Teacher change and professional development in mathematics education

It is generally agreed that if authentic teacher change is to occur then the tacit knowledge about how and why they act in certain ways in the classroom be accessed and reflected upon. While critical reflection can and often is an individual experience there is evidence to suggest that teachers are more likely to engage in the process when it is approached in a collegial manner; that is, when other teachers are involved in and engaged with the same process. Teachers do not enact their profession in isolation but rather exist within a wider community of teachers. An outside facilitator can also play an active and important role in achieving lasting teacher change. According to Stein and Brown (1997) “an important ingredient in socially based learning is that graduations of expertise and experience exist when teachers collaborate with each other or outside experts” (p. 155). To assist in the effective professional development of teachers, outside facilitators, when used, need to provide “a dynamic energy producing interactive experience in which participants examine and explore the complex components of teaching” (Bolster, 1995, p. 193). They also need to establish rapport with the participating teachers that is built on trust and competence (Hyde, Ormiston, & Hyde, 1994). For this to occur, professional development involving teachers and outside facilitators or researchers should not be a one-off event but an ongoing process of engagement that enables both the energy and trust required to develop. Successful professional development activities are therefore collaborative, relevant and provide individual, specialised attention to the teachers concerned. The project reported here aimed to provide professional development to two Year 3 teachers to enhance their teaching of a new mathematics content area, mental computation. This was achieved through the teachers collaborating with a researcher to design an instructional program for mental computation that drew on theory and research in the field.

Professional development in the contemporary educational context : encouraging practice wisdom

Preparing social work students to be effective practitioners is a complex and challenging task undertaken in a dynamic environment both in terms of the field of social work and the higher education sector. There have been recommendations that self knowledge, empirical knowledge, theoretical knowledge and procedural knowledge are the keys to high standards of social work practice. This paper suggests that the concept of practice wisdom is a useful focus for integrating these different aspects of informed practice and for focusing educational programmes for social work. As practice wisdom is more about process than possessed characteristics then there are important motivational and value-based considerations in developing wise practitioners. This discussion considers motivational and personal narrative aspects of practice wisdom so that it can be integrated into social work teaching.

An integrated approach to professional development in secondary schools

Following the implementation of the National Professional Standards for Teachers, all teachers in Australia will be required to undertake 30 hours per year of professional development (PD) to maintain their registration. However, defining what constitutes effective PD is complex and often contested. This paper looks at a case study in Queensland, Australia, where a high school worked collaboratively with a university lecturer to deliver effective whole-school professional development. The lecturer acted as an external change agent, working closely with the principal and staff to build a relationship of trust and to develop a strategy for the delivery of PD on-site. This case highlights how partnerships between teachers and teacher educators combined with a willing school leader can provide positive opportunities for collaborative, sustainable, professional growth and learning.

Starting small : a staged approach to professional development in gifted education

One of the potentially far reaching recommendations of the Senate Inquiry of 2001 was to fund professional development for teachers of gifted children under the Australian Government Quality Teacher Program (AGQTP). This funding was made available to all sectors of schooling and led to a number of initiatives to address the shortcomings in gifted education identified in the Senate Report. This paper reports on the initiatives undertaken by one sector over an eight-year period. The initiative began with a commitment from the sector to provide professional development in gifted education and later required that sector to address gifted education in their school renewal planning. A professional development program was planned and implemented in stages drawing on the AGQTP modules. However, teachers were encouraged to pursue an active role in instigating their own professional development priorities and needs. Thus, teachers within an action research framework collaboratively designed, implemented and reflected on projects which progressively expanded over a three year period. Initial projects focussed on their own teaching or context. In the second year of the three-year-cycle projects expanded to include colleagues. Finally, in the third year teachers assumed a leadership role in their schools or district and mentored other teachers beginning the program. The paper presents both qualitative and quantitative data on the experiences of the participating teachers and the long term impact on the capacity of the jurisdiction to provide enhanced opportunities for gifted children.

Achieving continuous professional development in higher education

Traditional higher education technology emphasizes knowledge transmission. In contrast, the Community platform presented in this paper follows a social approach that interleaves knowledge delivery with social and professional skills development, engaging with others, and personal growth. In this paper, we apply learning and complex adaptive systems theory to motivate and justify a continuous professional development model that improves higher education outcomes such as placement. The paper follows action design research (ADR) as the research method to propose and evaluate design principles.

Conceptualizing professional development in mathematics : elements of a model. 'Conceptualización del desarrollo profesional en matemáticas : elementos de un modelo'.

Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Reconceptualising professional development in early childhood education. A study on teachers' professionalism carried out in Bologna province.

The research undertaken for this doctoral thesis explores the issue of teachers professionalism within pre-school institutions. The issue of early childhood professionalism has become increasingly important in the academic debate over the last decade as it is documented by a growing body of research published on the topic both nationally (Contini & Manini, 2007; Bondioli & Ferrari, 2004) and internationally (Peeters, 2008; Urban & Dalli, 2008; Urban, 2010). The study presented in this thesis aims at investigating teachers’ conceptualisations of professionalism by focusing on their understandings of educational work. The idea standing at the core of this research is that exploring the concept of professionalism from a ground-up perspective could lead to important reflections for a re-conceptualisation of professional development as a space for change directed from within institutions. The study is framed within a broadly sociological concern that inform the data analysis by contextualising the issue of early childhood professionalism in the contemporary socio-political arena. The research involves sixty teachers operating in state, municipal and private pre-school institutions located in Bologna province that took part to focus groups and interviews. The empirical materials, consisting of oral and written statements, are interpreted through phenomenographical analysis that gives account of how features of professionalism vary across the different institutional settings in which they are played out. This thesis, written in English and informed by an European research background, offers a contribution to the furthering of systemic approaches to the investigation of early childhood education professionalism in the context of the national and international academic debate.

Teachers' professional development in a community

The goal of this article was to study teachers' professional development related to web-based learning in the context of the teacher community. The object was to learn in what kind of networks teachers share the knowledge of web-based learning and what are the factors in the community that support or challenge teachers professional development of web-based learning. The findings of the study revealed that there are teachers who are especially active, called the central actors in this study, in the teacher community who collaborate and share knowledge of web-based learning. These central actors share both technical and pedagogical knowledge of web-based learning in networks that include both internal and external relations in the community and involve people, artefacts and a variety of media. Furthermore, the central actors appear to bridge different fields of teaching expertise in their community. According to the central actors' experiences the important factors that support teachers' professional development of web-based learning in the community are; the possibility to learn from colleagues and from everyday working practices, an emotionally safe atmosphere, the leader's personal support and community-level commitment. Also, the flexibility in work planning, challenging pupils, shared lessons with colleagues, training events in an authentic work environment and colleagues' professionalism are considered meaningful for professional development. As challenges, the knowledge sharing of web-based learning in the community needs mutual interests, transactive memory, time and facilities, peer support, a safe atmosphere and meaningful pedagogical practices. On the basis of the findings of the study it is suggested that by intensive collaboration related to web-based learning it may be possible to break the boundaries of individual teachership and create such sociocultural activities which support collaborative professional development in the teacher community. Teachers' in-service training programs should be more sensitive to the culture of teacher communities and teachers' reciprocal relations. Further, teacher trainers should design teachers' in-service training of web-based learning in co-evolution with supporting networks which include the media and artefacts as well as people.

Teachers' professional development in a community

The goal of this article was to study teachers' professional development related to web-based learning in the context of the teacher community. The object was to learn in what kind of networks teachers share the knowledge of web-based learning and what are the factors in the community that support or challenge teachers professional development of web-based learning. The findings of the study revealed that there are teachers who are especially active, called the central actors in this study, in the teacher community who collaborate and share knowledge of web-based learning. These central actors share both technical and pedagogical knowledge of web-based learning in networks that include both internal and external relations in the community and involve people, artefacts and a variety of media. Furthermore, the central actors appear to bridge different fields of teaching expertise in their community. According to the central actors' experiences the important factors that support teachers' professional development of web-based learning in the community are; the possibility to learn from colleagues and from everyday working practices, an emotionally safe atmosphere, the leader's personal support and community-level commitment. Also, the flexibility in work planning, challenging pupils, shared lessons with colleagues, training events in an authentic work environment and colleagues' professionalism are considered meaningful for professional development. As challenges, the knowledge sharing of web-based learning in the community needs mutual interests, transactive memory, time and facilities, peer support, a safe atmosphere and meaningful pedagogical practices. On the basis of the findings of the study it is suggested that by intensive collaboration related to web-based learning it may be possible to break the boundaries of individual teachership and create such sociocultural activities which support collaborative professional development in the teacher community. Teachers' in-service training programs should be more sensitive to the culture of teacher communities and teachers' reciprocal relations. Further, teacher trainers should design teachers' in-service training of web-based learning in co-evolution with supporting networks which include the media and artefacts as well as people.

Teachers' professional development in a community

The goal of this article was to study teachers' professional development related to web-based learning in the context of the teacher community. The object was to learn in what kind of networks teachers share the knowledge of web-based learning and what are the factors in the community that support or challenge teachers professional development of web-based learning. The findings of the study revealed that there are teachers who are especially active, called the central actors in this study, in the teacher community who collaborate and share knowledge of web-based learning. These central actors share both technical and pedagogical knowledge of web-based learning in networks that include both internal and external relations in the community and involve people, artefacts and a variety of media. Furthermore, the central actors appear to bridge different fields of teaching expertise in their community. According to the central actors' experiences the important factors that support teachers' professional development of web-based learning in the community are; the possibility to learn from colleagues and from everyday working practices, an emotionally safe atmosphere, the leader's personal support and community-level commitment. Also, the flexibility in work planning, challenging pupils, shared lessons with colleagues, training events in an authentic work environment and colleagues' professionalism are considered meaningful for professional development. As challenges, the knowledge sharing of web-based learning in the community needs mutual interests, transactive memory, time and facilities, peer support, a safe atmosphere and meaningful pedagogical practices. On the basis of the findings of the study it is suggested that by intensive collaboration related to web-based learning it may be possible to break the boundaries of individual teachership and create such sociocultural activities which support collaborative professional development in the teacher community. Teachers' in-service training programs should be more sensitive to the culture of teacher communities and teachers' reciprocal relations. Further, teacher trainers should design teachers' in-service training of web-based learning in co-evolution with supporting networks which include the media and artefacts as well as people.

Dentists’ requirements for continuing professional development in Ireland. A pilot study conducted at University College Cork

Aims: To determine the self-assessed continuing professional development (CPD) needs of dental practitioners and identify how each discipline can best be served by a dental CPD programme. To set findings in the context of the available literature and contribute to the development of CPD programmes. Method: Topics were arranged into eight disciplines: practice management; paediatric dentistry; preventive dentistry; orthodontics; behaviour management; dentistry for people with a disability; oral medicine and surgery; and, restorative dentistry. A web-based questionnaire was constructed and administered using a MarkClass 2.21 online survey tool. Results: Fifty-six self-reported assessment responses were received, with three-quarters of participants having graduated within the past 10 years. Topics in oral medicine and surgery attracted consistently high levels of interest. A tendency to favour topics with a perceived direct clinical application was observed. Topics recommended by the Dental Council as core areas for CPD were given a high level of priority by respondents. Conclusions: Traditional lectures remain a valued mode of CPD participation. Practical courses were valued across all dental topics offered. A varied approach to determining the requirements of dentists is essential to appropriately support the practitioner.