This document discusses contemporary perspectives on continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers. It makes three key points:
1. CPD is important for improving teacher quality and student outcomes. Effective CPD addresses the needs of individual teachers, schools, and most importantly, students. It involves collaborative learning opportunities like lesson studies.
2. Contemporary views see CPD as an ongoing process that gives teachers ownership, is grounded in the classroom context, and involves reflection and collaboration. Options include action research, reading groups, and communities of practice.
3. The scope of CPD has expanded beyond methods to include knowledge, beliefs, assessment, and self-directed learning skills. CPD should address teachers' varying competence levels
FULL TEXT freely available at http://doc.rero.ch/record/210109
Technologies are changing the world around us, and education is not immune from its influence: the field of teaching and learning supported by the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), also known as Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), has witnessed a huge expansion in recent years.
This wide adoption happened thanks to the massive diffusion of broadband connections and to the pervasive needs for education, highly connected to the evolution in sciences and technologies.
Therefore, it has pushed up the usage of online education (distance and blended methodologies for educational experiences) to, even in lately years, unexpected rates.
Alongside with the well known potentialities, digital-based educational tools come with a number of downsides, such as possible disengagement on the part of the learner, absence of the social pressures that normally exist in a classroom environment, difficulty or even inability from the learners to self-regulate and, last but not least, depletion of the stimulus to actively participate and cooperate with lectures and peers.
These difficulties impact the teaching process and the outcomes of the educational experience (i.e. learning process), being a serious limit and questioning the broader applicability of TEL solutions.
To overcome these issues, there is a need of tools to support the learning process.
In the literature, one of the known approach to improve the situation is to rely on a user profile, that collects data during the use of the eLearning platforms or tool. The created profile can be used to adapt the behaviour and the contents proposed to the learner. On top of this model, some researches stressed the positive effects stimulated by the disclosure of the model itself for inspection purposes by the learner. This disclosed model is known as Open Learner Model (OLM).
The idea of opening learners' profile and eventually integrate them with external on-line resources is not new and it has the ultimate goal of creating global and long-run indicators of the learner's profile.
Also the representation aspect of the learner model plays a role, moving from the more traditional approach based on the textual and analytic/extensive representation to the graphical indicators that are able to summarise and to present one or more of the model characteristics in a way that is considered more effective and natural for the user consumption.
Relying on the same learner models, and stressing the different aggregation and representation capabilities, it is possible to either support self-reflection of the learner or to foster the tutoring process to allow proper supervision by the tutor/teacher. Both the objectives can be reached through the graphical representation of the relevant information, presented in different ways.
... CONTINUES ...
FULL TEXT freely available at http://doc.rero.ch/record/210109
Technologies are changing the world around us, and education is not immune from its influence: the field of teaching and learning supported by the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), also known as Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), has witnessed a huge expansion in recent years.
This wide adoption happened thanks to the massive diffusion of broadband connections and to the pervasive needs for education, highly connected to the evolution in sciences and technologies.
Therefore, it has pushed up the usage of online education (distance and blended methodologies for educational experiences) to, even in lately years, unexpected rates.
Alongside with the well known potentialities, digital-based educational tools come with a number of downsides, such as possible disengagement on the part of the learner, absence of the social pressures that normally exist in a classroom environment, difficulty or even inability from the learners to self-regulate and, last but not least, depletion of the stimulus to actively participate and cooperate with lectures and peers.
These difficulties impact the teaching process and the outcomes of the educational experience (i.e. learning process), being a serious limit and questioning the broader applicability of TEL solutions.
To overcome these issues, there is a need of tools to support the learning process.
In the literature, one of the known approach to improve the situation is to rely on a user profile, that collects data during the use of the eLearning platforms or tool. The created profile can be used to adapt the behaviour and the contents proposed to the learner. On top of this model, some researches stressed the positive effects stimulated by the disclosure of the model itself for inspection purposes by the learner. This disclosed model is known as Open Learner Model (OLM).
The idea of opening learners' profile and eventually integrate them with external on-line resources is not new and it has the ultimate goal of creating global and long-run indicators of the learner's profile.
Also the representation aspect of the learner model plays a role, moving from the more traditional approach based on the textual and analytic/extensive representation to the graphical indicators that are able to summarise and to present one or more of the model characteristics in a way that is considered more effective and natural for the user consumption.
Relying on the same learner models, and stressing the different aggregation and representation capabilities, it is possible to either support self-reflection of the learner or to foster the tutoring process to allow proper supervision by the tutor/teacher. Both the objectives can be reached through the graphical representation of the relevant information, presented in different ways.
... CONTINUES ...
Innovative approaches like team teaching & blended learning helps the students to involve themselves as active participants in teaching learning Process.
Learn more about how educators are using social networking to communicate and collaborate. Get an overview of the latest research and learn about ways educators are using edWeb.net for professional development.
G N Wikramanayake (2003) e-Learning: Changes in Teaching and Learning Styles In:22nd National Information Technology Confere 118-124 Computer Society of Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka: CSSL Jul 3-4, ISBN: 955-9155-11-3
Building Performance and Global Excellence in Independent and International S...Fiona McVitie
Operating within an increasingly competitive international education landscape, institutions and schools are striving to deliver greater value and better quality education as a priority. Private and international schools need to develop a culture of deliberate, targeted and intentional school improvement to ensure continuous and sustainable progress is made. Dr Phil Cummins will share effective techniques and tips on managing and lifting performance for your school. This practical and interactive session will cover:
• Defining performance: Context, concepts, frameworks, processes
• Understanding individual performance: Appraisal, evaluation, feedback, goal-setting
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• Building whole school performance: Managing organisational change and learning
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These modules provide micro-enterprise owners with a sound understanding of the basics in relation to e-didactics, quality criteria of peer-learning, evaluation of online learning resources and online learning environments, producing quality learning resources for peers and other knowledge that has helped them to become competent and confident online peer-educators. This module is entitled ‘Criteria of Peer Learning’ and provides content which relates to peer learning and offers an introduction to peer learning models.
These slides are available in English, Finnish, German, Greek, Italian and Romanian.
Innovative approaches like team teaching & blended learning helps the students to involve themselves as active participants in teaching learning Process.
Learn more about how educators are using social networking to communicate and collaborate. Get an overview of the latest research and learn about ways educators are using edWeb.net for professional development.
G N Wikramanayake (2003) e-Learning: Changes in Teaching and Learning Styles In:22nd National Information Technology Confere 118-124 Computer Society of Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka: CSSL Jul 3-4, ISBN: 955-9155-11-3
Building Performance and Global Excellence in Independent and International S...Fiona McVitie
Operating within an increasingly competitive international education landscape, institutions and schools are striving to deliver greater value and better quality education as a priority. Private and international schools need to develop a culture of deliberate, targeted and intentional school improvement to ensure continuous and sustainable progress is made. Dr Phil Cummins will share effective techniques and tips on managing and lifting performance for your school. This practical and interactive session will cover:
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• Understanding individual performance: Appraisal, evaluation, feedback, goal-setting
• Building individual and team performance: Coaching for success
• Building whole school performance: Managing organisational change and learning
Coaching and mentoring model based on teachers’ professional development for ...Manit Asanok
The study aims to develop coaching and mentoring model, study the usage findings in the model and to evaluate the activity management in the model by surveying 100 participant teachers’ opinion, under jurisdiction of the office of Mah Sarakham Primary Educational Service Area 1, Thailand. The model consisted of 3 steps and 4 phases including planning, process for development consisted of 4 phases including: training for coaching and mentoring (C&M), sharing and learning together, coaching and mentoring. In Phase 1, half of the teachers obtained comprehensive content, while in Phase 2, the teachers still lacked confidence in constructing the C&M system as well as professional learning community (PLC). They had anxiety in constructing the video and wanted to develop this skill. In phase 3 after follow up, the teachers had higher confidence. They had good attitude towards the construction for PLC, and were able to make plan in applying the C&M system in the classroom. In addition, they were train on how to use the program. The teachers shared their teaching experience as well as showed group leadership skills and shared value and vision in developing their teaching competency. Phase 4 found that there was propriety in teachers’ teaching competency in all of 4 dimensions including the classroom management, the knowledge, the teaching method, and the diagnosis.
SYNERGY Induction to Pedagogy Programme - Criteria of Peer Learning (ENGLISH)Sarah Land
The SYNERGY Induction to Pedagogy programme was created by project partners, with the aim of helping micro-enterprise owners using the SYNERGY Exchange platform, to engage in peer-to-peer learning opportunities. This training programme comprises six modules and is delivered over 5 hours through a series of video lectures and PowerPoints which have been written, developed and recorded by project partners.
These modules provide micro-enterprise owners with a sound understanding of the basics in relation to e-didactics, quality criteria of peer-learning, evaluation of online learning resources and online learning environments, producing quality learning resources for peers and other knowledge that has helped them to become competent and confident online peer-educators. This module is entitled ‘Criteria of Peer Learning’ and provides content which relates to peer learning and offers an introduction to peer learning models.
These slides are available in English, Finnish, German, Greek, Italian and Romanian.
Week 5 - Weekly LectureWeek Five LectureImplementation .docxmelbruce90096
Week 5 - Weekly Lecture
Week Five Lecture
Implementation
In previous weeks, you learned how to conduct an effective training needs assessment and initial steps of designing training, especially designing outcome-oriented learning objectives that become the road map for the next phases of training. You read the Domtar case and how Raymond Royer, the CEO, took initiative to develop employees; how he focused on developing strategic direction and specific goals that focused on (a) return on investment and (b) customer service. You also learned about appropriate training methods selection in the design and development phases.
The delivery methods and implementation of training are critical for the success of training in terms of employees’ engagement and motivation to learn. It is important to understand individuals’ learning styles to decide what methods are appropriate for a particular group of learners. To be more effective, training should include multiple training methods (e.g. lectures, brain storming, group work, discussions, role play, case analysis, simulations and games) and activities to motivate learners who have different types of learning styles, preferences, learning goals and personal expectations. Learner engagement is the key to learning. There are various methods you can use to engage and motivate learners for better results, such as role play, discussion, on-the-job training, simulation, self-directed learning, business games, case studies, team work, behavior modeling, etc.
Styles of Learning
People have different styles of learning. These learning styles help them to acquire new information and knowledge. There are many different learning styles but for simplicity they can be broken down into four major categories.
Watch these videos on Adult Learning Styles.
4MAT 4Business. (2010, July 15). Three things every trainer should know about learning styles[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhqtaYy-mIs
KroofConsulting. (2013, October 7).Adult learning styles [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eT44OlGdLk
1. Written Word - Knowledge is acquired best through the written word. Reading is the preferred way of gaining knowledge.
2. Auditory - Listening to presented information and retaining the major portion of what has been heard.
3. Visual - Seeing pictures, diagrams, and illustrations enables the learner to grasp the concepts being presented.
4. Kinesthetic/Tactile - Involves touch and manipulative activities. Requires eye-hand-body coordination.
As you select a delivery method you need to keep in mind that by varying the methods you will be focusing on the different learning styles of your participants.
The outputs of the development phase serve as inputs to the implementation phase. The implementation phase’s output is the trainees’ response to training, the trainees’ learning, their behavior back on the job, and its effect on key organizational outcomes. These out.
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Reflect on a facilitated training session you experienced that affec.docxlaurieellan
Reflect on a facilitated training session you experienced that affected you either positively or negatively. Describe the methods, tools, or strategies from the session that you would like to emulate, if the experience was positive, or avoid, if the experience was negative. Analyze the facilitated session in terms of the characteristics of adult learning and effective facilitation that you have learned about in the course and course readings. Then, explain the role the training played in improving your individual performance and whether or not the learning objectives and design supported overall organizational improvement.
Your initial post should be 250 to 300 words. Use this week’s lecture as a foundation for your initial post. In addition to the Blanchard and Thacker (2013) text, use at least one additional scholarly source to support your discussion.
Week Lecture to use for information
Implementation
In previous weeks, you learned how to conduct an effective training needs assessment and initial steps of designing training, especially designing outcome-oriented learning objectives that become the road map for the next phases of training. You read the Domtar case and how Raymond Royer, the CEO, took initiative to develop employees; how he focused on developing strategic direction and specific goals that focused on (a) return on investment and (b) customer service. You also learned about appropriate training methods selection in the design and development phases.
The delivery methods and implementation of training are critical for the success of training in terms of employees’ engagement and motivation to learn. It is important to understand individuals’ learning styles to decide what methods are appropriate for a particular group of learners. To be more effective, training should include multiple training methods (e.g. lectures, brain storming, group work, discussions, role play, case analysis, simulations and games) and activities to motivate learners who have different types of learning styles, preferences, learning goals and personal expectations. Learner engagement is the key to learning. There are various methods you can use to engage and motivate learners for better results, such as role play, discussion, on-the-job training, simulation, self-directed learning, business games, case studies, team work, behavior modeling, etc.
Styles of Learning
People have different styles of learning. These learning styles help them to acquire new information and knowledge. There are many different learning styles but for simplicity they can be broken down into four major categories.
Watch these videos on Adult Learning Styles.
4MAT 4Business. (2010, July 15).
Three things every trainer should know about learning styles
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhqtaYy-mIs
KroofConsulting. (2013, October 7).
Adult learning styles
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eT44OlGdLk
Written Word
- Knowled.
Action research is more than a research as it opens the mind of a novice teacher to her practical world of learning and teaching & proves "One teaches two learn"
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2. 1 The importance of (continuing professional
development) CPD
‘An education system is only as good as its teachers’ (UNESCO, 2014: 9) and enhancing
teacher quality at all stages of a teacher’s career is thus a key factor in improving the
quality of learning that students receive. This paper focuses on professional learning for
practising teachers – what is widely known as continuing professional development (CPD)
– and discusses contemporary ideas about what it is and how to make it effective.
A widely cited definition of CPD is offered by Day:
‘…all natural learning experiences and those conscious and planned activities
which are intended to be of direct or indirect benefit to the individual, group
or school and which contribute through these to the quality of education in
the classroom. It is the process by which, alone and with others, teachers …
acquire and develop critically the knowledge, skills and emotional intelligence
essential to good professional thinking, planning and practice.’ (Day, 1999: 4).
This definition highlights several important elements of CPD: it is multifaceted
(addressing behaviours, knowledge, emotions, and thinking); it may occur naturally
(i.e. through workplace experience) or through planned activities (most discussions
of CPD focus on the latter); and its benefits extend from individuals to groups and
institutions, and ultimately to the quality of education in the classroom. This point about
the benefits of CPD is particularly important in current debates and it is increasingly
stressed that CPD should not only address teachers’ individual growth and fulfilment.
The development goals of institutions also need to be addressed through CPD, as do,
of course, student outcomes. In fact some commentators (see Earley and Porritt, 2014)
have argued that improving student outcomes is the primary purpose of CPD and that
students’ needs (rather than teachers’) should be the starting point in decisions about
the kinds of CPD that are pursued.
CPD is thus a critical element in successful educational systems, enhancing teacher
quality, organisational effectiveness and student outcomes.
Contemporary perspectives on continuing professional development2
3. 2 Contemporary views of CPD
CPD is often equated with talks, workshops and courses that teachers attend. While
such activities have a role to play in teacher development, much work has been carried
out internationally in recent years to extend established views of what CPD involves.
A number of important reviews have been carried out (for example, Broad and Evans,
2006; Orr et al., 2013; Timperley et al., 2008) through which key characteristics of
effective CPD have been identified. This literature (see Borg, 2015 for a more detailed
discussion) suggests that CPD can achieve positive and sustained impacts on teachers,
learners and organisations when:
• it is seen by teachers to be relevant to their needs and those of their students
• teachers are centrally involved in decisions about the content and process of CPD
• collaboration and the sharing of expertise among teachers is fostered
• CPD is a collective enterprise supported by schools and educational systems
more broadly
• expert internal and/or external support for teachers is available
• CPD is situated in schools and classrooms
• CPD is recognised as an integral part of teachers’ work
• inquiry and reflection are valued as central professional learning processes
• teachers are engaged in the examination and review of their beliefs
• student learning provides the motivation for professional learning
• CPD is seen as an ongoing process rather than a periodic event
• there is strategic leadership within schools.
Approaches to CPD which embody these characteristics are described variously as
being developmental, socio-constructivist or inquiry-based. They share a concern
for participatory, social, inquiry-driven and evidence-based professional learning
which is set in context, and where teachers are the key decision-makers (although
as noted above, appropriate expert support and leadership are also key contributors
to effective CPD).
What does this mean in practice? It suggests an approach to CPD which addresses the
needs of teachers, students and organisations, gives teachers choice and ownership,
enables them to learn with and from each another, grounds that learning in what happens
in the classroom, and also provides appropriate guidance and support. A number of
CPD options are available which reflect these characteristics, such as:
• various forms of self-study such as teacher research, action research, and
exploratory practice, through which teachers systematically investigate teaching
and learning in their classrooms
• lesson study, which involves repeated cycles of collaborative lesson planning,
teaching and reflection
• reading groups, where teachers meet regularly to discuss something they have
read and which is relevant to their teaching
Contemporary perspectives on continuing professional development3
4. • reflection groups, where teachers meet to share experiences of teaching and to
examine evidence from their lessons (such as video recordings of teaching or
examples of student work)
• peer observation, where teachers work in pairs, visit one another’s lessons and
afterwards discuss these (in a constructive manner and without formal evaluation)
• professional learning communities, through which groups of teachers meet
regularly to examine critical issues in their schools and classrooms
• curriculum study groups, where teachers collaborate to examine in detail and
further their own understandings of a particular area of the curriculum they teach
• collaborative materials writing, where teachers work together to design units of
material for particular groups of learners
• mentoring schemes, through which appropriately-skilled more experienced
teachers support the development of those with less experience and expertise
• personal learning networks, where professional development is pursued through
interactions via social media.
It is important to stress that these options supplement and enhance, not eradicate,
conventional approaches to CPD such as courses and workshops; there is in fact
evidence that workshops that alternate with opportunities to experiment in the
classroom can be effective in promoting change in teaching – see Orr et al. (2013)
– and many action research schemes and reflective programmes adopt such a model.
The key issue in these cases, though, is that the workshop is one part of a broader
extended CPD strategy rather than the sole one-shot vehicle for professional learning.
A second point to stress here is that there are no templates for CPD that guarantee
universal success – contextual variability means that what works in one context may
be less effective in another. Thus while we can talk in global terms about ways of
enhancing CPD, the implementation of any CPD strategy will always to a certain extent
need to be localised. In other words, just because a decision is made to promote
CPD through action research or lesson study, this does not mean that effective
professional learning will follow. CPD options need to be chosen and implemented
with careful attention both to teachers’ prior experience, knowledge and beliefs and
to the characteristics of the educational systems in which teachers work.
Overall, though, many practical options are now available for making CPD a social,
ongoing, in context and inquiry-driven process which can contribute effectively to
the growth of teachers, students and organisations.
Contemporary perspectives on continuing professional development4
5. 3 The scope of CPD
Conventional approaches to CPD have tended to address a limited range of themes
relevant to teaching and learning, often in relation to practical methodological issues
(e.g. teaching reading, using technology, classroom management). Practical know-how
of this kind is clearly a fundamental teacher attribute. However, we know that developing
as an effective teacher involves much more than methodological skill and the scope of
CPD has grown to reflect a more contemporary multi-faceted notion of professional
practice. Thus, in addition to practical classroom skills, CPD can address, to give just a
few examples, subject matter knowledge, a knowledge of learners and learning, materials
design, assessment literacy, affective issues such as teachers’ beliefs, motivation and
confidence, and qualities for self-directed learning such as collaboration, networking,
reflection and inquiry. When decisions are being made, then, about the focus of CPD,
it is important to think broadly about the range of issues that might be addressed. And
irrespective of the issues that CPD focuses on, of course, it is important, as discussed
above, that teachers engage with these issues in a manner that involves reflection,
inquiry, the sharing of expertise, and a concern for student outcomes.
Current perspectives on CPD have also moved away from the idea that teachers
can be easily characterised using labels (such as ‘developing’ or ‘proficient’) which
define their level of competence in a unitary manner. Because teacher knowledge is
multi-faceted, the same teacher will have varying levels of competence in relation to
different areas of professional practice; for example, a teacher may have a deep
theoretical and practical understanding of teaching speaking, but have no awareness
of assessment for learning and how to implement it. Another teacher may have
excellent formal knowledge of language systems but low confidence in their target
language oral proficiency. These variations suggest that a productive approach to
CPD will support teachers in identifying (ideally with reference to classroom practice
and student learning) those specific areas of professional practice where development
is required and work with teachers to identify and implement appropriate strategies
for supporting such development.
Contemporary perspectives on continuing professional development5
6. 4 References
Borg, S (2015) Researching language teacher education in Paltridge, B and
Phakiti, A (eds), The Continuum companion to research methods in applied linguistics
(Second ed., pp. 541–560). London: Bloomsbury.
Broad, K and Evans, M (2006) A review of literature on professional development
content and delivery modes for experienced teachers. Toronto: Canadian Ministry
of Education.
Day, C (1999) Developing teachers: The challenges of lifelong learning. London:
Falmer Press.
Earley, P and Porritt, V (2014) Evaluating the impact of professional development:
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