Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As a novice teacher I experienced many difficulties and obstacles in my first two years of teaching in a South African context. This experience was further disempowering as there were no support programmes like induction or mentoring programmes in place to support the transition from student to teacher and to grow professionally. It thus became my concern to ascertain the possibilities of professional development through reflective practice, to highlight some of the strategies which might bring about change, however imperfect, and to consider the human agency in all of this. The focus of the study is particularly on reflective practice as a potential process of professional development and a self-support mechanism for novice teachers. It thus is a study of processes to encourage and maintain a teacher’s professional development. I tell of my lived experience as a novice teacher through narrative inquiry. The data comprises of journal entries and field notes which were constructed from conversations and observations. Main ideas were developed within my narrative to analyse the narrated text. Four main themes emerged from my global analysis of data. These are: lack of support; lack of an induction programme; engaging in self-support activities to grow professionally; and the importance that agency plays in this process of personal and professional development. Based on this study of my personal experience as a novice teacher, it would seem that becoming a reflective practitioner could indeed contribute to a sense of empowerment and serve as a support mechanism in personal and professional development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: As ‘n nuweling-onderwyser het ek baie probleme en struikelblokke in my eerste twee jaar van onderwys in ‘n Suid Afrikaanse konteks ervaar. Hierdie ervaring was verder ontmagtigend aangesien daar geen ondersteuningsprogramme soos induksie en mentorskap in plek was om die oorgang van student tot onderwyser en professionele groei te ondersteun nie. Ek het my dus daaroor begin ontferm om die moontlikhede van professionele ontwikkeling deur die praktyk van refleksie te ondersoek en lig te werp op strategieë wat moontlike veranderinge teweeg kon bring en menslike agentskap in alle betrokke prosesse kon inwerk. Die fokus van hierdie studie is op reflektiewe praktyk as ‘n potensiële proses vir professionele ontwikkeling en ‘n self-ondersteunende meganisme vir nuweling-onderwysers. Dit is dus ‘n studie van prosesse wat professionele ontwikkeling aanmoedig en volhou. Ek maak gebuik van narratiewe ondersoek om my beleefde ervaring as ‘n nuweling-onderwyser te deel. Die data bestaan uit joernaalinskrywings en veldnotas wat saamgestel is vanuit gesprekke en waarnemings. Kernidees is binne die narratief ontwikkel om die verhaalde teks te analiseer. Vier hooftemas is identifiseer vanuit die data-analise. Dit is onder andere: gebrek aan ondersteuning, gebrek aan ‘n induksieprogram, gebrek aan self-ondersteuning om professioneel te groei en die rol van agentskap in die proses van persoonlike en professionele ontwikkeling. Gebaseer op die studie van my persoonlike ervaring, wil dit voorkom dat indien ‘n nuweling-onderwyser ontwikkel as ‘n reflektiewe praktistyn, dit inderdaad tot ‘n sin van bemagtiging kan bydra en ook kan dien as ‘n self-ondersteunende meganisme in persoonlike en professionele ontwikkeling.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study analyzed participants in an online professional development and certification program can to see if they could predict the learning value of individual distance education tools. The Texas Center for Educational Technology (TCET) funded by the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) designed the Technology Applications Certification Program (TACP). In the TACP, students are offered four graduate level classes which, when combined, meet the standards for the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) Technology Applications certification. The four courses that comprise the TACP are Computers in Education, Introduction to the Internet, Multimedia in Technology Applications, and Introduction to Video Technologies. The first course started in January 2002 with approximately 706 participants in 40 cohorts across the state of Texas. The TACP combines two different worlds of technology training. Half of the coursework was completed through asynchronous content and discussions, while the remaining classes were hands-on classes in local district computer labs. These face-to-face meetings enabled learners to get hands-on training with direct assistance. Between the online and face-to-face segments, a variety of learning tools were introduced to the participants. Participants were surveyed through the online Snapshot Survey in January and again in September.

During the past 50 years, the landscape of education shifted from a rank order model to a system where all students are expected to achieve at a minimum level. This led to reforms in the way schools operate and teachers teach. One change to teaching is the use of data to inform instructional practices and student groupings. The need for teachers to increase their data use and change their instruction has prompted the need for professional development practices to be more effective. Coaching has been shown to be an effective professional development strategy to help teachers transfer new skills into their practice. This mixed-methods study examined one urban school district's two-year attempt to implement a data informed decision-making model of instruction in 20 schools through the use of instructional coaches. The study used two data sets - archival literacy benchmark scores and coach surveys - to identify a purposive selection of interview participants. The interviews were conducted to determine what structures and factors increased the implementation of the data informed decision-making initiative. Findings indicate professional development and leadership structures were needed for successful implementation of the data initiative. Results of this study showed the factors of trust, focus, coach-principal relationship, and assessment literacy contributed to the coaches' ability to implement the data initiative successfully.

The problem of this study was to investigate the effect of an in-service program utilizing Benjamin S. Bloom (Ed.) and others' Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain (Bloom's Taxonomy) on (1) the self-concept of experienced secondary English teachers and social studies teachers, (2) the cognitive level of test items on teacher-made examinations, and (3) the attitude changes toward school subjects as rated b students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among the teachers' use of the individual elements of lesson design, students' mastery of mathematics objectives, the hours of inservice training completed by the teachers and the teachers' years of experience. The individual elements of lesson design are defined by Madeline Hunter and are anticipatory set, objective and purpose, input, modeling, checking for understanding, guided practice, and independent practice.

A research report submitted to the faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science. 20 July 2017. / Disciplinary knowledge is recognised as teacher professional knowledge base that is central in promoting effective teaching and learning in science education. Although that is the case, in one of the South African University, that this study was conducted in, the 4th year Life sciences Pre-service teachers’ were not tested on their understanding of the disciplinary nature of their subject of specialisation. As a result, the type of disciplinary gaze that they acquired by the end of the teacher training remained unknown within the institution. Thus, this study then used a case study methodology to investigate the Pre-service teachers’ levels of understanding of the disciplinary nature of Life Sciences as a discipline. The participants of this study consisted of twenty nine 4th year Pre-service teachers’ who were enrolled for a Life sciences Bachelor of Education program and one Life sciences lecturer who was involved in teaching the subject. This research took on a qualitative approach, which yielding both qualitative and quantitative data, through the use of questionnaires as well as semi-focused interviews as research instruments. The outcomes of this study showed that, although the Pre-service teachers’ were not explicitly taught about the nature of the subject, but they still showed a satisfactory understanding of it. Although that was the case, the Pre-service teachers’ still demonstrated a fractured comprehension of the disciplinary knowledge aspects, such as the history, philosophy and the nature of science. On the other hand, the findings of this study also demonstrated that, the Pre-service teachers’ acquired an extensive gaze of understanding of Subject Matter Knowledge, which is another component of Disciplinary knowledge, and this was because, this knowledge base was explicitly taught and assessed with the teacher training program. / LG2018