Different Ways of Researching and Reflecting on Professional Development

Issue 2 of Volume 42 of the Association’s flagship journal is now available on-line.

Edited by Associate Editor, Dr Sue Swaffield of the University of Cambridge, UK.

The editorial draws attention to the fact that the articles in the issue cover a wide geographical spread, use a variety of methodological approaches and research designs, consider different aspects of professional development, and whose focus range from national policy to individual teachers. Given this eclectic mix there is likely to be something that immediately resonates with any reader, yet the novel brings the pleasure of discovery and the stimulation of learning something completely new. Engaging with the unfamiliar also aids reflection on the familiar, triggering insights into ‘home territory’.

In pointing to the de-professionalisation of teacher professionalism, Girmaw Abebe Akalu’s
critical discourse analysis of Ethiopia’s national policy framework for teachers’ professional development has near universal applicability, as well as being of interest from humanitarian and self-interest perspectives. Michael A. Owens and colleagues evaluate a state policy for job-embedded professional development that applies not only to teachers but also to school administrators, support staff and paraprofessionals. Lorraine Thomas studied the short-lived Master’s in Teaching and Learning in England and found both support and some concerns for the aspiration of a master’s level profession. The next two articles are concerned with professional development supported by online communities, and Margarida Morais Marques’ and colleagues’ case study of the dynamics of a Portuguese online community of practice also has a useful summary of communities of practice stages of development. Hanna Teräs constructed a three-act structured story about the professional journey of each of seven teachers, providing examples of significant professional growth through experiencing difficulty. The remaining four articles are all concerned with the professional development of classroom teachers. Trudy Belinda Ambler studied the professional learning of six primary school teachers in Australia. Lyn McDonald conducted and researched the outcome of an intervention designed to help teachers in New Zealand employ practices associated with high expectations of their pupils. Hansen-Thomas et al. used a questionnaire to ascertain the challenges 159 teachers in rural north Texas experienced with English language learners. Finally, Jan A. Yow and Christine Lotter studied 16 mathematics and science teachers’ development as teacher leaders through carefully structured professional development involving an inquiry-based summer institute, follow-up workshops and in-school support.

All ipda members will receive their personal print copy of 42.2 by post shortly.

42.2 CONTENTS

Editorial:

Different ways of researching and reflecting on professional development
Sue Swaffield

Articles:

Interrogating the continuing professional development policy framework in Ethiopia: a critical discourse analysis
Girmaw Abebe Akalu

Job-embedded professional development policy in Michigan: can it be successful?
Michael A. Owens, Ben Pogodzinski & William E. Hill

Aspirations for a master’s-level teaching profession in England
Lorraine Thomas

The dynamics of an online community of practice involving teachers and researchers
Margarida Morais Marques, Maria João Loureiro & Luís Marques

Collaborative online professional development for teachers in higher education
Hanna Teräs

The day-to-day work of primary school teachers: a source of professional learning
Trudy Belinda Ambler

Teaching high-expectation strategies to teachers through an intervention process
Lyn McDonald, Annaline Flint, Christine M. Rubie-Davies, Elizabeth R. Peterson, Penny Watson & Lynda Garrett

I do not feel I am properly trained to help them! Rural teachers’ perceptions of challenges and needs with English-language learners
Holly Hansen-Thomas, Liliana Grosso Richins, Kanika Kakkar & Christine Okeyo

Teacher learning in a mathematics and science inquiry professional development program: first steps in emergent teacher leadership
Jan A. Yow & Christine Lotter

Posted by Dr Sue Swaffield, Associate Editor , Professional Development in Education

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