The purpose of this concurrent, mixed methods study was to examine the professional empowerment qualities of mid-career (years 4-8), science teachers. I used the construct of professional empowerment as the theoretical frame to explore K-12 mid-career science teachers’ career trajectories and consider how they can be supported professionally and ideally retained over time. In investigating the qualities of these teachers, I also constructed a new teaching trajectory model and tested the differences between mid-career and veteran science teachers. I analyzed seventy-eight surveys of mid-career science teachers across Texas, including six in-depth, interview-based case studies. The qualitative piece used behavior-over-time graphing combined with the interviews and the quantitative component used survey data from the Teacher Empowerment Survey (TES). Results indicated that science content knowledge gain through professional development opportunities was an especially important factor in supporting mid-career teachers’ sense of empowerment. This increased content knowledge connected positively with the dimensions of decision-making, status, and impact. In a between-group analysis using a larger subset of TES data, I analyzed 254 surveys by conducting a nonparametric statistical test. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups, in that mid-career science teachers had a lower sense of “status” than their more experienced counterparts (p < .05). I could infer that, for this sample, as teaching experience increases, so does at least one dimension of empowerment. The study was situated within a broader scope of exploring how educational leaders and professional development providers can understand and support science teachers of varying experience levels. A well-designed and possibly differentiated professional development program could successfully connect with these kind of empowered and receptive mid-career science teachers, and thus increase the probability of implementing quality science education programs, content, and pedagogy into schools. The results of this study also have the potential to provide self-reflective career empowerment information to science teachers in their mid-career years. / text

Este estudo apresentou como meta contribuir para o ensino da disciplina de administração de enfermagem hospitalar, através de uma experiência de desenvolvimento profissional de professores-pesquisadores, em um processo crítico-reflexivo sobre a sua prática docente. A trajetória metodológica da pesquisa-ação, foi operacionalizada em duas etapas: na primeira, foram identificadas as situações dilemáticas acontecidas no estágio disciplinar, por intermédio da reflexão sobre a reflexão-na-ação feita por uma professora após a supervisão diária dos alunos; na segunda, foram efetuados os círculos de reflexão por todos os professores que ministraram a disciplina no período da coleta de dados, utilizando como ponto de partida as situações dilemáticas identificadas anteriormente. A análise temática dos dados coletados nos círculos de reflexão revelou que a reflexão realizada entre os pares possibilitou a objetivação dos saberes experienciais dos professores, assim como a construção de novos saberes pedagógicos. Os saberes docentes elaborados durante os círculos de reflexão foram utilizados para propor mudanças na referida disciplina. / This study aims to contribute to the teaching of the subject Hospital Management Nursing, through an experience of professional empowerment of teachers-researchers, using a critical-reflexive approach to their teaching practices. The study followed the action-research methods, in two stages: first, the “dilemma" situations teachers faced in the disciplinary training of students, were identified through the reflection about the “reflection-on-action" process, used by a teacher after daily supervision of students; second, all the teachers responsible for the classes during the data collection period, participated of “reflection circles", using as starting point, the “dilemma" situations previously identified. Thematic content analysis of data obtained on these “reflection circles" revealed that reflection done among pairs turned objective the experiential knowledge of the teachers, and also made possible the construction of new pedagogic knowledge. This teaching knowledge was used to propose a change on the subject of Hospital Management Nursing for a graduation course.

Este estudo apresentou como meta contribuir para o ensino da disciplina de administração de enfermagem hospitalar, através de uma experiência de desenvolvimento profissional de professores-pesquisadores, em um processo crítico-reflexivo sobre a sua prática docente. A trajetória metodológica da pesquisa-ação, foi operacionalizada em duas etapas: na primeira, foram identificadas as situações dilemáticas acontecidas no estágio disciplinar, por intermédio da reflexão sobre a reflexão-na-ação feita por uma professora após a supervisão diária dos alunos; na segunda, foram efetuados os círculos de reflexão por todos os professores que ministraram a disciplina no período da coleta de dados, utilizando como ponto de partida as situações dilemáticas identificadas anteriormente. A análise temática dos dados coletados nos círculos de reflexão revelou que a reflexão realizada entre os pares possibilitou a objetivação dos saberes experienciais dos professores, assim como a construção de novos saberes pedagógicos. Os saberes docentes elaborados durante os círculos de reflexão foram utilizados para propor mudanças na referida disciplina. / This study aims to contribute to the teaching of the subject Hospital Management Nursing, through an experience of professional empowerment of teachers-researchers, using a critical-reflexive approach to their teaching practices. The study followed the action-research methods, in two stages: first, the “dilemma” situations teachers faced in the disciplinary training of students, were identified through the reflection about the “reflection-on-action” process, used by a teacher after daily supervision of students; second, all the teachers responsible for the classes during the data collection period, participated of “reflection circles”, using as starting point, the “dilemma” situations previously identified. Thematic content analysis of data obtained on these “reflection circles” revealed that reflection done among pairs turned objective the experiential knowledge of the teachers, and also made possible the construction of new pedagogic knowledge. This teaching knowledge was used to propose a change on the subject of Hospital Management Nursing for a graduation course.