The purpose of this research is to investigate teachers' experiences of in-service training and professional development in Rwanda. It focuses on a programme for untrained secondary school teachers which aimed to equip them with the knowledge, skills and values in line with current government policy. It was concerned with whether the teaching and learning approaches used in the training programme were learner-centred, and the impact on teachers' professional identity. This is viewed against the backdrop of the assumptions that professional development improves the teaching and learning process and that teaching and learning improves with increased professional development provision. These dynamics are analysed from the perspective of the teachers' views and some observed practices, the theoretical principles of teacher professional development, and the policy guidelines of the Ministry of Education. As such, the research employs a qualitative methodology. The study has revealed that the training programme was presented, whether deliberately or by default as a course for upgrading teachers' status, and as a way of providing the superficial characteristics of a successful professional training. It has highlighted the challenges of the technical application of a model rather than identifying the needs and conditions for teacher engagement with their students in order to improve their own classroom performance. This is reflected through the overestimation of the trainers' capacity and the underestimation of the teachers' experiences, the lack of mastery of content, and the non-recognition of teachers as teaching and learning resources. There are also issues related to communication and interaction between the actors in the training programme which was a crucial factor that reflected the power relations between the trainers and the teachers. The teachers were being regulated by the terms of engagement set by the trainers instead of a collaborative effort. It highlights the restrictive nature of the assessment system, and interrogates the differences in the understanding of what teaching and learning is or should be, and what actually took place in the training of the teachers and of the students in the secondary school classrooms. The research has highlighted some issues which are not necessarily of a professional nature, but which nevertheless are of significance to the understanding of teacher professional identity. The teachers associate identity formation with the social developmental issues of qualification, status, recognition, and self-esteem. This has implications for the policies of the Ministry of Education viewed against the needs and conditions of the training of the secondary school teachers who are drawn mainly from rural schools. There are concerns about whether the programme appreciated the conditions in the schools, or whether the primary mission was to upgrade the qualifications of the teachers and not necessarily the upgrading of knowledge and skills. Finally, the research contributes to the illumination of both literature and methodology for future studies on the subject of teacher professional development, and to the current debate on its benefits and impact on professional practice in Rwanda.

Ghana, like many developing countries, has fewer trained, qualified teachers than the number the country needs to realise the Education For All goals of quality education by 2015. The failure of Ghana's teacher education sector to turn out sufficient numbers of qualified trained teachers is as a result of numerous factors including existing Colleges of Education (CoEs) not having enough facilities to train the high number of untrained teachers (UTs) through the traditional campus-based model and difficulty of access to teacher education places. In response to these limitations, the Teacher Education Division, with the support of the CoEs, adopted an alternative pathway for initial teacher preparation known as Untrained Teachers' Diploma in Basic Education (UTDBE) in the latter part of 2004. This model of initial teacher preparation differs from the traditional campus-based model as the training is largely non-residential with limited provision of face-to-face meetings. After four years of implementation, key stakeholders, notably the top hierarchy of Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education, were calling for the extension of the programme by way of admitting another cohort of students. However, it was clear from my perspective as a senior professional involved in Teacher Education and with seven years of professional knowledge and experience in Distance Teacher Education that there was a lack of in-depth, theoretically-informed research into the programme, particularly with respect to the views of UTs themselves. The study was therefore designed using an in-depth case study approach to discover the views of UT participants on how the UTDBE had influenced their professional development and the quality of their teaching and learning, with a particular interest in the view of six UTs who were the direct beneficiaries of the programme. The research methods adopted were predominantly qualitative, and included observations and analysis of documents, a series of interviews with selected UTs, including focus groups and one-on-one interviews in which UTs reflected on videos they had taken of their practice. The findings suggest the potential of the UTDBE as a source for teachers (especially, those in underserved communities and locations) to learn, develop, update their skills and knowledge and improve instructional practices consistent with learner-centred approaches and professional practices. In addition, the opportunity that the UTDBE offers UTs to teach as classroom teachers while completing their professional programmes seems to have given them the chance to at least integrate and relate theoretical knowledge and experiences from CoEs to the practical realities in the classrooms and schools. However, the data indicated a number of challenges facing the UTDBE programme which undoubtedly affected the extent to which it promoted professional and personal development and learner-centred practices. These included (i) inability of the programme to take advantage of professional learning experiences that might be possible ICTs were introduced (ii) weak district, school and college collaboration (iii) the difficulties and complexities in managing relations between UTs and mentors (iv) tutoring during residential face-to-face meeting devoted to large group lectures (v) the over-loaded nature of course content and the difficulty and loaded nature of the content of some modules (vi) inability of UTs to make maximum use of college facilities (vii) other mechanisms of professional development such as cluster meetings and lesson observation not being used to their full potential (viii) largely non-recognition of the ‘wisdom of practice' of UTs and (ix) tensions in expectations between the different communities of practice of the different contexts of training and practice. The thesis therefore makes an important contribution to our knowledge about the development of alternative forms of teacher education in such contexts.

This study aimed at investigating the perceptions of primary school students and teachers on effective teacher characteristics. The sample consisted of 450 primary school students from 6th, 7th and 8th grades and 150 teachers from 9 primary schools in the Province of Afyonkarahisar. Data were gathered from the participants via Effective Teacher Characteristics Questionnaire (ETCQ) developed by the researcher. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze the data. Principal Component Analysis was used to find out the perceived dimensions of effective teacher characteristics questionnaire. Repeated Measures ANOVA was employed for the priorities of students within these dimensions and MANOVA was used to investigate whether there were significant differences among students&rsquo / perceptions with respect to certain background variables. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the responses of teachers for the questionnaire. Results of the study indicated that primary school students perceived the effective teacher characteristics with respect to teachers&rsquo / (1) relations with students, (2) personal traits and in-class behavior, (3) teaching ability, (4) motivating personality, (5) professional demeanor, (6) classroom management and (7) feedback &amp / evaluation. Students give the most importance to &lsquo / teaching ability&rsquo / and &lsquo / personality traits and in-class behavior&rsquo / dimensions. Descriptive statistics showed that teachers give the most importance to the items related with field knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and teaching ability.

Teaching and learning observations (henceforth ‘observations’) are commonly used in a broad range of educational environments to assess teaching quality and support professional development. Research centred on observations in England’s Further Education colleges (FE), suggests these strategies are often ineffective because of tensions between ‘authentic’ teaching and the inherent performativity required by some managerialist policies (Ball 2003). This psychosocial study draws on interpretive interactionism (Denzin 1989) to explore lived emotional experiences of FE staff involved in observations and perceptions of embodied ‘performativity’. My research involved in-depth semi-biographical interviews with FE staff (n=14) which explored emotional experiences of teaching and learning within the context of their roles as observer and/or observee. Using my personal reflections as an FE teacher, together with my creative writing skills, fictionalised accounts are presented to demonstrate anonymised consolidations of the participants’ narratives (Sparkes 2002). Using conceptual tools from Bourdieu (1991) and the lens of psychoanalysis (Mollon 2002) I draw on Richardson’s (1997) ‘writing as a method of inquiry’ and Ochberg’s (2002) non-linear approach to data analysis to explore shared and disparate themes within the accounts, reflections and fictionalised texts. Vocational and personal learning experiences are argued to form a fundamental aspect of the professional habitus of FE staff (James, Biesta 2007). Outcomes from my innovative approach, illuminates this interplay of factors, specifically within the affectivity in the performativity of observations. Hence these findings provide an original contribution to knowledge in this area, by demonstrating how the potential tension in observations is situated in the personal significance of perceptions of an ‘in/authentic self’, rather than the performativity per se. Fictionalisation could be a useful tool to further explore lived emotional experiences of teaching and learning. Indeed, raising awareness of the perceived performativity intrinsic within the affectivity of observations could hold benefits for teaching practice more widely.

In this paper, I explore the epistemological issues which arise in, and are fundamental to, examining how mature students in the UK experience their full-time Foundation Degree in Childhood (FDC) which is my research focus. The key issues centre on how gender, the student experience and emotions are conceptualised and theoretically described. I will argue that Bourdieu offers/provides a conceptual framework through which my research question can be illuminated, that may minimize the dichotomies of the dualistic argument of male/female, mind/body, rational/irrational. I will argue for a feminist/post-structuralist standpoint and show that it is consistent with embracing Narrative Inquiry (NI) and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). In practical terms, this involves using interviews and reflective tasks as research instruments. My proposed research question is ‘What is the role of gender in mature students’ emotional lives as a result of attending/finishing a higher education professional course?’ I will began with a brief contextualisation of why it is important to address the role of gender when researching mature student emotion (positive and negative) within the care industry and why it may be an issue for social justice. This is followed by a discussion of the work of Reay (2000; 2004) and Zembylas’s (2007) elaboration of Bourdieu’s ‘capitals’ framework. By researching how emotion is captured/capitalized and how this ‘emotional capital’ manifests in mature students’ professional and personal lives because of higher education, the meaning of emotion and the contextualisation of emotion within higher education will be addressed. The research methods will be justified in the second part of this essay.

No description available.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript. Sponsor: Harry A. Scott. Dissertation Committee: Paul G. Bulger, Charles N. Morris. Type C project. Includes tables. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 229-234).

This research project investigates the lived experience of professional identity of five Early Years Teachers, formerly Early Years Professionals (EYPs), working in a variety of early years settings in England. Early Years Teacher Status is a government-funded, standards-based graduate status for the birth to five sector, which replaced Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) in 2013. All EYPs are now entitled to call themselves Early Years Teachers. Both are part of a continued drive to professionalise the early years workforce, raise outcomes for children from birth to five and ensure children are ready for school. Concerns have been raised in the sector about the parity of pay, working conditions and status of Early Years Teachers when compared to those with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). The research study uses an in-depth phenomenological approach and an innovative data gathering method, Learning Walks, to investigate how five EYPs, rebranded as Early Years Teachers, have made meaning of their new identity while working in a variety of early years settings: a pre-school, children's centre, home child-minding setting, Higher Education and nursery. Issues of identity, pedagogical leadership, power, agency and status are examined through the perspectives of the participants using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The findings emphasise the unique experiences of these Early Years Teachers, which are contextual to their workplace and influenced by personal experience and belief systems. Their confidence in a multi-disciplinary pedagogical approach is very visible, embedded within their previous identity as an EYP. However, the study underlines some of the tensions, issues and challenges which come from an imposed shift of professional identity from EYP to teacher, without the same pay and working conditions as QTS, and situated within a traditionally complex and marginalised workforce beset by notions of hierarchy and status. It provides new insight into the reality of such an abrupt, imposed and regulated identity change within a shifting policy field, which is reconceptualising early years education and care as preparation for school.

Assessment is integral to teaching and learning and external assessment is a logical sequel to the interaction between teachers and their students because it represents an account of this interaction to the public. External assessments, especially those that have high stakes, such as the end-of-cycle examinations, are known to have an influence on teaching and learning in the years that precede them. The effect of external assessments on teaching and learning has been extensively researched. The test items which transmit the influence have also been thoroughly analysed in terms of the kind of thinking that they demand from students. However, the aspect of external assessment that has not received much attention is the test developers who originate the test items and are therefore ultimately responsible for the type of effect the items have on teaching and learning. External assessment in sub-Saharan African countries especially, demand mainly recall of facts with very little demand on the thinking and problem solving abilities of students. This type of question tends to induce teaching and learning mainly for recall. This research aims to throw light on the intentions of test developers for Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in Ghana when they write items for this end-of-cycle examination. A broadly qualitative approach was adopted for this research but quantitative data was used in addition. Seven test developers were interviewed extensively on how they perform their test development activities. In order to have a fuller understanding of the external examination, the teachers and students who experience its influence were included in the study. Forty teachers and 120 students completed questionnaires relating to their beliefs about the BECE and eight each of the participating teachers and students were subsequently interviewed. The findings suggest that the test developers were aware that the level of thinking in their questions was low and would prefer questions that demand higher levels of thinking. They were also aware that past questions influence teaching and learning and were of the opinion that the standard of education is low. However, the test developers did not have the intention to change teaching and learning with their tests because they could not see a relation between their test items and the quality of teaching and learning. It was also found that their personal interpretations and concerns about the social impact of the examination are more influential in determining the type of items they write. This is significant because item writing is presumed to be a neutral and objective activity devoid of subjective considerations. The findings further suggest that the examination influences what teachers teach and how they teach it and the teachers' self-worth, prestige and public esteem depend on the performance of their students in the examination. The students believed the BECE prevents them from learning other things and from developing their talents and they saw the examination as the fairest means of competing for selection to senior high school because it is less partial when compared with their teachers' continuous assessment marks. It was also found that past questions serve as an alternative curriculum because they determine the standard of the examination questions and also influence teaching and learning. Through the medium of past questions, the examination is able to influence policy by circumventing it or diverting attention away from it. It was concluded that the influence of social considerations in item writing has created a vicious cycle of low level questions that induce teaching and learning aimed at recall which does not equip students to use knowledge acquired to solve the problems that attract the sympathy of the item writers. It will require awareness creation among stakeholders about the central role of the external assessment in determining the quality of teaching and learning to break the cycle by improving the quality of the test items.