The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of educational technology integration on school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teacher self-efficacy. In-service SBAE teachers from four upper middle-western states were surveyed to assess their current teacher self-efficacy in terms of educational technology in their classroom and curriculum. According to the findings of this study, SBAE teachers are using educational technology in their classroom and curriculum daily and are only slightly confident in their ability to do so. It is recommended that teachers participate in professional development which is focused on not only how to use educational technology, but also on how to teach agriculture content using the educational technology specific to their 1:1 issued device.

One of the trends in modern public schools has been the establishment of some type of orientation program for new teachers. When the yearly increase of the number of new teachers to many systems reached. into the hundreds, the need for an organized plan of teacher induction increased. Some of these formal programs of induction appear to have been planned from projected objectives or needs previously experienced by new teachers. Other program.s of induction apparently evolved without any advanced organized plan. Studies of induction programs made by the Research Division of the National Education Association indicate that formal induction practices have been more efficient and effective than informal induction programs.

In this study, the researcher sought to understand why teachers of Physical Sciences participate in the South African 'Eskom Expo for Young Scientists'. This was analysed in terms of the educational significance that they perceive the science fair to offer, what sustains their participation over a long period of time, and the extent to which Expo participation provides an opportunity for professional development. The educational significance of the Expo was established in terms of its contribution to the Professional Identity of teachers, and was related to the roles (organiser, mentor and judge) of participation in science fairs. The sampling employed in the study was both purposive and convenience-based in nature. Only schools participating regularly (at least five times in the past ten years) in the long running (since 1980) of the 'Expo for Young Scientists' (Northern Gauteng Region) were selected. Five urban public high schools and ten teachers of the school subject "Physical Sciences" were identified to participate in this study. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with two teachers from each school in this QUAL-quan research approach. The interview transcripts were subjected to a thematic analysis, where after the points raised by the teachers were clustered into categories and related to sub-themes and themes according to the educational significance for teachers, the benefits and drawbacks for learners, teachers' Professional Identity, and reasons for sustained participation. Many researchers regard science fairs as one of the better ways to enhance science education. Globally, science fairs have been taking place for more than 30 years and are thought to have educational value for both science teachers and learners. These science fairs provide a context for the development and application of scientific investigation and research skills. This research employed the model of Beijaard, Meijer and Verloop (2004) to characterise teachers' Professional Identity (professional knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, norms and values, and emotions). The researcher also employed Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour to understand why teachers take part and sustain their involvement in the Expo, be it at school or regional level. The major focus was thus on the benefits for teachers as perceived by them, with some contextualisation of the educational benefits and potential drawbacks for learners, while the literature to date has largely reported on the benefits for learners. This study has found that expos provide sustainable educational significance in terms of professional development for teachers, and enhance aspects of their Professional Identity, such as contributing to pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, as well as scientific procedural and declarative or factual knowledge. Their self-efficacy beliefs are strengthened, positive attitudes are developed, and strategies of inquiry based learning and effective methodological instructions in science education, which contributes to their teaching. Learners gain knowledge of science through reading and investigations, and also learn more of the nature of science. Teachers' values (and those of their schools) are reflected when their emotions are lifted in sharing learners' achievements in the science Expo. Teachers learn both from their engagement with learners, but also through networking opportunities with fellow teachers. The consequent enhancement of Professional Identity contributes to the sustainability of their participation in the Expo. Although this research focused on teachers of Physical Sciences, learners in the Expo are guided on projects ranging from biology and environmental sciences, engineering and design, information technology to psychology, and various social sciences beyond the physical sciences. The teachers who guide the subjects related to these fields possibly have similar experiences, thus extending investigations to such teachers would surely provide a richer set of insights. Teachers who do not sustain their participation did not form part of the research, but their experiences and perceptions were included to further enrich the nature of the findings. It is recommended that the opportunity for professional development that is provided by teachers' participation in such school level investigation science fairs be acknowledged and promoted by schools and fair organisers. They can do this by continuing to extend the range of teachers who are encouraged to be involved in such science fairs. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

This study explored how primary school educators expect to be supported and how they experience support from internal and external sources in a South African school district. Support for educators is vital in order to improve basic education in terms of South Africa’s long-term development goals and particularly in light of the poor performance of primary school learners in universal benchmark tests. Furthermore, the myriad of curricular changes introduced by the Department of Basic Education have increased the need for educator support in South Africa. A qualitative approach, located in an interpretive paradigm was adopted and a case study research design was employed. The requisite data were gathered by means of interviews, document sourcing and non-participant observation in three public primary schools. The main finding of the study was that there is limited amount of technical support, aimed at improving the quality of education, while affective aspects, i.e., meeting the socio-emotional needs of educators appear to be neglected. A broad theme that emerged was participants feeling like they are under surveillance; perceiving district officials to be on fault-finding missions when they conduct school visits and classroom observations; and feeling like they are on their own once they return to school from attending offsite workshops. In addition, the participants who served as heads of departments (HODs) reported that their workload prevented them from providing adequate internal support. A key recommendation of this study is that more curriculum instructors and HODs be employed and that they receive adequate preparation in order to provide appropriate support to primary school educators. In addition, it is recommended that the provincial and district officials increase the frequency of their school and classroom visits in order to spend more time supporting primary school educators. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing student group in U.S. public schools. ELLs also consistently lag behind their native-English speaking peers in academic achievement. These facts set the stage for the study that evaluated one school district’s program to prepare their teachers to effectively educate ELLs. This program included a year-long series of six professional development courses that covered ELL-specific topics. The study’s evaluation tools included an online survey completed by teachers who took the courses, teachers’ feedback on course evaluation forms, interviews of district-level officials familiar with the program, and an examination of the homework assignments from each course. The program evaluation showed that teachers and district officials thought the courses helped prepare the teachers to instruct ELLs. However, the teachers’ feedback about the program’s influence included some specific references to teaching ELLs, but more examples from general education settings. The evaluation also found that only about 10% of the homework assignments required direct instruction of students. These evaluation results suggest that the program could be strengthened to include more opportunities for teachers to practice instructing ELLs. This additional practice could increase teachers’ confidence to serve the needs of ELLs in their classrooms.

This research investigates the use of action research and Whole Brain Teaching© for beginner teachers’ professional development through the use of peer mentoring. Five beginner teachers formed part of a peer mentoring group. Whole brain learning and action research provided the theoretical framework for the informal mentoring project. It was used as content for professional learning and as core theories for the research design. Action research principles were applied by the mentor and the participants. In the first instance action research was used by the beginner teachers to consider their own teaching practice, while Whole Brain Teaching© was implemented as an innovative idea to consider its effect on whole brain learning and classroom management. The mentees were empowered to transform their teaching practice by implementing the principles of whole brain learning as a means to acting out the role of facilitator; and to take responsibility for developing scholarship of teaching as it is aligned with the role of scholar and lifelong learning. The practical mentoring sessions with the beginner teachers and the effect of the programme were evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. As part of collecting quantitative data, the Hermann Whole Brain Instrument (HBDI) was used. The instrument was used to determine the learning styles of the peer mentor and the mentees. The brain profiles were used as baseline data. Qualitative data were collected during and after the five mentoring sessions conducted over a period of two months. It included feedback questionnaires, observations and video en photographic evidence. The findings indicate that the peer mentoring programme contributed successfully to the professional development of the beginner teachers. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Curriculum Studies / MEd / unrestricted

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Trends in teacher education increasingly emphasize the need for quality ongoing teacher professional development that is accessible, flexible, fosters advanced skillset development, and has the power to change teachers' practice. Participatory approaches to learning that are situated, collaborative, dialogic, and inquiry-oriented promote the development of such knowledge, skills, and practices within professional communities of practice and form a foundation for quality teacher professional development. Current online and collaborative technologies offer significant access, flexibility, and economic advantages and afford individuals ways to connect with others without time and space restrictions, making online teacher professional development possible. Online learning environments where deep knowledge and complex understanding emerge through dialogue and collaboration within communities of practice must be carefully designed. These learning environments are typically context-dependent, and the design solutions and their implementation may vary substantially. Therefore, these designs must be guided by the most current theoretical understanding and best instructional and design practices. Research in this dissertation adds to our understanding of effective online teacher professional development design, development, and implementation practices by responding to a local problem of redesigning existing teacher professional development courses into an online modality. This dissertation is presented in a three-article format. The first article is an integrative literature review. It contributes by bringing together theories, frameworks, and practices from several different disciplines and could inform online participatory professional development design solutions across various contexts. The second article is a design case featuring a template designed to support progressive knowledge-building discourse, a fundamental feature connecting multiple characteristics that contribute to effective teacher professional development. The third article presents findings from a self-study of design practice. It provides insight into decision-making during purposefully employing technology to meet pedagogical needs during the design process. This study demonstrates that aligning technology and pedagogy is feasible. The concept of pedagogical intent is proposed as a potentially valuable guiding principle that could enable such alignment while designing technology-mediated instruction. Designing high-quality online teacher professional development is a complex yet worthwhile endeavor. This dissertation offers valuable information about theoretical grounding related to designing online professional development, ways that productive dialogue and collaboration can be supported online, and the importance of technology-pedagogy alignment during the design process. We are only beginning to understand what works in online teacher professional development and why it works. More research is needed to identify theoretical frameworks, principles, and processes that could guide both practitioners and researchers in its design, development, implementation, and evaluation.

Novice teachers face a variety of challenges when they enter the teaching profession. They are confronted with the harsh realities of the teaching profession and are expected to cope with immense demands and responsibilities. Heads of Department are responsible for co- ordinating and providing guidance to novice teachers. However, little is known about the experiences of novice teachers in terms of the support they get from Heads of Department. This study explored novice teachers’ experiences of Head of Department support. Purposively sampling was used to select five novice teachers and four Heads of Department from three primary schools situated in the Tshwane South School District. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The semi-structured interviews were analysed using a thematic data analysis procedure and the documents through content analysis. The findings of the study highlighted similarities in the challenges and the support needs as expressed by the novice teachers and by the Heads of Department. The novice teachers in this study articulated the need for more guidance and mentorship to be provided whereas the Heads of Department stated that due to the demands of the professional task in terms of the multiple roles they play and time constraints, the support they give to the novice teachers is inadequate. The study concluded that both novice teachers and Heads of Department struggled with managing the demands of their profession and novice teachers called for further support and mentorship to be provided on aspects that contributed to their holistic development of teaching abilities and attributes. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted