Teacher Professional Development Case Studies
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Teacher Professional Development Case Studies

K-12, TVET, and Tertiary Education

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eBook - ePub

Teacher Professional Development Case Studies

K-12, TVET, and Tertiary Education

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About This Book

Quality teaching and learning are vital to meet the increasingly complex needs of students as they prepare for further education and work in the 21st century. This publication provides insights on how to create sustainable and high quality teacher capacity development systems in primary and secondary education, technical and vocational education and training, and higher education programs. It showcases 13 case studies from around the world as examples of teacher professional development programs that support, improve, and harness teaching capabilities and expertise. The publication also discusses government initiatives and other factors that can contribute to quality teaching.

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Year
2021
ISBN
9789292629908

1 Principles of Teacher Professional Development

Introduction

The concept of teacher professional development (TPD) has gradually expanded over the years. Over the past decades, TPD has become an important global agenda that must be addressed to improve the quality of education. There is solid consensus that teachers can positively influence student learning by providing students with adequate time, constructing a proper learning atmosphere, and presenting meaningful activities (Lasley et al. 2006). Research has shown that teachers with good quality education and/or training experiences affirmatively affect their students’ academic performance (Clotfelter et al. 2006; Hanushek and Rivkin 2006; Heck 2009; Ladd and Sorenson 2017; Miller and Davidson 2006; Papay and Kraft 2015; Rice 2003).
TPD can be any type of continuing education effort for teachers who are willing to improve their knowledge and skills which, in turn, improve student outcomes. There is a need to distinguish between the concepts of teacher training and TPD. Teacher training often refers to education in preparation for those who want to become teachers, whereas TPD indicates professional learning by teachers already practicing professionally. For this reason, researchers tend to favor the word “development” over “training” (Qi 2012) to emphasize the continuity of teacher education. Since these terms are often used interchangeably in teacher education and teacher learning is not a static, but ongoing process, the dichotomy is not useful from the perspective of viewing teachers as continuous learners. Therefore, rather than making a boundary between the two, discussions on teacher education tend to be enriched by defining TPD as encompassing both pre-service and in-service education.
Effective professional development is ongoing; includes training, practice, and feedback; and provides adequate time and follow-up support. Successful programs involve teachers in learning activities that are like ones they will use with their students and encourage the development of teachers’ learning communities. There is growing interest in developing schools as learning organizations, and in ways for teachers to share their expertise and experience more systematically.
The concept of effective TPD for teachers is to secure and maintain a high-quality teacher workforce (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] 2005). This definition, which emphasizes the effectiveness of TPD—viewing it from a more holistic point of view—stems from recognizing teaching as a profession. As professionals, teachers need TPD to continuously supplement their lack of expertise; develop competencies to respond to changes in the times, social situations, or school environment; and effectively solve various and complex problems arising in the education field. As demands for deeper and more complex student learning have intensified, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers have begun to think more systematically about how to improve teachers’ learning; from recruitment, preparation, and support, to mentoring and other leadership opportunities (Darling-Hammond et al. 2017).
The idea of teachers as professionals could also be associated with the “practitioner teacher,” referring to the skills, attitudes, and practices that are necessary to the profession to provide services at a certain qualitative level. Teachers’ professional practice means the ability to translate professional knowledge into practice (Manasia et al. 2020). More specifically, it refers to setting goals and objectives, designing effective instructional strategies, designing evaluation and assessment tools, using feedback functions, and creating simulative learning environments that foster self-regulated learning and meet the individual needs of students.

The Importance of In-Service Teacher Professional Development

Many countries around the world stipulate through legislation and education policies the basic requirements that must be met to enter the teaching profession. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) policy development guide on teachers recommends minimum requirements to go in teaching training, as well as relevant curriculum content and practicum periods leading to qualification (UNESCO 2015b). Although standards and requirements may vary from country to country, in general, the completion of a so-called “prescribed teacher training program” is a major requirement for obtaining a teaching qualification.
The programs typically consist of a blend of theoretical knowledge about teaching and a field-based practice experience (United States Agency for International Development [USAID] 2011), which are regarded as building blocks for career-long professional development. The curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment processes of pre-service programs need to be aligned with professional standards for teachers, based on specific requirements of a given country. USAID (2011) suggests elements that a successful pre-service teacher education may exhibit as follows:
(i)
personal and professional growth as a teacher;
(ii)
pedagogical content knowledge;
(iii)
content knowledge;
(iv)
classroom management;
(v)
assessment (learners’ achievement and progress through formative and summative assessment);
(vi)
addressing special needs and challenges;
(vii)
child development and emotional and psychological support;
(viii)
professional collaboration;
(ix)
community engagement;
(x)
developing a working repertoire of techniques of assessing students’ learning;
(xi)
action research; and
(xii)
working within a system of education.
Good quality pre-service education for teachers is not enough to meet the numerous challenges that teachers face throughout their teaching life. The initial teacher education programs cannot provide them with all the competencies that are required in the actual classroom. The expectation for today’s teachers is to embrace lifelong learning to be able to constantly adapt to new situations and respond to the changing demands of society in the classroom. Moreover, teachers provided with TPD opportunities commonly strengthened their job commitment and satisfaction, having positive effects over attrition and turnover (Bautista and Ortega-Ruiz 2015).
OECD has continuously stressed that initial training programs are not sufficient to cope with the changes and challenges of the globalization process, which underlines the necessity of a lifelong learning approach for the teaching profession (OECD 2005). UNESCO also highlights that to respond to the challenges in education in the 21st century, teacher education should coherently provide initial and in-service training (UNESCO/ILO/UNICEF/UNDP/EL 2018). There is global consensus that initial teacher training should be linked to continuous training.
To help students develop diverse cognitive and affective competencies required to survive in the complex future society, in-service teachers should also be given high quality and sufficient opportunities to learn and refine their own competencies. Various countries have established teacher training policies for the TPD of teachers, and accordingly, efforts have been made to develop teachers’ competencies for teaching.
TPD is emphasized in education policy because the change in education can be made by various factors, but among them, the role of the teacher—who leads education in schools—is substantial. Since the development of teachers is a key issue of interest to cross-national organizations, beginning in 2008, a Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)—sponsored by OECD—is now conducted every 3 years. In 2018, 48 countries from around the world participated in the survey, including 30 OECD member countries such as Finland, France, the Republic of Korea, and the United States (US), as well as non-OECD member countries such as Kazakhstan, Romania, and Viet Nam. TALIS aims to contribute to the debate about teaching as a profession. In its latest cycle in 2018, the TALIS survey selected nine main themes for inclusion. Among those, teacher instructional practices, teacher professional practices, teacher education and initial preparation, teacher feedback and development, and teacher self-efficacy are those closely related to teacher TPD.
Good TPD matters for the following reasons (Garcia and Weiss 2019):
Teachers pursue professional development opportunities to earn a master’s degree, credit toward recertification or other credentials, or to gain additional qualifications to prepare for a leadership position.
(i)
TPD helps teachers develop new knowledge and skills to better serve their students. This includes helping teachers update their instructional techniques in response to new research on learning and teaching processes, and to adjust to the needs of a more diverse student body.
(ii)
Evidence-driven public policies have identified TPD as a key component in building systems of professional learning.
(iii)
Early career support helps new teachers transition successfully from teacher training programs to being in a classroom, and continuous training helps veteran teachers adapt to changes in what they need to teach and test—and in how they need to teach and test—to accommodate changes in local and national standards.
(iv)
TPD opportunities nurture a culture of learning schoolwide: (i) teachers and staff routinely develop their knowledge and skills, (ii) students see that learning is important and useful, (iii) teachers feel more respected, and (iv) teachers see ways to progress in their careers.
(v)
Intense early support, continuous training, and professional development are recommended and are the norm in the most highly regarded systems where teaching is a prestigious and sought-after profession.
Because teachers are the primary agents in enacting any of the initiatives within the classroom, the provision of relevant TPD is a major engine for the improvement of both teacher competency and student academic success (Darling-Hammond et al. 2010). It has been pointed out that existing TPD programs did not account for years of teaching experience, leading some to argue that different types of programs need to be formed according to the teaching experience (Louws et al. 2017). For example, learning requirements for early career teachers could relate to concerns they experience in practice. Mid-career teachers could be supported with growth opportunities in curriculum and instruction and broader responsibilities in their job. Late-career teachers need learning opportunities about new developments such as technological innovations. By inquiring after teachers’ learning needs and differentiating learning opportunities, a school leader or other facilitator of teacher learning is better able to support individual teacher learning and provide teachers with opportunities that match their needs.

Challenges of Teacher Policy in Developing Countries

According to the 2019 Global Partnership for Education report, the major challenges that many developing countries face in supporting teacher development include:
(i)
weak subject c...

Table of contents