The Professional Development of Teachers: Practice and Theory

The Professional Development of Teachers: Practice and Theory
Author: Philip Adey
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2007-05-08
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0306485184

Hopkins, Bruce Joyce, Michael Huberman, Matthew Miles, and Virginia Richardson. But we have chosen to present our own experience and empirical data first and then, in Part 3, to show how this experience and data relates to models which have been proposed by others. We will address here methodological issues concerned with collecting and interpreting evidence of relationships amongst the many individual and situational factors associated with PD, and re-visit the arguments about ‘process-product’ research on PD. In the light of our experience, we will interrogate models of PD which have been proposed by others and attempt to move forward our total understanding of the process of the professional development of teachers for educational change. In conclusion, we will look at some current national practice in professional development, concentrating on the recent English experience of introducing ‘strategies’ into schools but referring also, by way of contrast, to the situation in the United States. WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? Why has the professional development of teachers already exercised so many good minds for so long? And how can we justify adding another book to this field? The answer to both questions must lie in the continuing demand from society in general (at least as interpreted by politicians and newspaper editors) for improvements in the quality of education.

Practice-Based Professional Development in Education

Practice-Based Professional Development in Education
Author: Loose, Crystal
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2020-04-10
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1799846237

Teachers, as life-long learners, engage in professional development to deepen their understanding of content and instructional methods. Teacher professional development is a form of adult education, and adults learn best if they are actively involved in their own learning and see it relative to their own needs. Grounding professional development in actual classroom practice is a highly powerful means of fostering effective teachers. Research has shown that, for professional development to be effective, several components of instruction should be considered: reflection on practice, problems arising in practice, subject matter content, and principles of adult learning. Practice-Based Professional Development in Education is a cutting-edge research publication that explores both effective and ineffective professional development practices and presents arguments for why adult learning theory should be considered when designing a professional development session. Highlighting a range of topics including social media, education reform, and teacher learning, this book is essential for teachers, academicians, education professionals, policymakers, curriculum designers, researchers, and students.

Teacher Professional Development for Improving Quality of Teaching

Teacher Professional Development for Improving Quality of Teaching
Author: Bert Creemers
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2012-11-05
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9400752075

This book makes a major contribution to knowledge and theory by drawing implications of teacher effectiveness research for the field of teacher training and professional development. The first part of the book provides a critical review of research on teacher training and professional development and illustrates the limitations of the main approaches to teacher development such as the competence-based and the holistic approach. A dynamic perspective to policy and practice in teacher training and professional development is advocated. The second part of the book provides a critical review of research on teacher effectiveness. The main phases of this field of research are analysed. It is pointed out that teacher factors are presented as being in opposition to one another. An integrated approach in defining quality of teaching is adopted. The importance of taking into account findings of studies investigating differential teacher effectiveness is argued. Another significant limitation of this field of research is that the whole process of searching for teacher effectiveness factor was not able to have a significant impact upon teacher training and professional development. For this reason it is advocated that teacher training and professional development should be focused on how to address grouping of specific teacher factors associated with student learning and on how to help teachers improve their teaching skills by moving from using skills associated with direct teaching only to more advanced skills concerned with new teaching approaches and differentiation of teaching. The book refers to studies conducted in different countries illustrating how the proposed approach can be used by policy and practice in teacher education. Specifically, the book provides evidence supporting the validity of the theoretical framework upon which this approach is based. Moreover, experimental and longitudinal studies supporting the use of this approach for improvement purposes are presented and suggestions for further research utilising and expanding the Dynamic Approach for teacher training and professional development are provided.

Teachers’ Professional Development on Problem Solving

Teachers’ Professional Development on Problem Solving
Author: Judit Orgoványi-Gajdos
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 141
Release: 2016-10-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9463007113

Since teaching is a practical activity, efficient problem-solving skill is one of the fundamental competencies teachers need to possess. All teachers face challenging school situations during teaching-learning process no matter where they teach or since when. Despite similarities appearing on the surface, every school situation is unique and depends on several internal and external factors that should have been taken into account. Therefore, in many problematic cases it is not enough to deal with the symptoms, but teachers need to go deeper. This book provides a theoretical and practical background for this step-by-step problem solving-oriented thinking process. The practical activities can help teachers to frame and identify their challenges, to analyse the cause and effect of their situation, and also to find their own solutions and strategies. The material in this book can be used in pre-service or in-service teacher training that deal with pedagogic cases, or challenges of teaching and learning processes. However, most of the tools can also be used individually by teachers at any stage of their career, including any type of compulsory education, thanks to the clear description of each technique.

Professional Development of Chemistry Teachers

Professional Development of Chemistry Teachers
Author: Rachel Mamlok-Naaman
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2022-06-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1839167424

Continuous professional development of chemistry teachers is essential for any effective chemistry teaching due to the evolving nature of the subject matter and its instructional techniques. Professional development aims to keep chemistry teaching up-to-date and to make it more meaningful, more educationally effective, and better aligned to current requirements. Presenting models and examples of professional development for chemistry teachers, from pre-service preparation through to continuous professional development, the authors walk the reader through theory and practice. The authors discuss factors which affect successful professional development, such as workload, availability and time constraints, and consider how we maintain the life-long learning of chemistry teachers. With a solid grounding in the literature and drawing on many examples from the authors' rich experiences, this book enables researchers and educators to better understand teachers' roles in effective chemistry education and the importance of their professional development.

Professional Capital

Professional Capital
Author: Andy Hargreaves
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2015-04-24
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0807771708

The future of learning depends absolutely on the future of teaching. In this latest and most important collaboration, Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan show how the quality of teaching is captured in a compelling new idea: the professional capital of every teacher working together in every school. Speaking out against policies that result in a teaching force that is inexperienced, inexpensive, and exhausted in short order, these two world authorities--who know teaching and leadership inside out--set out a groundbreaking new agenda to transform the future of teaching and public education. Ideas-driven, evidence-based, and strategically powerful, Professional Capital combats the tired arguments and stereotypes of teachers and teaching and shows us how to change them by demanding more of the teaching profession and more from the systems that support it. This is a book that no one connected with schools can afford to ignore. This book features: (1) a powerful and practical solution to what ails American schools; (2) Action guidelines for all groups--individual teachers, administrators, schools and districts, state and federal leaders; (3) a next-generation update of core themes from the authors' bestselling book, "What's Worth Fighting for in Your School?" [This book was co-published with the Ontario Principals' Council.].

Professional Development in Education

Professional Development in Education
Author: Thomas R. Guskey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 290
Release: 1995
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780807734261

The knowledge base in education is constantly expanding. Practitioners in education, like those in other professional fields, must keep abreast of this emerging knowledge base and use it to upgrade their craft skills regularly. How this is to be accomplished can be viewed from a variety of perspectives, each with its own conceptual premises, each informed by different bodies of research, and each offering different prescriptions for improvement.

The Professional Development of Teacher Educators

The Professional Development of Teacher Educators
Author: Tony Bates
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 537
Release: 2014-12-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1317983262

This book makes a significant contribution to a hitherto much neglected area. The book brings together a wide range of papers on a scale rarely seen with a geographic spread that enhances our understanding of the complex journey undertaken by those who aspire to become teachers of teachers. The authors, from more than ten countries, use a variety of approaches including narrative/life history, self-study and empirical research to demonstrate the complexity of the transformative search by individuals to establish their professional identity as teacher educators. The book offers fundamental and thoughtful critiques of current policy, practice and examples of established structures specifically supporting the professional development of teacher educators that may well have a wider applicability. Many of the authors are active and leading persons in the international fields of teacher education and of professional development. The book considers: novice teacher educators, issues of transition; identity development including research identity; the facilitation and mentoring of teacher educators; self-study research including collaborative writing, use of stories; professional development within the context of curriculum and structural reform. Becoming a teacher is recognised as a transformative search by individuals for their teaching identities. Becoming a teacher educator often involves a more complex and longer journey but, according to the many travel stories told here, one that can be a deeply satisfying experience. This book was published as a special issue of Professional Development in Education.

Teacher Agency

Teacher Agency
Author: Mark Priestley
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2015-10-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1472525876

Recent worldwide education policy has reinvented teachers as agents of change and professional developers of the school curriculum. Academic literature has analyzed changes in how teacher professionalism is conceived in policy and in practice but Teacher Agency provides a fresh perspective on this issue, drawing upon an ecological theory of agency. Using this model for understanding agency, Mark Priestley, Gert Biesta and Sarah Robinson explore empirical findings from the 'Teacher Agency and Curriculum Change' project, funded by the UK-based Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Drawing together this research with the authors' international experiences and perspectives, Teacher Agency addresses theoretical and practical issues of international significance. The authors illustrate how teacher agency should be understood not only in terms of individual capacity of teachers, but also in respect of the cultures and structures of schooling.

Teacher Professional Development in Changing Conditions

Teacher Professional Development in Changing Conditions
Author: Douwe Beijaard
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2005-12-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 140203699X

This book presents some highlights from the deliberations of the 2003 conference of the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT). Part 1 presents the five keynote addresses of the conference, while Parts 2 through 4 present selected papers related to each of three sub-themes: knowledge construction and learning to teach, perspectives on teachers’ personal and professional lives, and teachers’ workplace as context for learning. The chapters in this book provide an array of approaches to understanding the process of teacher learning within the current context of the changing workplace environment. They also provide an important international perspective on the complex issues revolving around the international educational reform movement. Basically, they show how teachers’ workplace (inside and outside schools) are more than ever subject to continuous change and that, subsequently, standards for teaching must be flexible to these changing conditions. This asks for a redefinition of teacher professionalism in which the role of context in teacher learning is emphasized as well as the improvement of the quality of teacher thinking and learning. Related to the ever-changing context of teaching, a dynamic approach to teaching and teacher learning is required, in which identity development is crucial. Researchers have an important role to play in revealing and explaining how teachers can build their professional identity, through self-awareness and reflection, in the ever-changing educational contexts throughout the world.