surplus in public services and bodies (2013). An investigation will be carried out in which the principal objective is the understanding of what teachers think about the impact of these policies on their work and on the (re)construction of their professional identity, thus permitting a wider understanding of what it is to be a teacher today. The investigation is of a qualitative nature with recourse to biographical narratives and documental research. This article will focus on a revision of the literature concerning the theme, while emphasizing that the quality of work undertaken by these professionals has a strong relationship with the significance that they attribute to themselves. Thus, in the case of the teachers, the meaning assigned to their work has an impact on their own teaching work and their professional identity.
Policy and Practice in the Professional Development of Teachers
International Studies in Sociology of Education, 1993
This paper is intended as a contribution towards understanding recent developments in government policy for teacher education by providing an account of the dilemmas and issues the authors are encountering in the course of developing practice in three key areas in the education of teaching. These are: the implementation of school‐based forms of initial teacher education in partnership with schools; the development of higher education involvement in and responsibility for teachers’ professional development in their first year of teaching; the development of profiles of competence by which to evaluate and assess the progress of beginning teachers. Opportunities for the creation of coherent, principled progression in the early years of teaching are identified, as are sources of confusion and tension in current policy changes.
European Journal of Teacher Education, 2007
This paper reports on research aimed at investigating the ways in which teachers in Portugal and in England are experiencing recent changes in the policy environment which have affected their sense of professionalism and their professional identity. Data were collected through questionnaires and focus group interviews. Findings suggest the existence of some strengths in teachers' views on their professionalism, namely the importance of vocationalism, continuing learning and collaborative cultures, the relevance of project-oriented work at school and an integrated perspective of the curriculum. However, a number of limitations also emerged, such as feelings of ambivalence and conflict, associated with increased bureaucracy, qualities of school leadership, cultures of loneliness and the lack of understanding and ownership of the process of change.