Research has identified job context, specific attributes of professional development (PD), and perceived teacher input as factors that contribute to teachers' attitudes. This sequential mixed methods study tested those findings together and further investigated teachers' beliefs and attitudes about their own professional learning. The first phase of data collection included a 5-item attitude survey, demographic information, and two short-answer questions. Multiple regression analysis of the sample (N = 328) showed four statistically significant contributors to teacher attitude: (i) socioeconomic status of the school, (ii) teacher years of experience at the campus, (iii) content area taught, and (iv) degree attained by the teacher. During the second phase, six focus groups were conducted which confirmed earlier findings and revealed four themes in teachers' attitudes: (1) a need and desire for collaborative, engaging PD; (2) perceived interference from outside forces that supplant teachers' own PD goals and wishes; (3) a need to establish a context and a cohesive plan for long-term career and campus goals; and (4) a subgroup of teachers who believe that PD has little inherent value. Limitations and implications are included.

Professional development is used by teachers to improve their teaching to enhance student learning, and research indicates that the National Board Certification (NBC) process contains high-quality professional development characteristics. Engagement in the NBC process can lead to professional growth by changing teachers’ knowledge, instructional practices, and students’ learning. This quantitative study investigated the extent to which characteristics of the NBC process influenced National Board Certified Teachers’ (NBCTs) professional growth. Using an online survey, the study collected responses from 119 NBCTs who participated in a specific NBC support program. Key findings included that all 20 high-quality professional development characteristics investigated had a perceived positive influence on professional growth, with some notable differences. The characteristics involving individual analysis of student work and teaching videos along with reflection were perceived to be most important, while those centering on collaboration with other candidates were perceived as less important. Second, characteristics that had the greatest perceived impact were those that focused on changing pedagogy rather than increasing content knowledge. Furthermore, a significant relationship was found between the perceived importance of duration in the experience and the length of time the candidate was in the process: NBCTs who achieved in one year, as compared to NBCTs who achieved in two or three years, had statistically significant lower ratings on the influence that the duration had on their professional growth. Additionally, those who engaged in the process for financial reasons, as compared to professional growth, had a lower rating of perceived importance when all characteristics were combined.

La littérature scientifique internationale montre la réalité des apprentissages informels des enseignants sur leur lieu de travail, au sein des établissements scolaires. Toutefois ces apprentissages présentent plusieurs limites et sont qualitativement de moins bonne qualité que les apprentissages réalisés en environnement organisé. La présente recherche a précisément pour objet le développement professionnel des enseignants expérimentés à travers un dispositif de formation continue prenant en compte leurs apprentissages informels. Cette étude s’inscrit dans un programme de recherche anthropoculturel (Bertone, 2011 ; Chaliès, 2012) dont les principaux présupposés théoriques sont empruntés à la philosophie du langage ordinaire (Wittgenstein, 2004). Elle a été menée dans le cadre de deux dispositifs innovants de formation permettant à un enseignant expérimenté (le pair formateur) d’enseigner ostensivement l’une de ses pratiques spécifiques jugées efficaces à un pair enseignant expérimenté (le pair formé). Les principaux résultats de la recherche montrent la modélisation de l’activité professionnelle des pairs formateurs et contribuent ainsi à documenter la recherche internationale sur les apprentissages informels des enseignants du primaire. Ils montrent également l’apprentissage de nouvelles pratiques professionnelles de la part des pairs formés entendu comme l’acquisition de nouveaux systèmes de règles. Les résultats montrent enfin le développement professionnel des pairs formés entendu comme l’interprétation des règles apprises dans des circonstances nouvelles ainsi que le développement réflexif de l’activité professionnelle des pairs formateurs. / The international scientific literature shows the reality of teachers' informal learning in the workplace, within schools. However, these learnings have several limitations and are of lower quality than those that are carried out in an organized environment. The purpose of this research is precisely the professional development of experienced teachers through a professional development program that considers their informal learning.This study is part of an anthropocultural research program (Bertone, 2011; Chaliès, 2012) whose main theoretical assumptions are borrowed from the philosophy of ordinary language (Wittgenstein, 2004). It was conducted within the framework of two innovative training devices allowing an experienced teacher (the peer trainer) to ostensibly teach one of his specific practices considered effective to an experienced peer teacher (the trained peer). The main research results show the modelling of the professional activity of peer trainers and thus contribute to documenting international research on informal learning by primary school teachers. They also show the learning of new professional practices from trained peers understood as the acquisition of new rule systems. Finally, the results show the professional development of the trained peers understood as the interpretation of the rules learned in new circumstances as well as the reflexive development of the professional activity of the trained peers.

The transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa, which began in 1994 led to a change in a plethora of policies and/or legislation. In recent years there has been much debate on how the standard of education provisioning in schools could be raised in the light of the introduction of the much debated Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) and thereafter the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). These reform initiatives have brought about confusion and a sense of unsettledness amongst educators, including principals as well as their School Management Teams. Furthermore, the abovementioned and other policies required educators to acquaint themselves with either the materials that are used or the content of the curriculum and the planning and presentation of lessons. This entails in some occasions that educators who are more experienced have to assist the less experienced ones since they understand the RNCS and more recently the NCS better than the others. According to me this emphasises the importance of educator development towards raising the standards in schools. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is a process that fits the role of an educator as a lifelong learner. The aforementioned is captured in the Norms and Standards for Educators (2000). The need for more attention to be accorded to the professional development of practising educators is emphasised in the Report of the Ministerial Committee on Teacher Education (2005). This report led to the development of the National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development which has as its aim to attempt to address the need for suitably qualified educators in South Africa. The National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development will be used in this study along with the Integrated Quality Management Systems (IQMS) as tools to achieve the continuous development of educators in South African schools. The Personnel Administration Measures (PAM) of 1999 are also used since they stipulate the roles and responsibilities of the educator, including those of the principal, deputy principal(s) as well as the heads of department. In particular it stipulates that the principal (Department of Education, 1999:10) is responsible for the development of staff training programmes, school-based, school-focused and externally directed, and to assist educators, particularly new and inexperienced educators, in developing and achieving educational objectives in accordance with the needs of the school. This research project deals with the challenges experienced by educators regarding their own Continued Professional Development (CPD). It thus aims at coming up with an empirical account of the challenges experienced by the said educators. The study will focus on, among others, the educators’ experiences in the implementation of the IQMS as a developmental tool for educators in schools. It looks at the roles that different staff members in senior positions in terms of the CPD of the educators. These include the developmental opportunities available in the sampled schools. Carefully selected and drafted interview questions assisted me in soliciting answers from the sampled educators. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

Published Article / The paper reports on a Learn 2.0 technology that was used to support the continuing professional development of mathematics teachers at a secondary school. Design Based Research methods were used within a Multiphase Mixed Methods research framework to create professional development opportunities that were subsequently monitored by Social Network Analysis techniques. We demonstrate that Learn 2.0 technologies can indeed support the continuing professional development of teachers and improve their performance, and also that Social Network Analysis is an effective method to describe, comprehend, clarify and transparently monitor teacher engagement during online professional development activities. We identify 'participation' as a key pre-determinant to success.

This qualitative study examined Internet usage by Guatemalan English teachers in the rural, indigenous community of San Lucas Toliman, to improve enrollments and persistence in online teacher professional development programs promoted by the Fundacion Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Woolcock's concepts of bonding, bridging and linking social capital were united with Rogers's theory of perceived attributes to ascertain why only 5 of 34 teachers completed free online coursework. Research questions addressed teacher concerns about using the Internet, teacher satisfaction with Internet resources, and social influences upon Internet usage. The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) method was employed using a culturally-sensitive native speaker to interview 20 teachers selected in a purposive sample. In accordance with PRA analysis procedures, representative interview statements were sorted, prioritized and discussed by a team of 42 community educators to generate findings. Findings indicated that interest in engaging the Internet and receiving specialized introductory support (bridging social capital) in groups (bonding social capital) was high. Findings also indicated that salary level (linking social capital) and family time demands (bonding social capital) were barriers to attending a community technology center or Internet cafe. Findings reinforced the community's support for the design of online coursework leading to salary points and college credits. This study has positive social change implications by demonstrating how organizations can promote community-driven research collaborations to facilitate teacher Internet usage in San Lucas Toliman, and could be replicated in other remote sectors of the developing world.

The past decade has seen a significant increase in the emergence of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States. Nationally, a disparity in achievement exists between ELLs and non-ELLs. Relatedly, this problem was evident in a northeastern school district, where ELLs had not made Adequate Yearly Progress 2 years in a row. The purpose of this study was to examine how much time English as Second Language (ESL) teachers spend on a variety of best instructional practices. Constructivism, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and Tomilinson's differentiated instruction were the frameworks used to guide this research. A within-group design was utilized to identify how much time 25 ESL educators spent on 5 types of instructional practices. The Survey of Instructional Practices for ESL/ELD Teachers for Grades K-12 was used to collect data. A 1-way analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences between the amounts of time ESL teachers spent on the 5 instructional practices. The greatest time was spent on individualized instructional activities and a variety of educational tasks. Less time was spent on small group activities, and the least amount of time was spent on inquiry-based activities and technology activities. Findings supported the creation of a professional development for ESL teachers at the local site focusing on (a) best instructional practices for teaching ESL students, (b) professional learning community network of support, and (c) resources to support educators in their lesson planning of instructional activities. The study findings and culminating project may positively affect social change by improving ESL instruction at the local site and ultimately decreasing the disparity in achievement between ELL and non-ELL students.

<p>Doktorska disertacija &bdquo;Nov model stručnog usavr&scaron;avanja profesora poslovnog engleskog jezika u Srbiji: teorijski, metodolo&scaron;ki i praktični aspekti&rdquo; bavi se stručnim usavr&scaron;avanjem profesora poslovnog engleskog jezika u Srbiji. Cilj je upoznavanje profesora, ali i ostalih učesnika u obrazovanju sa savremenim teorijskim istraživanjima i kretanjima u nastavnoj praksi iz oblasti poslovnog engleskog jezika i stručnom usavr&scaron;avanju profesora, te uzimajući u obzir aktuelno stanje u Srbiji u tom pogledu, autorka takođe nastoji da ponudi nov model stručnog usavr&scaron;avanja profesora poslovnog engleskog jezika, koji će se zasnivati na savremenim shvatanjima procesa usavr&scaron;avanja, ali će odgovarati i potrebama i radnim prilikama profesora.<br />Nakon uvodnog poglavlja, koje sadrži opis ciljeva, metoda i tehnika istraživanja, pregled relevantne literature i prikaz organizacije izlaganja, naredna četiri poglavlja predstavljaju teorijski okvir disertacije. U drugom poglavlju opisani su pojmovi u vezi sa jezikom struke i poslovnim engleskim jezikom, dat je uvid u razvoj ovih oblasti i njihove karakteristike, te su povučene sličnosti i razlike između poslovnog i op&scaron;teg engleskog jezika.<br />U trećem poglavlju predstavljen je profil profesora u kontekstu nastave poslovnog engleskog jezika. Na osnovu postojeće literature detaljno su opisane uloge i kompetencije profesora u pogledu poznavanja stručne discipline, analize potreba, kreiranja kursa, odabira i produkcije materijala i evaluacije.<br />Četvrto poglavlje bavi se profilom profesora poslovnog engleskog jezika u okviru savremenog poimanja nastave uop&scaron;te. Tu je opisan razvoj pojma nastavničkog znanja i prikazan je model nastavničkih kompetencija koji je nastao u okviru obrazovnog sistema u Srbiji. Takođe, dat je osvrt na karakteristike ličnosti uspe&scaron;nog i kompetentnog profesora.</p><p>Predmet petog poglavlja jesu pojam i karakteristike stručnog usavr&scaron;avanja profesora, sa posebnim naglaskom na usavr&scaron;avanje profesora poslovnog engleskog jezika. U ovom poglavlju takođe je predstavljeno aktuelno stanje u Srbiji u pogledu učenja poslovnog engleskog jezika i stručnog usavr&scaron;avanja.<br />&Scaron;esto poglavlje sadrži opis organizacije i rezultate empirijskog istraživanja sprovedenog tokom 2014. i 2015. godine sa profesorima poslovnog engleskog jezika i polaznicima kurseva poslovnog engleskog jezika u Srbiji. Putem anketnih upitnika i intervjua, profesori su pružili uvid u svoja shvatanja, stavove, potrebe i očekivanja u vezi sa stručnim usavr&scaron;avanjem, a polaznici u vezi sa potrebama i očekivanjima u kontekstu nastave, uloga i kompetencija profesora. Dobijeni rezultati su detaljno analizirani i protumačeni u svetlu savremene teorije i prakse.<br />U sedmom poglavlju predstavljeni su op&scaron;ti zaključci proistekli iz istraživanja i dat je predlog modela stručnog usavr&scaron;avanja profesora poslovnog engleskog jezika u Srbiji.</p> / <p>The doctoral thesis &ldquo;A New Model of Professional Development of Business English Teachers in Serbia: Theoretical, Methodological and Practical Aspects&rdquo; deals with the professional development of Business English Teachers in Serbia. It aims at introducing teachers and other interested parties from the field of education with current research and trends in teaching practice regarding Business English and professional development of teachers. Taking into account the current state of these two fields in Serbia, the author also proposes a new model of professional development of Business English teachers, which draws on contemporary views of the process of professional development and also meets the needs and fits the working environment of the teachers.<br />Following the introductory chapter, which offers the description of the aims, methods and techniques employed in this research, the overview of relevant literature as well as the thesis structure, the next four chapters represent a theoretical framework within which the research has been undertaken. The second chapter introduces the main concepts related to the language for specific purposes and Business English, shows the development of these two fields, draws similarities and explores differences between Business English and General English.<br />The third chapter provides a description of the teacher profile within the Business English context. Based on findings in the literature, the author describes Business English teacher roles and competences in terms of knowledge of the specialist subject, needs analysis, course design, material selection and production, and evaluation.</p><p>The fourth chapter addresses the teacher profile within the contemporary understanding of the teaching practice in general. It shows the development of the concept of teaching knowledge and presents a framework of teacher competences that has been created within the educational system in Serbia. At the end of the chapter, the author briefly touches upon the subject of personality features of successful and competent teachers.<br />The fifth chapter outlines the main concepts and features of the field of teachers&rsquo; professional development and particularly focuses on the professional development of Business English teachers. It then proceeds with a description of the current situation in Serbia regarding learning and teaching Business English, as well as that of professional development of Business English teachers.<br />The sixth chapter offers a thorough description of the organization and results of the empirical research conducted with Business English teachers and students in Serbia during 2014 and 2015. By employing a survey and an interview as research instruments, the teachers gave an insight into their attitudes, views, needs and expectations regarding professional development, and the students revealed their needs and expectations regarding Business English classes, teacher roles and competences. The findings have been analysed in detail and interpreted within the framework of contemporary teaching theory and practice.<br />The seventh chapter presents the general conclusions that have been drawn from the empirical research and contains the author&rsquo;s proposal of the model of professional development of Business English teachers in Serbia.</p>

Many teachers of young adolescents face compelling pressures to dramatically change their practice. The rapid adoption of 1:1 computing, whereby each student has nearly constant access to an Internet-connected laptop, netbook or tablet, poses unique challenges to established practices in curriculum, instruction and classroom management. A growing number of teachers also confront a movement to provide students more personalized and flexible pathways to high school graduation, including experiential, blended and online learning, and allow students to apply knowledge and skills to tasks of personal interest. How teachers cope in this dynamic period may hinge on their ongoing professional development. In recent decades, a general consensus has emerged that promotes teaching as a learning profession in which teachers work together in learning communities and seek expertise not just from outside experts, but also from colleagues attuned to local circumstances. At the same time, the student voice movement encouraged schools to empower students as key collaborators in school improvement. In spite of common themes in the narratives on teacher learning and student voice—collaboration, empowerment and effective change—they seldom intersect in traditional professional development settings or in teachers' collegial learning. This dissertation proposes student consultation as a link between students and teachers in collaborative school improvement and suggests next steps toward more sustainable efforts to involve students in the preparation and ongoing learning of teachers. Three studies are presented. The first study described a weeklong summer professional development institute in which students have played a central role for more than two decades. It outlined the conditions conducive to the collaborative culture among teachers and consulting students and summarizes participants' perspectives on student consultation. The second study applied a qualitative case study design involving observations, interviews, focus groups and surveys with 72 teachers and 20 students to delve more deeply into consultations at the summer institute. Most teachers and students perceived the consultations as enjoyable and beneficial, willingly embraced shifts in authority during consultations, and noted the benefits of strategies employed to support the culture and practices of student consultations. The third study explored how teachers engaged with students as consultants in classroom action research projects initiated at the summer institute and in professional development contexts. The multi-site, collective case study examined six projects involving twelve teachers and 241 students. Interviews and focus groups with nine teachers and 22 students were coded by stages of the action research cycle and characteristics of student involvement in order to examine at which stages in the action research and in what capacities teachers involved their students. The study confirmed teachers' and students' general appreciation of consultation and suggests that parsing the subtleties of when and how students are consulted can contribute to deeper understand of student involvement and better facilitation of action research in teacher professional development. Together, this collection of studies has implications for the design and evaluation of student consultation in teacher professional development.

Essa dissertação de mestrado teve por objetivo analisar as experiências em gênero e diversidade sexual, com base em narrativas de professores e professoras que realizaram o curso Gênero e Diversidade na Escola (GDE). Buscou-se compreender, também, os processos de comprometimento com o tema no que tange à quebra do silenciamento dos temas gênero e diversidade sexual imposto nos âmbitos social, acadêmico e escolar. Desse modo, pretende-se contribuir com o debate sobre a formação docente em gênero e diversidade sexual, por meio da discussão da formação continuada oferecida no GDE. O GDE examinado foi oferecido pela UNESP campus de Rio Claro na cidade de Jaú, interior de São Paulo. A formação foi ofertada aos (as) professores (as) da educação básica da rede eestadual e da rede municipal duas vezes entre 2009 e 2010. Nessa pesquisa, são analisadas as discussões, realizadas em fóruns, e os memoriais entregues por 30 professores-cursistas de uma turma do polo de Jaú, no ano de 2009. Por meio de uma análise qualitativa e do método da análise de prosa (ANDRÉ, 1983), essa pesquisa analisa as marcas da experiência em gênero e diversidade sexual que esses (as) professores (as) revelaram durante o curso. Com base nos estudos de Jorge Larrosa (2002, 2011) examina-se o GDE enquanto experiência e verifica-se como essa experiência criou comprometimentos dos sujeitos envolvidos com o tema e deixou marcas em seu pensar e agir. Tais marcas revelaram que os (as) professores (as) buscaram a formação por meio de diferentes aspirações relacionadas a duas dimensões de comprometimento com o tema, a dimensão pessoal e a profissional. Desse modo, a pesquisa revela que a maneira pela qual cada um (uma) apreendeu os conceitos do curso e (trans)formou sua subjetividade a partir das reflexões realizadas foi única, tendo diferentes intensidades. Revelou, ainda, que os processos pelos quais se consolidam e reelaboram os próprios conceitos sobre gênero e diversidade sexual são contraditórios e marcados por pausas, avanços ou retrocessos. Contudo, o GDE demonstra ser um impulsionador para a reflexão acerca do gênero e da diversidade sexual, revelando ter potencial para iniciar (trans)formações das práticas escolares relacionadas a essas questões. / The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the experiences on gender and sexual diversity based on narratives of teachers who attended the training program Gênero e Diversidade na Escola (Gender and Sexual Diversity) GDE. Additionally, I seek to understand the process of commitment to the issue considering the breach of the silence imposed in social, academic and school contexts about gender and sexual diversity. I intend to contribute to the debate about teachers training on gender and sexual diversity by discussing the continuing education offered by GDE. The training was offered twice between 2009 and 2010 to basic education teachers working in both city and state public education networks. In this research I analyze discussions held in forums and memorials written by 30 teachers who attended the course in Jaú São Paulo State, in 2009. Through qualitative research and prose analysis method (André, 1983), this investigation examines traces of experience in gender and sexual diversity revealed by teachers during the course. Based on Jorge Larrosas work (2002, 2011), I investigate GDE teachers training program as an experience, trying to explore the ways this experience constructed teachers commitments to the issue as well as what traces it may have left on their thinking and action abilities. Such traces indicated that teachers looked for this particular course inspired by different desires basically relating to two dimensions of commitment to the issue, the personal and the professional dimensions. Therefore the research indicates that the way each teacher learned the concepts discussed in the course - and transformed his/her subjectivity - was unique and had different levels of intensity. Results show that the process through which teachers consolidate and resignify their own concepts of gender and sexual diversity are contradictory and characterized by breaks, advances or regressions. However, GDE appears to promote the reflection about gender and sexual diversity, pointing out its potential to start off transformation of school practices on these issues.