D.Ed. / The aim of this study was to investigate the potential contribution that personal leadership can make to the professional development of teachers. The problem under investigation was the shortcomings in terms of the negative and demotivated professional attitude and values that are evident among South African educators. The general finding was therefore that personal leadership is a particularly appropriate approach to enhance the pre-service and in-service training of teachers because it addresses the one aspect of professional development most neglected in training, namely personal and professional attitudes and values.

During the first decade of the twenty-first century, the Swedish civil service underwent some extensive changes, such as the relocations of public sector jobs, initiated by the government in 2005. This thesis follows an ethnological tradition of focusing on employees’ perspectives as a way of exploring power relations and changes in society. In this study, I draw attention to the fears, joys, anxieties, hopes, and dreams of employees in the Swedish civil service at a time when their workplace was being relocated from one city to another. The study especially focuses on the fact that a decision to relocate initiates processes that change employee’s images of their work life and future. They become forced to rethink life and work and re-identify with professional positions. Such processes are described in this thesis as processes of professional identification. The aim of the study is to analyze professional identification among employees during the relocation of a government agency. It is based on four articles that highlight different aspects of the relocation and the conditions under which research was conducted. The overarching question that runs through the thesis is: what did processes of professional identification mean in relocation practice? I argue that such processes should be taken into account as pivotal to civil service practices such as relocation work. Such knowledge could also be used as a tool for thinking about work life change in a wider sense. Because relocations entail moving people’s entire lives, points of interest are formulated that tell stories of how social norms and rules are formed, maintained, and contested. The results in this thesis could also serve as a departure for discussing the localization of knowledge-intensive institutions. The case study builds on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2005 and 2009 at a government agency that moved from the capital of Sweden to a smaller town in the north of Sweden. The ethnographic source material was analyzed using discourse analysis. The analysis centres on a discussion of how processes of professional identification became conditioned by social structures in terms of gender, age, and social class in relocation work. I furthermore discuss the ways in which images of geographies and emotions could be regarded as social categories that conditioned professional identities and had implications for how the move of the agency was organized and conducted, for example for the transferring of competency, travelling on business, and setting up new work practices.  The establishment of professional identity positions functioned to stabilize the social environment during the move - a time when many things at work seemed to be in turmoil. At the same time the positions worked to privilege some ways of professional identification and exclude others. Attention should be drawn to the ways in which agency staff became enmeshed in power structures, norms, ideals, images, and plans for the future that limited their actions in various ways. It is therefore important that the features of professional identification in this relocation process should be further discussed, not primarily as individual concerns of particular individuals, or even a particular agency or location, but as a vital issue of the greatest concern to the welfare state. / Decentralization of government agencies, work force mobility and rural development

No description available.

Learning communities (LCs) have increasingly been incorporated into undergraduate medical education at a number of medical schools in the United States over the past decade. In an Association of Medical Colleges survey of 140 medical schools, 102 schools indicated that they had LC (described as colleges or mentorship groups; https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/cir/425510/19a.html). LCs share an overarching principle of establishing longitudinal relationships with students and faculty, but differ in the emphasis on specific components that may include curriculum delivery, advising/mentoring, student wellness, and community. The creation of LCs requires institutional commitment to reorganize educational processes to become more student centered. LCs are beginning to show positive outcomes for students including benefits related to clinical skills development, advising, and student wellness, in addition to positive outcomes for LC faculty.

The purpose of this Master degree thesis is to introduce reader the professional ethics issues of judges in the Czech Republic. The thesis is composed of four chapters. The inner system of thesis was designed in a way that guarantees that level of abstraction falls as the thesis progress continues. In chapter one, there are explained the most abstract terms connected with professional ethics in general as a morality, ethics and law. There is also recognizable attempt to find relationship between mentioned terms. Second chapter, as a whole, is devoted to idea of profession and professional ethics. Text is focused on possible modification of relationship between ethics and professional ethics and it also refers about differences between profession and occupation. Last but not least there are as examples of professional ethics mentioned two "non-judges" professional ethics. In chapter three is described a fact the most regulation of judges conduct in Czech Republic is set down in positive law mainly. In addition of that, in chapter three there is mentioned attempt of judges self regulation in issues of professional ethics, which was realized by independent Czech judge's organization Judges Union of Czech Republic. Scope of the last chapter is used for utilization of knowledge contained in antecedent chapters....

This study explores English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ experiences of Professional Development (PD) programmes in Egypt. The current study investigates the sample’s experience as learners, instructors, and as individuals in relation to different contexts that include the classroom, school, and PD. In addition, it identifies the views of other PD stakeholders, including parents, school principals, PD designers, and training providers. The study has four main aims:(1) to identify teachers’ needs, concerns, problems, challenges, and frustrations with their PD; (2) to provide insight into the English Language Teaching (ELT) class context and any hindering factors that contribute to unsatisfactory PD; (3) to identify contextual factors in the school environment that hinder EFL teachers’ PD; and (4) to investigate the views of PD stakeholders towards EFL teachers’ experiences of PD. The participants of this study are in-service EFL teachers who have attended, or are currently attending, at least one of four PD programmes in the Cairo and Giza governorates. The sample, representing Greater Cairo, was selected to include a mix of gender, academic backgrounds, varied years of experience, and a variety of governmental school districts. PD stakeholders were selected according to the nature of their work which is closely connected to PD and school as well as parents. The methodology adopted by the researcher broadly follows mixed methods methodology that uses a sequential mixed-methods approach. The data generation process combines Questionnaire, Journal Writing, Focus Groups and Individual Semi-Structured Interviews. Data is analyzed quantitatively using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) software and qualitatively using exploratory content analysis. The study’s most significant finding was the impact the following have on PD: teachers’ classroom practice and pedagogy, their workloads and time pressures, the role of private tuition, separation between PD and class pedagogy, curriculum innovations, PD and quality standards, the size of classes and teachers’ relationships with students. The school context is a vital finding of the study; context includes the influences of school principals, supervisory practices, collegiality within the school, the influence of parents, and school libraries on the effectiveness of PD. A significant finding that emerged from the data analysis illustrates a major concern with EFL PD, particularly, the management of teachers’ PD. This emerging theme sheds light on PD and the Ministry of Education’s decisions, its centralization, bureaucracy, issues of favouritism, co-ordination between the different parties of schools, universities, training schools, and personnel, employment, or job-related issues. The findings of the current study have been discussed into five different categories with regard to EFL teachers’ PD: cultural, social, academic, affective and institutional domains. The study concludes with a number of potential fruitful implications and suggestions for further research.

A strong professional counselor identity is vital for supervisees in training (Hansen, 2003). Supervision has been linked to enhancing the development of a professional identity in supervisees (Bernard & Goodyear, 2004). In a study of counselor interns, Weaks (2002) found supervisees require three core conditions in supervision necessary for developing a professional identity: equality, safety, and challenge. In a similar study, Howard, Inman, and Altman (2006) found beginning practicum supervisees experienced five critical incidents in their professional growth: professional identity, personal reactions, competence, supervision, and philosophy of counseling. The purpose of this study was to explore how practicum and internship supervisees across the two varying educational levels (practicum and internship) experience the development of a professional counselor identity in supervision. This study examined (a) whether internship supervisees experience the same five critical incidents in their development of a professional identity as practicum supervisees (Howard, Inman, & Altman; 2006), and (b) whether practicum supervisees require the same three core conditions (Weaks, 2002) necessary for developing a professional identity that internship supervisees experienced. My study found that internship supervisees experienced the same five critical incidents with fluctuation in their development of a professional identity as practicum supervisees in Howard et al.'s (2006) research. Conversely, practicum supervisees in my research did not require all three core conditions necessary for developing a professional identity that internship supervisees experienced in Weaks’ (2002) qualitative study. This study was significant in that it provided empirical research to assist supervisors and counselor educators in understanding the experiences of practicum and internship supervisees.

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Orientation: Professional industrial-organisational (I-O) psychology practitioners function and register under one title with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) yet in practice the work is done under various other titles and in various fields and industries. I-O psychology professionals identify with the broader title, yet also identify with the subfield in which they work (e.g. Coach, Consultant [internal or external], Generalist, Talent Manager, Recruiter etc.). For many young aspiring I-O professionals the question lingers, “what is an I-O psychologist?”. This is the question of professional identity and shared mental models, “who are we?”. A professional identity is a social identity, yet there no obvious shared overarching identities across the profession, besides the title. The extent to which the professional identity is shared and whether there is a strong sense of it is what I am questioning. Research purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the mental models held by professional I-O psychologists to gain richer insight into the possible shared mental models within the profession and thus facilitate a better understanding of the professional identity. Motivation for the study: I am personally attached to the topic of the study in that I am an I-O psychology master’s student, and therefore the study looks into my own future profession. The world of practice for the registered I-O psychologist is wide and varied. For young students in the field the exact meaning, and purpose of I-O psychology is not always clear neither is the profession's contribution. The study not only feeds my curiosity, but also assists those who are interested in mental models that make up the profession. As a student I believe it is important to have an understanding of the profession to which one is committing oneself, as you will soon no longer be representing yourself only but also the profession. For a profession to be considered a legitimate community of practice, standards, governance and guiding principles are essential. Thus the idea of understanding the underlying mental models within the I-O psychology profession is both interesting and useful to the individual and also the larger professional body. Research design: Applying a qualitative case-study design I conducted interviews with eleven locally practicing I-O psychologists from varying backgrounds. They were registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for at least five years. Main findings: From the data gained from the I-O psychologists I derived fourteen different mental models. I categorised the models into the following five themes, namely: philosophies, events, social/relational, personal and regulation. I classified the themes further as either internal or external experiences. External experiences refer to mental models that aid the individual in linking with the broader community, while internal experiences entail mental models which individual professionals manage within themselves in ways particularly unique to themselves, aiding the maintenance of their personal identity. These two classifications, the internal and external experiences, help the professional balance the need for the sense of self with the need of belonging to the social community of practice. In applying theory when I analysed the research findings it became clear that individuals carry both shared and individual senses of their identity. Persons' perceptions were greatly dependent on their work experiences, and regardless of these being positive or negative they were incorporated into the manner in which the individual made sense of the profession identity and their personal identity. Accomplished professionals often possessed mental models which strengthened a sense of a collective professional identity (such as the mental models themed under philosophies) rather than a personal individual identity (such as the mental models themed under personal). Mental models which apply to the whole profession are associated with guiding principles such as ethics, collaboration and being people centred. While the others which are less shared, such as personal validation, point to a deep internal and personal experience of the profession. I-O psychologists carry both the unique and the shared sense of the profession, various mental models are used to aid in the balancing of the two. Contribution: The study’s theoretical contribution lies in (i) providing a better understanding of the level at which I-O psychologists' mental models are shared vs. individual, and (ii) demonstrating how common themes influence the identity work of I-O psychologists, and that identity work entails an ongoing process found throughout the professional lives of the I-O psychologist...

Instructors in higher education are being asked to introduce electronic portfolios (ePs) into their teaching without prior knowledge or experience on how to do it effectively. They struggle with conceptualizing how the eP process connects pedagogy, assessment and student engagement within their courses and programs. Research has shown that instructors need to experience the eP process first hand, within meaningful and situated contexts that enable professional learning. This study explores how instructors make meaning of the eP process in relation to their own professional learning, and subsequently how they construe the eP process’s pedagogic purpose and value for their students. In this context, professional learning is defined as a relational engagement between identity, knowledge construction and professional practice that leads to a transformative understanding of learning as embodied and holistic. Based on a review of the literature on the eP process and theories of professional learning, a group of instructors in higher education were engaged in a shared self-study of the eP process within a narrative inquiry methodology. They used images, video, word clouds and other artifacts to explore and build awareness of the values and beliefs that have shaped their teaching practices. Participants concluded that the eP process promotes multiple competencies linked to “readiness,” the ability to assess new situations and move forward in new environments. Intrinsically formed through iterative cycles of reflection and engagement, “readiness” is a dispositional stance or type of knowing-in-action that can help students bridge the gap between conceptual knowledge learned in classrooms and situated, relational knowledge required for professional practice. The study implications are that the eP process can be used as tool for professional educators to examine their own practices, in order to imagine new ways of learning for their students. / Graduate

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Professional development is widely viewed as a key lever for school change. Each year, federal and state governments pour billions of dollars into developing teachers, while researchers seek to identify which professional development programs are most effective. However, even as consensus has been growing in the research and policy communities about what constitutes high-quality professional development, teachers continue to vary greatly in what and how much they learn through such programs. There is no theory of teacher learning that explains this variation. In this dissertation—a comparative case study of two teachers from the same school who were participating in the same professional development initiative —I used complexity theory as a lens to understand teacher learning as a complex system. The intention was to develop causal explanations of teacher learning that accounted for the interactions between a particular teacher, a particular school, and a particular professional development. Data analysis revealed that whether, what, and how the teachers learned through professional development was contingent upon learning conditions that resulted from three intersecting systems: the teacher, the school, and the professional development. Although they were colleagues, the two teacher participants experienced professional development under different learning conditions, resulting in different learning outcomes; one teacher changed little, while the other ultimately transformed some of her beliefs and classroom practices. I found seven structural elements, across the three system levels, that shaped the system of teacher learning. Based on my analysis, I propose an analytic framework that can be used to analyze the conditions within and the interactions between the three systems. By offering a new means to analyze professional development through a complexity lens, this study contributes to a broader understanding of teacher learning. There are also important implications for designing and selecting professional development that will meet the needs of individual teachers in specific school contexts. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.