A large body of literature regarding professional development and its effects on teaching and student achievement and learning has emerged over the last decade. There are many teachers who either have limited access to professional development activities or who have access and choose not to take part in professional development activities. This qualitative study employed a phenomenological tradition in describing the "lived experiences" of participants involved in the implementation of new curriculum. Fourteen teachers and seven principals were purposefully selected to be part of this study in a rural school jurisdiction in southern Alberta. Through a qualitative analysis, this study shared teachers' perceptions as they described the role professional development plays in enhancing teacher efficacy and changing teaching practices in the implementation of new curriculum. Data were collected during face-to-face, semi-structured interviews, and the analysis of data revealed six topics: the need for change, professional development and curriculum implementation, professional development and teaching practices, professional development and teacher efficacy, professional development and student learning and motivation. Major findings from this study concluded that teacher participants recognize PD as the common thread that motivates teachers, improves their sense of efficacy, assists them in successful curriculum implementation, heightens their awareness of the need to improve teaching practices and the need to become student-centered and improve student learning. Principal participants concurred with teacher participants, and recognize the role leaders play in motivating teachers to become actively engaged in professional learning activities. Professional development plays a key role in providing teachers with knowledge and skills to hone their teaching practices, to rejuvenate them, and to improve student learning. It also assists teachers in successfully implementing new curricula. As teachers become aware of the need to change teaching practices in order to improve teacher efficacy, professional development provides opportunities to gain confidence and heighten their sense of personal efficacy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MONTANA/oai:etd.lib.umt.edu:etd-09142007-115147 |
| Date | 14 September 2007 |
| Creators | Bennett, Douglas Shields |
| Contributors | Roberta D. Evans |
| Publisher | The University of Montana |
| Source Sets | University of Montana Missoula |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-09142007-115147/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Montana or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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