The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of Indiana secondary teachers regarding components deemed important to effective staff development programs. Perceptions were analyzed according to the years of teaching experience, gender, content area and demographic classification of the school. The population consisted of two hundred fifty secondary public school teachers from fifty public secondary schools distributed throughout the ten regions of the Indiana School Boards Association.The data collection Instrument used in the study consisted of a demographic section, a forty-item Likert style questionnaire and a short answer/narrative section. Four null hypotheses were tested for statistical significance using a multivariate analysis of variance. The .05 level of significance was established as the critical probability level for the non-acceptance of hypotheses. Insufficient responses in one cell necessitated the deletion of the hypothesis stating no significant difference exists in the perceptions of teachers from schools which are classified as urban, suburban or rural.FindingsStatistically significant differences were found to exist in the perceptions of Indiana public secondary teachers regarding components deemed Important to effective staff development programs from different subject content areas and gender. However, no statistically significant difference was found to exist from teachers with varying years of teaching experience.3. Forty-six percent of the responding teachers reported they participated in a staff development program.4. Teachers reported nearly two to one they would participate in a staff development program during the summer months.5. Thirteen percent of the teachers reporting had five or less years of teaching experience, whereas forty-one percent reported sixteen or more years of teaching experience. / Department of Educational Administration and Supervision

This descriptive study was undertaken for the primary purpose of identifying attitudes and beliefs of secondary teachers toward staff development. Participants in the study included the total population of teachers in two high schools in a southwestern school district. The objectives of the study were to identify the attitudes and beliefs of teachers toward staff development as an important part of their professional growth, and toward the organization, processes, and personnel involved in staff development. Also to be identified were the level of knowledge and interest teachers have of specific topics for staff development programs, and similarities/differences in teachers' attitudes based on school, department, number of years teaching experience, education level, participation in a career ladder program, and gender. The data was collected using a two-part, modified Likert scale questionnaire. The findings of the study suggest that the teachers from the school itself should plan staff development, including the content which should be based on the teachers' needs as determined from an open-ended questionnaire, and that the instructors should be teachers from the school or the school's administrators. Staff development programs should incorporate a variety of teaching methods, although lecture was rated as the least desirable single method by the teachers. Staff development should be regular and on-going, with quarterly sessions receiving the most agreement from the teachers. It should be held at the school itself, during released time, and job-related. The teachers agreed that staff development should be evaluated throughout the school year, by the teachers, assessing whether its objectives had been met. Participation should not be mandatory, but depend upon the content of the program and the needs of the individual. Incentives to participate should include the intrinsic value of improved teaching ability, salary increases, university credit, and increased student achievement. Finally, over seventy percent of the teachers agreed that staff development is an important part of their professional growth.

No description available.

M.Ed. / After the introduction of the new approach of teaching and other new policies, all educators needed training on the new system of education. Even though training has been provided for educators, this training was not sufficient to equip educators with new knowledge and skills required by educators. The school management teams lack the skills and knowledge of the implementation of the revised national curriculum statement (RNCS) and as a result they do not create opportunities for staff development at school level. There is lack of staff development programmes in Delmas Secondary Schools. The key research question for this study is: “How can staff development programmes (SDPs) contribute towards improving the performance of educators in Delmas Secondary School?” The aims of the current study are therefore to develop an in-depth understanding of SDPs, provide participants with the reasons for conducting SDPs, equip participants with the procedures that need to be followed when designing and implementing SDPs and to provide guidelines in policy formulation of the SDPs. The objectives are to determine whether participants are knowledgeable about staff development and to what degree there is a need for SDPs in Delmas secondary schools. This study is based on qualitative research. All the data will be collected in the form of words, unlike quantitative research in which the data is largely statistical. Participants in this study were selected through random sampling since purposeful sampling lacks generalization and there is no assumption that all members of the population are equivalent data sources, but those selected are believed to be information-rich cases. Therefore the number of participants is very small in purposeful sampling. Random sampling was therefore viewed as an unbiased since all members of the population have the same chance of being included in participating in the study and this would allow generalization of the research findings. From the literature review it is evident that SDPs could equip educators with new knowledge and skills. However, findings from the empirical study indicate that SDPs are not conducted in Delmas secondary schools. These developmental programmes are needed since educators in Delmas secondary schools significantly need to expand their skills and knowledge in order to keep abreast with the new demands in the education system. Continued training should be provided for educators in Delmas Secondary Schools. / Mr. T.S. Hlongwane

The purpose of this study was to describe factors affecting the use of instructional ideas by secondary teachers in the academic year following a series of staff development sessions designed to present information on effective teaching practices. The research questions addressed the characteristics of information selected for use in classroom practice and the characteristics and relative degree of influence of salient factors affecting the use of ideas. Ten teachers from a large suburban school district in North Texas were selected for this study. Qualitative techniques were used to collect data. Each teacher was interviewed three times and observed in the classroom setting. Documents such as lesson plans were analyzed as a third source of data. Several factors evolved from the data. In varying degrees, these factors predicted teacher use of new instructional practices. Some factors dealt with the teacher's level of understanding and internalization of the information. These factors were labeled as instrumentality, congruence, and analytical thinking. Two other factors which were fairly strong predictors were labeled cost and intrinsic motivation. Cost concerned the amount of time or effort required to implement new ideas versus the perceived benefit to either teacher or student. Intrinsic motivation concerned the personal desire a teacher felt to try new ideas which might improve student learning. Another factor, professionalism, or teacher commitment to the teaching profession, was found to be a less powerful predictor. Two factors were found to be inconclusive predictors of implementation. They were the support felt by the teacher and external pressures, such as legislative mandates and district evaluations and career ladder. The cluster of factors developed in this study offer some possible guidelines for persons concerned with patterns of knowledge utilization among teachers. It is recommended that further studies be conducted to determine if the categories used in this study are consistent predictors of implementation and to verify the research implications in this study.

M. Tech. Education, Tshwane University of Technology, 2010.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

No description available.

M.Ed. (Educational Management) / Contented, motivated and well-trained subject teachers are a basic requirement for the effective functioning of the Department of Economic Sciences. Within this department the quality of the in-service training provided by the Head of Department will be a high priority. A prerequisite for the successful accomplishment of his task as in service trainer and developer of staff members is, amongst other things, the managerial application of in-service training strategies. In this education environment, the Head of Department finds himself in a prescribed management, leadership and trainer situation. Though he has not been formally trained for this delegated task of in-service training, he is directly involved in personnel management. It is clear, however, that in most organisations in-service training and staff development do not receive the required attention from those in leadership positions. Moreover, some Heads of Department experience difficulty in practicing effective leadership and guidance because of a lack of management expertise. In order to ensure both quality teaching in his department and efficient execution of his in-service training task he has to apply managerial skills. Thus this investigation proves that the Head of Department should not only be professionally equipped, but should also possess certain managerial skills in order to be able to undertake the in-service training of his staff. Staff training further indicates the management of people, each with their own unique needs and specific capabilities. It seems that members of staff can be motivated towards better work and self-realization. It is thus imperative that the Head of Department should be informed as to the various theories regarding motivation and that he should apply the principles involved. The investigation also shows that practicing leadership is a critical factor which influences the effective execution of the staff training task. Various approaches to leadership have shown that, although the leadership style may be situation bound, it is the democratic style which creates an open, supportive school climate.

The aim of this study is to determine a sound method of conducting a workable program of in-service training for teachers. This problem will apply to the medium size high schools of Texas, with an enrollment ranging from three hundred to five hundred pupils in high school.