Teachers' Views on Innovative Processes in Schools of Latvia

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Davidova ◽  
Irēna Kokina
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Evolutionary Model ◽  
Innovative Activity ◽  
Creative Person ◽  
Systematic Professional Development ◽  
Individual Style

Teachers' Views on Innovative Processes in Schools of LatviaOrienting society toward sustainable development is impossible without the development of a teacher into a creative person with his/her individual style of activity and thinking. This cannot be achieved without a continuous and systematic professional development that promotes innovation. Great hopes are placed on innovations, they are considered to be a reliable driving force for development. The research emphasizes the importance of identifying what teachers think about innovations in education and their own position in relation to innovative activity. Evolutionary Model, Innovative Milieu Model, and Propulsion Model of Creative Contributions can be applied within a context of presented study. Eight teachers (four teachers with a student/learning-centred orientation towards teaching and four teachers with content-centred orientation towards teaching), who worked at different schools, were interviewed in October and November 2006. Ettlie and O'Keefe's scale of attitude to innovations was used as the basis during the interview. The research revealed the most important factors hampering teachers' motivation for innovative activity and pedagogical regularities and criteria for stimulating innovations.

Under a growth-centered accountability system: A job demand and resource perspective for physical educators

2021 ◽  
pp. 1356336X2110031
Author(s):  
Tan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Job Demands ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Physical Educators ◽  
Teacher Accountability ◽  
Accountability System ◽  
Sampling Procedures

The purpose of this study was to reveal the work life of physical educators who were experiencing a teacher accountability system in the US. A combination of stratified and purposeful sampling procedures was adopted to select a sample of schools that served communities with various socioeconomic backgrounds. The schools were recently incorporated in a state teacher accountability system that used student learning growth for teacher evaluation. A group of 51 certified physical educators was selected from the sampled schools. Data were collected from three sources: an online survey, in-school observations, and semi-structured interviews. The survey and observations cross-validated data related to job description, workload, general working environment, and demographic information. The interviews detailed the teachers’ accounts about their work life, perceptions of the job demands, and resources under the teacher accountability system. Inductive analysis revealed that the lack of critical job resources, especially curricular supports, equipment, and professional development, limited the teachers from promoting student learning that the teacher accountability system required. Teachers were subjected to immense job demands, specifically a large body of content knowledge to teach with shrinking instruction time and ambiguous role. They also felt pressured to incorporate reading, writing, and mathematics in physical education lessons with little or no curricular support. For teachers to teach physical education successfully in this accountability context, systemic changes are needed to provide teachers with adequate professional development and curricular resources to promote learning in physical education.

scholarly journals Systematic Review of Education for Sustainable Development at an Early Stage: Cornerstones and Pedagogical Approaches for Teacher Professional Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martín Bascopé ◽  
Paolo Perasso ◽  
Kristina Reiss
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Expert Committee ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

During recent decades, education for sustainable development (ESD) has been under the scope of the international community, but research in ESD for early childhood education (ECE) is still scarce. This article proposes a procedural framework for the implementation of teacher professional development opportunities in the area. During the first phase, we undertook a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles on ESD for ECE (n = 30). After an expert committee revision of the articles reviewed, three cornerstones (scientific action-integrated, community-based and value-oriented scopes) and three sets of suitable pedagogical approaches (art-based, outdoor-based and project-problem-based) were identified. The review was enhanced by an unsystematic review of articles (n = 26) that specifically referred to the cornerstones and approaches. Finally, a double-blind expert coding and categorization of the articles (n = 56) was performed in order to validate the results. Focusing on guidelines and approaches, different examples found in the literature are presented. This review offers a useful framework to understand and practice ESD in ECE. Unlike previous reviews, it has a practical scope to foster innovative teacher professional development opportunities, inspire teachers and inform policy makers. We conclude with some common challenges and the needs for educational systems to foster science-based citizenship education towards sustainable development in a practical way, fostering agency from an early stage to transform local context, creating global awareness of the environmental, social and economic challenges of the 21st century.

Competence-Oriented Models of Professional Development of Specialists in the Context of Sustainable Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Viktoriia V. Sydorenko ◽  
Alla B. Popova ◽  
Nataliia L. Rehesha ◽  
Oksana O. Sinenko ◽  
Olha I. Trynko
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Innovative Teaching ◽  
National Education ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
National Education System ◽  
Professional Development Of Teachers ◽  
Professional Self

The article thoroughly describes the competency-oriented models of professional self-improvement and self-realization of teachers in terms of sustainable development. The educational and methodical support of professional development of teachers for lifelong learning through formal, non-formal and informal education according to innovative competence-oriented models of professional development has been developed and experimentally tested. The results of the study can be used in the process of modernization of the national education system, in particular in the activities of educational and methodological centers of vocational education in the development of curricula, educational programs, qualification requirements for professional activities of teachers, innovative teaching and methodological support.

scholarly journals THE PECULIARITIES OF ENHANCING PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LECTURERS IN THE USA

2021 ◽  
pp. 12-20
Author(s):  
Жанна Баб’як ◽  
Наталія Щур
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Smart Goals ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Individual

The article deals with studying the American experience of educator professional development. To carry out this research the following methods have been applied: content analysis, systematization and theoretical generalization of scientific literature, standards, technical assistance documents and samples of the individual professional development plan (IPDP) for educators. Having conducted the research, the following results and conclusions have been drawn. The primary goal for professional learning is to help educators develop and apply the knowledge and skills necessary to help students to learn foreign languages more effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the planning and designing of professional learning include defining the SMART goals of professional learning drawn from analysis of student and educator learning needs, which are determined by examining data on student learning outcomes. To achieve these goals those who are responsible for professional learning should select the appropriate job-embedded and external forms of professional learning, which allow the educators to satisfy student learning needs, bridge the knowing-doing gap and integrating new ideas and skills into practice. An IPDP is a tool serving as a guide for the professional learning. IPDP enables educators to chart their goals and to plan learning activities that improve their competencies in order to enhance their students’ performance. Completing the IPDP includes setting the goals based on student learning needs, deciding on the professional methods/strategies, tapping possible resources, setting the time-frame, identifying success indicators. After having been accomplished, the IPDP is evaluated by the person in charge. Evaluation of professional learning provides the opportunity to monitor the process of embedding the new learning into practices by observing and assessing changes in educator practice and increases in student learning.

Enhancing Student-Driven Learning Strategies by Examining the Faculty Conceptions of Teaching

2017 ◽  
pp. 300-317
Author(s):  
Despina Varnava Marouchou
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Level Of Detail ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Conceptions Of Teaching

Despite the extensive interest demonstrated by academics and policy makers, and the vast amount of information written, during the past twenty years or so, in the area of student learning, very little of what has been written has been transformed into solid policies and practices, “the discourse advocates for learning, but seldom gets down to the level of detail” (Weimer 2002, p. xii). By making instructors aware of their own conceptions of teaching they will be informed of how such conceptions influence their teaching practices. Thus, a critical examination of the conceptions of teaching can initiate adjustments directed towards a reform-based perspective, leading to student driven learning strategies. In this chapter the findings of the conceptions of teaching identified by a group of lecturers in a small university are discussed, secondly, the possibility of a relation between the lecturers' conceptions of teaching and student-driven learning strategies are outlined and thirdly, the importance of taking these issues into consideration, when exploring learning environments, learning outcomes, curriculum design and the professional development of academics.

You Had to be There

2010 ◽  
pp. 57-71
Author(s):  
Kevin O’Neill ◽  
Sheryl Guloy
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Classroom Observations ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Secondary Social Studies

This chapter makes the case that to fully realize the potential of telementoring for supporting student learning in P-12 schools, teachers and program developers should invest effort in a practice that they traditionally have not – routine observations of how telementoring programs play out in classrooms. Using observational data from a pilot program for secondary social studies called “Compassionate Canada?” we illustrate how classroom observations can enable program designers to ask better questions about how a program is working, and why. We also discuss contributions that classroom observations may enable teacher to make to program refinement and professional development.

From Pixels to Picture

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Erich Sneller
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Student Feedback ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Immense Potential

This chapter addresses a framework and the associated methods by which curious teachers can grow their leadership in their classrooms, schools, and communities. In particular, attention to teachers' professional development in the following areas are examined: teacher-generated student goals, clarity of student learning, soliciting student feedback, and well-being practices for teachers. When these areas are at the center of a teacher and a school's decision-making process, students' academic achievement, personal health, and prosocial behavior have immense potential to improve.

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