Ways in which theory and practice are integrated in the pre-service teacher education practicum

This paper reports on a study into pre-service teachers’ perceptions about their professional development during practicum. The study examined to what extent, and how effectively, one group of pre-service teachers was able to integrate theory and practice during a three-week practicum in the first year of their degree. Data for this mixed methods study were drawn from one cohort of first-year students undertaking the Master of Teaching (MTeach), a graduate-level entry program in the Faculty of Education at an urban Australian university. Although there is a strong field of literature around the practicum in pre-service teacher education, there has been a limited focus on how pre-service teachers themselves perceive their development during this learning period. Further, despite widespread and longstanding acknowledgement of the “gap” between theory and practice in teacher education, there is still more to learn about how well the practicum enables an integration of these two dimensions of teacher preparation. In presenting three major findings of the study, this paper goes some way in addressing these shortcomings in the literature. First, opportunities to integrate theory and practice were varied, with many participants reporting supervision and scheduling issues as impacting on their capacity to effectively enact theory in practice. Second, participants’ privileging of theory over practice, identified previously in the literature as commonly characteristic of the pre-service teacher, was found in this study to be particularly prevalent during practicum. Third, participants overwhelmingly supported the notion of linking university coursework assessment to the practicum as a means of bridging the gap between, on the one hand, the university and the school and, on the other hand, theory and practice. The discussion and consideration of findings such as those reported in this paper are pertinent and timely, given the ratification of both the National Professional Standards for Teachers and the Initial Teacher Education Program Standards by the Australian Federal Government earlier this year. Within a number of the seven Professional Standards, graduate teachers are required to demonstrate knowledge and skills associated with both the theory and practice of teaching and with their effective integration in the classroom. To be nationally accredited, pre-service teacher education programs must provide evidence of enabling pre-service teachers to acquire such knowledge and skills.

Primary Science Specialist Learning Program – Report of Delivery

The purpose of this report is to describe the 8 day Deakin professional learning program and to examine the outcomes of the program based on feedback from participants, using a variety of data sources within the program. This evaluation of the Deakin professional learning program for primary science specialists is conducted for formative purposes, using mainly teachers' perceptions of the 5 day Professional development with science content and pedagogy focus (day 2-4, day 6-7) and the 3 day leading change focus (day 11-13). Feedback was acted on over the period of the professional development program.

Using the Internet in high school mathematics

Whilst the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) model has been increasingly adopted for understanding teachers’ use of technology, there have been many calls for greater discussion about the constituent constructs, their relationship with one another and the central TPACK. This paper analyses qualitatively the TPACK demonstrated by the teacher of a Year 11class who used web-based simulated contexts and interactive web objects in a Mathematics Studies course. The findings indicate aspects of TPK relating to academiclearning time and the transformational mode of the technology were not fully realised in this case study. The implications these has for teacher professional development are discussed.

Using practice theory to investigate professional engineers' workplace learning

This paper reports on the first phase of an Australian inter-disciplinary partnership study concerned with professional learning of experienced engineers. It is a theoretically motivated, qualitative paper that aims to produce detailed descriptions of professional learning that arise within professional engineering work. The paper uses practice theory to conceptualise professional learning. By using 'practices' as the units of analysis, professional learning is understood as an integral part of everyday work practices that is embodied, relational and material rather than an individual attribute. The paper concludes by suggesting that practice theory may provide organisations with an alternative perspective of workplace learning, inviting them to reconsider how professional learning is acknowledged, rewarded and fostered in organisations. © 2012 IEEE.

Writing groups, change and academic identity: research development as local practice

The development of the research potential of university staff has been given less attention than many other aspects of professional development, particularly teaching development. Yet there is an important need for the development of staff in the research role in the light of growth of higher education and changes to the organisation of the sector in many countries. This article examines one strategy for research development: the use of writing groups. It argues that writing is best seen as a starting point, rather than an endpoint, of the research process and hence that fostering academic writing is a useful place to do research development work. The article provides details of the use of a number of writing groups over three years in a particular faculty and explores the responses of leaders and participants. It identifies factors important in the use of this strategy and focuses on the contextual conditions required for initiatives of this kind to be effectively implemented.

From a Chinese kindergarten: A personal journey

How do Chinese kindergarten teachers understand their teaching practices? How are these influenced by cultural, political and economic forces? What do their classrooms look like from the perspective of a Chinese New Zealander?
This paper is based on interviews with Chinese kindergarten teachers in ChangChun City following two days of classroom observation in June 2011. With the guidance of YingHui Qu, an early childhood education (e.c.e.) professional development facilitator, it is written from the perspective of a Chinese émigré, Karen Guo, whose professional knowledge about e.c.e. has been largely constructed in New Zealand over the past ten years as a mother, teacher, postgraduate student and lecturer. YingHui Qu’s input included setting up the visit and interviews, providing information about Chinese e.c.e. context, as well as planning the paper and reviewing the text.

Leadership self-development in China and Vietnam

The transition towards a socialist market-oriented economy has presented many challenges to both China and Vietnam. One of the key human resource challenges has been to develop business leadership skills in a flexible, timely and cost-effective manner. This paper focuses on the self-initiated approach to professional development that has been introduced by managers at a grassroot level to improve business leadership (referred to as self-development). Given the limited research on self-development in China and Vietnam, the intention of this paper is to enrich understanding of why managers in a complex and dynamic transitional environment undertake self-development activities. The findings of this study suggest that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ paradigm to understand self-development across contexts. First, the western model of leadership competencies at the different management levels do not necessarily fit the needs that managers are targeting in their self-development activities in China and Vietnam. Second, despite some similarities between China and Vietnam, the Chinese managers were more interested in technical leadership skills than the Vietnamese managers whose self-development foci were centred on improving their moral standards. Such differences highlight each country's stage of economic and social development while reinforcing the influence of contextual factors. It also suggests that self-development is best understood as a process within a specific context.

Strategies for Using the Safe Schools Hub: A ‘One-stop Resource Shop’ for Developing Safe and Supportive School Cultures

The Safe Schools Hub is an online portal created by the Australian Government to support the National Safe Schools Framework. It includes extensive resources for leaders, teachers, specialist staff, parents and students. This presentation will highlight a variety of practical strategies based on these resources that schools can use as they continue to develop safe and supportive school cultures. In particular there will be a focus on resource-based approaches that can assist leaders with data collection and change processes, specific resources that can be incorporated into professional development seminars for staff and resources to direct and support strategies for parent education sessions.

Physical education teacher training in fundamental movement skills makes a difference to instruction and assessment practices

The purpose of this study was to investigate instruction and assessment of fundamental movement skills (FMSs) by Physical Education (PE) teachers of Year 7 girls. Of 168 secondary school PE teachers, many had received little FMSs professional development, and although most assessed student FMSs proficiency, the quality of assessment was variable. Neither years of experience nor confidence influenced the quality of assessment tools used; however, greater FMSs training improved assessment practice regularity. Teachers more recently out of preservice were more confident in demonstrating FMSs. The results suggest that FMSs education for teachers should be a priority inclusion in both the training of preservice teachers and the ongoing professional development of in-service teachers.

The establishment and development of neurosurgery services in Papua New Guinea

BACKGROUND: Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a developing Pacific Nation of 7.3 million people. Although neurosurgery training was introduced to PNG in the year 2000, it was in 2003 that a neurosurgery service was established. Prior to this time, neurosurgery in PNG was performed by general surgeons, with some assistance from visiting Australian neurosurgeons. Neurosurgical training was introduced to PNG in 2000. The model involved a further 3 years of training for a surgeon who had already completed 4 years of general surgical training. We aim to review the output, outcomes and impact achieved by training the first national neurosurgeon. METHODS: The data on activity (output) and outcomes were collected prospectively from 2003-2012. Ongoing mentoring and continuing professional development were provided through annual neurosurgical visits from Australia. There were serious limitations in the provision of equipment, with a lack of computerized tomographic or MR imaging, and adjuvant oncological services. RESULTS: There were 1618 neurosurgery admissions, 1020 neurosurgical procedures with a 5.74 % overall mortality. Seventy percent of cases presented as emergencies. There were improved outcomes, particularly for head injuries, whilst hydrocephalus was managed with an acceptable morbidity and revision rate. CONCLUSIONS: The training of a neurosurgeon resulted in PNG patients receiving a better range of surgical services, with a lower mortality. The outcomes able to be delivered were limited by late presentations of patients and lack of resources including imaging. These themes are familiar to all low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and this may serve as a model for other LMIC neurosurgical services to adopt as they consider whether to establish and develop neurosurgical and other sub-specialist surgical services.

Bootstrapping mobile app development

Modern IDEs provide limited support for developers when starting a new data-driven mobile app. App developers are currently required to write copious amounts of boilerplate code, scripts, organise complex directories, and author actual functionality. Although this scenario is ripe for automation, current tools are yet to address it adequately. In this paper we present RAPPT, a tool that generates the scaffolding of a mobile app based on a high level description specified in a Domain Specific Language (DSL). We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach by an example case study and feedback from a professional development team. Demo at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffquVgBYpLM.