WorldWideScience

Sample records for school teachers developed

  1. Program Development for Primary School Teachers' Critical Thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boonjeam, Waraporn; Tesaputa, Kowat; Sri-ampai, Anan

    2017-01-01

    The objectives of this research were: 1) to study the elements and indicators of primary school teachers' critical thinking, 2) to study current situation, desirable situation, development technique, and need for developing the primary school teachers' critical thinking, 3) to develop the program for developing the primary school teachers'…

  2. Developing teacher leadership and its impact in schools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Snoek, M.

    2014-01-01

    Leadership of teachers is considered as one of the key factors for innovation and quality improvement in schools. However, as leadership qualities are not a standard element in initial teacher education programs, arrangements for professional development of teachers in schools needs to address the

  3. Professional Development Urban Schools: What Do Teachers Say?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Tanya R.; Allen, Mishaleen

    2015-01-01

    This quantitative causal-comparative study compared perceptions of professional development opportunities between high-achieving and low-achieving elementary-middle school teachers in an urban school district using the Standards Assessment Inventory (SAI). A total of 271 teachers participated including 134 (n = 134) teachers from high-achieving…

  4. Developing Inclusive Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Education: Insights from Zanzibar Primary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juma, Said; Lehtomäki, Elina; Naukkarinen, Aimo

    2017-01-01

    Developing inclusive teacher education to improve learning and schooling for all children is attracting increasing interest worldwide. This study examined teachers' insights into the development of inclusive teacher education by drawing on collaborative action research conducted by 20 primary school teachers in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The data were…

  5. Teachers' Experience from a School-Based Collaborative Teacher Professional Development Programme: Reported Impact on Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svendsen, Bodil

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to find out how science teachers who have participated in a one-year school-based collaborative teacher professional development programme, perceive the programme's impact on their professional development. Constant comparative analysis was used on data from three schools to generate the findings in this study. The…

  6. Teachers' Learning in School-Based Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Postholm, May Britt; Waege, Kjersti

    2016-01-01

    Background and purpose: Many researchers agree that teachers' learning processes are social and that teachers need to be brought together to learn from each other. Researchers have also stated that intellectual and pedagogical change requires professional development activities that take place over a period of time in school. The purpose of the…

  7. The Impact of Professional Development Schools on Teacher Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cosenza, Michael N.

    2010-01-01

    Although there is no common definition for teacher leadership, the concept is continually advanced as a key component for both the success of schools and professionalization of teachers. Studies have shown that teachers who feel empowered as leaders are more effective in the classroom. Professional development schools (PDSs) provide multiple…

  8. Teacher Characteristics and School-Based Professional Development in Inclusive STEM-focused High Schools: A Cross-case Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spillane, Nancy Kay

    Within successful Inclusive Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-focused High Schools (ISHSs), it is not only the students who are learning. Teachers, with diverse backgrounds, training, and experience, share and develop their knowledge through rich, embedded professional development to continuously shape their craft, improve their teaching, and support student success. This study of four exemplars of ISHSs (identified by experts in STEM education as highly successful in preparing students underrepresented in STEM for STEM majors in college and future STEM careers) provides a rich description of the relationships among the characteristics of STEM teachers, their professional development, and the school cultures that allow teachers to develop professionally and serve the needs of students. By providing a framework for the development of teaching staffs in ISHSs and contributing to the better understanding of STEM teaching in any school, this study offers valuable insight, implications, and information for states and school districts as they begin planning improvements to STEM education programs. A thorough examination of an existing data set that included site visits to four ISHSs along with pre- and post-visit data, provided the resource for this multiple case study with cross-case analysis of the teachers and their teacher professional development experiences. Administrators in these ISHSs had the autonomy to hire teachers with strong content backgrounds, philosophical alignment with the school missions, and a willingness to work collaboratively toward achieving the schools' goals. Ongoing teacher professional development began before school started and continued throughout the school day and year through intense and sustained, formal and informal, active learning experiences. Flexible professional development systems varied, but aligned with targeted school reforms and teacher and student needs. Importantly, collaborative teacher learning

  9. Teachers' professional development needs and current practices at the Alexander Science Center School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gargus, Gerald Vincent

    This investigation represents an in-depth understanding of teacher professional development at the Alexander Science Center School, a dependent charter museum school established through a partnership between the California Science Center and Los Angeles Unified School District. Three methods of data collection were used. A survey was distributed and collected from the school's teachers, resulting in a prioritized list of teacher professional development needs, as well as a summary of teachers' opinions about the school's existing professional development program. In addition, six key stakeholders in the school's professional development program were interviewed for the study. Finally, documents related to the school's professional development program were analyzed. Data collected from the interviews and documents were used to develop an understand various components of the Alexander Science Center School's professional development program. Teachers identified seven areas that had a high-priority for future professional development including developing skills far working with below-grade-level students, improving the analytical skills of student in mathematics, working with English Language Learners, improving students' overall reading ability levels, developing teachers' content-area knowledge for science, integrating science across the curriculum, and incorporating hands-on activity-based learning strategies to teach science. Professional development needs identified by Alexander Science Center School teachers were categorized based on their focus on content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, or curricular knowledge. Analysis of data collected through interviews and documents revealed that the Alexander Science Center School's professional development program consisted of six venues for providing professional development for teachers including weekly "banked time" sessions taking place within the standard school day, grade-level meetings, teacher support

  10. Harassment in workplace among school teachers: development of a survey

    OpenAIRE

    Russo, Andrea; Milić, Ranko; Knežević, Bojana; Mulić, Rosanda; Mustajbegović, Jadranka

    2008-01-01

    Aim To develop a questionnaire on harassment in the workplace among teachers at primary and secondary schools. Methods We analyzed the existing questionnaires on harassment in the workplace and developed a new one was to specifically address harassment of teachers in the public education sector. The questionnaire was then experimentally applied to a sample of 764 primary and secondary school teachers in Split Dalmatia County, Croatia. It included three scales –exposure to harassment,...

  11. Teachers' Professional Development in Schools: Rhetoric versus Reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gemeda, Fekede Tuli; Fiorucci, Massimiliano; Catarci, Marco

    2014-01-01

    Across the country of Ethiopia, a centrally planned and prescribed professional development programme was implemented in schools, with the intention of enhancing teachers' knowledge, skills and disposition, thereby improving student learning and achievement. This article explores and describes the lived experiences of teachers involved in…

  12. "School Banding": Principals' Perspectives of Teacher Professional Development in the School-Based Management Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Daphnee Hui Lin; Chiu, Chi Shing

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how principals' leadership approaches to teacher professional development arise from school banding and may impact upon teacher professional capital and student achievement. Design/methodology/approach: The case study is situated within the context of school-based management, comprising reflective…

  13. Personal Professional Development Efforts Scale for Middle School Mathematics Teachers: An Adaptation Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balbag, M. Zafer; Yenilmez, Kürsat; Turgut, Melih

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed at adapting the personal professional development efforts scale developed for science and technology teachers to be applied for middle school mathematics teachers. For this purpose, first of all, the items of the original scale were adjusted for the middle school mathematics teachers by a team of experts. Data obtained by the new…

  14. Professional Development of the Teachers from the Angle of School Managers

    OpenAIRE

    Mirascieva, Snezana

    2012-01-01

    The paper focuses on the problem of teachers' professional development and its relation to school management. The professional development of teachers is a common phrase that has actuality among educational experts. The role of the teacher in the development and progress of the community is determined by the teacher’s development. The teacher will monitor changes in the community, will apply new scientific knowledge, develop practice applying new teaching strategies and media depends on its d...

  15. The Influence of Teacher Education on Mentor Teachers' Role Perception in Professional Development Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klieger, Aviva; Oster-Levinz, Anat

    2015-01-01

    Apprenticeship and professional development schools (PDSs) are two models for teacher education. The mentors that are the focus for this research completed their initial teacher training through one of these models and now mentor in PDSs. The paper reports on how the way in which they were trained as student teachers influenced their role…

  16. Developing Competency of Teachers in Basic Education Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuayai, Rerngrit; Chansirisira, Pacharawit; Numnaphol, Kochaporn

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to develop competency of teachers in basic education schools. The research instruments included the semi-structured in-depth interview form, questionnaire, program developing competency, and evaluation competency form. The statistics used for data analysis were percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The research found that…

  17. Occupational Stress and Professional Development of Primary School Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mateja Modrej

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The occupation of primary school teachers is considered one of the most stressful professions. The survey was used to determine the incidence of stress in 110 primary school teachers in urban and rural schools in Slovenia, depending on seniority. Its aim was to learn about stress symptoms, stressful situations and strategies to manage stress among teachers. The results show that teachers evaluate their work as a very responsible one and in majority do not think about changing their job. Teachers most often perceive physical and emotional symptoms of stress. They are faced with stressful situations when working with pupils, at their professional work, and in relations with colleagues, school management, and parents. When difficulties arise in their work, teachers most often turn for help to a colleague or the school management; and they manage their stress by going for a walk and talking to their friends.

  18. Development of a Survey to Measure Self-Efficacy and Attitudes toward Web-Based Professional Development among Elementary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kao, Chia-Pin; Tsai, Chin-Chung; Shih, Meilun

    2014-01-01

    The major purpose of this study was to develop a survey to measure elementary school teachers' self-efficacy for web-based professional development. Based on interviews with eight elementary school teachers, three scales of web-based professional development self-efficacy (WPDSE) were formed, namely, general self-efficacy (measuring teachers'…

  19. The efficacy beliefs of preservice science teachers in professional development school and traditional school settings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newsome, Demetria Lynn

    Teachers' efficacy beliefs have been shown to correlate positively with to the successful implementation of science reform measures (National Research Council, 1996) and are context specific (Koul & Rubba, 1999). Studies on teacher efficacy in specific contexts have been conducted including the availability of resources and parent support (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2002), classroom management (Emmer & Hickman, 1990; Raudenbush, Rowen, & Cheong, 1992); and institutional climate and behavior of the principal (Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993). The purpose of this study was to compare the science teaching efficacy beliefs of teacher interns prepared in professional development schools with those of student teachers prepared in traditional school settings. Other variables examined included academic level, academic major, and area of science concentration. Preservice science teacher efficacy beliefs were measured using the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Instrument for Preservice Science Teachers, STEBI Form B (Enoch & Riggs, 1990) with demographic information being collected by an accompanying questionnaire. Analyses included scoring the surveys on two scales, Personal Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Scale and the Outcome Expectancy Scale, calculating descriptive statistics, as well as performing MANOVAS and correlations. Results indicate that preservice science teachers working in professional development schools exhibit higher personal science teaching efficacy beliefs. This finding corroborates previous studies on the efficacy beliefs of preservice teachers working in PDS schools (Long, 1996; Sandholtz & Dadlez, 2000). Results also show a strong correlation between the personal science teaching efficacy beliefs and the setting where student teaching takes place. In addition, significant differences were found in the personal science teaching efficacy beliefs between elementary education majors and science majors, science education majors, and secondary education majors

  20. Leadership for School-Based Teacher Professional Development: The Experience of a Chinese Preschool

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Pan; Ho, Dora

    2017-01-01

    In recent years, the role of school principals in providing leadership, and the impact of that leadership in promoting teacher professional development for building school capacity has attracted increasing attention worldwide. The study described in this paper explores the practices of leadership for promoting school-based teacher professional…

  1. Professional Development and Teacher Self-Efficacy: Learning from Indonesian Modern Islamic Boarding Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Azam Othman

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This study highlights teachers’ involvement in professional development (PD activities teachers in the Darussalam Modern Islamic Boarding School (DMIBS, East Java, Indonesia. It evaluates the implementation of PD programs by identifying teachers` perception toward PD they participated in. The study used a survey research approach to investigate professional development and the level of teacher`s self-efficacy at the boarding school. The majority of teachers have a high level of satisfaction toward the implementation of PD activities in DMIBS in terms of course content, instructor, relevancy to teaching practice and course management. Also, teachers reported that the school had given them an adequate opportunity to participate in different types of PD activities. However, the study did not find significant differences between the length of teaching experience and teachers’ academic qualifications in teachers` perceptions towards PD activities. Some studies found that teachers with higher levels of academic qualification, showed higher and increased levels of efficacy. However, the current study did not show similar results as teachers with degrees and DMIBS qualifications respectively showed no significant differences in their levels of efficacy. This indicates that having different academic qualifications did not affect the increase in teachers` efficacy.

  2. Predictors of Teacher Intervention in Indirect Bullying at School and Outcome of a Professional Development Presentation for Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dedousis-Wallace, Anna; Shute, Rosalyn; Varlow, Megan; Murrihy, Rachael; Kidman, Tony

    2014-01-01

    This study with 326 girls-school teachers developed and tested a model of predictors of the likelihood that teachers will intervene in indirect bullying, and evaluated a professional development presentation. Teachers responded to bullying vignettes before and after a presentation on indirect bullying (Experimentals) or adolescent mental health…

  3. Creating an In-School Pastoral System for Student Teachers in School-Based Initial Teacher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Philpott, Carey

    2015-01-01

    Recent developments in initial teacher education (ITE) have produced a number of school-centred models. These mean that student teachers may now spend more of their time in schools than has historically been the case. In some of these models, student teachers are more clearly part of the school as an institution than might be the case in more…

  4. Parent-Teacher Partnership and High School Students' Development in Mainland China: The Mediating Role of Teacher-Student Relationship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Linyuan; Zhou, Nan; Nie, Ruihong; Jin, Peipei; Yang, Mengxi; Fang, Xiaoyi

    2018-01-01

    Parent-teacher partnership is associated closely with adolescents' development. However, little is known about the association between parent-teacher partnership and Chinese high school students' development. Therefore, this study examines whether and how parent-teacher partnership (objective contacts and subjective relationship quality) relates…

  5. Development of the school organisational health questionnaire: a measure for assessing teacher morale and school organisational climate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hart, P M; Wearing, A J; Conn, M; Carter, N L; Dingle, R K

    2000-06-01

    A growing body of empirical evidence suggests that organisational factors are more important than classroom specific issues in determining teacher morale. Accordingly, it is necessary to have available measures that accurately assess morale, as well as the organisational factors that are likely to underpin the experience of morale. Three studies were conducted with the aim of developing a psychometrically sound questionnaire that could be used to assess teacher morale and various dimensions of school organisational climate. A total of 1,520 teachers from 18 primary and 26 secondary schools in the Australian state of Victoria agreed to participate in three separate studies (N = 615, 342 and 563 in Studies 1, 2 and 3, respectively) that were used to develop the questionnaire. The demographic profile of the teachers was similar to that found in the Department as a whole. All teaching staff in the participating schools were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire as part of the evaluation of an organisational development programme. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to establish the questionnaire's factor structure, and correlation analyses were used to examine the questionnaire's convergent and discriminant validity. The three studies resulted in the 54-item School Organisational Health Questionnaire that measures teacher morale and 11 separate dimensions of school organisational climate: appraisal and recognition, curriculum coordination, effective discipline policy, excessive work demands, goal congruence, participative decision-making, professional growth, professional interaction, role clarity, student orientation, and supportive leadership.

  6. Development of Questionnaire on Emotional Labor among Primary and Secondary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yanling; Zhang, Dajun

    2015-01-01

    In this study, based on the analysis of existing definitions of emotional labor, operational definition of teachers' emotional labor is given and questionnaire on emotional labor among primary and secondary school teachers is developed. Research results: exploratory factor analysis shows that teacher's emotional labor involves three dimensions…

  7. Collaborative Professional Development for Distributed Teacher Leadership towards School Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sales, Auxiliadora; Moliner, Lidón; Francisco Amat, Andrea

    2017-01-01

    Professional development that aims to build school change capacity requires spaces for collaborative action and reflection. These spaces should promote learning and foster skills for distributed leadership in managing school change. The present study analyses the case of the Seminar for Critical Citizenship (SCC) established by teachers of infant,…

  8. Teacher Professional Development for Technology Integration in a Primary School Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shih-Hsiung

    2013-01-01

    Teacher professional development (TPD) can benefit teachers in classrooms. This study contributes to an understanding of TPD processes where there is sufficient technology integration through teacher participation in a school-based community. It assesses the effectiveness of TPD and its potential problems. Qualitative research methods are used to…

  9. [Subtainable health promotion via organisational development--a model project for teachers in professional training schools].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schumacher, L; Nieskens, B; Bräuer, H; Sieland, B

    2005-02-01

    The goal of this project is the development, implementation and evaluation of a concept designed for sustainable health promotion among occupational and trade school teachers. We assume that for sustainable health promotion -- along with a behavioral prevention program -- a change is necessary in the structure, as well as, the working and communication processes within schools. The realization of early teacher participation and self regulated cooperative groups initiates comprehensive and goal-oriented developmental processes in the project schools. The organizational development process was accomplished in the following way: At the beginning we conducted a diagnosis of school-specific and individual health risks and the resources available to the project schools. The results were reported for both the individual and for the teacher group. This was intended to clarify the potential for improvement and, thus, strengthen the teachers' motivation toward processes of change. Following the diagnosis, the teachers chose areas of stress-related strain and then worked in groups to develop and implement behaviour and working condition-oriented intervention strategies for health promotion. The diagnosis results confirm the necessity of school-specific health promotion: the schools demonstrate very different demand and resource profiles. Furthermore, is has become evident that the central success factor for health promotion in schools is the teachers' willingness for change. The individual and group reports of the diagnosis results seem to have made clear how essential individual and organisational changes are.

  10. Influence of educational process in the higher pedagogical school for the development of the professional mobility of the future primary school teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oxana Kilichenko

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The article describes the particular features of the organization of educational process in order to develop professional mobility of future primary school teachers. The terms and criteria for the definition of "professional mobility of teachers" are analyzed. The main states of the problem of the organization of the educational process in the higher pedagogical school to develop mobile professional are determined. Keywords: professional mobility of primary school teachers, the criteria for determining, the educational process in the higher pedagogical school.

  11. Interrelation between consious self-regulation development and sociability of school teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V I Morosanova

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The study is devoted to investigation of conscious self-regulation role in pedagogical interaction. Specific connections of regulation processes with sociability components of school teachers are described. It was discovered that development of conscious self-regulation system facilitates communication difficulties negotiation in teacher-student interaction.

  12. High School Teacher Perspectives and Practices: Second Language Writing and Language Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilliland, Betsy

    2015-01-01

    Teachers' understandings of second language learning influence their practices in the classroom. This paper analyzes interview and classroom data collected during a year-long ethnographic study of two high school English language development classes to identify (1) what the teachers understood about second language (L2) development and L2 academic…

  13. Teacher Empowerment: School Administrators' Roles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balyer, Aydin; Özcan, Kenan; Yildiz, Ali

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Teacher empowerment involves investing teachers with the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies as informed by their professional judgment. By empowering teachers, teachers can discover their potential and limitations for themselves as well as developing competence in their professional development. This…

  14. Chronic Teacher Turnover in Urban Elementary Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kacey Guin

    2004-08-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the characteristics of elementary schools that experience chronic teacher turnover and the impacts of turnover on a school’s working climate and ability to effectively function. Based on evidence from staff climate surveys and case studies, it is clear that high turnover schools face significant organizational challenges. Schools with high teacher turnover rates have difficulty planning and implementing a coherent curriculum and sustaining positive working relationships among teachers. The reality of these organizational challenges is particularly alarming, given that high turnover schools are more likely to serve low-income and minority students. The negative relationship between teacher turnover and school functioning, and the fact that turbulent schools are disproportionately likely to serve lowincome and minority students have important implications for both district and school-level policies. Specifically: Teacher turnover rates are one indicator of school health, which school districts should consider when focusing on school improvements. Districts need to begin by developing the means to identify individual schools that experience high levels of teacher turnover. Current district policies in implementing professional development for teachers in low-performing schools are inefficient when teachers do not remain in the schools in which they are trained. In order for low-performing schools to improve, districts need to consider providing incentive programs so that high quality teachers apply for, and remain in, these schools. Future research is needed to address the causal link between turnover, organizational functioning and student outcomes. Additionally, there is a need for research examining district policies that may facilitate teacher turnover within a district, including how districts place and transfer teachers, as well as how teachers’ salaries are budgeted.

  15. Professional Development for Secondary School Mathematics Teachers: A Peer Mentoring Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kensington-Miller, Barbara

    2012-01-01

    Professional development is important for all teachers, and in low socio-economic schools where the challenges of teaching are greater this need is crucial. A model involving a combination of one-on-one peer mentoring integrated with group peer mentoring was piloted with experienced mathematics teachers of senior students in low socio-economic…

  16. An evaluation of the role of rural primary school teachers in community development tasks in southern Sudan

    OpenAIRE

    Ngalam, Jabi Jack

    1987-01-01

    This thesis investigates the role of rural primary school teachers in community development activities within an integrated rural education centres project (IRECs) in southern Sudan. The study explores five areas of importance for an extended teacher's role in rural areas: (i) the school or community environment, (ii) community perception of the teacher's role and its expectations of the school, (iii) teachers' perception of their own role in the community, (iv) teachers' ...

  17. How School Leaders Prioritize and Allocate Resources to Improve Teacher Quality through Teacher Professional Development: A Multiple Case Study in Suburban North Carolina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tyson, Deonte Rashawn

    2017-01-01

    This multiple case study examined the methods by which school leaders determined and planned teacher professional development, as well as what teachers perceived as their professional development needs and how they believe school leaders take those needs into account. The study took place at two suburban elementary schools (1 traditional public, 1…

  18. Inculcation of Values across the School Curriculum: Development and Validation of Teachers' Orientation Scale

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    Mohamad Sahari

    1999-12-01

    Full Text Available Teacher orientation to the inculcation of values across school curriculum-a function of the teacher knowledge and attitudes-has been conceptualised as his or her (1 identification with the goals of the curriculum, and (2 conformity with the predetermined instructional behaviours. Based on this framework, the study explored the construct of teacher orientation to the inculcation of values across school subjects. More specifically, the study examined the likelihood of two underlying dimensions explaining the presence of variability in teacher orientation and the reliability of the dimensions. Using a 15-item instrument developed earlier for a descriptive inquiry, the present study measured and analysed responses from 103 secondary school teachers from two randomly selected schools. To arrive at the conclusions, the study applied principal component analysis and Cronbach's alpha procedures. The results suggested that teacher orientation to value inculcation is a multidimensional construct. The more reliable dimensions of Teacher Orientation were found to be goal identification, conformity to planning tasks, and conformity to delivery tasks. The results add new information to, and may serve as a guide for future research.

  19. Teaching schools as teacher education laboratories

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    Sarah Gravett

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This study emanated from the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa. This Framework proposes that teaching schools should be established in the country to improve the teaching practicum component of pre-service teacher education. A generic qualitative study was undertaken to explore the affordances of a teaching school to enable student teacher learning for the teaching profession. The overarching finding of the study is that a teaching school holds numerous affordances for enabling meaningful student teacher learning for the teaching profession. However, the full affordances of a teaching school will not be realised if a teaching school is viewed merely as a practicum site. Foregrounding a laboratory view of practice work in a teaching school could enable true research-oriented teacher education. A teaching school as a teacher education laboratory would imply a deliberate inclusion of cognitive apprenticeship and an inquiry orientation to learning in the schoo

  20. Teacher training in Chile: perceptions of teachers in the school system and university teachers

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    Claudio H. Díaz Larenas

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the results of research on perceptions of teacher training. The study design is transactional and descriptive, for which an ad hoc survey of two groups was developed: the school sysrtem teachers and academics in the region of Bio Bio in Chile. Its aim is to analyze the perception of these groups on six themes: evaluation, learning, innovation, research, development and relationship university / school / community. The main results show a high evaluation of assessment practices, introducing innovations in the classroom and refinement. The reasearch is carried out by both teachers and university profressors in the school system, although at different frequencies. The university / school / community relations are considered relevant but are not consolidarted. Finally some thoughts arise that link the themes discussed in terms of improving teacher education.

  1. The Heuristic Sandbox: Developing Teacher Know-How through Play in simSchool

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopper, Susan B.

    2018-01-01

    simSchool is a game-based, virtual, and interactive tool that allows pre-service teachers to acquire new skills while constructing knowledge through experimentation with learning situations. Pre-service teachers develop know-how--or heuristic knowledge--through repeated practice in the "Personality Plus Higher-Order Thinking" module to…

  2. School-University Partnerships: The Professional Development Schools Model, Self-Efficacy, Teacher Efficacy, and Its Impact on Beginning Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bebas, Christina

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the elements of the professional development schools (PDS) model used at ABC University to consider its effect on beginning teacher persistence/ retention. A mixed methods design was utilized to explore the perceptions of graduates of the program who have remained in the teaching profession and…

  3. Teacher Professional Development

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    Nareerat Rakwichitkul

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Teacher professional development are the teachers’ learning process throughout their career stages to ensure that teachers have knowledge, skills and needed competencies for teaching among rapid changes in social, economic and technology which have the impact on learning and teaching. This article deals with the topics of the framework for teaching, teacher career stages and teacher professional development. The research findings related to teacher professional development, teacher professional development activities, suggestions for planning the professional development. Those research findings can be applied and implemented by the school principals, educational supervisors and other professional developers.

  4. Greenhouse Schools: How Schools Can Build Cultures Where Teachers and Students Thrive

    Science.gov (United States)

    TNTP, 2012

    2012-01-01

    Successful teachers make successful schools. Yet some schools are better than others at accelerating student learning by developing and keeping great teachers, even compared to schools that serve the same population of students and have access to the same resources. These schools are called "greenhouse schools"--schools with carefully…

  5. Self-Efficacy for Science Teaching Scale Development: Construct Validation with Elementary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yangin, Selami; Sidekli, Sabri

    2016-01-01

    The measurement of teacher self-efficacy has a history of more than 30 years. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the development and validation of a new scale to measure the science teaching self-efficacy of elementary school teachers. Therefore, a scale has been created to measure elementary teachers' science teaching self-efficacy and…

  6. The Relationship between Teachers' Attitude towards Professional Development and Schools' Accountability Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yuejin

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we examined the relationship between teachers' attitudes towards professional development and school performance in the state accountability system using the 2013 Kentucky Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) survey data and the 2013 school accountability profile data from the Kentucky Department of Education. We were…

  7. Authoritative school climate, aggression toward teachers, and teacher distress in middle school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berg, Juliette K; Cornell, Dewey

    2016-03-01

    Aggression toward teachers is linked to burnout and disengagement from teaching, but a positive school climate may reduce aggression and associated teacher distress. Using authoritative school climate theory, the study examined whether schools with high disciplinary structure and student support were associated with less aggression and less distress. The sample of 9,134 teachers in 389 middle schools came from the Virginia Secondary School Climate Survey, a statewide survey administered to all public schools with 7th and 8th grade enrollment. The majority of teachers (75%) were female. More than half (53%) reported that they had more than 10 years of teaching experience; 23% reported 6 to 10 years; 24% reported 1 to 5 years. Students reported on the degree to which their schools were structured and supportive. Teachers reported on their experiences of aggression by students, their level of distress, and their feelings of safety. Staff-related infractions computed from Department of Education records were also used. Multilevel modeling revealed that teachers in authoritative schools experienced less aggression and felt safer and less distressed. Lower aggression by students mediated the association between more authoritative schools and lower distress such that more structured and supportive schools had greater teacher safety and, in turn, less distress. The findings support the idea that more structured and supportive schools relate to greater safety for teachers and, in turn, less distress. Research limitations and implications for practice are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Principal-Teacher Interactions and Teacher Leadership Development: Beginning Teachers' Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szeto, Elson; Cheng, Annie Yan-Ni

    2018-01-01

    Teacher leadership lies at the heart of school improvement. Leadership development among beginning teachers, however, is often neglected. This paper examines the role of principal-teacher interactions in the leadership development of a group of beginning teachers. Using a case study design, interviews were conducted and documentary evidence was…

  9. Harassment in workplace among school teachers: development of a survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo, Andrea; Milić, Ranko; Knezević, Bojana; Mulić, Rosanda; Mustajbegović, Jadranka

    2008-08-01

    To develop a questionnaire on harassment in the workplace among teachers at primary and secondary schools. We analyzed the existing questionnaires on harassment in the workplace and developed a new one was to specifically address harassment of teachers in the public education sector. The questionnaire was then experimentally applied to a sample of 764 primary and secondary school teachers in Split Dalmatia County, Croatia. It included three scales -exposure to harassment, witnessing harassment, and disturbance by harassment. Validity of the three scales was examined by factor analysis. All three scales showed satisfactory metric characteristics: Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.93 for exposure scale, 0.95 for witnessing scale, and 0.97 for disturbance scale. Out of 764 teachers surveyed, 164 (22.4%) were exposed to and 192 (31.7%) witnessed different kinds of harassment in the previous 12 months. There were significantly more of those who experienced harassment as witnesses (chi(2)(1)=249.301; Pharassment disturbed women more than men (chi(2)(1)=5.27; P=0.022). Those who were exposed to harassment had significantly lower median age (42; range 23-68) than those who were not exposed (45; range 23-65) (U=31401.50; z=2.129; P=0.033). The questionnaire registered wide spectrum of harassment types, indicating the need for continuous monitoring and systematic work on the prevention of these phenomena. The study showed that exposure to harassment is associated with age, indicating that younger teachers should be the target population for detection and prevention of workplace harassment.

  10. Action Research as a School-Based Strategy in Intercultural Professional Development for Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sales, Auxiliadora; Traver, Joan A.; Garcia, Rafaela

    2011-01-01

    Teacher professional development is a key factor for transforming professional and school culture. This article describes a case study undertaken in a Spanish school during the 2007-2008 academic year. Our aim is to explain how action research methodology was applied to encourage professional and school culture towards an intercultural and…

  11. Union Contracts and Teacher Professional Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul V. Bredeson

    2001-07-01

    Full Text Available In this article, I report the results of an investigation that examined the impact of teacher union contracts on the development of professional learning communities in schools. There are three primary sources of data used in the study: 1 100 written teacher union contract documents; 2 structured interview data from 21 educators (school superintendents, principals, directors of staff development, and teacher union representatives; and 3 focus group interview data from educational leaders in schools. The analysis and discussion focus on five areas related to teacher professional development with implications for policy and practice: explicit language covering opportunities for teaching learning in their work; governance and decision making structures, that is, specific provisions covering wages, hours, and conditions of employment; the description of legitimate and sponsored activities for the professional development of teachers; and the resources supporting the on-going professional growth of teachers. The findings indicate that rethinking, restructuring, and organizational re-culturing in schools are initial expressions of a new unionism that has the potential to lead to the development of more powerful professional learning communities in schools.

  12. Teacher Education around the World: Changing Policies and Practices. Teacher Quality and School Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darling-Hammond, Linda, Ed.; Lieberman, Ann, Ed.

    2012-01-01

    Teachers are the most important single element of the education system but what does it take to create high quality teachers in today's world? Around the world, countries are struggling to understand how to change their schools to meet global demands. International comparisons have shown that schools in Finland lead the league tables, but why is…

  13. Teacher Leadership Capacity-Building: Developing Democratically Accountable Leaders in Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullen, Carol A.; Jones, Rahim J.

    2008-01-01

    Using a qualitative case study approach, the authors explore social justice implications of inservice principals' practices that affect attitudes and empower teachers. If a primary educational goal of progressive schooling is to create and sustain more democratic schools by enabling the growth of teachers as leaders who are responsible for their…

  14. Teachers' and School Administrators' Perceptions and Expectations on Teacher Leadership

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Semra Kıranlı

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study it is aimed to find out primary school teachers’ and principals’ expectations and perceptions related to teachers’ leadership. The population of this survey consists of primary school teachers and principals in Odunpazarı, one of the two central municipalities in Eskişehir, in 2011-2012 educational year. Teachers and principals of eight primary schools were taken as a sample among low, middle, high socio-economic level primary schools in Odunpazarı. 195 teachers and principals participated in this study. In this study a data device which consisted of two sections was used to accomplish the purpose of the study. A personal information form to define teachers’ and principals’ demographical features made the first section, whereas “The Questionnaire of Expectations and perceptions of Teacher Leadership Roles” developed by Beycioğlu (2009 and consisting of 25 items made the second section. Each item in the questionnaire has a five scale Lykert type evaluation and belongs to one of the three dimensions of both perception and expectation. These dimensions are institutional development, professional development and collaboration with colleagues.

  15. Professional Development in Teacher Digital Competence and Improving School Quality from the Teachers' Perspective: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cervera, Mercè Gisbert; Cantabrana, José L. Lázaro

    2015-01-01

    Professional development in ICT for teachers, in addition to being necessary given the dynamic nature of technology, also improves the institutional quality of schools. This work, based on action research, provides evidence that the school itself is capable of organising and designing a training plan as part of a broader process to improve quality…

  16. Meeting the Demands of Science Reforms: A Comprehensive Professional Development for Practicing Middle School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pringle, Rose M.; Mesa, Jennifer; Hayes, Lynda

    2018-03-01

    Preparing teachers to teach science consistent with current reforms in science education is a daunting enterprise given a lack of high-quality science professional development (PD) adaptable across various contexts (Wilson 2013). This study examines the impact of a comprehensive professional development program on middle school teachers' disciplinary content knowledge and instructional practices. In this mixed methods investigation, data sources included classroom observations, content knowledge assessments, surveys, and a range of interviews. The teachers in the program showed significant improvements in their disciplinary content knowledge and demonstrated through their enactment of a reform-based curriculum, a range of ability levels to translate their knowledge into instructional practices consistent with the principles espoused in the PD. We conclude that programs that attend to elements of effective PD identified in the literature can positively impact middle school science teachers' enactment of reform-based science teaching. Our findings extend these elements to include the strategic engagement of school and district leadership and the provision of a safe learning space for teachers to collectively engage in reciprocal learning and critical practice. This study has worldwide implications for designing PD for science teachers and for extending our understanding of the impact of each element.

  17. Teacher labor markets in developing countries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vegas, Emiliana

    2007-01-01

    Emiliana Vegas surveys strategies used by the world's developing countries to fill their classrooms with qualified teachers. With their low quality of education and wide gaps in student outcomes, schools in developing countries strongly resemble hard-to-staff urban U.S. schools. Their experience with reform may thus provide insights for U.S. policymakers. Severe budget constraints and a lack of teacher training capacity have pushed developing nations to try a wide variety of reforms, including using part-time or assistant teachers, experimenting with pay incentives, and using school-based management. The strategy of hiring teachers with less than full credentials has had mixed results. One successful program in India hired young women who lacked teaching certificates to teach basic literacy and numeracy skills to children whose skills were seriously lagging. After two years, student learning increased, with the highest gains among the least able students. As in the United States, says Vegas, teaching quality and student achievement in the developing world are sensitive to teacher compensation. As average teacher salaries in Chile more than doubled over the past decade, higher-quality students entered teacher education programs. And when Brazil increased educational funding and distributed resources more equitably, school enrollment increased and the gap in student test scores narrowed. Experiments with performance-based pay have had mixed results. In Bolivia a bonus for teaching in rural areas failed to produce higher-quality teachers. And in Mexico a system to reward teachers for improved student outcomes failed to change teacher performance. But Vegas explains that the design of teacher incentives is critical. Effective incentive schemes must be tightly coupled with desired behaviors and generous enough to give teachers a reason to make the extra effort. School-based management reforms give decisionmaking authority to the schools. Such reforms in Central America

  18. Leadership that promotes teacher empowerment among urban middle school science teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard-Skipper, Joni

    In this study, the focus was on determining leadership strategies that promote teacher empowerment among urban middle school science teachers. The purpose of the paper was to determine if leadership strategies are related to teacher empowerment. The emphasis was on various forms of leadership and the empowerment of teachers in context in restructuring the democratic structure. An effective leadership in science education entails empowering others, especially science teachers. In this regard, no published studies had examined this perspective on empowering teachers and school leadership. Therefore, this study determined if a relationship exists between leadership strategy actions and teacher empowerment. The significance of the study is to determine a relationship between leadership strategies and teacher empowerment as a positive approach toward developing successful schools. Empowerment is essential for implementing serious improvements. Empowering others in schools must form a major component of an effective principal's agenda. It is becoming clearer in research literature that complex changes in education sometimes require active initiation. For this study, a quantitative methodology was used. Primary data enabled the research questions to be answered. The reliability and validity of the research were ensured. The results of this study showed that 40% of the administrators establish program policies with teachers, and 53% of teachers make decisions about new programs in schools. Furthermore, the findings, their implications, and recommendations are discussed.

  19. Teacher community in elementary charter schools.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisa Cannata

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The organizational context of charter schools may facilitate the formation of a strong teacher community. In particular, a focused school mission and increased control over teacher hiring may lead to stronger teacher professional communities. This paper uses the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey to compare the level of teacher community in charter public and traditional public schools. It also estimates the effect of various charter policy variables and domains of school autonomy on teacher community. Charter school teachers report higher levels of teacher community than traditional public school teachers do, although this effect is less than one-tenth of a standard deviation and is dwarfed by the effect of a supportive principal, teacher decision-making influence, and school size. Charter public schools authorized by universities showed lower levels of teacher community than those authorized by local school districts. Teachers in charter schools that have flexibility over tenure requirements and the school budget report higher levels of teacher community. This study reveals that charter schools do facilitate the formation of strong teacher communities, although the effect is small. The analysis also suggests that the institutional origin of the charter school and specific areas of policy flexibility may influence teacher community.

  20. Harassment in Workplace Among School Teachers: Development of Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russo, Andrea; Milić, Ranko; Knežević, Bojana; Mulić, Rosanda; Mustajbegović, Jadranka

    2008-01-01

    Aim To study the incidence of harassment in the workplace among teachers at primary and secondary schools. Methods We analyzed the existing questionnaires on harassment in the workplace and developed a new one was to specifically address harassment of teachers in the public education sector. The questionnaire was then experimentally applied to a sample of 764 primary and secondary school teachers in Split Dalmatia County, Croatia. It included three scales –exposure to harassment, witnessing harassment, and disturbance by harassment. Validity of the three scales was examined by factor analysis. Results All three scales showed satisfactory metric characteristics: Cronbach α coefficient was 0.93 for exposure scale, 0.95 for witnessing scale, and 0.97 for disturbance scale. Out of 764 teachers surveyed, 164 (22.4%) were exposed to and 192 (31.7%) witnessed different kinds of harassment in the previous 12 months. There were significantly more of those who experienced harassment as witnesses (χ21 = 249.301; P harassment disturbed women more than men (χ21 = 5.27; P = 0.022). Those who were exposed to harassment had significantly lower median age (42; range 23-68) than those who were not exposed (45; range 23-65) (U = 31401.50; z = 2.129; P = 0.033). Conclusion The questionnaire registered wide spectrum of harassment types, indicating the need for continuous monitoring and systematic work on the prevention of these phenomena. The study showed that exposure to harassment is associated with age, indicating that younger teachers should be the target population for detection and prevention of workplace harassment. PMID:18717002

  1. Predictors of Teachers' Use of ICT in School--The Relevance of School Characteristics, Teachers' Attitudes and Teacher Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drossel, Kerstin; Eickelmann, Birgit; Gerick, Julia

    2017-01-01

    This paper is based on the research question of what predictors (school characteristics, teachers' attitudes, teacher collaboration and background characteristics) determine secondary school teachers' frequency of computer use in class. The use of new technologies by secondary school teachers for educational purposes is an important factor…

  2. Journal Article: Using Scientists and Real-World Scenarios in Professional Development for Middle School Science Teachers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison, Judith A.; Estes, Jeffrey C.

    2007-04-01

    Middle school science teachers were involved in a problem-solving experience presented and guided by research scientists. Data on the teachers’ perspectives about this professional development and any impact it may have had on their teaching practices were collected through interviews, surveys, and classroom observations. The findings show that the professional development experience was positive, although one concern expressed by teachers was their lack of understanding of the scientists’ vocabulary. Using scientists and real-world scenarios was shown to be an effective strategy for encouraging middle school teachers to teach science as a process and help them strengthen their science content understanding.

  3. Child Development and the Coworking of Doctor and Teacher: A Waldorf School Doctor's Perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karnow, Gerald F.

    This paper draws on the nearly 20 years' experiences of a school doctor working with teachers at the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City to describe general principles of assessing child development in relation to educational progress. The paper contrasts the customary role of school doctors (related to conducting physical examinations for…

  4. Greenhouse Schools: How Schools Can Build Cultures Where Teachers and Students Thrive. Executive Summary

    Science.gov (United States)

    TNTP, 2012

    2012-01-01

    Successful teachers make successful schools. Yet some schools are better than others at accelerating student learning by developing and keeping great teachers, even compared to schools that serve the same population of students and have access to the same resources. These schools are called "greenhouse schools"--schools with carefully fostered…

  5. For Teachers, by Teachers: An Exploration of Teacher-Generated Online Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodesiler, Luke

    2017-01-01

    Participatory online professional development opportunities created for teachers by teachers have emerged with the proliferation of social media. This article presents an investigation of a voluntary, participant-driven, 5-week online professional development offering in which two high school English teachers invited colleagues at a distance to…

  6. A Review of Research and Practice on Professional Development School : Quality Assurance regarding to Development of Program for Advanced Teacher Education

    OpenAIRE

    小柳, 和喜雄

    2014-01-01

    Currently, studies have been made on quality assurance regarding to development of program for advanced teacher education, including in-service training and teacher training in Japan. If the enhancement of teaching practical skills training is requested at the graduate level, effective coordination between the local government and schools and universities to be a place for the practice becomes more and more important. In the flow of quality assurance of school education and teacher training, ...

  7. K-5 mentor teachers' journeys toward reform-oriented science within a professional development school context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manno, Jacqueline L.

    Reform-oriented science teaching with a specific focus on evidence and explanation provides a student-centered learning environment which encourages children to question, seek answers to those questions, experience phenomena, share ideas, and develop explanations of science concepts based on evidence. One of the ways schools have risen to meet the challenge of ever-increasing demands for success in science and all other curricular areas has been in the development of professional development schools (PDSs). Dedicated to the simultaneous renewal of schools and teacher education programs, the structure of a PDS plays a significant role in the change process. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the nature of change in mentor teachers' beliefs and pedagogical practices toward science teaching in the elementary school as conveyed through their own "stories of practice". The major research questions that guided the study were: (1) How do mentor teachers describe their science teaching practices and how have they changed as a result of participation in PDS? (a) In what ways do PDS mentor teachers' descriptions of practice reflect contemporary reform ideas and practices in science education? (b) To what extent do their stories emphasize technical aspects of teaching versus epistemological changes in their thinking and knowledge? (c) How is student learning in science reflected in teachers' stories of practice? (2) What is the relationship between the levels and types of involvement in PDS to change in thinking about and practices of teaching science? (3) What is the depth of commitment that mentors convey about changes in science teaching practices? Using case study design, the research explored the ways experienced teachers, working within the context of a PDS community, described changes in the ways they think about and teach science. The connection to the issue of change in teaching practices grew out of interest in understanding the relationship

  8. School-based In-service Teacher training

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knudsen, Hans Jørgen; Hadzibegovic-Bubanja, Elvira; Nielsen, Søren P.

    -based initiatives as an integral part of modern teacher education programmes. The publication is an attempt to translate more academic reflections into action by being practice-oriented. However, not in the form of a classical tool kit or how-to-do guidelines which would wrongly give the impression...... of modern teacher education programmes. The publication is an attempt to translate more academic reflections into action by being practice-oriented. However, not in the form of a classical tool kit or how-to-do guidelines which would wrongly give the impression that it is possible to develop guidelines...... upper–secondary education). The philosophy of the Handbook is that teacher competence development becomes both more efficient and much cheaper if closely related to the actual job requirements of teachers, organised at school level and for teams of teachers with strong support from school leadership...

  9. CRITERIA OF FORMATION OF SOCIAL-PEDAGOGICAL COMPETENCE OF FUTURE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN INCLUSIVE SECONDARY SCHOOL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoia Shevtsiv

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The article aims to justify the formation of criteria and indicators of social-pedagogical competence of the future teachers of primary school of inclusive comprehensive school and to determine its level of development. The objectives are to determine the status of the development problems of professional competence of teachers in inclusive education; essence and structural components of social-pedagogical competence of future primary school teacher of inclusive comprehensive school; criteria, indicators and levels of social-pedagogical competence of future primary school teacher of inclusive comprehensive schools. The education system in Ukraine is gradually transition to inclusive education. Inclusive comprehensive school is being created. It requires a highly qualified primary school teacher who co-teaches regulatory children and children with disability. The article is grounded the necessity of social-pedagogical competence of future teachers of primary school of inclusive comprehensive schools. The essence of social-pedagogical competence of future primary school teacher of inclusive comprehensive schools is defined. The structural components of social-pedagogical competence are characterized. Scientific papers on the issue of formation of competence of experts in various fields are analyzed. The pronunciation for selection and justification criteria and parameters of formation of professional competence is overviewed. The group of the criteria suggested by various scientists from the evaluation of the formation of professional competence of specialists in different fields is considered. The criteria and parameters of evaluating the levels of social-pedagogical competence of future teachers of primary school in inclusive comprehensive schools are selected on the base of the analysis of modern achievements of scientists. Future prospects of research is in developing of a method of diagnosing the levels of social-pedagogical competence of

  10. Estimating Cause: Teacher Turnover and School Effectiveness in Michigan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keesler, Venessa; Schneider, Barbara

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is investigate issues related to within-school teacher supply and school-specific teacher turnover within the state of Michigan using state administrative data on Michigan's teaching force. This paper 1) investigates the key predictors of teacher turnover and mobility, 2) develops a profile of schools that are likely to…

  11. Evaluation of the Program Effectiveness of Research Competence Development in Prospective Elementary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Natalya N.; Kolumbayeva, Sholpan Zh.; Karsybayeva, Raissa K.; Nabuova, Roza A.; Kurmanbekova, Manshuk B.; Syzdykbayeva, Aigul Dzh.

    2016-01-01

    To develop research competence in prospective teachers, a system of methods for diagnostics and formation of this competence in prospective elementary school teachers in the training process is designed. To diagnose the research competence, a series of techniques were used that allow subtle evaluation of each competence research component:…

  12. Teacher Identity and Self-efficacy Development in an Alternative Licensure Program for Middle and High School Math and Science Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    West, Robert J.

    This mixed-method case study focused on the phenomenon of the transition from student to teacher. The educational system in the United States is constantly shifting to provide the correct number of teachers for our nations' schools. There is no simple formula for this process and occasionally an area of need arises that is not being met. Recently, the demand for science and math teachers in the K-12 system has outpaced the supply of new teachers (Business-Higher Education Forum, 2011). To complicate the problem further, teachers are leaving the field in record numbers both through retirement and attrition (National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 2007). Particularly hard hit are poor rural schools with low-performing students, such as the schools of Appalachia (Barley, 2009; Goodpaster, Adedokun, & Weaver, 2012). Out of this need, alternative licensure programs for teachers have developed. The alternative teacher-training program studied in this research is the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship (WWTF) website, "The Woodrow Wilson Ohio Teaching Fellowship seeks to attract talented, committed individuals with backgrounds in the STEM fields---science, technology, engineering, and mathematics---into teaching in high-need Ohio secondary schools" (para. 2) . The researcher was interested in the formation of teacher identity and self-efficacy as these constructs have been shown to manifest in highly effective teachers that are likely to remain in the field of teaching (Beaucamp & Thomas 2009; Klassen, Tze, Betts, & Gordon, 2010). The research method included in-depth interviews, mixed with pretest/posttest administrations of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy 2001) given during the teacher-training period and again following the first year of professional teaching. Results from both the TSES and the interviews indicate that the participants had a successful transition into teaching. They both felt and demonstrated that

  13. Efficacy development in science: Investigating the effects of the Teacher-to-Teacher (T2T) professional development model in Hilo elementary schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinner, Pascale Creek

    Conderman and Sheldon Woods (2008) suggest that although science plays a central role in our world today, science instruction seems to be minimized particularly at the elementary grade levels. Research has investigated the construct of efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 2006a; Riggs & Enochs, 1990; Ramey-Gassert, Shroyer & Staver, 1996; Tschannen-Moran, Hoy & Hoy, 1998, 2001). Professional and conceptual development in teachers has also been explored (Gordon, 1990; Sheerer, 1997; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). The purpose of this research was to describe the changes in efficacy elementary teachers experience as they participated in science professional development. Data from a Math/Science Partnership (MSP) grant sample suggested significant changes in science self-efficacy and improved pedagogy. Mixed methods revealed connections resulting in a multi-faceted Progression of Efficacy Growth flowchart. The results suggest that utilizing the Teacher-to-Teacher (T2T) professional development model has created a pathway for more science teaching across the Hilo elementary schools.

  14. Authoritative School Climate, Aggression toward Teachers, and Teacher Distress in Middle School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berg, Juliette K.; Cornell, Dewey

    2016-01-01

    Aggression toward teachers is linked to burnout and disengagement from teaching, but a positive school climate may reduce aggression and associated teacher distress. Using authoritative school climate theory, the study examined whether schools with high disciplinary structure and student support were associated with less aggression and less…

  15. Online workspaces to support teacher communities in secondary schools

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Admiraal, W.; Heemskerk, I.M.C.C.; Roceanu, I.

    2012-01-01

    Teacher communities are claimed to contribute to the improvement in the practices of teaching and schooling as well as individual teacher development and the collective capacity schools. How to define, design and support teacher communities is however still unclear. In this expert study, experts

  16. Can Professional Environments in Schools Promote Teacher Development? Explaining Heterogeneity in Returns to Teaching Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraft, Matthew A.; Papay, John P.

    2014-01-01

    Although wide variation in teacher effectiveness is well established, much less is known about differences in teacher improvement over time. We document that average returns to teaching experience mask large variation across individual teachers and across groups of teachers working in different schools. We examine the role of school context in explaining these differences using a measure of the professional environment constructed from teachers responses to state-wide surveys. Our analyses show that teachers working in more supportive professional environments improve their effectiveness more over time than teachers working in less supportive contexts. On average, teachers working in schools at the 75th percentile of professional environment ratings improved 38% more than teachers in schools at the 25th percentile after 10 years. PMID:25866426

  17. Head Teachers and Teachers as Pioneers in Facilitating Dyslexic Children in Primary Mainstream Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fahima Salman Jaka

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This study explores the perceptions of school heads and teachers in facilitating young dyslexic children in primary mainstream schools of Pakistan. Through purposive sampling, the researcher selected eight participants: Four primary school heads and four primary teachers from elite schools of Karachi. The research instrument selected for this study was in-depth interviews to get a deeper insight of school heads and teachers perceptions regarding the facilitation of dyslexic children. The findings revealed that children with dyslexia face many emotional and academic problems and only a few elite schools provide policy to facilitate them in mainstream education. Findings showed that some schools hired remedial teaching services or special education services and the school heads and primary teachers put in immense effort in preparing intervention plans and evaluation plans to suit individual and young dyslexic children needs. It was also suggested that positivity of the learning environment depends upon the teachers. The findings further disclosed that unlike the more developed nations, apart from a few elite schools in Pakistan, there is no importance paid to professional training related to dyslexia.

  18. PROFESSIONAL TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT FOR THE ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT OF A TEACHER-TRAIING SCHOOL (ESCUELA NORMAL AS AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION: A LOOK FROM THE STRATEGIC PLANNING IN PROFEN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lina Xóchitl García-Sánchez

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a study of the interrelationships between teacher professional development and academic development in a Teacher Training School (Escuela Normal in the State of Mexico. It is based on strategic planning in two dimensions: both internal and external characters. The external dimension provides an account of the academic profile of the Institutions of Higher Education regarding the demands of professional teacher development that international and national organizations, such as the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP, the National Association of Universities and Higher Education Institutions (ANUIES, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO and the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD have recommended and established in the different official documents of the Mexican educational system. The second dimension establishes the efforts that a Teacher-Trainig School (Escuela Nomal makes through the strategic planning so that it could be related to the profile of professional development framed in the academic development that is demanded to the institutions of higher education. In this sense, it is questioned: which of the strategic actions that were planned in the institutional ProFEN of the period 2009 to 2011 regarding the professional development of their teachers have made a suitable transition from a teacher- training school (Escuela normal to the academic profile of an institution of higher education?

  19. Teachers' Perceptions of School Organizational Climate as Predictors of Dosage and Quality of Implementation of a Social-Emotional and Character Development Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malloy, Margaret; Acock, Alan; DuBois, David L; Vuchinich, Samuel; Silverthorn, Naida; Ji, Peter; Flay, Brian R

    2015-11-01

    Organizational climate has been proposed as a factor that might influence a school's readiness to successfully implement school-wide prevention programs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of teachers' perceptions of three dimensions of school organizational climate on the dosage and quality of teacher implementation of Positive Action, a social-emotional and character development (SECD) program. The dimensions measured were teachers' perceptions of (a) the school's openness to innovation, (b) the extent to which schools utilize participatory decision-making practices, and (c) the existence of supportive relationships among teachers (teacher-teacher affiliation). Data from 46 teachers in seven schools enrolled in the treatment arm of a longitudinal, cluster-randomized, controlled trial were analyzed. Teacher perceptions of a school's tendency to be innovative was associated with a greater number of lessons taught and self-reported quality of delivery, and teacher-teacher affiliation was associated with a higher use of supplementary activities. The findings suggest that perceptions of a school's organizational climate impact teachers' implementation of SECD programs and have implications for school administrators and technical assistance providers as they work to implement and sustain prevention programs in schools.

  20. Self-Determination Theory and Middle School Mathematics Teachers: Understanding the Motivation to Attain Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawford, Amy K.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to use Self-Determination Theory as a framework to analyze middle school mathematics teachers' motivation to attain effective professional development concerning Ohio's Learning Standards as well as other instructional aspects that affect the classroom. Teachers are exceptionally busy meeting…

  1. Effects of a Teacher Professional Development Program on the Mathematics Achievement of Middle School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sample McMeeking, Laura B.; Orsi, Rebecca; Cobb, R. Brian

    2012-01-01

    The effect of a 15- to 24-month in-service professional development (PD) program on state accountability mathematics test scores for middle school students was examined using a quasi-experimental design. Middle level mathematics teachers (n = 128) from 7 school districts and 64 middle schools volunteered for a PD sequence of content-oriented…

  2. Promoting Elementary School Students' Autonomous Reading Motivation: Effects of a Teacher Professional Development Workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Naeghel, Jessie; Van Keer, Hilde; Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Haerens, Leen; Aelterman, Nathalie

    2016-01-01

    Responding to the declining trend in reading motivation in and beyond the elementary school years, the authors aimed to enhance late-elementary school students' autonomous reading motivation. Toward this end, the authors evaluated the influence of a teacher professional development grounded in self-determination theory on fifth-grade students' (n…

  3. Challenges for Teachers in Developing their Teaching Professionalism: A Case Study of Secondary School in Makassar, Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hasan Tanang

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Identifying challenges for teachers in developing their professionalism in teaching to improve students’ learning outcomes. The focus was addressed on the development of teaching professionalism in improving knowledge and skills of Junior High School teachers in Makassar Indonesia. This study employed qualitative methods through a case study to identify the barriers of professionalism in teaching. 36 samples for open-ended questionnaire and nine of them are selected purposively to be interviewed. The data was analyzed by coding based on themes related to constraints in teaching management. The results showed four obstacles experienced by teachers in developing their professionalism, namely constraints on textbooks and student worksheets, school laboratory usage, ICT-based media, and the students themselves. The identification could encourage the community and parents support to finance the development of professionalism in teaching and to help the teachers work effectively

  4. Teachers' Perceptions of the Educational Platform--Is There a Connection between School Improvement and Regional Educational Development?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boström, Lena; Dalin, Rolf

    2016-01-01

    This research examined teachers' attitudes in a school development project, The best regional educational system in the world which focuses on regional development and school improvement. The project was performed in counties in Mid Sweden, which have a lower educational level and school achievements and a competence escape compare with other…

  5. Strengthening the Creative Transformational Leadership of Primary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kallapadee, Yadapak; Tesaputa, Kowat; Somprach, Kanokorn

    2017-01-01

    This research and development aimed to: 1) study the components and indicators of creative transformational leadership of primary school teachers; 2) study the existing situation, and the desirable situation of creative transformational leadership of primary school teachers in the northeastern region of Thailand; 3) develop a program to strengthen…

  6. How Effective are Schools According to Teachers?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hasan Basri MEMDUHOĞLU

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to determine the perceptions of teachers about the effectiveness of the schools they work in based on various variables. The research was designed in the descriptive scanning model. The sample of the study is composed of 316 teachers working at Turkish high school in the Ağrı provincial center and local districts during the 2015-2016 academic years. The “Effective School Scale” developed by Abdurrezzak (2015 was used to collect data in the study. The data of the study were analyzed by descriptive statistics and parametric tests. According to the findings of the study, teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the schools they work in are at a “medium” level. While teachers’ perceptions of effective school administrators, teachers and school atmosphere sub-dimensions are at a “medium” level, their perceptions on effective school students, and parents were determined as at a “low” level. It was determined that teachers’ perceptions of school effectiveness were not significantly different according to gender, marital status, education status and duration of service variables. However, significant differences were found between the perceptions of teachers about the dimensions of effective schools according to the type of school they worked in and the branch variable.

  7. Collaborative School Innovation Project as a Pivot for Teachers' Professional Development: The Case of Acharnes' Second Chance School in Greece

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katsarou, Eleni; Tsafos, Vassilis

    2008-01-01

    A collaborative school innovation project is explored as a pivot for the professional development of the teachers involved. The Second Chance School (SCS) of Acharnes in Greece constitutes such a collaborative innovative project, regarding the underlying theory of multiliteracies, its decentralised character, respect for student individuality, and…

  8. Principals' instructional management skills and middle school science teacher job satisfaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibbs-Harper, Nzinga A.

    The purpose of this research study was to determine if a relationship exists between teachers' perceptions of principals' instructional leadership behaviors and middle school teacher job satisfaction. Additionally, this study sought to assess whether principal's instructional leadership skills were predictors of middle school teachers' satisfaction with work itself. This study drew from 13 middle schools in an urban Mississippi school district. Participants included teachers who taught science. Each teacher was given the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS; Hallinger, 2011) and the Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (TJSQ; Lester, 1987) to answer the research questions. The study was guided by two research questions: (a) Is there a relationship between the independent variables Defining the School's Mission, Managing the Instructional Program, and Developing the School Learning Climate Program and the dependent variable Work Itself?; (b) Are Defining the School's Mission, Managing the Instructional Program, and Developing the School Learning Climate Program predictors of Work Itself? The Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analysis were utilized to examine the relationship between the three dimensions of principals' instructional leadership and teacher satisfaction with work itself. The data revealed that there was a strong, positive correlation between all three dimensions of principals' instructional leadership and teacher satisfaction with work itself. However, the multiple regression analysis determined that teachers' perceptions of principals' instructional management skills is a slight predictor of Defining the School's Mission only.

  9. Teachers' Values Related to Sustainable Development in Polish and Latvian Secondary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Switala, Eugeniusz

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the paper is to present the results of the research on highlighting values related to sustainable development in Poland and Latvia by secondary school teachers and to compare two models by the use of action research. The research is presented as a process of identifying values mainly from the point of view of social development which is…

  10. Comparison of public and private school teachers and school principals’ opinions in Abuja, Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deniz Ozcan

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to examine public and private school teachers’ opinions on different aspects of their professional associations and provisions and also asks principals about teachers’ conduct and their views on the Nigerian curriculum. To conduct this study, qualitative and quantitative research models were used to investigate differences between the two organizations. Quantitative data was collected by distributing questionnaires to 118 teachers in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC, Nigeria. To conduct the qualitative analysis, 15 teachers from two schools were selected (a total of 30 teachers to answer 5 discussion questions concerning their views on the Nigerian educational system. The findings revealed that private school teachers are at an advantage when it comes to provision of resources and technology, professional development and to some degree salaries. Both public and private school teachers felt being a teacher did not bring them respect in their community. Government policy makers need to study private schools and how they operate to see how they can make changes to produce the revolutionary reform needed in education. 30 principals’ interviews revealed that public school teachers are not easily held accountable for misconduct due to the structure of leadership, while private school teachers are held accountable and any form of unprofessionalism easily leads to termination of employment.

  11. The Development of Anti-Corruption Education Course for Primary School Teacher Education Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Indawati, Ninik

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this research was to develop learning tools as well as test the effectiveness of the implementation of anti-corruption education course for Primary School Teacher Education students, who must be able to transfer anti-corruption values to learners. The research method refers to the development of procedural models, which is…

  12. Teacher Candidates' Experiences with Clinical Teaching in Reading Instruction: A Comparison between the Professional Development School Environment and the Non-Professional Development School Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopper, Cynthia J.

    2016-01-01

    Teacher candidates experience a variety of school settings when enrolled in teacher education methods courses. Candidates report varied experiences when in public school classrooms. This dissertation investigated clinical experiences of teacher candidates when placed in two different environments for clinical teaching. The two environments were a…

  13. High school mathematics teachers' perspectives on the purposes of mathematical proof in school mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dickerson, David S.; Doerr, Helen M.

    2014-12-01

    Proof serves many purposes in mathematics. In this qualitative study of 17 high school mathematics teachers, we found that these teachers perceived that two of the most important purposes for proof in school mathematics were (a) to enhance students' mathematical understanding and (b) to develop generalized thinking skills that were transferable to other fields of endeavor. We found teachers were divided on the characteristics (or features) of proofs that would serve these purposes. Teachers with less experience tended to believe that proofs in the high school should adhere to strict standards of language and reasoning while teachers with more experience tended to believe that proofs based on concrete or visual features were well suited for high school mathematics. This study has implications for teacher preparation because it appears that there is a wide variation in how teachers think about proof. It seems likely that students would experience proof very differently merely because they were seated in different classrooms.

  14. Becoming a science teacher: The competing pedagogies of schools and teacher education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rozelle, Jeffrey J.

    classroom or not. To explore this disproportionate influence, this study documented the differences between the school-based placements and teacher education. Three contrasts were described. First, in schools, interns received support and assistance in real-time from cooperating teachers as they taught, while in teacher education, interns received support in planning for and reflecting on instruction. Second, in schools, interns and cooperating teachers' work had a task-orientation in which they solved concrete and contextualized problems together, while teacher educators were oriented toward ideas about teaching that might be generalized beyond the immediate context of the intern. Finally, in schools, interns acted like teachers. This meant dressing like a teacher, learning to use their bodies and voice in authoritative ways, and managing the physical space of the classroom. In teacher education classrooms, interns returned to talk and learn about teaching but reacquired the persona of students in their dress, movements, and social interactions. This study confirms the literature's consistent finding about the importance of cooperating teacher in the development of a student teacher's practices. In describing the worlds of the school and teacher education, it suggests reasons why the field experience acts as an influential "pedagogy of enactment" (Grossman, Hammerness, & McDonald, 2009) and discusses the implications for teacher education pedagogy.

  15. Constructivist Approach in a Paradigm of Public School Teachers' Professional Development in Great Britain, Canada, the USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukan, Nataliya; Fuchyla, Olena; Ihnatiuk, Halyna

    2017-01-01

    The article dwells on professional development of public school teachers as an inevitable constituent of education systems in the 21st century. In such economically developed countries as Great Britain, Canada and the USA, the problem of preparing teachers to a difficult and responsible task of upbringing and educating future citizens always…

  16. Science teachers' meaning-making when involved in a school-based professional development project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

    2012-01-01

    A group of teachers' meaning-making when they are collaboratively analyzing artifacts from practice in local science classrooms in a school-based professional development (PD) project is examined through repeated interviews and represented as meaning-makig maps. The interpretation of the teachers......' meaning-making includes both their reference to outcomes from the project and their expressed ideas about teaching and learning of science. All four teachers refer to experiences from experimenting in their classrooms and interpret the collected artifacts in relation to students' learning. Furthermore......, they all felt encouraged to continue collaboration around science. During the interviews, the teachers emphasize various elements apparently connected to concrete challenges they each experience in their professional work. Implications in relation to the design of PD are discussed....

  17. Job satisfaction of Jamaican elementary school teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodgers-Jenkinson, Fay; Chapman, David W.

    1990-09-01

    This study investigated correlates of job satisfaction among public (N=190) and private (N=100) Jamaican elementary school teachers. Emphasis was on the identification of factors that could be affected through administrative intervention. Results indicated that the quality of school working conditions and respondents' relationships with other teachers were significantly related to satisfaction for both public and private school teachers. School prestige and parental encouragement were also significant predictors for public school teachers; leadership style, organizational structure, and teacher-parent relationships predicted job satisfaction for private school teachers. Implications of these findings for Jamaican education are discussed.

  18. Grounding formative assessment in high-school chemistry classrooms: Connections between professional development and teacher practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cisterna Alburquerque, Dante Igor

    This study describes and analyzes the experiences of two high-school chemistry teachers who participated in a team-based professional development program to learn about and enact formative assessment in their classrooms. The overall purpose of this study is to explain how participation in this professional development influenced both teachers' classroom enactment of formative assessment practices. This study focuses on 1) teachers' participation in the professional development program, 2) teachers' enactment of formative assessment, and 3) factors that enabled or hindered enactment of formative assessment. Drawing on cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and using evidence from teacher lessons, teacher interviews, professional development meetings as data sources, this single embedded case study analyzes how these two teachers who participated in the same learning team and have similar characteristics (i.e., teaching in the same school, teaching the same courses and population of students, and using the same materials) differentially used the professional development learning about formative assessment as mediating tools to improve their classroom instruction. The learning team experience contributed to both teachers' development of a better understanding of formative assessment---especially in recognizing that their current grading and assessment practices were not appropriate to promote student learning---and the co-creation of artifacts to gather evidence of students' ideas. Although both teachers demonstrated understanding about how formative assessment may serve to promote student learning and had a set of tools available to utilize for formative assessment use, they did not enact these tools in the same way. One teacher appropriated formative assessment as mediating tool to verify if the students were following her explanations, and to check if the students were able to provide the correct response. The other teacher used the mediating tool to promote

  19. Teachers' Performance Motivation System in Thai Primary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasathang, Sarojn; Tesaputa, Kowat; Sataphonwong, Pattananusron

    2016-01-01

    This research aims to: 1) study the present conditions and desirable condition of the motivation systems as well as how to find methods for motivating the performance of teachers in primary schools, 2) develop a motivation system for the performance of teachers in primary schools, 3) study the effects of using the motivation system for compliance…

  20. Physical Activity Based Professional Development for Teachers: The Importance of Whole School Involvement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Till, Jude; Ferkins, Lesley; Handcock, Phil

    2011-01-01

    Objective: This study sought to investigate teachers' perceptions of a physical activity-related professional development intervention. Design: Interview-based qualitative approach founded on the interpretive paradigm. Setting: Purposive selection of one high-rated independent, and one low-rated public primary school from Auckland, New Zealand.…

  1. CLIL Teacher Professional Development for Content Teachers in Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Punwalai Kewara

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In Thailand, the new educational policy is mandated to encourage content teachers to integrate English in content classrooms. The policy has created tensions and misconceptions among content teachers, who must change the medium of instruction from Thai to English. This paper presents an attempt to foster teacher knowledge about the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL approach in a teacher professional development program. Classroom language in English and CLIL classroom structure were provided for 15 teachers at a secondary school. Four volunteer teachers were observed to determine the extent to which teachers implemented CLIL. The findings revealed the teachers partly implemented classroom language in English and the provided CLIL structure was not evident. The contribution of this paper is to the literature of CLIL teacher professional development effectiveness and the implementation fidelity of a professional development program.

  2. Primary school teacher's knowledge and attitudes toward children with epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abulhamail, Albaraa S; Al-Sulami, Fahad E; Alnouri, Mouneeb A; Mahrous, Najeeb M; Joharji, Dima G; Albogami, Maha M; Jan, Mohammed M

    2014-04-01

    Primary school teacher's knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy can have significant impact on the performance and psycho-social development of the child with epilepsy. Our objectives were to study teacher's knowledge and attitudes and identify areas in which further teacher training and education are required. A stratified random sample survey involving a group of primary school teachers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia included private/public schools designated for male and female students. A structured 37-item questionnaire was used to examine their demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and experience with epilepsy. Six hundred and twenty primary school teachers working in public (58%) or private (42%) schools were included with ages ranging between 21 and 59 years (mean 36). Most teachers (79%) were of Saudi Arabian nationality and 66% had a college or university degree. Their years of experience ranged from 1 to 35 (mean 13.5). Only 17% of the teachers felt very well informed about epilepsy. Teachers with higher education were more likely to have good knowledge (p=0.009). Teachers of Saudi nationality were also more likely to report good knowledge, independent of their educational level (p=0.013). Overall, teachers with good knowledge were less likely to have negative attitudes including minding to have an epileptic child in their class (p=0.028) or thinking that they should be placed in a special classroom (p=0.029). Primary school teacher's knowledge about epilepsy needs improvements. Their attitudes correlated highly with their knowledge. Educational campaigns about epilepsy are needed to develop a well informed and tolerant community. Copyright © 2014 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Assessing teachers' positive psychological functioning at work: Development and validation of the Teacher Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renshaw, Tyler L; Long, Anna C J; Cook, Clayton R

    2015-06-01

    This study reports on the initial development and validation of the Teacher Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (TSWQ) with 2 samples of educators-a general sample of 185 elementary and middle school teachers, and a target sample of 21 elementary school teachers experiencing classroom management challenges. The TSWQ is an 8-item self-report instrument for assessing teachers' subjective wellbeing, which is operationalized via subscales measuring school connectedness and teaching efficacy. The conceptualization and development processes underlying the TSWQ are described, and results from a series of preliminary psychometric and exploratory analyses are reported to establish initial construct validity. Findings indicated that the TSWQ was characterized by 2 conceptually sound latent factors, that both subscales and the composite scale demonstrated strong internal consistency, and that all scales demonstrated convergent validity with self-reported school supports and divergent validity with self-reported stress and emotional burnout. Furthermore, results indicated that TSWQ scores did not differ according to teachers' school level (i.e., elementary vs. middle), but that they did differ according to unique school environment (e.g., 1 middle school vs. another middle school) and teacher stressors (i.e., general teachers vs. teachers experiencing classroom management challenges). Results also indicated that, for teachers experiencing classroom challenges, the TSWQ had strong short-term predictive validity for psychological distress, accounting for approximately half of the variance in teacher stress and emotional burnout. Implications for theory, research, and the practice of school psychology are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  4. Attitude of Nigerian Secondary School Teachers to Peer Evaluation of Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joshua, Monday T.; Joshua, Akon M.; Bassey, Bassey A.; Akubuiro, Idorenyin M.

    2006-01-01

    The study investigated the general attitude of Nigerian secondary school teachers toward peer evaluation of teachers. It also sought to determine whether teacher characteristics such as gender, school geographical location, academic qualification and teaching experience affected Nigerian teachers' attitude toward peer evaluation of teachers. To…

  5. Coping in an HIV/AIDS-dominated context: teachers promoting resilience in schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebersöhn, Liesel; Ferreira, Ronél

    2011-08-01

    This paper explains how teachers in schools function as resources to buoy resilience in the face of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome-compounded adversities. We draw on participatory reflection and action data from a longitudinal study with teachers (n = 57, 5 males, 52 females) from six schools in three South African provinces. The study tracks the psychosocial support offered by teachers following their participation in the Supportive Teachers, Assets and Resilience project. Verbatim interview transcriptions were thematically analysed and three themes (as well as subthemes and categories) emerged: (i) Teachers use resources to promote resilience in schools [teachers use (a) systems and (b) neighbourhood health and social development services to identify and refer vulnerable cases]; (ii) Teachers form partnerships to promote resilience in schools [teacher partnerships include (a) children and families, (b) community volunteers and (c) community organizations, businesses and government] and (iii) School-based support is offered to vulnerable individuals [by means of (a) vegetable gardens, (b) emotional and health support and (c) capacity development opportunities]. We conclude that teachers can promote resilience in schools by establishing networks with service providers that function across systems to support vulnerable groups. We theorize that the core of systemic networks is relationships, that relationship-driven support networks mitigate the effects of cumulative risk and school-based networks can enable schools to function as resilience-promoting resources.

  6. Developing networks to support science teachers work

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sillasen, Martin Krabbe; Valero, Paola

    2012-01-01

    In educational research literature constructing networks among practitioners has been suggested as a strategy to support teachers’ professional development (Huberman, 1995; Jackson & Temperley, 2007; Van Driel, Beijaard, & Verloop, 2001). The purpose of this paper is to report on a study about how...... networks provide opportunities for teachers from different schools to collaborate on improving the quality of their own science teaching practices. These networks exist at the meso-level of the educational system between the micro-realities of teachers’ individual practice and the macro-level, where...... to develop collaborative activities in primary science teacher communities in schools to improve individual teachers practice and in networks between teachers from different schools in each municipality. Each network was organized and moderated by a municipal science coordinator....

  7. School Leadership that Builds Teacher Social Capital

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minckler, Cheri Hoff

    2014-01-01

    This quantitative study explores the relationship between school leadership and the development and sustenance of teacher social capital. The literature review discusses aspects of leadership theory to elucidate understanding of how leadership influences teachers' working relationships. Quantitative methodology and analyses ascertain the…

  8. iPads and Teacher Education: Exploring a 1:1 Initiative in a Professional Development School Partnership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mourlam, Daniel J.; Montgomery, Sarah E.

    2015-01-01

    This study explores the experiences of elementary education teacher candidates in a Professional Development School Partnership that included a 1:1 iPad initiative. The teacher candidates in the year-long cohort were each given their own iPad to use in their coursework and field experience. Observation, survey, and interview data were collected to…

  9. Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual factors: what are the relationships?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubie-Davies, Christine M; Flint, Annaline; McDonald, Lyn G

    2012-06-01

    There is a plethora of research around student beliefs and their contribution to student outcomes. However, there is less research in relation to teacher beliefs. Teacher factors are important to consider since beliefs mould thoughts and resultant instructional behaviours that, in turn, can contribute to student outcomes. The purpose of this research was to explore relationships between the teacher characteristics of gender and teaching experience, school contextual variables (socio-economic level of school and class level), and three teacher socio-psychological variables: class level teacher expectations, teacher efficacy, and teacher goal orientation. The participants were 68 male and female teachers with varying experience, from schools in a variety of socio-economic areas and from rural and urban locations within New Zealand. Teachers completed a questionnaire containing items related to teacher efficacy and goal orientation in reading. They also completed a teacher expectation survey. Reading achievement data were collected on students. Interrelationships were explored between teacher socio-psychological beliefs and the teacher and school factors included in the study. Mastery-oriented beliefs predicted teacher efficacy for student engagement and classroom management. The socio-economic level of the school and teacher gender predicted teacher efficacy for engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies, and a mastery goal orientation. Being male predicted a performance goal orientation. Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual variables can result in differences in teacher instructional practices and differing classroom climates. Further investigation of these variables is important since differences in teachers contribute to differences in student outcomes. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

  10. Mediating Artifact in Teacher Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svendsen, Bodil

    2015-01-01

    This article focuses on teacher professional development (TPD) in natural science through the 5E model as mediating artifact. The study was conducted in an upper secondary school, grounded in a school-based intervention research project. My contribution to the field of research on TPD is founded on the hypothesis that teachers would be best…

  11. Characteristics and Models of Effective Professional Development: The Case of School Teachers in Qatar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu-Tineh, Abdullah M.; Sadiq, Hissa M.

    2018-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of effective professional development and effective models of professional development as perceived by school teachers in the State of Qatar. This study is quantitative in nature and was conducted using a survey methodology. Means, standard deviations, t-test, and one-way analysis of…

  12. An Alternative Collaborative Supervision Practice between University-Based Teachers and School-Based Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steele, Annfrid R.

    2017-01-01

    There is an increased focus in teacher education on research-based teaching as a means to develop a more research-based professional knowledge. However, research from several Western countries shows that neither school-based nor university-based teachers are familiar with how to integrate research-based knowledge in professional teacher practice.…

  13. Quality Science Teacher Professional Development and Student Achievement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubner, J.

    2007-12-01

    Studies show that socio-economic background and parental education accounts for 50-60 percent of a child's achievement in school. School, and other influences, account for the remaining 40-50 percent. In contrast to most other professions, schools require no real apprenticeship training of science teachers. Overall, only 38 percent of United States teachers have had any on-the-job training in their first teaching position, and in some cases this consisted of a few meetings over the course of a year between the beginning teacher and the assigned mentor or master teacher. Since individual teachers determine the bulk of a student's school experiences, interventions focused on teachers have the greatest likelihood of affecting students. To address this deficiency, partnerships between scientists and K-12 teachers are increasingly recognized as an excellent method for improving teacher preparedness and the quality of science education. Columbia University's Summer Research Program for Science Teachers' (founded in 1990) basic premise is simple: teachers cannot effectively teach science if they have no firsthand experience doing science, hence the Program's motto, "Practice what you teach." Columbia University's Summer Research Program for Science Teachers provides strong evidence that a teacher research program is a very effective form of professional development for secondary school science teachers and has a direct correlation to increased student achievement in science. The author will present the methodology of the program's evaluation citing statistically significant data. The author will also show the economic benefits of teacher participation in this form of professional development.

  14. A Scale Development Study for the Teachers on Out of School Learning Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balkan-Kiyici, Fatime; Yavuz Topaloglu, Melike

    2016-01-01

    When teachers organize planned and systematical out-of-school learning activities, students can understand the abstract and complex terms and topics better and therefore meaningful and deeper learning can occur. Within this context this study aims to develop a valid and reliable scale to determine the attitudes, behaviors, efficiency and…

  15. ORIGINAL ARTICLE Primary School Teachers' Knowledge, Attitude ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    Thus, it was recommended that teachers be given on-job training about CA ... 1Professor, Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Bahir Dar University,. Ethiopia. .... psychomotor developments and uses variety of instruments ..... Table 3. Primary school teachers' responses about the advantages and disadvantages of.

  16. School memories: the role of schooling in the constitution of math teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roseli Araújo Barros Costa

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available This article appeared as a result of a study on the understanding of the professional development of mathematics teachers have developed as a dissertation at UFPA. This, in particular, the results of an analysis of selected categories, the teacher’s experiences as students in elementary and high school (EHS. To better understand this development was adopted as a qualitative research method, focusing on narrative, based on semi-structured interviews. Building on a concept of professional development perspective taken continuously, conceived in a broader context of teaching, permeating crises and conflicts, the analysis shows that teachers bring in to their teaching practice "brands" of meaningful experiences as students in the EHS. It was also possible to verify that some realized early on the desire to be teachers and others realized that later influenced by faculty or bystanders. The early stage of their education were influenced by striking teachers, whose way of teaching was often a point of support in the early years of teaching. The influence of striking teachers has been highlighted as possibly important factor in undergraduate courses. Moraes (1991 in their study reveals that the presence of these remarkable teachers, perhaps, is even more important stages in the school prior to graduation, ie, teaching EHS. We now point out that teacher education starts before the academic education and continues throughout their careers

  17. Strengthening Leadership Competencies of Thai Secondary School Teachers

    OpenAIRE

    Chaiyot Wanutha; Kowat Tesaputa; Anan Sri-Ampai

    2017-01-01

    The research aimed 1) to investigate components and indicators of the leadership competencies of secondary school teachers, 2) to explore the existing situations and desirable situations of secondary school teachers’ leadership competencies, 3) to study the techniques to strengthen teachers’ leadership competencies, 4) to develop the teacher-leadership competencies strengthening program, and 5) to find out the results of implementing the program to improve the teacher’s ...

  18. Pre-Service Primary School Teachers' Spatial Abilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchis, Iuliana

    2017-01-01

    Spatial abilities are used in many aspects of everyday life, thus developing these abilities should be one of the most important goal of Mathematics Education. These abilities should be developed starting with early school years, thus pre-school and primary school teachers have an important role in setting the foundation of these abilities. A…

  19. Language Teacher Burnout and School Type

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukundan, Jayakaran; Zare, Pezhman; Zarifi, Abdolvahed; Manaf, Umi Kalthom Abdul; Sahamid, Husniah

    2015-01-01

    The present study was an attempt to explore the level of burnout among primary school teachers in Malaysia. In addition, the study tried to determine if the school type has any significant influence on teachers' burnout level. To this end, 714 primary school teachers participated in the study. They were teaching at Malay (SK), Tamil (SJKT), and…

  20. Investigation of the Effect of Training on the Development of High School Teachers' Attitudes towards Scientific Research and Project Competitions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akçöltekin, Alptürk

    2016-01-01

    The main purpose of this study is to develop positive attitudes in high school teachers towards scientific research and project competitions by training them in scientific research and project preparation subjects. The study group consists of 90 high school teachers. As a result of the study, a significant difference was found in favor of…

  1. Challenges of Teacher Leadership in a Saudi School: Why Are Teachers Not Leaders?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alsalahi, Saud Mossa

    2014-01-01

    Teaching as a legitimate profession where teachers could practice their leadership agency as leaders has been under debate over the last two decades. The support for teachers' inclusion in the development of schools as well as their leadership is numerous and varies. There seems to be a few when it comes to teacher leadership in the Saudi context.…

  2. Competition for Private and State School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Francis; Machin, Stephen; Murphy, Richard; Zhu, Yu

    2008-01-01

    We analyse the role of private schools in the teachers' labour market. Private schools employ an increasingly-disproportionate share of teachers in Britain, relative to the number of their pupils. Their teachers are more likely than state school teachers to possess post-graduate qualifications, and to be specialists in shortage subjects.…

  3. The Extent of Teacher Participation in Decision-Making in Secondary Schools in Zimbabwe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wadesango, Newman

    2010-01-01

    In Zimbabwe, there have been some debates on democratisation and decentralisation, which led to the development of policies meant to increase teacher participation in decision-making in schools. However, despite these developments, teacher participation in decision-making in Zimbabwean schools is regarded as insignificant. Teachers work closely…

  4. Elementary school teachers' attitudes to teamwork

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasilijević Danijela N.

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Research to date has shown that teacher teamwork results in higher motivation among students and higher quality knowledge, and also facilitates the sharing of professional experiences and stimulates teachers' creativity and their openness to change. Team forming and development depend on multiple factors, particularly on the individual and group traits of team members. This paper examines teachers' attitudes as an individual factor significant for their inclination for team teaching, and the aim of the study presented in the paper was to study teachers' attitudes to teamwork. The sample consisted of 240 teachers from fifteen elementary schools in Belgrade. Factor analysis has singled out three factors around which teachers' attitudes are grouped: a teaching; b team and individual development; and c professional challenge. The study has shown that overall, teachers have a positive attitude to teamwork because it is conducive to a stimulating environment for work and learning, and also provides an opportunity for teachers' personal and professional development. Significant differences in the perception of teamwork have been noted among lower-grade teachers depending on their years of service and the extent to which they have been engaged in team teaching.

  5. Strengthening Teacher's Learning Management for Self-Reliance of Students in Thai Secondary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paso, Chalad; Chantarasombat, Chalard; Tirasiravech, Watanachai

    2017-01-01

    This research aimed to 1) study the present conditions, problems, and needs of teachers development in learning management in self-reliance for students in secondary schools, 2) develop a model for teacher development in learning management in self-reliance for students in secondary schools, and 3) evaluate the results of usage from teachers in…

  6. Equity Sensitivity in Illinois Public School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossi, Robert G.

    2013-01-01

    Research supports the importance of teacher quality on effective student learning. School districts recognize this fact and focus extensively on hiring quality teachers and improving teaching skills through professional development programs. Amazingly, despite common sense and a vast amount of research that reflects that employee performance is a…

  7. Developing Teacher Oral Competency Framework for Secondary School Teachers: Moving Towards Meaningful Teaching of English Language

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fahainis Mohd. Yusof

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The secondary school English curriculum in Malaysia advocates that English could provide greater opportunities for students to improve their knowledge and skills in cross cultural settings. Additionally, they will be able to interact with students from other countries and improve their proficiency in English. Given the increasing importance of international interactions among English users from different backgrounds and the current approaches in ELT pedagogy in literature, this paper examines the oral competency skills of a group of English teachers. Data was collected in a seminar specially carried out for a group of selected English teachers. Through micro-teachings sessions, the English teachers demonstrated their use of oral communication skills in delivering the content of the subjects. This seminar was an attempt to establish the collaboration among recognised Excellent English Teachers and their colleagues to enhance their oral communication skills in classrooms. The results indicated the potential of developing an oral competency framework that could be constructed and referred to by secondary English teachers so as to enhance their effectiveness of teaching the content knowledge to their students. This oral competency framework would provide an excellent opportunity to help realise the purpose of using English as the medium of instruction as proposed within the curriculum.

  8. TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS FOR THE USE OF THE EDUCATIONAL TABLET: AN ACTION-RESEARCH

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elivelton Henrique Gonçalves

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The present study aimed at understanding the importance of continuing development of CESEC’s (State Center of Continuing Education Augusta Raquel da Silveira High School teachers in Lagamar, in the state of Minas Gerais, as a form of enabling the adoption of new technologies, especially the Educational Tablet, to their pedagogical purposes. The action-research was chosen as the method of work. Thus, through the implementation of three actions – technical training, pedagogical training, and elaboration and development of a lesson plan using the Educational Tablet –, it was possible to present to the school teachers technical and pedagogical knowledge about the tablet, promoting its practical use with the necessary guidance and support for their educational routine. From the development of the actions, a body of knowledge concerning the Educational Tablet was constructed and systematized, which contributed for the teachers to get to know it and understand how relevant it is to employ it so as to explore its possibilities and resources that significantly subsidize the teaching work and the teaching-learning process.

  9. Teaching science to English Language Learners: Instructional approaches of high school teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, Betty-Vinca N.

    Students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) form the fastest growing segment of the American school population. Prompted by the call for scientific literacy for all citizens, science educators too have investigated the intersection of language and science instruction of ELLs. However these studies have typically been conducted with elementary students. Few studies have explored how high school science teachers, particularly those who have not received any special training, approach science instruction of ELLs and what supports them in this endeavor. This was a qualitative case study conducted with five science teachers in one small urban high school that predominantly served ELLs. The purpose of this study was to examine instructional approaches used by teachers to make science accessible to ELLs and the factors that supported or inhibited them in developing their instructional approaches. This goal encompassed the following questions: (a) how teachers viewed science instruction of ELLs, (b) how teachers designed a responsive program to teach science to ELLs, (c) what approaches teachers used for curriculum development and instruction, (d) how teachers developed classroom learning communities to meet the needs of ELLs. Seven instructional strategies and five perceived sources of support emerged as findings of this research. In summary, teachers believed that they needed to make science more accessible for their ELL students while promoting their literacy skills. Teachers provided individualized attention to students to provide relevant support. Teachers engaged their students in various types of active learning lessons in social contexts, where students worked on both hands-on and meaning-making activities and interacted with their peers and teachers. Teachers also created classroom communities and learning spaces where students felt comfortable to seek and give help. Finally, teachers identified several sources of support that influenced their instructional

  10. Practices and representations of health education among primary school teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jourdan, Didier; Pommier, Jeanine; Quidu, Frédérique

    2010-02-01

    School is one of the key settings for health education (HE). The objectives of this study are to assess primary school teachers' self-reported teaching practices in HE and to describe their representation concerning their role in HE. A quantitative study was conducted on a sample of primary school teachers (n = 626) in two French regions in order to analyze their practices and representations in HE. A hierarchical clustering dendogram was performed on questions exploring representations of HE. Multiple linear regression analysis helped explain the motivation and self-perceived competency score. Three quarters of the teachers declare they work in HE. Only one third of them declare they work in a comprehensive HE perspective. The HE approach is often considered in terms of specific unique curriculum intervention. Two thirds of the teachers say they work alone in HE, the other third associate other partners and choose mainly school health services. Parents are rarely (12%) involved in HE initiatives. It is essentially the practice of HE, teacher training and teachers' representation of HE that condition their motivation to develop HE. Teachers can take different approaches to HE. Teachers' representation of HE plays an important role in the development of HE activities: some teachers consider that HE is the mission of the health professionals and the parents. Our expectations of teacher involvement should be realistic, should take into account the representations of their role, the difficulties they encounter, and should be sustained by specific training.

  11. Science teachers' meaning-making when involved in a school-based professional development project

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

    2012-01-01

    A group of teachers’ meaning-making when they are collaboratively analyzing artifacts from practice in local science classrooms in a school-based professional development (PD) project is examined through repeated interviews and represented as meaning-making maps. The interpretation of the teachers......’ meaningmaking includes both their reference to outcomes from the project and their expressed ideas about teaching and learning of science. All four teachers refer to experiences from experimenting in their classrooms and interpret the collected artifacts in relation to students’ learning. Furthermore, they all...... felt encouraged to continue collaboration around science. During the interviews, the teachers emphasize various elements apparently connected to concrete challenges they each experience in their professional work. Implications in relation to the design of PD are discussed....

  12. An Empirical Investigation of the Moral Judgment Development of a Sample of High School Kuwaiti Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Shurai, Saad

    2012-01-01

    This study was conducted to investigate the moral development of one hundred Kuwaiti high school teachers. They ranged in age from 23 to 48 years with a mean of 28.6 years and a standard deviation of 8.3 years. The teachers' individual moral judgment levels were assessed by the Defining Issues Test (DIT)--an objective test designed by James Rest…

  13. Preparing prospective physics teachers to teach integrated science in junior high school

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiyanto; Hartono; Nugroho, S. E.

    2018-03-01

    The physics education study program especially prepares its students to teach physics in senior high school, however in reality many its graduates have become science teachers in junior high school. Therefore introducing integrated science to prospective physics teachers is important, because based on the curriculum, science in the junior high school should be taught integratedly. This study analyzed integrated science teaching materials that developed by prospective physics teachers. Results from this study showed that majority of the integration materials that developed by the prospective physics teachers focused on topic with an overlapping concept or theme as connecting between two or three subjects.

  14. A Model of Professional Development: Teachers' Perceptions of Their Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avidov-Ungar, Orit

    2016-01-01

    This research aims to evaluate the manner in which teachers perceive their professional development process. Forty-three teachers from Israeli schools participated in the study. I used a semi-structured interview to understand the teachers' perceptions about their professional development. The qualitative analysis identified two dimensions that…

  15. MENTORING IN THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SUCHÁNKOVÁ, Eliška

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The contribution presents the results of research focused on analysing methodical support for teacher education via mentoring, and familiarizes itself with the ascertained efficiency of the established mentoring programme in pilot schools in the Zlín region from the perspective of primary and secondary school teachers. The research shows that teachers’ evaluation of their own professional coaching competencies plays an important role in the perception of the mentoring’s efficiency. The higher the level of mastery of these competencies that the teachers attain in their own opinion, the better mentors they feel they are, the more they perceive mentoring as beneficial, and the more they use it in practice. At the same time, it is shown that the evaluation of own professional coaching competencies depends on the level of inner motivation to become involved in the mentoring course.

  16. Assessing Teacher Change in Facilitating Mathematizing in Urban Middle Schools: Results of an Effective Professional Development Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarlow, Lynn D.

    2014-01-01

    This study documents the change in teaching practices of a group of mathematics teachers in urban middle schools as they participated in a program of professional development to promote standards-based learning environments. The teachers made a shift in their classroom practice from a traditional, didactic lecture approach towards a role of…

  17. Developing a Questionnaire to Assess the Probability Content Knowledge of Prospective Primary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Torres, Emilse; Batanero, Carmen; Díaz, Carmen; Contreras, José Miguel

    2016-01-01

    In this paper we describe the development of a questionnaire designed to assess the probability content knowledge of prospective primary school teachers. Three components of mathematical knowledge for teaching and three different meanings of probability (classical, frequentist and subjective) are considered. The questionnaire content is based on…

  18. Implementation of municipal health promoting projects in primary schools: teachers perspective

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nordin, Lone Lindegard

    2013-01-01

    . The project is funded by the Danish Ministry of Science, University of Aarhus and Silkeborg municipality, and involves 5 primary schools, 23 teachers and 233 pupils from 7th to 9 class. The project is positioned within the critical approach to school health education and health promotion, developed......Implementation of municipally health promoting projects' in primary schools: teachers perspective Research question This paper discusses the findings from a qualitative research, that aimed to investigate how teachers in primary schools implemented municipal health promoting projects focusing...... that there is a “gap” between policy and practice according to aim, content and methods, and that teachers practice can be explained as coping mechanism. The key findings include: • Teachers practice is closer to traditional health education than critical health education. • Teachers priorities the mandatory teaching...

  19. Inculcation of Values across the School Curriculum: Development and Validation of Teachers' Orientation Scale

    OpenAIRE

    Mohamad Sahari; Abdul Aziz Mohd Sultan; Mohd Tahrim Raffor; Ismail Sheikh Ahmad; Ahmad Marzuki Hj. Zainuddin; Zainurin Abdul Rahman; Tunku Badariah Tunku Ahmad; Haniza Rais

    1999-01-01

    Teacher orientation to the inculcation of values across school curriculum-a function of the teacher knowledge and attitudes-has been conceptualised as his or her (1) identification with the goals of the curriculum, and (2) conformity with the predetermined instructional behaviours. Based on this framework, the study explored the construct of teacher orientation to the inculcation of values across school subjects. More specifically, the study examined the likelihood of two underlying dimension...

  20. Translating child development research into practice: Can teachers foster children's theory of mind in primary school?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bianco, Federica; Lecce, Serena

    2016-12-01

    Translating research findings into practice should be one of the objectives of developmental psychology. Recently, research demonstrated the existence of individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) during middle childhood that are crucial for children's academic and social adjustment. This study aims to transfer the results of recent experimental studies on ToM interventions into primary-school teachers' practices. It examines whether a ToM training programme, based on conversations about mental states, can be effective under real-world school conditions and if it can be translated in such a way that it becomes suitable for primary-school teachers. Seventy-two 8- to 9-year-old children took part in the study. A total of four classes were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental (34 children, 18 boys) or to the control condition (38 children, 18 boys). The ToM group and the control group were matched at pre-test for age, ToM, socio-economic background, verbal ability, working memory, and planning. Teachers were trained in four teacher-training sessions; the classroom-training programme was delivered by teachers in four sessions (each 50 min long). Children were assessed before the intervention, after the end of the programme, and 2 months later. The ToM group improved ToM skills significantly more than the control group both in the short and in the long term. Teachers can successfully promote their pupils' ToM development during their regular teaching hours. Results are discussed in the light of the importance of ToM promotion for children's school adjustment. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

  1. Increasing the impact of a master's programme on teacher leadership and school development by means of boundary crossing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Snoek, Marco; Enthoven, Mascha; Kessels, Joseph; Volman, Monique

    2015-01-01

    In this case study, we investigate how the development and impact of teacher leadership through a Master’s programme can be supported by a design that encourages boundary crossing activities between schools and universities. The case study focuses on 42 experienced teachers from three vocational

  2. Innovatively Supporting Teachers' Implementation of School-Based Sex Education: Developing A Web-Based Coaching Intervention From Problem to Solution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schutte, Lisette; van den Borne, Marieke; Kok, Gerjo; Meijer, Suzanne; Mevissen, Fraukje Ef

    2016-07-12

    Full program implementation is crucial for effectiveness but is often overlooked or insufficiently considered during development of behavioral change interventions. For school-based health promotion programs, teachers are key players in program implementation, but teacher support in this phase is mostly limited to technical support and information. To ensure optimal implementation of the Dutch school-based sexual health program Long Live Love, a Web-based coaching website was developed to support teachers in completeness and fidelity of program implementation. The aim of this paper is to provide insight into the process of systematic development of a Web-based coaching intervention to support teachers in their implementation of a school-based sexual health program. The intervention mapping (IM) protocol was applied for the development of a theory- and evidence-based intervention. The IM process begins with (1) a needs assessment, followed by (2) the formulation of change objectives, (3) the selection of theory-based intervention methods and practical applications that take the parameters for effectiveness into consideration, (4) integration of practical applications into an organized program, (5) planning for adoption, implementation, and sustainability of the program, and finally, (6) generating an evaluation plan to measure program effectiveness. Teacher's implementation behavior was characterized by inconsistently selecting parts of the program and not delivering (all) lessons as intended by program developers. Teachers, however, did not perceive this behavior as problematic, revealing the discrepancy between teacher's actual and perceived need for support in delivering Long Live Love lessons with completeness and fidelity. Teachers did, however, acknowledge different difficulties they encountered which could potentially negatively influence the quality of implementation. With the IM protocol, this Web-based coaching intervention was developed based on a concept

  3. Teachers' Perceptions Regarding Mobbing at Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gülcan, Murat Gürkan

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the study is to determine whether there are mobbing applications at schools and if so, at which level and between whom. The Mobbing Perception Scale is applied, based on Leymann's (1993), "Mobbing Typology," and developed by Yavuz (2007), to 154 teachers at 5 selected schools in Ankara for the purpose of the study. According…

  4. A Multi-Year Study of the Impact of the Rice Model Teacher Professional Development on Elementary Science Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diaconu, Dana Viorica; Radigan, Judy; Suskavcevic, Milijana; Nichol, Carolyn

    2012-01-01

    A teacher professional development program for in-service elementary school science teachers, the Rice Elementary Model Science Lab (REMSL), was developed for urban school districts serving predominately high-poverty, high-minority students. Teachers with diverse skills and science capacities came together in Professional Learning Communities, one…

  5. An Increasing of Primary School Teachers' Competency in Brain-Based Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waree, Chaiwat

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to develop a powerful and empowering guide (CBT) of elementary school teachers, to compare the ability of elementary school teachers. Management learning uses brain as a base. The experimental group with a control group the experimental group used in this research was a teacher at the grade level. 4-6 in province By…

  6. ASK Florida; a climate change education professional development program for middle school teachers in Florida

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weihs, R. R.

    2012-12-01

    A series of professional development workshops covering the fundamentals of climate change have been developed and facilitated for two groups of middle school science teachers in three Florida counties. The NASA-supported joint venture between Florida State University's Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) and the University of South Florida's (USF's) Coalition for Science Literacy, ASK Florida, focuses on expanding and deepening teachers' content knowledge of a wide range of climate change topics, connecting local and regional changes to the global picture, and supporting classroom implementation and effective teaching practices. Education experts from USF, climate scientists from COAPS, and Hillsborough county teachers and science coaches coordinated and developed the workshop content, which is based on Florida's Next Generation Sunshine State Standards in science, science curriculum guides for 6th grade, and teacher interest. Several scientists have facilitated activities during the workshop, including professors in meteorology and climatology, research scientists in the field, a NOAA program manager, the state climatologists for Florida, and others. Having these climate scientists present during the workshop provides teachers an opportunity to interact directly with the scientists and gain insight into the climatology field. Additionally, we host an open-forum discussion panel during which teachers can ask the experts about any topics of interest. Activities are designed to enhance the scientific skill level of the teachers. Introductory activities reinforce teachers' abilities to distinguish facts from opinions and to evaluate sources. Other activities provide hands-on experience using actual scientific data from NASA and other agencies. For example, teachers analyze precipitation data to create distributions of Florida rainfall, examine sea level trends at various locations, identify Atlantic hurricane frequencies during the phases of ENSO

  7. A science methods course in a professional development school context: A case study of student teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sopko, Linda Diane

    The purpose of this case study was to explore how six student teachers constructed their personal understanding about teaching science to elementary students in the context of a professional development school (PDS). The science methods course was one of five university courses that they attended at the PDS site. The participants spent the remainder of the school day in an assigned classroom where they assisted the classroom teacher in a paraprofessional role. This study was an attempt to determine the knowledge that the participants constructed of science instruction and the school during the preservice semester of their PDS experience and what knowledge was transferred into their student teaching practices. The methodology selected was qualitative. A case study was conducted to determine the constructs of the participants. Data collection included documents concerning the PDS school and personal artifacts of the student teachers. Student teachers, cooperating teachers, and administrators were interviewed. The student teachers were also observed teaching. Triangulation was achieved with the use of multiple data sources, a reflexive journal, and peer debriefers. A cross case comparison was used to identify issues salient to the research questions. The PDS context immediately challenged the participants' prior conceptions about how children learn and should be instructed. Participants believed that the situational knowledge constructed during the PDS semester contributed to their self-confidence during student teaching. The instructional emphasis on standardized tests in the PDS and the limited emphasis on science curriculum and instruction constructed an image of science as a minor component in the elementary curriculum. The student teachers were able to transfer knowledge of inquiry-based instructional strategies, as modeled and practiced in their science methods course, into their science lesson during student teaching. One student teacher used inquiry

  8. Introducing teacher mentoring in Kosovo schools - potential and challenges for sustainability

    OpenAIRE

    Vula, Eda; Berisha, Fatlume; Saqipi, Blerim

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the lessons learned from the introduction of a teacher mentoring culture within a teacher professional development program in selected pilot schools in Kosovo. Four mentor teachers and four mentee focus groups were involved in the open interviews, and their portfolios were examined. The important themes in terms of developing a school mentoring culture in a system that had lacked mentoring practices and is embarking on an ambitious curricular reform were identified. The st...

  9. Challenges in Mentoring Software Development Projects in the High School: Analysis According to Shulman's Teacher Knowledge Base Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meerbaum-Salant, Orni; Hazzan, Orit

    2009-01-01

    This paper focuses on challenges in mentoring software development projects in the high school and analyzes difficulties encountered by Computer Science teachers in the mentoring process according to Shulman's Teacher Knowledge Base Model. The main difficulties that emerged from the data analysis belong to the following knowledge sources of…

  10. Chinese school teachers' organizational citizenship behavior (OCB): Predictors and outcomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xia

    2013-08-01

    Teacher's organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a multifaceted construct that is critical to school effectiveness and to the education enterprise. Four hundred ninety-three teachers in eight different cities on the Chinese mainland were surveyed using the OCB scale developed by Bo Shiuan Cheng, a Taiwanese scholar. The antecedent and outcome variables of OCB were examined in this study. The results showed that the teachers' attitudinal characteristics of career satisfaction and career commitment, and the dispositional characteristic of locus of control, influenced teachers' OCB. In addition, teachers' OCB influenced their work performance as well as their career and organizational turnover intention. The implications of this study suggest a base of knowledge from which school administrators could enhance their school's organizational function and retain teachers. © 2013 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  11. Skills among Teachers in Selected Public Secondary School ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study examined the availability of ICT facilities and skills of secondary school teachers in Zaria Metropolis in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Two objectives were developed to guide the study. Five schools were surveyed. Two separate questionnaires was developed, one for ICT facilities and are administered to head of ICTs in ...

  12. The Organizational Health of Urban Elementary Schools: School Health and Teacher Functioning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, Tara G; Atkins, Marc S; Frazier, Stacy L

    2013-09-01

    This study examined the factor structure of the Organizational Health Inventory-Elementary version (OHI-E; Hoy, Tarter, & Kottkamp, 1991) in a sample of 203 teachers working in 19 high-poverty, urban schools and the association of organizational school health with teacher efficacy, teacher stress, and job satisfaction. Results indicated a similar factor structure of the OHI-E as compared with the population of schools in the original sample (Hoy et al., 1991), and that specific components of organizational health, such as a positive learning environment, are associated with teacher efficacy, stress, and satisfaction. Overall, teachers' relations with their peers, their school leadership, and their students appear especially critical in high-poverty, urban schools. Recommendations for research and practice related to improving high-poverty, urban schools are presented.

  13. Engaging Our School Teachers: an Augmented Reality (AR Approach to Continuous Professional Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Debbie Holley

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Currently, teachers in the UK learn about behaviour management strategies from theoretical perspectives when training, through discussions with mentors, and by trial and error at their schools. Existing literature mainly focuses on such issues from the ‘adult’ viewpoint, not the voice of the child. This paper reports on work-in-progress developing a range of Augmented Reality (AR resources for these issues, drawing upon co-design research workshops with children from a Year 6 class (aged 10 in a UK Primary School. Our research informs approaches to classroom management by encouraging reflection and analysis of ‘critical incidents’ identified by the pupils, and explored by teachers in workshops through the medium of AR, giving a reality previously uncaptured in more traditional approaches. Our final resources will be a set of Open Education Resources (OER, offered to the wider community for reuse/repurposing for educational settings through a Creative Commons (cc licence.

  14. A case study of continuing teacher professional development ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Erna Kinsey

    ing of secondary school learners using lesson study for teacher development. ... Villegas-Reimers (2003) reviewed international literature on teacher pro- fessional ... change in practice when the teachers returned to their classrooms.

  15. The Preparation of Pre-Service Student Teachers' Competence to Work in Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Sylvia Y. F.; Cheng, May M. H.; Wong, Angel K. Y.

    2016-01-01

    Competence to work in schools is an important dimension of professional competence, although it is often a neglected dimension of teacher development. This article reports a qualitative study that examined student teachers' learning experiences in initial teacher education (ITE) in relation to competence to work in schools. In-depth interviews…

  16. Implementing Action Research and Professional Learning Communities in a Professional Development School Setting to Support Teacher Candidate Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shanks, Joyce

    2016-01-01

    The paper reviews teacher candidates' use of action research and the Professional Learning Community (PLC) concept to support their work in their pre-student teaching field experience. In this research study, teacher candidates are involved in a professional development school relationship that uses action research and PLCs to support candidate…

  17. Teachers' and School Administrators' Attitudes and Beliefs of Teacher Evaluation: A Preliminary Investigation of High Poverty School Districts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reddy, Linda A.; Dudek, Christopher M.; Peters, Stephanie; Alperin, Alexander; Kettler, Ryan J.; Kurz, Alexander

    2018-01-01

    This study examined attitudes and beliefs regarding teacher evaluation of teachers and their school administrators in the state of New Jersey, USA. The sample included 33 school administrators and 583 Pre-K through 12th grade teachers from four high-poverty urban school districts (22 schools). Participant attitudes and beliefs were assessed using…

  18. How Do Teachers Learn Together? A Study of School-Based Teacher Learning in China from the Perspective of Organisational Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiaolei; Wong, Jocelyn L. N.

    2018-01-01

    Studies of professional development have examined the influence of school-based approaches on in-service teacher learning and change but have seldom investigated teachers' job-embedded learning processes. This paper explores the dynamic processes of teacher learning in school-based settings. A qualitative comparative case study based on the…

  19. RESEARCH CHALLENGES IN SCHOOLS TRAINING OF TEACHERS OF TLAXCALA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darney Mendoza-Morales

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available With the intention of keeping the status of educational research Forming Schools teachers in Tlaxcala, has initiated an diagnosis to define the challenges facing these institutions, mainly the Rural Normal School Lic Benito Juarez. This research is documentary, quantitative and qualitative, is still in process. area systematized information. Statistics of the Educational Services Unit of the State of Tlaxcala, the PEFEN 2011-2012 and Curriculum 2012 and also various policy documents, research data at national level and normal schools were reviewed. The first approach suggests that teacher training institutions face major challenges, which they can no longer delay therefore involves a reorganization of the activities developed by teachers and institutions.

  20. Professional Development of Novice Special Education Teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silmara de Oliveira Gomes Papi

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The professional development of novice teachers in the profession and in special education is poorly understood, despite its relevance to the improvement of teaching. This study analyzes the challenges faced by such teachers with a view to understanding their professional development. The participants in the research were teachers of classrooms equipped with multifunctional resources (SRM in state schools. The research follows a critical-dialectic approach and a qualitative focus. The results indicate deficiencies in the professional development of novices, who experience difficulties related to teaching and bureaucracy, despite having specific training in the area. They also feel alienated in the schools and seek alternatives to fill existing gaps related to their professional practice.

  1. The importance of making progress in teacher professional development

    OpenAIRE

    Stamatović, Jelena; Kundačina, Milenko

    2014-01-01

    Professional development of teachers depends on many conditions, but the most distinguished ones are teachers' motivation and their opportunities for development and advancement. Quality planning of professional teacher development contributes to better development of school and teachers. This paper presents research that is aimed to acquire knowledge on important issues related to the promotion of teachers in professional development. The study sample consisted of 786 primary and secondary s...

  2. Increasing the impact of a Master’s programme on teacher leadership and school development by means of boundary crossing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Snoek, Marco; Enthoven, Mascha; Kessels, Joseph; Volman, Monique

    2017-01-01

    In this case study, we investigate how the development and impact of teacher leadership through a Master’s programme can be supported by a design that encourages boundary crossing activities between schools and universities. The case study focuses on 42 experienced teachers from three vocational

  3. The Effect of Teacher Psychological and School Organizational and Leadership Factors on Teachers' Professional Learning in Dutch Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geijsel, Femke P.; Sleegers, Peter J. C.; Stoel, Reinoud D.; Kruger, Meta L.

    2009-01-01

    In this study we examined the relative importance of teachers' psychological states, school organizational conditions (teacher collaboration and participative decision making), and the leadership practices (vision, individual consideration, and intellectual stimulation) of principals at their schools in explaining variation in teachers'…

  4. TEACHERS PERCEPTIONS OF CLASSROOM PRACTICES BASED ON SOLO TAXONOMY IN SECONDARY SCHOOL SYSTEM

    OpenAIRE

    P. H. Kusumawathie; Norhisham Mohamad; Ferdous Azam

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the conceptual awareness of accounting teachers in their teaching learning process based on SOLO Taxonomy curriculum approach in secondary level schools. Further, the study explored the relationship between the curriculum development inputs and the SOLO based curriculum development process. The curriculum development inputs are teacher effectiveness, school community, school environment and technology availability. Method: Data was collected th...

  5. Credentialing high school psychology teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weaver, Kenneth A

    2014-09-01

    The National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula (American Psychological Association, 2013b) require a teacher with considerable psychology content knowledge to teach high school psychology courses effectively. In this study, I examined the initial teaching credential requirements for high school psychology teachers in the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. Thirty-four states (the District of Columbia is included as a state) require the social studies credential to teach high school psychology. An analysis of the items on standardized tests used by states to validate the content knowledge required to teach social studies indicates little or no presence of psychology, a reflection of psychology's meager presence in the social studies teacher preparation curricula. Thus, new teachers with the social studies teaching credential are not prepared to teach high school psychology according to the National Standards. Approval of The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013) presents an opportunity to advocate for establishing a psychology credential in the 34 states. (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  6. Inclusive Education in Government Primary Schools: Teacher Perceptions

    OpenAIRE

    Itfaq Khaliq Khan; Shujahat Haider Hashmi; Nabeela Khanum

    2017-01-01

    The perceptions of primary school teachers towards inclusive education was investigated in mainstream government schools of Islamabad capital territory where inclusive education was being supported by Sight savers and other international organizations. The study was carried out involving 54 teachers in six randomly selected primary schools. The sampled group comprised both, teachers trained in inclusive education and teachers working in same schools, but not trained in inclusive education. Pu...

  7. Link Schools: An Evaluation of an Innovatory Scheme in Teacher Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boydell, Deanne

    1990-01-01

    The first year of an innovative British partnership between elementary schools, the school district, the teacher training institution, and teacher trainees is evaluated. The program integrates the needs of institutions, students, and professionals. Guiding principles relevant to the development of such partnerships and evaluation issues are…

  8. Distributed but Undefined: New Teacher Leader Roles to Change Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margolis, Jason; Huggins, Kristin Shawn

    2012-01-01

    This article examines teacher leader role development and definition by looking at one emergent model of distributed leadership: the hybrid teacher leader (HTL). HTLs are teachers whose official schedule includes both teaching K-12 students and leading teachers in some capacity. Participants included six HTLs across four school districts over 2…

  9. Comparing varieties of in-service English Language Training for primary school teachers in Norway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James Coburn

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available International trends show the formal teaching of English beginning at an increasingly early age. This presents challenges for national education systems and in particular, for primary schools and for primary school teachers who are not necessarily trained as English teachers. This paper looks at two different responses to the situation in Norway, through research into two different ways of organising, designing and implementing in-service English Training (INSET for primary school teachers. One is a nationally organised program, the other is a local initiative. The contexts for the two different kinds of courses are outlined and the designs of the courses presented through document analysis interspersed with extracts from interviews with teacher trainers. Strengths and weaknesses of the two different kinds of courses are compared. The study concludes that if English teaching in primary schools in Norway is to improve towards 2030, there is a need for the introduction of new programs and structures for the development of teacher trainers with primary school teaching experience, and for the systematic development of networks of primary school English teachers with the aim of nurturing and sustaining their professional development

  10. Developing Pre-service Teachers' Technology Integration ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Developing Pre-service Teachers' Technology Integration Competencies in Science and Mathematics Teaching: Experiences from Tanzania and Uganda. ... This study investigated the ICT integration practices in pre-service teacher education in the School of Education at Makerere University (College of Education and ...

  11. Interpersonal relationships of high schools' teachers and teachers' profiles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Telli, S.; Cakiroglu, J.; Brok, den P.J.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to examnine associations between Turkish high school students'perceptions of their teacher's interpersonal behavior and drawn attention to the relationship between students'affective outcomes and teachers' interpersonal behavior. The Questionnaire on Teacher

  12. School Culture's Influence on Beginning Agriculture Teachers' Job Satisfaction and Teacher Self-Efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasselquist, Laura; Herndon, Kevin; Kitchel, Tracy

    2017-01-01

    This study explored first and second year agriculture teachers' job satisfaction and teacher selfefficacy through their perceived levels of school culture support. Prior research indicated one possible contributor to poor teacher retention is a lack of belonging teachers feel to their schools. Data were collected from beginning teachers in three…

  13. Seismology in Schools an integrated approach to funding developing and implementing a coordinated programme for teachers and high school students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blake, T. A.; Jones, A. G.; Campbell, G.

    2010-12-01

    success of the programme was targeting teachers who would be committed to its implementation and promotion in the school. Strong emphasis by DIAS was placed on providing teacher training days on the set-up and operation of the seismometer, and they were also trained in various animation software programmes used to enhance the learning capacities of the students in the classroom. Regular contact is maintained with the teachers in the programme throughout the academic year to support and encourage their work in the classroom. Teachers receive an SMS alert message from DIAS when an earthquake of Mag 5 has been recorded by the Irish National Seismic network which will then form part of the next lesson plan for Geography and Maths in the curriculum. Most participating schools have become affiliated to the IRIS International Schools Seismic Network site, and students upload the waveform seismic data in SAC format for the recorded seismic events at their school to share with schools internationally. Future developments in the programme will include the investigation of twinning of schools on different continents who are actively pursuing a seismology in schools programme.

  14. Especially for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howell, J. Emory

    2001-05-01

    Literature Cited National Science Education Standards; National Academy Press: Washington, DC, 1996; http://www. nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/. Principles and Standards for School Mathematics; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Washington, DC, 2000; http://standards.nctm.org/. Visit CLIC, an Online Resource for High School Teachers at http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/HS/

  15. Democracy in schools: are educators ready for teacher leadership?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elsabé de Villiers

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this research was to determine educators' perceptions of and readiness for teacher leadership. A total of 283 educators in the Eden and Central Karoo Education District in the Western Cape participated in the study. The participants included district officials, principals, and members of school management teams, as well as veteran, middle, and novice educators. A series of instruments was used to determine educators' perspectives, perceptions and readiness for teacher leadership, including the Teacher Leadership Readiness Instrument (TLRI. The results indicated that educators held positive assumptions about teacher leadership. Educators' preliminary leadership perceptions, assumptions about and readiness for teacher leadership proved that the majority of educators are ready for a more distributed, deep democratic leadership practice in schools. Educators acknowledged the need for continuous professional development in the area of teacher leadership. It was also found that as preliminary leadership perceptions of educators improve or strengthen, readiness for teacher leadership is also likely to improve or strengthen. These findings have significant implications for leadership practices, collaboration, capacity-building and improvement in schools, educators' self-esteem, motivation and productivity, as well as student outcomes.

  16. Teacher Research as Professional Development for P-12 Music Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conway, Colleen; Edgar, Scott; Hansen, Erin; Palmer, C. Michael

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of seven music educators who conducted teacher research in their classrooms and to document whether the teachers and the local school district considered the project as professional development. Research questions included: (1) How do these music educators describe the experience of planning…

  17. Interpersonal relationship of high schools' teachers and teachers profile

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Telli, Sibel; Cakiroglu, Jale; den Brok, Perry

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to examine associations between Turkish high school students' perceptions of their teachers' interpersonal behavior and drawn attention to the relationship between students' affective outcomes and teachers' interpersonal behavior. The Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction

  18. Exploring Teacher Trust in Technical/Vocational Secondary Schools: Male Teachers' Preference for Girls

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Houtte, Mieke

    2007-01-01

    This article explores whether teachers' trust in pupils in technical/vocational schools is associated with teachers' and pupils' gender. As for the teachers, besides gender, age, socioeconomic origin, and subject taught are considered and, as for the pupils, the gender composition of the school (proportion of girls at school), the socioeconomic…

  19. Introducing Teacher Mentoring in Kosovo Schools – Potential and Challenges for Sustainability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eda Vula

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This study examined the lessons learned from the introduction of a teacher mentoring culture within a teacher professional development program in selected pilot schools in Kosovo. Four mentor teachers and four mentee focus groups were involved in the open interviews, and their portfolios were examined. The important themes in terms of developing a school mentoring culture in a system that had lacked mentoring practices and is embarking on an ambitious curricular reform were identified. The study revealed that individual, collegial and institutional dimensions are critical in attempting to introduce the mentoring culture. The study concluded that mentoring is a mixed concept and is viewed as hierarchical but is, nevertheless, an important professional development tool for teachers who are facing the pressure of the reform. This formalized way, known as “Balkanization” culture, marks a critical step towards developing a collaborative school culture as the desired end point.

  20. Fostering Technology-Rich Service-Learning Experiences between School Librarians and Teacher Education Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shepherd, Craig E.; Dousay, Tonia; Kvenild, Cassandra; Meredith, Tamara

    2015-01-01

    School libraries are untapped resources for fieldwork by preservice teachers. Many school librarians have expertise in pedagogy and standards-based curriculum development, both for information literacy and for technology integration. By forging partnerships with teacher-preparation programs, school librarians can provide fieldwork sites rich in…

  1. Urban Teachers' Perceptions of School Violence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Church, Gregory L.

    2011-01-01

    Teachers may not be trained on how to prevent or address school violence and/or may lack the skills necessary to provide adequate intervention strategies. The purpose of this study was to explore urban K-6 teachers' perceptions of school violence at one metropolitan school. The conceptual framework for this study was supported by Bronfenbrenner's…

  2. The Relationships between School Autonomy Gap, Principal Leadership, Teachers' Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dou, Diya; Devos, Geert; Valcke, Martin

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the relationship between school autonomy gap, principal leadership, school climate, teacher psychological factors, teachers' job satisfaction and organizational commitment under the context of school autonomy reform. A path model has been developed to define the relationships between principal leadership and teachers' outcomes…

  3. Relationships between school support, school facilities, ICT culture and mathematics teachers' attitudes towards ICT in teaching and learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayub, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd; Bakar, Kamariah Abu; Ismail, Rohayati

    2012-05-01

    Information communication Technology (ICT) has been a major influence in the Malaysian Education System, especially in the teaching of mathematics. Since 2003, the Malaysian Ministry of Education has provided incentives to mathematics teacher to motivate them to use ICT using English as the medium of instruction, during the teaching and learning process. However, there are barriers that prevented mathematics teachers from using ICT in the classrooms. This study is to determine factors that influenced the attitudes of Malaysian Mathematic Teachers in integrating ICT in their teaching and learning. One hundred ninety one mathematics teachers were randomly selected for the purpose of this study. The three factors investigated were school support, school facilities and school culture which had been selected to be correlated with teachers' attitudes towards integrating ICT in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Findings showed that significant positive relationships existed between teachers' attitudes toward integrating ICT in the teaching and learning and school support, school facilities and ICT culture and This finding indicated that, in order to develop teachers' attitudes in using ICT during their teaching and learning process, they needed support from the school principals and also their colleagues. Apart from that, school facilities and also ICT culture were also found to be essential.

  4. Teacher Design in Teams as a Professional Development Arrangement for Developing Technology Integration Knowledge and Skills of Science Teachers in Tanzania

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kafyulilo, Ayoub; Fisser, Petra; Voogt, Joke

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the impact of teacher design teams as a professional development arrangement for developing technology integration knowledge and skills among in-service science teachers. The study was conducted at a secondary school in Tanzania, where 12 in-service science teachers participated in a workshop about technology integration in…

  5. The Development of Community Competence in the Teacher Education Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobber, Marjolein; Vandyck, Inne; Akkerman, Sanne; Graaff, Rick de; Beishuizen, Jos; Pilot, Albert; Verloop, Nico; Vermunt, Jan

    2013-01-01

    Teachers are expected to frequently collaborate within teacher communities in schools. This requires teacher education to prepare student teachers by developing the necessary community competence. The present study empirically investigates the extent to which teacher education programmes pay attention to and aim to stimulate the development of…

  6. Moving beyond the Barriers: Supporting Meaningful Teacher Collaboration to Improve Secondary School Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jao, Limin; McDougall, Doug

    2016-01-01

    The Collaborative Teacher Inquiry Project was a professional development initiative that sought to improve the teaching and learning of Grade 9 Applied mathematics by encouraging teachers to work collaboratively. The project brought together Grade 9 Applied mathematics teachers from 11 schools across four neighboring public school boards in the…

  7. Teacher ambivalence towards school evaluation : promoting and ruining teacher professionalism

    OpenAIRE

    Hult, Agneta; Edström, Charlotta

    2016-01-01

    Today’s evaluation society makes teachers participate in a stream of external evaluations. How teachers experience evaluation in school and how this affects their work and professionalism is the focus of this article. Teachers’ views of external and internal evaluations and of the consequences for school practice are described and analysed. The interviewed teachers emphasised the importance of internal evaluations performed close to daily teaching practice and jointly with students and collea...

  8. Neuroscience in middle schools: a professional development and resource program that models inquiry-based strategies and engages teachers in classroom implementation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacNabb, Carrie; Schmitt, Lee; Michlin, Michael; Harris, Ilene; Thomas, Larry; Chittendon, David; Ebner, Timothy J; Dubinsky, Janet M

    2006-01-01

    The Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota and the Science Museum of Minnesota have developed and implemented a successful program for middle school (grades 5-8) science teachers and their students, called Brain Science on the Move. The overall goals have been to bring neuroscience education to underserved schools, excite students about science, improve their understanding of neuroscience, and foster partnerships between scientists and educators. The program includes BrainU, a teacher professional development institute; Explain Your Brain Assembly and Exhibit Stations, multimedia large-group presentation and hands-on activities designed to stimulate student thinking about the brain; Class Activities, in-depth inquiry-based investigations; and Brain Trunks, materials and resources related to class activities. Formal evaluation of the program indicated that teacher neuroscience knowledge, self-confidence, and use of inquiry-based strategies and neuroscience in their classrooms have increased. Participating teachers increased the time spent teaching neuroscience and devoted more time to "inquiry-based" teaching versus "lecture-based teaching." Teachers appreciated in-depth discussions of pedagogy and science and opportunities for collegial interactions with world-class researchers. Student interest in the brain and in science increased. Since attending BrainU, participating teachers have reported increased enthusiasm about teaching and have become local neuroscience experts within their school communities.

  9. Teachers' Work and Schooling in Bali

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nilan, Pam

    2003-11-01

    This study addresses educational reform in Indonesia with reference to one of the most important potential agents of change in any national system of schooling - its teachers. The empirical data on secondary teachers and trainee teachers used here are taken from a larger case study of the attitudes and opinions of stakeholders in the education system of North Bali. Secondary teachers in Bali, as elsewhere in Indonesia, are seriously underpaid, but not necessarily undervalued in the community. They take on other jobs to support themselves and their families, yet they do not lack commitment to the professional task of teaching. It is argued that financial pressure on teachers to find other sources of remuneration militates against their capacity to act as agents of change in the rapidly reforming Indonesian state. Furthermore, teaching is not often seen as a financially rewarding profession by a new generation of secondary-school graduates. The author recommends that teachers' salaries be raised and infrastructure support for schools increased.

  10. The Art of Teaching the Arts: A Workshop for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Annenberg Media, 2005

    2005-01-01

    "The Art of Teaching the Arts: A Workshop for High School Teachers" is an eight-part professional development workshop for use by high school dance, music, theatre, and visual art teachers. The workshop examines how principles of good teaching are carried out in teaching the arts at the high school level. In the eight one-hour video programs,…

  11. Violence in public school: reports of teachers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renata Carneiro Ferreira

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To assess the perception of violence from the reports of teachers of elementary and high school in a public state school in Fortaleza, Ceará. Method: A qualitative descriptive study conducted with 26 teachers, in the period from January to May 2006. To collect the data we adopted the following procedures: the discussion on school violence during the meetings of the teacher training week; the reading of the school regulations and the distribution of an instrument with the guiding question about the concept of violence as from the school reality, among the participants of the study. Afterwards, the thematic analysis of the reports was carried out. Results: Through the reports of teachers emerged the following categories: physical aggression, verbal aggression and fights as the most cited; to hide personal belongings, cursing, shoving and disrespect for the teacher and pranks were also mentioned. Conclusion: From the reports it appears that violence is perceived in physical, dimension moral and symbolic, and these “typologies” corroborate the descriptions found in literature as bullying or incivility, which dominate the school context.

  12. Teacher Professional Development through Digital Content Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Kui; Kim, Min Kyu; Cheng, Sheng-Lun; Luthy, Nicole C.

    2017-01-01

    In this study, researchers designed and implemented a 1-year professional development (PD) program that focused on supporting teachers in evaluating and selecting digital learning contents. Participants in this investigation included 109 teachers who consented to the study amongst a total of 171 teachers from five school districts across central…

  13. Introducing Teacher Mentoring in Kosovo Schools--Potential and Challenges for Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vula, Eda; Berisha, Fatlume; Saqipi, Blerim

    2015-01-01

    This study examined the lessons learned from the introduction of a teacher mentoring culture within a teacher professional development program in selected pilot schools in Kosovo. Four mentor teachers and four mentee focus groups were involved in the open interviews, and their portfolios were examined. The important themes in terms of developing a…

  14. The Professional Development of High School Chemistry Coordinators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofstein, Avi; Carmeli, Miriam; Shore, Relly

    2004-02-01

    The implementation of new content and pedagogical standards in science education necessitates intensive, long-term professional development of science teachers. In this paper, we describe the rationale and structure of a comprehensive and intensive professional development program of school-based leaders, namely school chemistry coordinators. The year-long program was designed so that the chemistry teachers who enrolled in the program were able to develop in three interrelated aspects: content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and leadership ability. Several strategies for the development of these aspects were adopted from Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles (1998). The evaluation of the program focused on the changes that participating teachers underwent regarding their personal beliefs and their functioning as school chemistry coordinators in their schools.

  15. Teacher Training to Handle Bullying in the School in Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hidayatus Sholihah

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available There are several students in Indonesia who have suffered from injury or even died because of bullying. As a consequence, school teachers in Indonesia need to be trained to handle and prevent bullying. This essay examines the importance of pre-service and in service teacher training in order to reduce and prevent bullying in school in Indonesia by examining the problem of bullying, discussing the effects of it and providing areas of training to help teachers to tackle bullying. There are several reasons why bullying becomes serious problem in school. First of all, bullying is a complex task for teachers because it is difficult to identify and, teachers find it difficult to differentiate between bullying and fighting or horseplay. Moreover, teachers lack the knowledge and skills to handle bullying. Bullying has negative effects not only on victims but also on bullies. Victims feel lonely, depressed, and often have low self-esteem, while bullies often exhibit sign of bad temper or depression. Areas of teachers pre- service and in- service training are1 assisting teachers to differentiate between bullying and fighting or horse playing 2 developing skills to communicate with bullies and to manage classrooms where bullying occurs. In conclusion, teacher training is a good solution to tackle bullying at school in Indonesia because teachers are in the front line to solve this problem. Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/tjems.v2i1.1786

  16. School Culture and Postgraduate Professional Development: Delineating the "Enabling School"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arthur, Linet; Marland, Harriet; Pill, Amanda; Rea, Tony

    2010-01-01

    The culture of the "enabling school" is investigated within the context of the government's policy of continuing professional development and postgraduate professional development for teachers in England. This context is problematised by considering teachers' conceptualisations of their professional autonomy, status and personal…

  17. Teacher Expectations of Students' Classroom Behavior: Do Expectations Vary as a Function of School Risk?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lane, Kathleen Lynne; Pierson, Melinda R.; Stang, Kristin K.; Carter, Erik W.

    2010-01-01

    Understanding the social behaviors teachers believe is critical for school success and can contribute to the development of effective behavioral supports and assist teachers in better preparing students for successful school transitions across the K-12 grade span. We explored 1303 elementary, middle, and high school teachers' expectations of…

  18. School Competition and Teacher Labor Markets: Evidence from Charter School Entry in North Carolina

    OpenAIRE

    C. Kirabo Jackson

    2011-01-01

    I analyze changes in teacher turnover, hiring, effectiveness, and salaries at traditional public schools after the opening of a nearby charter school. While I find small effects on turnover overall, difficult to staff schools (low-income, high-minority share) hired fewer new teachers and experienced small declines in teacher quality. I also find evidence of a demand side response where schools increased teacher compensation to better retain quality teachers. The results are robust across a va...

  19. Primary School Teachers' Knowledge, Attitude and Perceived ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study endeavored to investigate primary school teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and perceived practices of continuous assessment (CA). Ninety-five primary school teachers from three primary schools in West Gojjam, Ethiopia, were randomly selected for the study. Questionnaire, interviews and content analyses were ...

  20. Teacher Participation in Decision Making and Its Impact on School and Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarafidou, Jasmin-Olga; Chatziioannidis, Georgios

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine teacher involvement in different domains of decision making in Greek primary schools and explore associations with school and teacher variables. Design/methodology/approach: A survey employing self-administered questionnaires, with a Likert-type scale assessing teachers' actual and desired…

  1. How Teachers Become Leaders: An Internationally Validated Theoretical Model of Teacher Leadership Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poekert, Philip; Alexandrou, Alex; Shannon, Darbianne

    2016-01-01

    Teacher leadership is increasingly being touted as a practical response to guide teacher learning in school improvement and policy reform efforts. However, the field of research on teacher leadership in relation to post-compulsory educational development has been and remains largely atheoretical to date. This empirical study proposes a grounded…

  2. An Assessment of Need for Instructional Professional Development for Middle School Science Teachers Using Interactive Lessons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burton, Amanda

    Numerous studies on the impact of interactive lessons on student learning have been conducted, but there has been a lack of professional development (PD) programs at a middle school focusing on ways to incorporate interactive lessons into the science classroom setting. The purpose of this case study was to examine the instructional practices of science teachers to determine whether the need for an interactive lessons approach to teaching students exists. This qualitative case study focused on teachers' perceptions and pedagogy to determine whether the need to use interactive lessons to meet the needs of all students is present. The research question focused on identifying current practices and determining whether a need for interactive lessons is present. Qualitative data were gathered from science teachers at the school through interviews, lesson plans, and observations, all of which were subsequently coded using an interpretative analysis. The results indicated the need for a professional development (PD) program centered on interactive science lessons. Upon completion of the qualitative study, a detailed PD program has been proposed to increase the instructional practices of science teachers to incorporate interactive lessons within the science classroom. Implications for positive social change include improved teaching strategies and lessons that are more student-centered resulting in better understanding and comprehension, as well as performance on state-mandated tests.

  3. The Organizational Health of Urban Elementary Schools: School Health and Teacher Functioning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehta, Tara G.; Atkins, Marc S.; Frazier, Stacy L.

    2013-01-01

    This study examined the factor structure of the Organizational Health Inventory-Elementary version (OHI-E; Hoy, Tarter, & Kottkamp, 1991) in a sample of 203 teachers working in 19 high-poverty, urban schools and the association of organizational school health with teacher efficacy, teacher stress, and job satisfaction. Results indicated a similar factor structure of the OHI-E as compared with the population of schools in the original sample (Hoy et al., 1991), and that specific components of organizational health, such as a positive learning environment, are associated with teacher efficacy, stress, and satisfaction. Overall, teachers’ relations with their peers, their school leadership, and their students appear especially critical in high-poverty, urban schools. Recommendations for research and practice related to improving high-poverty, urban schools are presented. PMID:23935763

  4. Re-Engineering Primary School Teachers for Sustainable ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    engineer primary school teachers for sustainable development in Onitsha North Local Government Area. Three research questions and a hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. Descriptive survey research design was used. 300 primary ...

  5. Doorways III: Teacher Reference Materials. On School-Related Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development, 2009

    2009-01-01

    The Doorways training program was designed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Safe Schools Program (Safe Schools) to enable teachers, community members and students to prevent and respond to school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). This booklet, "Doorways III: Teacher Reference Materials on School-Related…

  6. Especially for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howell, J. Emory

    1999-09-01

    students into a class research project that employs simple materials but leads to an elegant solution. It is highly likely that her students' conceptual understanding of solution properties, density, heat capacity, phase change, diffusion, and scientific inquiry was greatly enhanced by the experience. Other accounts of research by high school students in class, small-group, and individual settings will be published in future issues. I hope that the various approaches described will stimulate new ideas for student-conducted research to facilitate learning. One frustration that high school teachers and students may experience is difficult access to instrumentation needed to carry out investigations. Calculator Based Laboratory (CBL) and other new technologies provide some relatively low-cost solutions to the problem, but the cost of specialized sensors can still be a barrier. In this issue a method for constructing an electrode for determining carbon dioxide concentration is described (p 1253). The article is not identified with Secondary School Chemistry mark (t) because it might not be of interest to a large number of high school teachers, but if the idea is appealing I encourage you to read the article. JCE has received several submissions from high school teachers describing devices constructed by their students, so I know there is some interest in low-cost build-it-yourself instrumentation. If you are among those who find this type of article interesting, please let me know. It will guide me in assigning the SSC icon to articles. Beginning Anew, Again For many readers, this issue will arrive only a few weeks or days before the beginning of the new school year. Others will already have begun the new school year. One of the joys of teaching lies in the cyclic nature of the school year. Ideas from summer workshops and conferences can be developed and implemented. Fresh faces in our classrooms provide another opportunity to try new approaches and to perfect proven teaching

  7. U.S. Teachers' Perceptions of School Violence Prevention Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chestnut, Natakie

    2016-01-01

    In response to high profile violent incidents and crimes, many schools have developed plans that address school discipline to create a school climate and culture wherein everyone is valued and treated with respect. The problem that prompted this study is teachers are struggling with effectively implementation prevention program. The purpose of…

  8. High School Teacher Perceptions of Empowerment

    OpenAIRE

    Jacobs, Tricia Susan

    2014-01-01

    As the responsibilities of principals become more complex and as accountability becomes more evident in K-12 cultures, it becomes increasingly important that high school principals be trained to empower teachers. This paper examined the research concerning the conditions of the empowerment of teachers. More specifically, it measured high school teachers' perspectives concerning their levels of empowerment by their principals based on the four domains of empowerment: meaning, competence, sel...

  9. Professional Development Programs for Teachers of English

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Singgih Widodo

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Well-planned programs based on the needs for professional development of teachers are strongly needed to enhance the teaching-staff improvement.The impact of teacher improvement will effect the students learning and school achievement. This paper aims at raising awareness of English teachers to upgrade themselves as autonomous learners as well as researchers and broaden their horizon for stepping the ladder-career of their profession. For that purpose, a survey as reported here aimed to identify the needs of individual English teachers and the preferred programs for professional development. The findings indicated that the 36 teachers involved needed teacher training, teacher association, teacher materials, continuing education, and interschool visit and that teacher training was the most well known program among teachers.

  10. What Teachers Want: Supporting Primary School Teachers in Teaching Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitzgerald, Angela; Schneider, Katrin

    2013-01-01

    Impending change can provide us with the opportunity to rethink and renew the things that we do. The first phase of the Australian Curriculum implementation offers primary school teachers the chance to examine their approaches to science learning and teaching. This paper focuses on the perceptions of three primary school teachers regarding what…

  11. UWHS Climate Science: Uniting University Scientists and High School Teachers in the Development and Implementation of a Dual-Credit STEM-Focused Curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertram, M. A.; Thompson, L.; Ackerman, T. P.

    2012-12-01

    The University of Washington is adapting a popular UW Atmospheric Sciences course on Climate and Climate Change for the high school environment. In the process, a STEM-focused teaching and learning community has formed. With the support of NASA Global Climate Change Education 20 teachers have participated in an evolving professional development program that brings those actively engaged in research together with high school teachers passionate about bringing a formal climate science course into the high school. Over a period of several months participating teachers work through the UW course homework and delve deeply into specific subject areas. Then, during a week-long summer institute, scientists bring their particular expertise (e.g. radiation, modeling) to the high school teachers through lectures or labs. Together they identify existing lectures, textbook material and peer-reviewed resources and labs available through the internet that can be used to effectively teach the UW material to the high school students. Through this process the scientists learn how to develop teaching materials around their area of expertise, teachers engage deeply in the subject matter, and both the university and high school teachers are armed with the tools to effectively teach a STEM-focused introductory course in climate science. To date 12 new hands-on modules have been completed or are under development, exploring ice-cores, isotopes, historical temperature trends, energy balance, climate models, and more. Two modules have been tested in the classroom and are ready for peer-review through well-respected national resources such as CLEAN or the National Earth Science Teachers Association; three others are complete and will be implemented in a high school classroom this year, and the remainder under various stages of development. The UWHS ATMS 211 course was piloted in two APES (Advanced Placement Environmental Science classrooms) in Washington State in 2011/2012. The high school

  12. Classroom Teacher Leadership: Service-Learning for Teacher Sense of Efficacy and Servant Leadership Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Trae

    2012-01-01

    Improved student achievement requires the distribution of leadership beyond one individual. Given their daily connection to students, leadership opportunities distributed to classroom teachers are key to school improvement. Complicating the development of classroom teacher leaders are attrition rates and low teacher efficacy among novice…

  13. High school science teachers' perceptions of telecommunications utilizing a Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slough, Scott Wayne

    The purpose of this study was to describe high school science teachers' perceptions of telecommunications. The data were collected through open-ended ethnographic interviews with 24 high school science teachers from five different high schools in a single suburban school district who had been in an emerging telecommunications-rich environment for two and one-half years. The interview protocol was adapted from Honey and Henriquez (1993), with the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) (Bailey & Palsha, 1992) providing a conceptual framework for data analysis. For this study, the emerging telecommunications-rich environment included a district-wide infrastructure that had been in place for two and one-half years that included a secure district-wide Intranet, 24 network connections in each classroom, full Internet access from the network, four computers per classroom, and a variety of formal and informal professional development opportunities for teachers. Categories of results discussed include: (a) teacher's profession use of telecommuunications; (b) teachers' perceptions of student's use of telecommunications; (c) teachers' perceptions of barriers to the implementation of telecommunications; (d) teachers' perceptions of supporting conditions for the implementation of telecommunications; (e) teachers' perceptions of the effect of telecommunications on high school science instruction; (f) teachers' perceptions of the effect of telecommunications on student's learning in high school science; and (g) the demographic variables of the sex of the teacher, years of teaching experience, school assignment within the district, course assignment(s), and academic preparation. Implications discussed include: (a) telecommunications can be implemented successfully in a variety of high school science classrooms with adequate infrastructure support and sufficient professional development opportunities, including in classes taught by females and teachers who were not previously

  14. Enabling adaptive system leadership: teachers leading professional development

    OpenAIRE

    Boylan, Mark

    2018-01-01

    Internationally, there is increasing emphasis on teacher leadership of professional development. This provides opportunities for teachers to initiate and facilitate professional learning activities beyond their own schools. There is a need for theoretical tools to analyse their leadership activity and how to support it. Constructs from complexity leadership theory and the concept of teacher system leadership are used to develop a framework to analyse the purposes and practices of teacher prof...

  15. Elementary School Teachers' Motivation toward Web-Based Professional Development, and the Relationship with Internet Self-Efficacy and Belief about Web-Based Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kao, Chia-Pin; Wu, Ying-Tien; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2011-01-01

    This study was conducted to explore the relationships between teachers' motivation toward web-based professional development, Internet self-efficacy, and beliefs about web-based learning. By gathering questionnaire data from 484 elementary school teachers, this study indicated that the teachers' Internet self-efficacy and behavioral beliefs about…

  16. The Relationships between Teachers' Perceptions of Principal Leadership and Teachers' Perceptions of School Climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pulleyn, Janet L.

    2012-01-01

    This research considered relationships among teachers' perceptions of principal leadership and teachers' perceptions of school climate by using the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) survey and the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (Revised) for Middle Schools (OCDQ-RM) survey. Teachers from six middle schools in the same district…

  17. Charter Schools and the Teacher Job Search

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannata, Marisa

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the position of charter schools in prospective elementary teachers' job search decisions. Using a labor market segmentation framework, it explores teacher applicants' decisions to apply to charter schools. The data come from a mixed-methods longitudinal study of prospective teachers looking for their first job. This article…

  18. Chinese Middle School Teacher Job Satisfaction and Its Relationships with Teacher Moving

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Junjun

    2010-01-01

    This study examined teacher job satisfaction in Chinese middle schools from the aspects of school, community, and life and the relationships between these factors and teacher moving. A convenience sample of 294 teachers was approached through a 35-item questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Three major results were found: (1) Chinese middle…

  19. A psychotherapeutic approach with elementary school teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Multari, G

    1975-01-01

    The tradional "lectures delivering" approach to classroom teachers used by mental health practitioners is investigated in the present study. An attempt is made to demonstrate the validity of preventative work in helping elementary school teachers as important agents in the promotion of more positive mental hygiene in the classroom and by adding to the lectures the variable of group therapy--"ego-sparing" techniques type. The latter approach seems to promote a teacher's own sense of security in dealing the pupils, an easier acceptance of differences in others, and, finally, it tends to stimulate the development of a teacher's own ability to deal sensibly, more conscientiously, and more realistically with daily problems.

  20. The Teacher Labour Market, Teacher Turnover and Disadvantaged Schools: New Evidence for England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen, Rebecca; Burgess, Simon; Mayo, Jennifer

    2018-01-01

    We study the market for teachers in England, in particular teacher turnover. We show that there is a positive raw association between the level of school disadvantage and the turnover rate of its teachers. This association diminishes as we control for school, pupil and local teacher labour market characteristics, but is not eliminated. The…

  1. School Principals' Authentic Leadership and Teachers' Psychological Capital: Teachers' Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Feng-I

    2016-01-01

    This study examined teachers' perceptions of principals' authentic leadership and the relationship of authentic leadership to teachers' psychological capital in Taiwan. A total of 1,429 elementary and secondary school teachers were surveyed. The results showed that teachers perceived their principals' authentic leadership as moderate and that the…

  2. Perceptions of Elementary Teachers on the Instructional Leadership Role of School Principals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yavuz, Mustafa; Bas, Gokhan

    2010-01-01

    In this research, elementary school principals' instructional leadership behavior was evaluated based on the perceptions of elementary school teachers. The research is believed to contribute to the development of instructional leadership behavior of elementary school principals for the development of school organization. A "semi-structured…

  3. The Influence of School Culture and Organizational Health of Secondary School Teachers in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdul Ghani Kanesan Abdullah

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to determine the level of school culture practices by school principals in the national secondary schools in the state of Kedah, Malaysia. The six dimensions of school culture studied were teacher collaboration, unity of purpose, professional development, collegial support, learning partnership and collaborative leadership. The study also looks at the level of teachers’ job satisfaction as well as the relationship with the practice of a positive school culture by the national secondary school principals. The respondents consisted of 385 teachers employed in 22 national secondary schools in the state of Kedah. The data obtained was analysed using SPSS version 20.0. Descriptive analysis and Pearson Correlation Coefficient were used to analyse the strength of the relationship. The findings of this study revealed that there was a positive correlation between school culture and job satisfaction according to teachers’ perceptions. In addition, the school culture was statistically determined to be an important predictor variable of job satisfaction

  4. The development of community competence in the teacher education curriculum

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dobber, M.; Vandyck, I.J.J.; Akkerman, S.F.; de Graaff, R.; Beishuizen, J.J.; Pilot, A.; Verloop, N.; Vermunt, J.D.

    2013-01-01

    Teachers are expected to frequently collaborate within teacher communities in schools. This requires teacher education to prepare student teachers by developing the necessary community competence. The present study empirically investigates the extent to which teacher education programmes pay

  5. Investigating Rural Teachers' Professional Development, Instructional Knowledge, and Classroom Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glover, Todd A.; Nugent, Gwen C.; Chumney, Frances L.; Ihlo, Tanya; Shapiro, Edward S.; Guard, Kirra; Koziol, Natalie; Bovaird, Jim

    2016-01-01

    Teachers Speak was a national survey study designed to investigate the characteristics of rural elementary school teachers' existing professional development; differences in professional development practices between rural and non-rural settings; and the potential influence of professional development characteristics on rural teachers' knowledge,…

  6. High School Teachers' Identities: Constructing Civic Selves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obenchain, Kathryn M.; Balkute, Asta; Vaughn, Erin; White, Shannon

    2016-01-01

    Research suggests that teachers play a role in the type of citizenship education implemented in schools. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how two high school teachers understood and enacted their civic identities as a dimension of their teacher identities. Findings suggest that factors contributing to an individual's civic…

  7. Teacher Stress and Guidance Work in Hong Kong Secondary School Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hui, Eadaoin, K. P.; Chan, David W.

    1996-01-01

    Sources of stress in Hong Kong teachers were investigated, with specific reference to guidance work as a potential source of stress. A survey of 415 secondary school teachers revealed guidance-related aspects of work constituted a major dimension of stress, with guidance teachers, female teachers, younger teachers and junior teachers perceiving…

  8. Teachers' Knowledge Development and Change: Untangling Beliefs and Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theriot, Shirley; Tice, Kathleen C.

    2009-01-01

    Through a case-study approach, the authors focus on understanding the complexity of teachers' knowledge development, particularly as it pertains to teachers' beliefs about literacy development and their teaching practices in literacy. Participants of the study are middle-school teachers who shared their beliefs and practices through (1) a…

  9. School Ethical Climate and Teachers' Voluntary Absence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapira-Lishchinsky, Orly; Rosenblatt, Zehava

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to offer a theoretical framework for linking school ethical climate with teachers' voluntary absence. The paper attempts to explain this relationship using the concept of affective organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were 1,016 school teachers from 35 high schools in Israel. Data were…

  10. Teacher Accountability at High Performing Charter Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aguirre, Moises G.

    2016-01-01

    This study will examine the teacher accountability and evaluation policies and practices at three high performing charter schools located in San Diego County, California. Charter schools are exempted from many laws, rules, and regulations that apply to traditional school systems. By examining the teacher accountability systems at high performing…

  11. Knowledge and Attitude of Secondary School Teachers towards ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Knowledge and Attitude of Secondary School Teachers towards Reproductive Health Education in Schools. ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... A study was carried out among secondary school teachers in Ilorin, Kwara ...

  12. HOME-SCHOOL INTERACTION: REMODELLING A FRAMEWORK OF PARENTS-TEACHERS RELATIONSHIP FOR SUPPORTING STUDENTS’ LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adi Suryani

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Family and school are not separated social institution. Many parents view that it is schools and teachers which and who should be responsible for their children education. These views should be challenged by arising concern and awareness of parents and teachers of the importance of shared responsibility and cooperativeness. Parents are responsible for laying the basic/foundation of children’s learning, basic values, moral education, and basic social learning. Teachers and schools bear responsibility for developing those basic education. During their learning at school, students have a chance to develop their social competence. School also can be environment where children are gradually learning to be adult learners. They can be adult learners through engaging in collaborative learning activities. Through this social learning, children can learn develop social concern and sensitivity. Moreover, they can develop their learning through experience.

  13. The Impact of Professional Development on Poverty, Schooling, and Literacy Practices: Teacher Narratives and Reformation of Mindset

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciuffetelli Parker, Darlene

    2017-01-01

    The study examines the impact of professional development on the topic of poverty in one high poverty school community located in a small city in southern Ontario, Canada. It considers narrative-based experiences of teachers' collaborative inquiry on literacy practices after a significant amount of professional development was provided to…

  14. Perception of primary school teachers to school children's mental health problems in Southwest Ethiopia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerebih, Habtamu; Abrha, Hailay; Frank, Reiner; Abera, Mubarek

    2016-11-12

    Teachers perception of child mental health problems and their attitude to school-based mental health services helps in designing early intervention strategies aimed at promoting the service. However, little is known in this regard among primary school teachers in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study assessed perceptions and attitude of primary school teachers to child mental health problem and school-based mental health programs in Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia in 2013. A cross-sectional study design was implemented among 568 primary school teachers in Jimma town, from 1 to 30 October 2013. Perceptions and attitude of teachers to children with mental health problems and school mental health related information were assessed using a structured self- administered questionnaire. About 40% of teachers recognized the list of psychopathology items presented to them as child mental health problems while 54.4% of them rated child mental health problem as severe. Externalizing behaviors were perceived as the most severe problems. Teaching experience and teaching in public schools were significantly associated with the perception of severe type of child mental health problems. About 95% of teachers acknowledged that school-based mental health programs are important but limited availability was reported. Despite the high problem severity ratings, teachers' perception of the psychopathology as a mental health problem in children was low. There was also a favorable attitude on the importance and the need of school-based child mental health programs. Thus, creating mental health awareness for teachers and establishing school mental health services to intervene in child mental health problem is crucial.

  15. A study of school mathematics curriculum enacted by competent teachers in Singapore secondary schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaur, Berinderjeet; Tay, Eng Guan; Toh, Tin Lam; Leong, Yew Hoong; Lee, Ngan Hoe

    2018-03-01

    A study of school mathematics curriculum enacted by competent teachers in Singapore secondary schools is a programmatic research project at the National Institute of Education (NIE) funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Singapore through the Office of Education Research (OER) at NIE. The main goal of the project is to collect a set of data that would be used by two studies to research the enacted secondary school mathematics curriculum. The project aims to examine how competent experienced secondary school teachers implement the designated curriculum prescribed by the MOE in the 2013 revision of curriculum. It does this firstly by examining the video recordings of the classroom instruction and interactions between secondary school mathematics teachers and their students, as it is these interactions that fundamentally determine the nature of the actual mathematics learning and teaching that take place in the classroom. It also examines content through the instructional materials used—their preparation, use in classroom and as homework. The project comprises a video segment and a survey segment. Approximately 630 secondary mathematics teachers and 600 students are participating in the project. The data collection for the video segment of the project is guided by the renowned complementary accounts methodology while the survey segment adopts a self-report questionnaire approach. The findings of the project will serve several purposes. They will provide timely feedback to mathematics specialists in the MOE, inform pre-service and professional development programmes for mathematics teachers at the NIE and contribute towards articulation of "Mathematics pedagogy in Singapore secondary schools" that is evidence based.

  16. INVESTIGATION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS INDIVIDUAL INNOVATIVENESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zeynep YILMAZ ÖZTÜRK

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The rapid changes in the global sense of individual adaptation to the new situation quickly necessitates individuals to show an innovative style in order to wriggle out similars. Being innovative becomes prerequisites of bringing qualified person fort he provision of skilled labor in the 21st century. Many of our teachers’ sincere behaviours are example for students following them. It is thought that an innovative structure of our teachers causes students to develop in this directi on. The aim of our research in this context is to propound individual innovativeness ,categories and the levels of the teachers in primary schools who shapes the future of our country . This study is a descriptive research conducted quantitative approach. Universe of the study consists of 190 primary schools in the townships constitutes of şehitkamil Sahinbey city in Gaziantep. The sample was selected randomly. They belong to the category of teachers and determine their level of innovation data f or the Hurt et al. (1997 developed by the "Individual Innovativeness" scale Kılıçer and Odabaşı (2010 made by the Turkish cultural adaptation, validity and reliability studies were collected by state.individual Innovation level of teachers and categorie s are determined.

  17. The Schoolhouse Network: How School Buildings Affect Teacher Collaboration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spillane, James P.; Shirrell, Matthew

    2018-01-01

    In recent years, teacher collaboration has emerged as an important strategy to drive improvement, informed by research showing how on-the-job interactions can boost teacher development and effectiveness. Schools across the United States are adjusting their professional cultures and workplace practices in response, creating formal opportunities for…

  18. Changing Perceptions of Teacher Candidates in High-Needs Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeJarnette, Nancy K.

    2016-01-01

    Candidates enter teacher education programs with established beliefs about diversity and urban education. These belief systems impact decisions that teacher candidates make both now and in the future. Providing opportunities for candidates to spend quality time in an urban Professional Development School (PDS) setting with the support and guidance…

  19. Charter School Teacher Job Satisfaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roch, Christine H.; Sai, Na

    2017-01-01

    We examine whether working conditions in charter schools and traditional public schools lead to different levels of job satisfaction among teachers. We distinguish among charter schools managed by for-profit education management organizations (EMOs) and non-profit charter management organizations (CMOs) and stand-alone charter schools. We…

  20. Comparison between Primary Teacher Educators' and Primary School Teachers' Beliefs of Primary Geography Education Quality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bent, Gert Jan; Bakx, Anouke; den Brok, Perry

    2016-01-01

    In this study teacher educators' beliefs concerning primary geography education have been investigated and compared with primary school teachers' beliefs. In this study 45 teacher educators and 489 primary school teachers completed a questionnaire, and nine teacher educators have been interviewed as well. It has been found that teacher educators…

  1. Teaching English Language Skills for School Teachers: CTE Programme of IGNOU

    OpenAIRE

    Asha Khare

    2011-01-01

    India is a multilingual country. English is the second most important language in the country after the national language Hindi since it is taught as a compulsory subject in all the Indian schools. In the educational system of a multilingual country, it becomes imperative to improve the English Language teaching skills of the school teachers who come from various linguistic backgrounds. The school teacher plays a vital role in the development of linguistic skills of the students. What childre...

  2. The Factors that Affect Science Teachers' Participation in Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roux, Judi Ann

    Scientific literacy for our students and the possibilities for careers available in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas are important topics for economic growth as well as global competitiveness. The achievement of students in science learning is dependent upon the science teachers' effectiveness and experienced science teachers depend upon relevant professional development experiences to support their learning. In order to understand how to improve student learning in science, the learning of science teachers must also be understood. Previous research studies on teacher professional development have been conducted in other states, but Minnesota science teachers comprised a new and different population from those previously studied. The purpose of this two-phase mixed methods study was to identify the current types of professional development in which experienced, Minnesota secondary science teachers participated and the factors that affect their participation in professional development activities. The mixed-methods approach s utilized an initial online survey followed by qualitative interviews with five survey respondents. The results of the quantitative survey and the qualitative interviews indicated the quality of professional development experiences and the factors which affected the science teachers' participation in professional development activities. The supporting and inhibiting factors involved the availability of resources such as time and money, external relationships with school administrators, teacher colleagues, and family members, and personal intrinsic attributes such as desires to learn and help students. This study also describes implications for science teachers, school administrators, policymakers, and professional development providers. Recommendations for future research include the following areas: relationships between and among intrinsic and extrinsic factors, science-related professional development activities

  3. Career Mobility Patterns of Public School Teachers

    OpenAIRE

    Vera, Celia Patricia

    2013-01-01

    One issue that has pervaded policy discussions for decades is the difficulty that school districts experience in retaining teachers. Almost a quarter of entering public school teachers leave teaching within the first three years and empirical evidence has related high attrition rates of beginner teachers to family circumstances, such as maternity or marriage. I examine female teachers' career choices and inquire about the effects that wage increases and child care subsidies have on their empl...

  4. SCHOOL VIOLENCE: THE PRACTICE TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LEAVING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luz María Esperanza Alegría-Rivas

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article, result of research from ethnography for peace, we reflect on the manifestations of violence in the educational practices in School Education in the State of Mexico which may be determining the school leaving. The purpose of this research is based on the idea that teachers can give a full sense of their teaching practices, opening spaces where teachers analyze whether there are demonstrations of violence in their teaching practice, and amend them to practice peace, which could positively influence learning processes of students with low valuations and thus reduce dropouts. Methodologically starts from ethnography to peace around context and manifestations of violence that occur in the classroom between teacher-student.

  5. Competence and competency of high school teacher as the components of his innovative development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. K. Yarmola

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Priority direction of state policy concerning the development of higher education inUkraineis to prepare qualified and competitive staff in the labor market. The high level of competence and scientific competence along with pedagogical craftsmanship and psychological culture of teachers is condition for improving the efficiency of the educational process in higher education. Aim of research was theoretical justification importance of competence and competency of high school teacher for the establishment his innovation potential. In the article the analysis of interpretation of the terms competence and competency in various scientific sources and scientific works of individual authors were presented. Moreover important are ability to creativity, solving of problem’s tasks, ingenuity, flexibility and criticality mind, intuition, originality and self-confidence; ability to formulate and solve non-standard tasks; ability to analyse, synthesis and combination, to share experiences, predictions, etc.. Emotionally-shaped quality represented by the following components as spirituality, the emotional upsurge in creative situations; associativity, imagination, sense of novelty, sensitivity to contradictions, empathy; insight, ability to see the familiar in an unfamiliar; overcome the stereotypes; risk appetite, desire for freedom. The general regularities of formation of research competence have been detected. In particular, the formation carried out through the development of competencies invariant character and increasing of specialized skills. It is proved that scientific and research competence is determined primarily by the system of teacher's professional education and self-education. The most important objective characteristics that reflect the competence of teachers in the field R & D is the total number of publications, number of scientific articles, monographs, and also won grants, competitions, etc. Moreover the level of competence in the

  6. Teachers' stress intensifies violent disciplining in Tanzanian secondary schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hecker, Tobias; Goessmann, Katharina; Nkuba, Mabula; Hermenau, Katharin

    2018-02-01

    Violent forms of discipline in schools continue to be widespread across the globe despite their damaging effects. Since little is known about factors influencing the extent of violence applied by teachers, this study aimed to investigate the influence of teachers' stress, work satisfaction, and personal characteristics on their disciplining style. Using structural equation modeling, associations between violent discipline, burnout symptoms, and job perceptions (pressure and difficulties in class) reported by 222 teachers from 11 secondary schools in Tanzania in 2015 were analyzed. Results indicated a direct association between perceived stress and emotional violent discipline (β=.18, pjob perceptions and both forms of violent disciplining. The model showed good model fit (χ 2 [44, n=222]=67.47 (p=.013), CFI=.94, TLI=.91, IFI=.94, RMSEA=.049 [90%-CI=.02-.07, PCLOSE=.50], SRMR=.06). Our findings suggest that teachers' personal perceptions of their work as well as their stress burden play a role in their disciplining styles. Our findings underline the importance of integrating topics, such as stress and coping as well as positive, nonviolent discipline measures into the regular teacher's training and in addition to develop and evaluate school-based preventative interventions for teachers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. EFL Secondary School Teachers' Views on Blended Learning in Tabuk City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfahadi, Abdulrahman M.; Alsalhi, Abdulrhman A.; Alshammari, Abdullah S.

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate EFL Secondary School Teachers' Views on Blended Learning. It also aims to investigate (a) the teachers' views on blended learning content and process, and (b) how blended learning is effective in developing teachers' performance. The study sample included 35 EFL Saudi teachers in Tabuk City, KSA. In order to…

  8. K-12 Teachers' Perceptions of School Policy and Fear of School Violence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricketts, Melissa L.

    2007-01-01

    Since the 1990s, schools have focused their attention on policies designed to improve school safety. Most researches on school violence policies have concentrated on the needs of students and administrators. This study investigated the impact of school violence policies on K-12 teachers' fear. Using self-report data from 447 K-12 teachers from a…

  9. Teachers as Researchers: A Discovery of Their Emerging Role and Impact through a School-University Collaborative Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chow, Ken Chi Kin; Chu, Samuel Kai Wah; Tavares, Nicole; Lee, Celina Wing Yi

    2015-01-01

    This study explored the impact of the role of teacher-researchers on in-service teachers' professional development, as well as the reasons behind the lack of a teacher-as-researcher ethos in schools. In the study, teachers from four Hong Kong primary schools participated in a school-university collaborative research project that promotes…

  10. Melinda: De Facto Primary School Music Teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vries, Peter

    2013-01-01

    A series of reviews dating back to the 1960s and a body of research literature points to the inadequate delivery of music education by generalist primary school teachers in Australian schools. Despite recommendations for specialist music teachers to teach music in all Australian primary schools to counter this ongoing trend, such an approach has…

  11. CREATIVITY OF PRESCHOOL AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS AND THEIR STUDENTS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sali, Güneş; Akyol, Aysel Köksal

    2015-12-01

    Although creativity provides a considerable number of advantages, many teachers have direct and indirect prejudices against creative students since they may display distracting and disruptive behaviors toward teachers and classmates. To determine how teachers' creativity affects their students' creative development, 90 preschool and elementary school teachers and 90 pupils were assessed for creative thinking. The children's sex was not correlated with creativity scores. There were small, significant relationships between various measures of preschool teachers' and students' creativity.

  12. Centauri High School Teacher Honored as Colorado Outstanding Biology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teacher Centauri High School Teacher Honored as Colorado Outstanding Biology Teacher For more information contact: e:mail: Public Affairs Golden, Colo., May 2, 1997 -- Tracy Swedlund, biology teacher at Centauri High School in LaJara, was selected as Colorado's 1997 Outstanding Biology Teacher and will be

  13. DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDES OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Müge TAÇMAN

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available The primary aim of this study was to determine the democratic attitudes of the classroomteachers. This study is a descriptive research. In this research, democratic attitude scala which was developed by“published for the attitude research labaratory” and adapted to Turkish educational system by Gözütok (1995 wasused. Research group consisted fifty teachers from four private primary schools in Ankara. The data were analyzed byone way ANOVA. According of the results of the research, democratic attitudes of teachers have been discriminated onteachers’ sexuality, seniority and graduate level

  14. Characteristics of Israeli School Teachers in Computer-based Learning Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noga Magen-Nagar

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to investigate whether there are differences in the level of computer literacy, the amount of implementation of ICT in teaching and learning-assessment processes and the attitudes of teachers from computerized schools in comparison to teachers in non-computerized schools. In addition, the research investigates the characteristics of Israeli school teachers in a 21st century computer-based learning environment. A quantitative research methodology was used. The research sample included 811 elementary school teachers from the Jewish sector of whom 402 teachers were from the computerized school sample and 409 were teachers from the non-computerized school sample. The research findings show that teachers from the computerized school sample are more familiar with ICT, tend to use ICT more and have a more positive attitude towards ICT than teachers in the non-computerized school sample. The main conclusion which can be drawn from this research is that positive attitudes of teachers towards ICT are not sufficient for the integration of technology to occur. Future emphasis on new teaching skills of collective Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge is necessary to promote the implementation of optimal pedagogy in innovative environments.

  15. Characteristics of effective professional development for early career science teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, Shirley; Campbell, Sandra; Johnson, Sally; Stylianidou, Fani

    2011-04-01

    The research reported here set out to investigate the features in schools and science departments that were seen as effective in contributing to the continuing professional development (CPD) of early career science teachers. Ten schools took part in the study, selected on the basis of their reputation for having effective CPD practices. To gain different perspectives from within the organisations we conducted interviews with senior members of staff, heads of science departments and early career teachers. A thematic analysis of the interviews is presented, drawing on findings from across the 10 schools, and exemplified in more detail by a vignette to show specific features of effective CPD practice. The study has revealed a wealth of practice across the 10 schools, which included a focus on broadening experience beyond the classroom, having an open, sharing, non-threatening culture and systemic procedures for mentoring and support that involved ring-fenced budgets. The schools also deployed staff judiciously in critical roles that model practice and motivate early career science teachers. Early career teachers were concerned primarily with their overall development as teachers, though some science specific examples such as observing practical work and sessions to address subject knowledge were seen as important.

  16. Professional Identity and Burnout among Pre-School, Elementary, and Post-Elementary School Teachers in Israel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisherman, Shraga

    2015-01-01

    The novelty of the present study is its attempt to distinguish between pre-school, elementary, and post-elementary school teachers, regarding the relationship between professional identity and burnout. Two hundred and forty teachers responded to two questionnaires: professional identity and teacher burnout scales. Pre-school teachers were found to…

  17. Portrait of a Teacher-Led School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazareno, Lori

    2013-01-01

    Imagine a school with no principal and with a leadership structure that holds teachers accountable for the learning of all students. About 50 such teacher-led schools currently operate across the United States, and this article tells the story of one of them. The Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy (MSLA) in Denver, Colorado, serves about…

  18. Considering teacher cognitions in teacher professional development: studies involving Ecuadorian primary school teachers

    OpenAIRE

    Lucero-Mareydt, Maria

    2013-01-01

    Four empirical studies contribute to the comprehensive understanding of teachers’ behavior and other related characteristics (i.e. their environment, beliefs, competencies, mission, and identity). The aim is also to promote a teacher professional development approach that takes into account what teachers do, think, and feel. In this sense, experiential learning, social learning, and reflection are useful to influence not only the cognitive but also the affective domain, which has been traditi...

  19. Readiness of primary school teachers to accept disabled children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Đević Rajka

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the results of the research with the basic goal to study the readiness of primary school teachers to accept disabled students. Research participants were 205 teachers from primary schools at the territory of Serbia. The goal was accomplished through: (a studying attitudes towards joint education of disabled students and their peers; (b studying teachers' experiences in working with disabled students; and (c studying teachers' readiness to accept disabled students, depending on their involvement/non-involvement in projects of inclusive education. Teachers express supportive attitudes towards joint schooling, but more than one half of them think that a selective approach is necessary in that process, according to the kind and degree of developmental disability. They support joint schooling from the humanistic point of view, but express concerns about the academic achievement of classes that include disabled students. The majority of teachers had experience in working with disabled students and based on that provided interesting suggestions for improving joint schooling. Higher readiness for accepting disabled students was demonstrated by teachers whose schools were involved in the projects of inclusive education. That implies the need for involving schools in similar projects and enabling teachers' immediate contact with students with developmental disabilities.

  20. Teacher Learning in a Mathematics and Science Inquiry Professional Development Program: First Steps in Emergent Teacher Leadership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yow, Jan A.; Lotter, Christine

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the role of an inquiry professional development institute in empowering middle school mathematics and science teachers to develop as teacher leaders. Teachers and coaches jointly attended content sessions and participated in practice teaching sessions with students. The coaches led reflection sessions following the practice…

  1. Preparing perservice teachers to teach elementary school science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Amy D.

    The development of scientifically literate citizens begins in the elementary school. Yet elementary school teachers are ill prepared to teach science (Trygstad, Smith, Banilower, Nelson, & Horizon Research, Inc., 2013). The research base on teacher preparation finds that programs designed to prepare elementary teachers are inadequate in providing both the content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge necessary to teach science effectively (Baumgartner, 2010; Bodzin & Beerer, 2003; Bulunuz & Jarrett 2009). This mixed methods study examined what happened when a science methods course was interactively co-taught by an expert in elementary teaching methods and a physics expert. This study also aimed to discover what aspects of the curriculum pre-service teachers (PSTs) said helped them in developing their understanding of science content and scientific reasoning, and how to implement inquiry practices to teach science. A nested case study of three PSTs provided descriptive portraits of student experiences in the class. A whole class case analysis was used to examine what PSTs learned in terms of science, scientific reasoning skills, and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) from their experiences in the course. It was found that students often conflated science content with the experiences they had in learning the content. Although PSTs felt the interactive co-teaching model effectively created a balance between theory and practice, it was their experiences doing science--conducting physical experiments, developing and discussing scientific models, and the use of inquiry-based instruction--that they credited for their learning. Even with careful curriculum planning, and a course purposely designed to bridge the theory to practice gap, this study found one semester-long methods course to be insufficient in providing the vast content knowledge and PCK elementary school science teachers need.

  2. The Characteristics of a Good Mathematics Teacher in Terms of Students, Mathematics Teachers, and School Administrators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yesildere-Imre, Sibel

    2017-01-01

    This qualitative research aims to examine the opinions of school administrators, teachers, and middle school students about what makes a good mathematics teacher. Interviews were conducted with thirty-five participants: ten school administrators, ten mathematics teachers, and fifteen middle school students. A semi-structured interview form…

  3. An Evaluation of a School-Based Professional Development Program on Teachers' Efficacy for Technology Integration: Findings from an Initial Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skoretz, Yvonne; Childress, Ronald

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this program evaluation was to determine the impact of a school-based, job-embedded professional development program on elementary and middle school teacher efficacy for technology integration. Participant bi-weekly journal postings were analyzed using Grappling's "Technology and Learning Spectrum" (Porter, 2001) to…

  4. Ending Isolation: The Payoff of Teacher Teams in Successful High-Poverty Urban Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Susan Moore; Reinhorn, Stefanie K.; Simon, Nicole S.

    2018-01-01

    Background/Context: Many urban schools today look to instructional teams as a means to decrease professional isolation, promote teachers' ongoing development, and substantially reduce well-documented variation in teachers' effectiveness across classrooms. Recent research finds that teams can contribute to teachers' development and increased…

  5. Elementary Teacher's Conceptions of Inquiry Teaching: Messages for Teacher Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ireland, Joseph E.; Watters, James J.; Brownlee, Jo; Lupton, Mandy

    2012-02-01

    This study explored practicing elementary school teacher's conceptions of teaching in ways that foster inquiry-based learning in the science curriculum (inquiry teaching). The advocacy for inquiry-based learning in contemporary curricula assumes the principle that students learn in their own way by drawing on direct experience fostered by the teacher. That students should be able to discover answers themselves through active engagement with new experiences was central to the thinking of eminent educators such as Pestalozzi, Dewey and Montessori. However, even after many years of research and practice, inquiry learning as a referent for teaching still struggles to find expression in the average teachers' pedagogy. This study drew on interview data from 20 elementary teachers. A phenomenographic analysis revealed three conceptions of teaching for inquiry learning in science in the elementary years of schooling: (a) The Experience-centered conception where teachers focused on providing interesting sensory experiences to students; (b) The Problem-centered conception where teachers focused on engaging students with challenging problems; and (c) The Question-centered conception where teachers focused on helping students to ask and answer their own questions. Understanding teachers' conceptions has implications for both the enactment of inquiry teaching in the classroom as well as the uptake of new teaching behaviors during professional development, with enhanced outcomes for engaging students in Science.

  6. The Great Depression and Elementary School Teachers as Reported in "Grade Teacher" Magazine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Field, Sherry L.; Bellows, Elizabeth

    2012-01-01

    This study focuses on elementary school teachers during the Great Depression and the role that they played to sustain everyday school activity. The authors draw evidence primarily from the pages of "Grade Teacher" magazine, through teachers' letters written to its editor, Florence Hale, and her responses to them. Opportunities to study…

  7. Content knowledge of prospective elementary school teacher for fractional concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pattimukay, N.; Juniati, D.; Budiarto, M. T.

    2018-03-01

    The aim of this study was to describe the content knowledge especially the concept of fraction of prospective elementary school teacher. The purpose of this study is to describe the content knowledge, especially the concept of fraction of prospective elementary school teacher. The subject of the study was one of prospective elementary school teacher of Pattimura University. This research is qualitative research. Data were collected through the provision of tests to explore the knowledge content of primary school teacher candidates about fractional concepts. Then continued with qualitative data analysis. The results of this study are as follows: that the prospective primary school teacher defines fractions as part of the whole if an object is divided into equal parts, so that the part that has been divided is part of the whole. Furthermore, the prospective elementary school teacher understood the fractions as division shown in two ways, namely the prospective elementary school teacher understood the fraction as a division operation, the primary school teacher candidate interpreted the fraction as a division when an object is divided be part of the same. Meanwhile, the fraction as a ratio is interpreted as the relationship between a pair of numbers. Then, the denominations are interpreted as a ratio between the numerator and the denominator of the same value. The prospective elementary school teacher also understands fractions of value when simplifying fractions. Primary school teacher candidates understand the concept of fractional operations.

  8. Secondary school teachers' attitudes towards and beliefs about ability grouping.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hallam, Susan; Ireson, Judith

    2003-09-01

    Internationally and historically considerable research has been undertaken regarding the attitudes of secondary school teachers towards different types of ability grouping. There has been no recent research taking account of the changing educational context in the UK. This paper aims to explore secondary school teachers' attitudes and beliefs about ability grouping taking account of school type, gender, experience and qualifications. The sample comprised over 1,500 teachers from 45 schools divided into three groups based on their ability grouping practices in years 7-9 (the students were aged 11-14). The sample included all the lower school teachers of mathematics, science and English and a random sample of teachers from other subjects in each school. Teachers responded to a questionnaire which explored their attitudes towards ability grouping through the use of rating scales and open-ended questions. The findings showed that the teachers' beliefs broadly reflected research findings on the actual effects of ability grouping, although there were significant differences relating to the type of school they taught in and the subject that they taught. Separate analysis of school types showed that length of time teaching, individual school differences and teacher qualifications were also significant predictors of attitudes. Teachers' beliefs about ability grouping are influenced by the type of groupings adopted in the school where they work, the subject that they teach, their experience and qualifications. As pedagogical practices are known to be influenced by beliefs these findings have important implications for teacher training.

  9. Evaluating Mathematics Teachers' Professional Development Motivations and Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caddle, Mary C.; Bautista, Alfredo; Brizuela, Bárbara M.; Sharpe, Sheree T.

    2016-01-01

    While there is widespread agreement that one-size-fits-all professional development (PD) initiatives have limited potential to foster teacher learning, much existing PD is still designed without attention to teachers' motivations and needs. This paper shows that the strengths and weaknesses of middle school mathematics teachers that engage in PD…

  10. The Teachers' Perspective on Teacher Professional Development Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yu-Fen

    2013-01-01

    This study constructs indicators and weights that can be used in the professional development evaluation (PDE) of elementary school teachers. The indicators were constructed using data collected from literature reviews, interviews with experts, and questionnaire surveys. The Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAPH) was used to analyze the collected…

  11. A comparison of teacher stress and school climate across schools with different matric success rates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen Milner

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Our aim was to investigate differences in teacher stress and perceptions of school climate among teachers from schools with differing matriculation success rates in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Two schools with matric pass rates of 100% and two schools with matric pass rates of less than 25% were selected from a list of schools provided by the province's Educational District Circuit. The schools were matched in terms of area, size, resources, and equipment. Thirty-three teachers from the high performing schools and forty-two teachers from the poor performing schools participated in the study. Student's t tests were used to assess the differences between the schools on the variables under investigation, and the results showed the teachers' experience of stress across the different schools was not significantly different, but significant differences did emerge with regard to school climate. The implications of these findings for the study population are discussed.

  12. Portfolio Development in Teacher Education and Educational Leadership.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biddle, James

    The Ohio Consortium for Portfolio Development was established in 1988 as an interinstitutional research effort to integrate portfolio development into teacher education. A subphase focused on portfolio use by entry year teachers in a metropolitan school system. Personnel at Wright State University, Central State University, and the University of…

  13. Adventures in supercomputing: An innovative program for high school teachers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oliver, C.E.; Hicks, H.R.; Summers, B.G. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Staten, D.G. [Wartburg Central High School, TN (United States)

    1994-12-31

    Within the realm of education, seldom does an innovative program become available with the potential to change an educator`s teaching methodology. Adventures in Supercomputing (AiS), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is such a program. It is a program for high school teachers that changes the teacher paradigm from a teacher-directed approach of teaching to a student-centered approach. {open_quotes}A student-centered classroom offers better opportunities for development of internal motivation, planning skills, goal setting and perseverance than does the traditional teacher-directed mode{close_quotes}. Not only is the process of teaching changed, but the cross-curricula integration within the AiS materials is remarkable. Written from a teacher`s perspective, this paper will describe the AiS program and its effects on teachers and students, primarily at Wartburg Central High School, in Wartburg, Tennessee. The AiS program in Tennessee is sponsored by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

  14. Teacher Preferences for Alternative School Site Administrative Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hewitt, Paul M.; Denny, George S.; Pijanowski, John C.

    2012-01-01

    Public school teachers with high leadership potential who stated that they had no interest in being school principals were surveyed on their attitudes about six alternative school site administrative organizational models. Of the 391 teachers surveyed, 53% identified the Co-Principal model as the preferred school site administrative structure. In…

  15. Secondary science teachers' view toward and classroom translation of sustained professional development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Elizabeth Blake

    This study concerns the phenomenon of secondary science teacher learning and enacting instructional strategies learned at the Communication in Science Inquiry Project (CISIP) teacher professional development events, as well as teacher perception of, and relationship to, this year-long professional development program. The CISIP program teaches science teachers how to build scientific classroom discourse communities with their students. Some of the science teachers were previous participants in the professional development, and acted as mentor teachers. The research design employed an integrated conceptual framework of situated learning theory with an analytical lens of teachers' professional, institutional and affinity, identities. A multi-method approach was used to generate data. Throughout the 2007-2008 academic year, the teachers' fidelity to the professional development model was measured using a classroom observation instrument aligned with the professional development model. From these observation data a longitudinal model, using hierarchical linear modeling, was constructed. In addition, surveys and interview data were used to construct both whole group and case studies of two high school science teachers who taught biology at the same school. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between previous and new participants; specifically, the longer teachers had participated in the professional development, and adopted a mentorship role, the greater their fidelity of classroom instruction to the CISIP model. Additionally, the case study teacher who developed a CISIP model-aligned affinity identity implemented more of the instructional strategies than the teacher who maintained his school-based institutional identity.

  16. Teacher Absence as a Factor in Gender Inequalities in Access to Primary Schooling in Rural Pakistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghuman, Sharon; Lloyd, Cynthia

    2010-01-01

    The presence of a teacher in the classroom is central to the provision of schooling, with accumulating evidence showing that teacher absence compromises student learning. Teacher absence is common in schools in low- and middle-income countries. With much of the developing world making rapid progress in achieving universal primary school enrollment…

  17. A Study of Teacher Stereotypes: How Do Tuition-Free Teacher Candidates and General Undergraduates Think about Middle School and University Teachers in China?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuo, Youxia; Zhao, Yufang; Peng, Chunhua; Chen, Youguo

    2017-01-01

    A tuition-free teacher candidate is an undergraduate who receives tuition-free teacher education and must work as a teacher in a middle school after their graduation. Tuition-free candidates are of the focus of many researchers; however, no study reports how tuition-free teacher candidates think about teachers. The present study explored stereotypes about middle school and university teachers held by teacher candidates. Specifically, we looked for the differences between the stereotypes held by the teacher candidates and general undergraduates. This study attempted to provide a potential tool to predict the actual willingness of teacher candidates to work as middle school teachers. University and middle school teachers were evaluated using descriptive phrases or words on a five-point Likert scale by 116 tuition-free teacher candidates and 155 general undergraduates. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a three-factor stereotype model including occupational cognition, occupational personality, and occupational emotion. Compared with general undergraduates, teacher candidates held more positive occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers; they held more negative occupational emotions toward university teachers. Further, the undergraduates' willingness to be middle school teachers positively correlated with positive occupational emotions and negatively correlated with negative occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers. This supported previous studies that individuals' professional willingness were influenced by their stereotypes about professions. PMID:28469587

  18. A Study of Teacher Stereotypes: How Do Tuition-Free Teacher Candidates and General Undergraduates Think about Middle School and University Teachers in China?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuo, Youxia; Zhao, Yufang; Peng, Chunhua; Chen, Youguo

    2017-01-01

    A tuition-free teacher candidate is an undergraduate who receives tuition-free teacher education and must work as a teacher in a middle school after their graduation. Tuition-free candidates are of the focus of many researchers; however, no study reports how tuition-free teacher candidates think about teachers. The present study explored stereotypes about middle school and university teachers held by teacher candidates. Specifically, we looked for the differences between the stereotypes held by the teacher candidates and general undergraduates. This study attempted to provide a potential tool to predict the actual willingness of teacher candidates to work as middle school teachers. University and middle school teachers were evaluated using descriptive phrases or words on a five-point Likert scale by 116 tuition-free teacher candidates and 155 general undergraduates. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a three-factor stereotype model including occupational cognition, occupational personality, and occupational emotion. Compared with general undergraduates, teacher candidates held more positive occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers; they held more negative occupational emotions toward university teachers. Further, the undergraduates' willingness to be middle school teachers positively correlated with positive occupational emotions and negatively correlated with negative occupational personality and emotions toward middle school teachers. This supported previous studies that individuals' professional willingness were influenced by their stereotypes about professions.

  19. Impact of Teacher Supports and Workplace Settings on Retaining Teachers in New Jersey Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheasty, Michelle E.

    2011-01-01

    Teacher turnover in New Jersey public schools continues to grow every year. As a result, schools and school districts are continuously seeking ways to ensure that every position available is staffed with highly qualified teachers. In addition, schools seek to provide familiarity and stability to those involved with the schools. In an effort to…

  20. THE CHILDHOOD ROMANCE THEORY OF TEACHER DEVELOPMENT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    TUSKA, SHIRLEY A.; WRIGHT, BENJAMIN D.

    EXPLORATION OF PERSONALITY ORIENTATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GRADE LEVEL AT WHICH THE PROSPECTIVE TEACHER INTENDS TO TEACH INQUIRED INTO CHILDHOOD RECOLLECTIONS. 508 WOMEN ENROLLED IN 12 TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS COMPLETED A LOCALLY DEVELOPED SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL QUESTIONNAIRE. THOSE INTENDING TO TEACH AT LOWER SCHOOL LEVELS IDENTIFIED WITH THEIR…

  1. Principal Leadership Style and Teacher Commitment among a Sample of Secondary School Teachers in Barbados

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ian Alwyn Marshall

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available In Barbados, the issue of principal leadership and teacher productivity has occupied the attention of teacher unions and educational authorities alike.  The teachers have been calling for principals to be removed while the principals have been arguing for greater autonomy to discipline teachers. This state of affairs has, understandably, adversely impacted teacher commitment levels.  In the literature there is a clear correlation between principal leadership style and teacher commitment, however, it is important to know whether or not the relationship holds true in the context of Barbadian schools. This author is of the view that if teacher commitment levels are to return to those in evidence in effective schools, then attention must be given to the way in which principals exercise their leadership functions. This study was therefore designed to examine in greater detail the relationship between principal leadership style and teacher commitment.  The author employed purposive sampling to survey a cohort of ninety (90 teachers and eleven (11 principals drawn from eleven secondary schools. Results confirmed the relationship between principal leadership style and teacher commitment, and a statistically significant difference in the level of commitment reported by teachers at newer secondary schools and teachers at older secondary schools. Results also indicated that biographical variables moderated the relationship between principal leadership style and teacher commitment. Additionally, the regression model indicated that the principal leadership style sub-variables, in combination, accounted for some variance in the commitment demonstrated by teachers.

  2. Teacher Performance Trajectories in High- and Lower-Poverty Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Zeyu; Özek, Umut; Hansen, Michael

    2015-01-01

    This study explores whether teacher performance trajectory over time differs by school-poverty settings. Focusing on elementary school mathematics teachers in North Carolina and Florida, we find no systematic relationship between school student poverty rates and teacher performance trajectories. In both high- (=60% free/reduced-price lunch [FRPL])…

  3. Exploring the effects of developing collaboration in a primary science teacher community

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sillasen, Martin Krabbe

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents findings from a qualitative study to explore factors that may facilitate sustainable changes of collaboration in a primary science teacher community in one school. The context for this study is a development project aimed at improving science teaching by changing teacher......’s collective work in schools and developing network between schools. The objective is to improve the collaboration within primary science teacher communities on sharing best practice and developing new ways of teaching. This study represents an in-depth approach to explore possibilities and constraints for how...... a development project can facilitate sustainable change in primary science teachers’ collaboration. The purpose of the research project introduced here is to examine closer, why many development projects fail to produce sustainable results. The framework of McLaughlin and Talbert (2006) on building teacher...

  4. DESIGNING EDUCATIONAL PROCESS OF FORMING SOCIAL AND PEDAGOGICAL COMPETENCE OF FUTURE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN INCLUSIVE SECONDARY SCHOOL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zoia Shevtsiv

    2017-04-01

    lectures, workshops, seminars, laboratory classes, pedagogical practice and research, implementation of independent and individual work are the basic forms and methods of social and pedagogical competence of future primary school teacher in inclusive secondary schools. To design educational activities for developing social and pedagogical competence of future primary school teachers in inclusive secondary school prospects for further research in a given direction are identified.

  5. Reforming a middle school for educational equity : implications for teacher interaction

    OpenAIRE

    Edwards, Barbara

    2007-01-01

    A growing body of research concludes that teacher knowledge is critical for high levels of student achievement. One mechanism for improving teacher knowledge is the development of "professional communities" of teachers at a school site. Indeed, many policy-makers and educators have placed considerable faith in these communities without a detailed understanding of the efficacy or dynamics of teacher interaction in the workplace. This research study examined teacher professional interactions at...

  6. An Investigation of the Factors That Motivate K-12 Christian School Teachers to Participate in Professional Development and the Relationship to Job Satisfaction and Retention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, Bonita Wingfield

    2013-01-01

    This study was conducted to advance knowledge by examining the reasons that motivate teachers to participate in professional development and the relationship to teacher job satisfaction and retention in Christian-based K-12 Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) member schools. The study contributes to the literature in the field…

  7. Doorways III: Teacher Training Manual on School-Related Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Response

    Science.gov (United States)

    US Agency for International Development, 2009

    2009-01-01

    The Doorways training program was designed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Safe Schools Program (Safe Schools) to enable teachers, community members and students to prevent and respond to school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). Teachers can play a central role in violence prevention, and they can also help…

  8. Teaching English Language Skills for School Teachers: CTE Programme of IGNOU

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asha Khare

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available India is a multilingual country. English is the second most important language in the country after the national language Hindi since it is taught as a compulsory subject in all the Indian schools. In the educational system of a multilingual country, it becomes imperative to improve the English Language teaching skills of the school teachers who come from various linguistic backgrounds. The school teacher plays a vital role in the development of linguistic skills of the students. What children learn can affect their later success or failure in school, work, and their personal lives. As such, the school teachers need to improve their own English language skills if they are teaching without any previous English language training. This paper throws light on the communicative approach of English language teaching. It introduces the Certificate in Teaching of English (CTE programme of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU and outlines the syllabus and the methods used by the university to impart English Language Teaching skills to the elementary/secondary school teachers through this programme with the objective to enhance teacher’s understanding of  the learners and their learning process.

  9. Inclusive Education in Government Primary Schools: Teacher Perceptions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Itfaq Khaliq Khan

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The perceptions of primary school teachers towards inclusive education was investigated in mainstream government schools of Islamabad capital territory where inclusive education was being supported by Sight savers and other international organizations. The study was carried out involving 54 teachers in six randomly selected primary schools. The sampled group comprised both, teachers trained in inclusive education and teachers working in same schools, but not trained in inclusive education. Purposive sampling method was used to select the teachers. Structured questionnaire (Likert Scale and structured interview method was used for data collection. The results of the study revealed that inclusive education is considered to be a desirable practice. The teachers believed that all learners regardless of their disabilities should be in regular classrooms and they showed more favorable attitude towards children with mild disabilities, but were not very optimistic about children with severe disabilities. The study also recognized teachers’ capacity as an essential component of inclusive education and recommends that inclusive education should be a part of pre and in-service teacher education.

  10. Australian Lesbian Teachers--A Reflection of Homophobic Harassment of High School Teachers in New South Wales Government Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferfolja, Tania

    1998-01-01

    Examines the homophobic harassment of lesbian teachers working in government high schools in Sydney (Australia). The experiences of six lesbian teachers show that harassment based on sexual orientation is often an invisible issue in schools, as is homosexuality in general. Recommendations are made for teaching about homosexual tolerance. (SLD)

  11. The Identity of Catholic Schools as Seen by Teachers in Catholic Schools in Queensland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gleeson, Jim; O'Gorman, John; O'Neill, Maureen

    2018-01-01

    This paper reports on the opinions of teachers in Queensland Catholic schools regarding the identity, purposes and characteristics of Catholic schools. It draws on survey data from 2287 teachers in Catholic schools as well as semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers. Respondents were asked about their reasons for working in Catholic Education…

  12. Community-Based Teacher Professional Development in Remote Areas in Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harjanto, Ignatius; Lie, Anita; Wihardini, Diah; Pryor, Laura; Wilson, Mark

    2018-01-01

    The Indonesian government has been struggling to improve the quality of teachers in its public and private schools. Several programmes of teacher education and teacher certification have been designed to enhance teacher quality. However, the programmes do not yet develop effective teachers. Supporting the government programmes, the Tanoto…

  13. An Investigation of Turkish Middle School Science Teachers' Pedagogical Orientations Towards Direct and Inquiry Instructional Approaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahingoz, Selcuk

    One of the most important goals of science education is preparing effective science teachers which includes the development of a science pedagogical orientation. Helping in-service science teachers improve their orientations toward science teaching begins with identifying their current orientations. While there are many aspects of an effective science teaching orientation, this study specifically focuses on effective pedagogy. The interest of this study is to clarify pedagogical orientations of middle school science teachers in Turkey toward the teaching of science conceptual knowledge. It focuses on what instructional preferences Turkish middle school science teachers have in theory and practice. The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) to elucidate teacher pedagogical profiles toward direct and inquiry instructional approaches. For this purpose, quantitative profile data, using a Turkish version of the Pedagogy of Science Teaching Test (POSTT-TR) assessment instrument, was collected from 533 Turkish middle school science teachers; 2) to identify teaching orientations of middle school science teachers and to identify their reasons for preferring specific instructional practices. For this purpose, descriptive qualitative, interview data was collected from 23 teachers attending a middle school science teacher workshop in addition to quantitative data using the POSTT-TR. These teachers sat for interviews structured by items from the POSTT-TR. Thus, the research design is mixed-method. The design provides a background profile on teacher orientations along with insights on reasons for pedagogical choices. The findings indicate that instructional preference distributions for the large group and smaller group are similar; however, the smaller workshop group is more in favor of inquiry instructional approaches. The findings also indicate that Turkish middle school science teachers appear to have variety of teaching orientations and they have varied reasons. Moreover, the

  14. The droso4schools project: Long-term scientist-teacher collaborations to promote science communication and education in schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Sanjai; DeMaine, Sophie; Heafield, Joshua; Bianchi, Lynne; Prokop, Andreas

    2017-10-01

    Science communication is becoming an increasingly important part of a scientist's remit, and engaging with primary and secondary schools is one frequently chosen strategy. Here we argue that science communication in schools will be more effective if based on good understanding of the realities of school life, which can be achieved through structured participation and/or collaboration with teachers. For example, the Manchester Fly Facility advocates the use of the fruit fly Drosophila as an important research strategy for the discovery processes in the biomedical sciences. To communicate this concept also in schools, we developed the 'droso4schools' project as a refined form of scientist-teacher collaboration that embraces the expertise and interests of teachers. Within this project, we place university students as teaching assistants in university partner schools to collaborate with teachers and develop biology lessons with adjunct support materials. These lessons teach curriculum-relevant biology topics by making use of the profound conceptual understanding existing in Drosophila combined with parallel examples taken from human biology. By performing easy to implement experiments with flies, we bring living organisms into these lessons, thus endeavouring to further enhance the pupil's learning experience. In this way, we do not talk about flies but rather work with flies as powerful teaching tools to convey mainstream curriculum biology content, whilst also bringing across the relevance of Drosophila research. Through making these lessons freely available online, they have the potential to reach out to teachers and scientists worldwide. In this paper, we share our experiences and strategies to provide ideas for scientists engaging with schools, including the application of the droso4schools project as a paradigm for long-term school engagement which can be adapted also to other areas of science. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All

  15. Job Satisfaction, School Rule Enforcement, and Teacher Victimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapa, Ryan; Gimbert, Belinda

    2018-01-01

    Job satisfaction is an essential component of teacher motivation, performance, and retention. Teacher job satisfaction is primarily affected by workplace conditions. This paper analyzes data from over 37,000 public school teachers from the 2011--2012 Schools and Staffing Survey. Hierarchical ordinal logistic regression was utilized to analyze…

  16. High school physics teacher forms of thought about simple electric circuits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kucukozer, H.

    2005-01-01

    According to some researches on students and on science teachers, they have same conceptual difficulties about simple electric circuits and these affect their further learning or/and teaching. [2], [5], [8], [9], [11], [13]. The main aim of this study was to investigate in-service high school physics teachers form of thought about simple electric circuits. In this purpose a test that was developed by Kucukozer [7], contains eight questions related to simple electric circuits was applied to in-service physics teachers (25 subjects) in various Anatolian Teacher High School in Turkey. After analyzing and evaluating of their data, it was found that, the physics teachers have conceptual difficulties about simple electric circuits, especially the concepts about source of stationary current and current usage

  17. Middle School Teacher Misconceptions and Anxieties Concerning Space Science Disciplinary Core Ideas in NGSS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Kristine

    2017-01-01

    The Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI) of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are grouped into the broad disciplinary areas of Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences, and Engineering, Technology and Application of Science, and feature learning progressions based on endpoint targets for each grade band. Since the Middle School DCIs build on the expected learning achievements to be reached by the end of Fifth Grade, and High School DCI similarly build on the expected learning achievements expected for the end of Eighth Grade, the Middle School grade band is of particular importance as the bridge between the Elementary and High School curriculum. In states where there is not a special Middle School Certification many of these science classes are taught by teachers prepared to teach at the Elementary level (and who may have limited content background). As a result, some pre-service and in-service teachers have expressed reduced self-confidence in both their own science content knowledge and their ability to apply it in the NGSS-based classroom, while decades of research has demonstrated the pervasiveness of science misconceptions among teachers. Thus the adoption of NGSS has the potential to drive talented teachers out of the profession who feel that they are ill-prepared for this sweeping transition. The key is providing rigorous education in both content and pedagogy for pre-service teachers and quality targeted professional development for in-service teachers. This report focuses on the Middle School Space Sciences grade band DCIs and presents research on specific difficulties, misconceptions and uncertainties with the material demonstrated by pre-service education students over the past four years in a required university science content course, as well as two year-long granted workshop series for current Middle School teachers. This information is relevant to the development of both new content courses aligned with NGSS for pre

  18. Early Career Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences of Leadership Development: Balancing Structure and Agency in Contrasting School Contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodhouse, Joan; Pedder, David

    2017-01-01

    Drawing on the findings of a three-year, longitudinal study investigating early career teachers' (ECTs) experiences and perceptions of leadership development in English secondary schools, this paper highlights, from the perspectives of ECTs, some of the factors that support and facilitate leadership development during the first few years of the…

  19. School Library Media Specialist-Teacher Collaboration: Characteristics, Challenges, Opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, O. P.; Bray, Marty

    2011-01-01

    The most successful school library media specialists are those who collaborate with teachers as full partners in the instructional process. Without assertive action by the school library media specialist, however, school administrators and teachers are likely to be more aware of the media specialist's administrative role than the roles of teacher,…

  20. Fueling Chemical Engineering Concepts with Biodiesel Production: A Professional Development Experience for High School Pre-Service Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Anju

    2015-01-01

    This one-day workshop for pre-service teachers was aimed at implementing a uniquely designed and ready-to-implement chemical engineering curriculum in high school coursework. This educational and professional development opportunity introduced: 1) chemical engineering curriculum and career opportunities, 2) basic industrial processes and flow…

  1. Teacher-Child Relationships and the Development of Academic and Behavioral Skills during Elementary School: A within- and between-Child Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maldonado-Carreno, Carolina; Votruba-Drzal, Elizabeth

    2011-01-01

    Despite recent growth in research highlighting the potential of teacher-child relationships to promote children's development during the early years of school, questions remain about the importance of these relationships across elementary school. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (N = 1,364), this study examines between- and…

  2. Delivering Technological Literacy to a Class for Elementary School Pre-Service Teachers in South Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Hyuksoo

    2017-01-01

    This study was conducted with the aim of creating a new introductory course emphasizing the development of technological literacy for elementary school pre-service teachers. This study also aimed to investigate elementary school pre-service teachers' attitudinal transition toward elementary school technology education (ESTE) and its…

  3. Secondary school teachers' experiences of teaching pregnant ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... learners, and this requires a health facilitation model to enable teachers to assist pregnant learners such that they might better benefit from their schooling, and experience a positive health outcome. Key words: high risk pregnancy; learner pregnancy; school health services; teacher experiences; teenage pregnancy ...

  4. Re-Structuring Preservice Teacher Education: Introducing the School-Community Integrated Learning (SCIL) Pathway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Sue; Hudson, Peter

    2013-01-01

    Reviews into teacher education call for new models that develop preservice teachers' practical knowledge and skills. The study involved 9 mentor teachers and 14 mentees (final-year preservice teachers) working in a new teacher education model, the School-Community Integrated Learning (SCIL) pathway, and analysed data from a Likert survey with…

  5. High School Band Students' Perspectives of Teacher Turnover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kloss, Thomas E.

    2013-01-01

    Teacher turnover remains an important issue in education. The least researched perspectives, though, are those of the students who experience teacher turnover. The purpose of this study was to examine how high school band students experience teacher turnover. A total of twelve students were interviewed, representing three schools that experienced…

  6. An Investigation of How a Physics Professional Development Course Influenced the Teaching Practices of Five Elementary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harlow, Danielle B.

    2014-02-01

    This paper reports the results of an investigation of how a professional development content course based on the Physics and Everyday Thinking (PET) curriculum affected the teaching practices of five case study elementary school teachers. The findings of this study highlight different ways that teachers use what they learn in content courses to teach science to elementary children. While some teachers transferred pedagogical practices along with the content, others transformed the content to be useful in already existing pedagogical frameworks, and still others show little or no evidence of transfer. The range of transfer is explained by considering how each teacher interacted with the learning context (the PET curriculum) and their initial ideas about teaching science.

  7. Inclusive Education in Government Primary Schools: Teacher Perceptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Itfaq Khaliq; Hashmi, ShujahatHaider; Khanum, Nabeela

    2017-01-01

    The perceptions of primary school teachers towards inclusive education was investigated in mainstream government schools of Islamabad capital territory where inclusive education was being supported by Sight savers and other international organizations. The study was carried out involving 54 teachers in six randomly selected primary schools. The…

  8. Teacher's Knowledge, Attitudes and Management Practices about Diabetes Care in Riyadh's Schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdel Gawwad, Ensaf S

    2008-01-01

    The objective of this study was to assess diabetes-related knowledge, attitudes and management practices among school teachers in order to determine their diabetes training needs and preparedness to provide adequate care for students with diabetes. A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out among 177 school teachers in Boys and Girls primary and intermediate school compounds in Riyadh City. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires during the period February-March 2007. The results showed that most of the school teachers had fair diabetes knowledge (78%), and unfavorable attitudes toward taking responsibility of diabetes education and care in schools. Recognizing normal, low and high blood sugar levels was the least known. The most frequent sources of information were booklets, brochures, mass media and own experience. A negative significant relationship was found between knowledge and attitude scores. Only 18.6% of teachers had got good total score of diabetes management practices for their diabetic students. The most frequent practices mentioned were trying to have competency in using glucometer, and allowing students to use restroom as needed. Developing an emergency action plan, and observing diabetic students all the school day were the least mentioned practices. Good diabetes managers were more knowledgeable and more expressing unfavorable attitudes. This study highlighted the need of diabetes education training courses especially designed to school teachers to promote adequate care and management of diabetes emergencies in schools.

  9. The Effects of Teacher Perceptions of Administrative Support, School Climate, and Academic Success in Urban Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Lakishia N.

    2015-01-01

    Teacher turnover refers to major changes in teachers' assignments from one school year to the next. Past research has given an overview of several factors of teacher turnover. These factors include the school environment, teacher collaborative efforts, administrative support, school climate, location, salary, classroom management, academic…

  10. Bridging Theory and Practice in Teacher Education: Teaching Schools--A Bridge Too Far?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gravett, Sarah; Ramsaroop, Sarita

    2015-01-01

    The study reported on in this article stems from the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa (2011). This framework proposes the establishment of teaching schools to strengthen teacher education. This article reports on a qualitative inquiry into the views of school-based personnel and the…

  11. Teachers Supporting Teachers in Urban Schools: What Iterative Research Designs Can Teach Us.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shernoff, Elisa S; Maríñez-Lora, Ane M; Frazier, Stacy L; Jakobsons, Lara J; Atkins, Marc S; Bonner, Deborah

    2011-12-01

    Despite alarming rates and negative consequences associated with urban teacher attrition, mentoring programs often fail to target the strongest predictors of attrition: effectiveness around classroom management and engaging learners; and connectedness to colleagues. Using a mixed-method iterative development framework, we highlight the process of developing and evaluating the feasibility of a multi-component professional development model for urban early career teachers. The model includes linking novices with peer-nominated key opinion leader teachers and an external coach who work together to (1) provide intensive support in evidence-based practices for classroom management and engaging learners, and (2) connect new teachers with their larger network of colleagues. Fidelity measures and focus group data illustrated varying attendance rates throughout the school year and that although seminars and professional learning communities were delivered as intended, adaptations to enhance the relevance, authenticity, level, and type of instrumental support were needed. Implications for science and practice are discussed.

  12. Use of Graphic Organizers in a Language Teachers' Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chien, Chin-Wen

    2012-01-01

    Starting from 2009 academic year, the instructional coaches in a school district in a northwest American city began to provide Workshop II (pseudonym) to elementary school English teachers. This study aims to discuss the use of graphic organizers in English teachers' professional development. Different types of graphic organizers such as…

  13. HEADMASTER POLICY OF SENIOR ISLAMIC SCHOOL TO INCREAS TEACHER PROFESIONALISM AT STATE SENIOR ISLAMIC SCHOOL 2 MODEL MEDAN

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    Muhammad Arifin Tanjung

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available State Senior Islamic School 2 Model Medan oh of famous Islamic schools in North Sumatera. The issues in this writing are what are the formulation, organization, application, and evaluation of headmaster Policy of Senior Islamic School to Increase Teacher Professionalism at State Senior Islamic School 2 Model Medan. To explain the main issue in this writings, I have to observe and interview the Moslem population. Data has been collected will be explained detailly and analyzed by Islamic education management. Based on research, formulation of headmaster Policy of Senior Islamic School to Increase Teacher Professionalism at State Senior Islamic School 2 Model Medan is bottom up which ideas from teachers, beginning from teachers meeting in one subject, teachers meeting in one program, annual meeting in a month and annual meeting in a year, and finally in teamwork, for example, anual teachers meeting, seminar, workshop, coffee morning, study comparison to university and another school. It will motivate teacher in teaching, activity, and anything. Besides it, headmaster facilitates everything whatever teacher need it, for example, infocus, laptop, and everything. And the organization of headmaster Policy of Senior Islamic School to Increase Teacher Professionalism at State Senior Islamic School 2 Model Medan is cooperation with the school community and he helped by vices and head program and teachers and chairman of the student. The special of school organization is evaluation of teachers activity and relation to abroad. Headmaster states his position as a teacher who teaches students, a leader who leads teachers, a manager who manages, a motivator who motivate, a supervisor who supervise teachers activity, and facilitator for teachers. And finally evaluation of headmaster Policy of Senior Islamic School to Increase the Teacher Professionalism at State Senior Islamic School 2 Model Medan each level, beginning from teachers meeting in one subject

  14. Mental health first aid training for high school teachers: a cluster randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jorm, Anthony F; Kitchener, Betty A; Sawyer, Michael G; Scales, Helen; Cvetkovski, Stefan

    2010-06-24

    Mental disorders often have their first onset during adolescence. For this reason, high school teachers are in a good position to provide initial assistance to students who are developing mental health problems. To improve the skills of teachers in this area, a Mental Health First Aid training course was modified to be suitable for high school teachers and evaluated in a cluster randomized trial. The trial was carried out with teachers in South Australian high schools. Teachers at 7 schools received training and those at another 7 were wait-listed for future training. The effects of the training on teachers were evaluated using questionnaires pre- and post-training and at 6 months follow-up. The questionnaires assessed mental health knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes, confidence in providing help to others, help actually provided, school policy and procedures, and teacher mental health. The indirect effects on students were evaluated using questionnaires at pre-training and at follow-up which assessed any mental health help and information received from school staff, and also the mental health of the student. The training increased teachers' knowledge, changed beliefs about treatment to be more like those of mental health professionals, reduced some aspects of stigma, and increased confidence in providing help to students and colleagues. There was an indirect effect on students, who reported receiving more mental health information from school staff. Most of the changes found were sustained 6 months after training. However, no effects were found on teachers' individual support towards students with mental health problems or on student mental health. Mental Health First Aid training has positive effects on teachers' mental health knowledge, attitudes, confidence and some aspects of their behaviour. ACTRN12608000561381.

  15. The Teacher Strike: School District Protection Procedures. A Manual for School District Officials on How to Handle a Teachers' Strike.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Igoe, Joseph A.; DiRocco, Anthony P.

    This booklet is designed to give practical and realistic advice to school district officials faced with the possibility of a teachers' strike. It is intended for use both by school district administrators and school board members. The booklet is organized into four sections that focus in turn on signs of a pending teachers' strike, union…

  16. “Without love you can not develop a good work”: analysis of social representation of teachers inclusion on school

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ednéia Rodrigues Albuquerque

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available The educational legislation, and the National Policy on Education in Brazil highlight the Special Education as a means of education, offered, preferably in the regular school network, whose guiding principle is the inclusion. This article presents the results of a study of social representations to include school teachers between the public network developed in the Graduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Pernambuco - UFPE. Participants in the survey are 43 teachers of students with disabilities in the municipal network of Jaboatao of Exmouth-EP. Data were collected through the free association of words and the results indicate that the inclusion in school social representation of teachers is an act of love. The character of the emotional evocations excels is in the social representations of students with disabilities affecting the meaning of inclusion as a right of a student with disabilities. Thus, the Special Education, despite its merits and achievements, such as social right constitutionally guaranteed to persons with disabilities continues to be denied.

  17. School-Based Teacher Collaboration in Sweden and Greece: Formal Cooperation, Deprivatized Practices and Personalized Interaction in Primary and Lower Secondary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kougioumtzis, Konstantin; Patriksson, Goran

    2009-01-01

    During recent years, educational restructuring efforts have commonly regarded schools as both learning communities and sites for teachers' professional development. A plethora of attributes influence prerequisites as well as outcomes of the efforts, while teachers' local cultures constitute a cornerstone. More specifically, enhanced school-based…

  18. Knowledge and attitude of secondary school teachers in Enugu to school based sex education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aniebue, P N

    2007-12-01

    To assess the knowledge and attitude to sex education among secondary school teachers in Enugu. A cross sectional study of 300 teachers drawn from nine randomly selected secondary schools in Enugu metropolis was carried out. Pre-tested self administered structured questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection. Three hundred teachers, 215 females and 85 males were interviewed. The mean age of the teachers was 38.1+/-7.5 years. Sixty-nine (23.0%) had adequate knowledge of sex education and 282 (94.0%) approved the inclusion of sex education into the school curriculum. The commonest reason for disapproval of sex education was fear that it would lead to promiscuity amongst the students. Educational status and marital status of the teachers were significant determinants of positive attitude to sex education psex education according to the teachers is 11-15 years. Two hundred and thirty eight (79.3%) respondents were of the opinion that teachers needed to be trained to provide sex education to students and 244 (81.3%) admitted that sex education was not in the school curriculum. Secondary school teachers are in support of provision of sex education to students. However they need training and skills on how to present sex information in a positive manner to achieve the desired goal. There is need to include sex education in the school curriculum.

  19. Motivating Teachers towards Expertise Development: A Mixed-Methods Study of the Relationships between School Culture, Internal Factors, and State of Flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayeaux, Amanda Shuford

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this sequential mixed-methods research was to discover the impact school culture, internal factors, and the state of flow has upon motivating a teacher to develop teaching expertise. This research was designed to find answers concerning why and how individual teachers can nurture their existing internal factors to increase their…

  20. Problems of discipline in primary and secondary school: Teachers' opinions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Savović Branka B.

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Investigations carried out in late 2001 in primary and secondary schools of Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš comprised students, teachers and associates. The aim of investigations was to get insight into the state-of-the-arts problems and needs of our primary and secondary schools. The paper is a part of investigations, related to the results obtained for students' opinions of their interrelations with teachers as well as opinions of teachers themselves. The sample comprised 727 students of 4th grade of secondary vocational and high schools, 562 students of 8th grade of primary schools 168 secondary school and 107 primary school teachers. We investigated their interrelationships and within this framework the level of potential or current aggressive behavior. The majority of teachers (51% estimated student-teacher relationships mediocre - neither good nor bad. The most frequent problem in students' behavior is, according to the teachers instruction disturbance. One-quarter of teachers find that students offend them, ridicule them, or mock at them in front of others, and 5 per cent complain of physical injury intimidation on the part of students. When a problem comes up, 18 per cent of teachers talk with a student, and nearly 10 per cent of teachers give lower grades in their subject, so as to punish a student for undisciplined behaviors. In teachers' opinion, society, school the least, is to be blamed for the situation.

  1. Importance of intrapreneurial practices prevalent among secondary school teachers in Kalungu District (Uganda

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    Genza Musoke Gyaviira

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The study examines teachers' business initiatives within school (intrapreneurial ventures and highlights the economic and educational importance of these initiatives. It first unveils the prevalence of different intrapreneurial ventures among teachers, before going on to state the meaning of these practices for both the economic and professional welfare of teachers in particular, and schools in general. The study concludes with several conclusions for the development of education on the African continent.

  2. Development Scaffolding for Construction of Evaluation Instrument Training Program on The Cognitive Domain For Senior High School Physics Teachers and The Same Level

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arif, W.; Suhandi, A.; Kaniawati, I.; Setiawan, A.

    2017-02-01

    The development of scaffolding for evaluation instrument construction training program on the cognitive domain for senior high school physics teacher and the same level that is specified in the test instrument has been done. This development was motivated by the low ability of the majority of physics teachers in constructing the physics learning achievement test. This situation not in accordance with the demands of Permendiknas RI no. 16 tahun 2007 concerning the standard of academic qualifications and competence of teachers, stating that teachers should have a good ability to develop instruments for assessment and evaluation of process and learning outcomes. Based on the preliminary study results, it can be seen that the main cause of the inability of teachers in developing physics achievement test is because they do not good understand of the indicators for each aspect of cognitive domains. Scaffolding development is done by using the research and development methods formulated by Thiagarajan which includes define, design and develope steps. Develop step includes build the scaffolding, validation of scaffolding by experts and the limited pilot implementations on the training activities. From the build scaffolding step, resulted the scaffolding for the construction of test instruments training program which include the process steps; description of indicators, operationalization of indicators, construction the itemsframework (items scenarios), construction the items stem, construction the items and checking the items. The results of the validation by three validator indicates that the built scaffolding are suitable for use in the construction of physics achievement test training program, especially for novice. The limited pilot implementation of the built scaffolding conducted in training activities attended by 10 senior high school physics teachers in Garut district. The results of the limited pilot implementation shows that the built scaffolding have a medium

  3. Middle-School Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs in NCTM's Vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perrin, John Robert

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the extent to which seventh- and eighth-grade mathematics teachers are aware of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards documents, Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics and Principles and Standards for School Mathematics and agree with NCTM's vision of school mathematics as expressed in…

  4. Motivation and Job Satisfaction of Catholic School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Convey, John J.

    2014-01-01

    This article examines the relationship between Catholic school teachers' motivation and job satisfaction. The data are derived from a survey of 716 teachers in Catholic elementary and secondary schools in three dioceses in the US (Atlanta, GA; Biloxi, MS; and Cheyenne, WY). The school's academic philosophy and its environment were important…

  5. Perceptions of elementary school teachers of their pupils\\' eye ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Perceptions of elementary school teachers of their pupils\\' eye health in ilorin, nigeria. ... PROMOTING ACCESS TO AFRICAN RESEARCH ... roles that school teachers are expected to play in school eye health programmes, their perceptions ...

  6. An Examination of Democratic Attitudes of Primary School Teachers

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    S. Gulec

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available As democracy can develop better in a society of democratic people, democracy education can also get its intended goals better in a democratic school environment. As the most influential people in a school environment were teachers, this study, too, aimed to determine their levels of democratic attitudes. In the present study, 60 primary school teachers working in the schools attached to the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality were surveyed. The relationships between their attitudes and some variables were studied. These variables included school they work, age, gender, marital status, number of children they have, education level, teaching experience and number of broth-ers or sisters. The questionnaire used for this study was validated by Aydogan & Kukul (2003 based on previous studies made by Gomleksiz (1988, Yildirim (1994 and Atasoy (1997. For the validity of the questionnaire, Cronbach Alpha coefficient (0.829 was calculated. The results suggest that teachers show very positive attitude with a score of 103. When the items were examined individually, some significant relationships were found with the variables. Teachers should have positive democratic attitudes in order to give lessons of democracy to their students. An appropriate and encouraging environment should be prepared in order for students to gain desired democratic outcomes. In a democratic environment, teachers’ positive attitudes will help their students to gain critical thinking skills, effective discussion skills, capability for fighting against inequity, cooperation and collaboration skills, and showing empathy and respect for diversity.

  7. Novice Teachers Learning from Others: Mentoring in Shanghai Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salleh, Hairon; Tan, Charlene

    2013-01-01

    This paper explores critically the practice of teacher mentoring in Shanghai schools. It begins with a review of the literature on teacher mentoring, which is followed by an introduction to education and teacher mentoring in the schools. The next section critiques teacher mentoring in Shanghai and we highlight three key characteristics and…

  8. Motivating Teachers' Commitment to Change through Transformational School Leadership in Chinese Urban Upper Secondary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Peng

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of transformational school leadership on teachers' commitment to change and the effects of organizational and teachers' factors on teachers' perception of transformational school leadership in the Chinese urban upper secondary school context. Design/methodology/approach: The paper mainly…

  9. Prospective teachers' perceptions of the school psychologist's role

    OpenAIRE

    Poulou, Maria

    2002-01-01

    Acknowledging the importance of teachers’ implicit theories for the determination of school psychologist’s role, this study aims to elicit prospective teachers’ personal theories for the role of school psychologist. By using metaphoric pictures, 59 pre-service teachers described their perceptions of the school psychologist’s role in relation to other members of the school community, the expectations of both teachers and the school psychologist in relation to the role of the ...

  10. Exploring personality traits and well-being among pre-school and primary school teachers in Croatia

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    Sanja Tatalović Vorkapić

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Background Pre-school and primary school teachers are directly involved in the education of children. In addition to teachers’ competences, the quality of their work is significantly influenced by their psychological well-being. It is therefore important to focus on their well-being as well as on personality traits they have. The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between life satisfaction, happiness, optimism and personality traits of pre-school and primary school teachers in Croatia. Participants and procedure The study was conducted on a sample of 103 pre-school teachers and 117 primary school teachers who completed self-evaluated scales on personality traits, life satisfaction, happiness and optimism. Results The results demonstrated high levels of all personality traits in both samples. High levels of life satisfaction were positively associated with happiness and optimism. Personality traits were also positively associated with life satisfaction, happiness and optimism. There were no differences in life satisfaction, happiness, optimism or personality traits between pre-school and primary school teachers, except for openness to experience being higher in pre-school teachers. Emotional stability was a significant predictor of teachers’ well-being. Conclusions The results have significant implications for improvement of teaching practice at primary school and pre-school levels. The findings highlight the importance of teachers’ personality traits and their well-being for the quality of their work with children.

  11. A STUDY OF TEACHER-PUPIL INTERACTION IN HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY CLASSES.

    Science.gov (United States)

    PARAKH, JAL SOHRAB

    A CATEGORY SYSTEM FOR SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION OF HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY LABORATORY AND LECTURE-DISCUSSION-RECITATION CLASSES WAS DEVELOPED AND USED TO QUANTIFY, ANALYZE, AND DESCRIBE OBSERVED CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR. THE CATEGORY SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED BY OBSERVING EIGHT HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY TEACHERS ONCE EACH MONTH FOR FOUR SUCCESSIVE MONTHS. THE OBSERVER…

  12. Qualifications of Subject Teachers in Special Education Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasmussen, Meryem Uçar; Kis, Arzu

    2018-01-01

    Teacher qualifications are essential to be able to teach children with special needs efficiently. Therefore the aim of this study is to determine the qualifications of subject teachers in special education schools in Turkey. In the study 20 subject teachers within the field of music, art and sports who worked in special education schools in Turkey…

  13. Exposure to Mobbing: Perceptions of Primary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çeliköz, Mine; Çeliköz, Nadir

    2017-01-01

    The general purpose of the present research is to examine teachers' perceptions of being exposed to Mobbing. The population of the research, in which the screening model is used, consists of teachers working in private and public elementary schools during the 2015-2016 school year. The study group is formed with 305 teachers who were voluntarily…

  14. Teachers' and School Leaders' Perceptions of Commercialisation in Australian Public Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hogan, Anna; Thompson, Greg; Sellar, Sam; Lingard, Bob

    2018-01-01

    This paper explores teachers' and school leaders' perceptions of commercialisation in Australian public schools, reporting on findings from an open-ended survey question from an exploratory study that sought to investigate teacher and school leader perceptions and experiences of commercialisation. Commercialisation, for the purposes of this paper,…

  15. Middle School Science Teachers' Perceptions of Social Justice: A Study of Two Female Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Upadhyay, Bhaskar

    2010-01-01

    The focus of this qualitative study is to document two middle school science teachers' perceptions of social justice and how these teachers implement various aspects of social justice in their science instruction. The two teachers teach science in an urban school that serves students from low-income, immigrant, and ethnic minority families. The…

  16. Elementary School Teachers and Teaching with Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varol, Filiz

    2013-01-01

    This study aims to identify the relationship between elementary school teachers' ICT engagement with their attitudes towards technology. To this end, one hundred elementary school students were asked to fill out questionnaires related to their ICT knowledge, usage, and attitude towards technology. The results show that teachers' ICT knowledge and…

  17. Teachers' Knowledge and Readiness towards Implementation of School Based Assessment in Secondary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veloo, Arsaythamby; Krishnasamy, Hariharan N.; Md-Ali, Ruzlan

    2015-01-01

    School-Based Assessment (SBA) was implemented in Malaysian secondary schools in 2012. Since its implementation, teachers have faced several challenges to meet the aims and objectives of the School-Based Assessment. Based on these challenges this study aims to find the level of teachers' knowledge and readiness towards the implementation of…

  18. Rural Elementary School Teachers' Technology Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howley, Aimee; Wood, Lawrence; Hough, Brian

    2011-01-01

    Based on survey responses from more than 500 third-grade teachers, this study addressed three research questions relating to technology integration and its impact in rural elementary schools. The first analyses compared rural with non-rural teachers, revealing that the rural teachers had more positive attitudes toward technology integration. Then…

  19. Teachers' Acceptance of Absenteeism: Towards Developing a Specific Scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shapira-Lishchinsky, Orly; Ishan, Gamal

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: This study aims to develop and validate a measure of a specific attitude toward teachers' absenteeism that predicts this behavior more accurately than other general measures of job attitudes. Design/methodology/approach: Participants were 443 teachers from 21 secondary schools in Israel. In the first phase, the teachers answered anonymous…

  20. Principals' and Teachers' Practices about Parent Involvement in Schooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdener, Mehmet Akif

    2016-01-01

    Parent involvement has an influence on children's educational engagement for all school levels. The objective of this study was to examine public school principals' and teachers' practices for improving parent involvement in schooling. This study used a mixed method to identify the school administrators' and teachers' perceptions about parent…

  1. Primary School Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers' Views on Mathematical Modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karali, Diren; Durmus, Soner

    2015-01-01

    The current study aimed to identify the views of pre-service teachers, who attended a primary school mathematics teaching department but did not take mathematical modeling courses. The mathematical modeling activity used by the pre-service teachers was developed with regards to the modeling activities utilized by Lesh and Doerr (2003) in their…

  2. Mental health first aid training for high school teachers: a cluster randomized trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorm Anthony F

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Mental disorders often have their first onset during adolescence. For this reason, high school teachers are in a good position to provide initial assistance to students who are developing mental health problems. To improve the skills of teachers in this area, a Mental Health First Aid training course was modified to be suitable for high school teachers and evaluated in a cluster randomized trial. Methods The trial was carried out with teachers in South Australian high schools. Teachers at 7 schools received training and those at another 7 were wait-listed for future training. The effects of the training on teachers were evaluated using questionnaires pre- and post-training and at 6 months follow-up. The questionnaires assessed mental health knowledge, stigmatizing attitudes, confidence in providing help to others, help actually provided, school policy and procedures, and teacher mental health. The indirect effects on students were evaluated using questionnaires at pre-training and at follow-up which assessed any mental health help and information received from school staff, and also the mental health of the student. Results The training increased teachers' knowledge, changed beliefs about treatment to be more like those of mental health professionals, reduced some aspects of stigma, and increased confidence in providing help to students and colleagues. There was an indirect effect on students, who reported receiving more mental health information from school staff. Most of the changes found were sustained 6 months after training. However, no effects were found on teachers' individual support towards students with mental health problems or on student mental health. Conclusions Mental Health First Aid training has positive effects on teachers' mental health knowledge, attitudes, confidence and some aspects of their behaviour. Trial registration ACTRN12608000561381

  3. Student-teacher relationships matter for school inclusion: school belonging, disability, and school transitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crouch, Ronald; Keys, Christopher B; McMahon, Susan D

    2014-01-01

    For students with disabilities, the process of school inclusion often begins with a move from segregated settings into general education classrooms. School transitions can be stressful as students adjust to a new environment. This study examines the adjustment of 133 students with and without disabilities who moved from a school that served primarily students with disabilities into 23 public schools in a large urban school district in the Midwest. These students and 111 of their teachers and other school staff rated the degree that students felt they belonged in their new schools and the quality of their social interactions. Results show that students who experienced more positive and fewer negative social interactions with school staff had higher school belonging. Teachers accurately noted whether students felt they belonged in their new settings, but were not consistently able to identify student perceptions of negative social interactions with staff. Implications for inclusion and improving our educational system are explored.

  4. Teacher Turnover in Charter Schools. Research Brief

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stuit, David; Smith, Thomas M.

    2010-01-01

    The current study aimed to contribute to a deeper understanding of the organizational conditions of charter schools by examining teacher turnover. Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and the Teacher Follow-Up Survey (TFS), researchers from the National Center on School…

  5. Problem Solving Strategies among Primary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yew, Wun Thiam; Lian, Lim Hooi; Meng, Chew Cheng

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this article was to examine problem solving strategies among primary school teachers. The researchers employed survey research design to examine their problem solving strategies. The participants of this study consisted of 120 primary school teachers from a public university in Peninsula Malaysia who enrolled in a 4-year Graduating…

  6. How science teachers' concerns about school-based assessment of practical work vary with time: the Hong Kong experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheung, Derek; Yip, Din-Yan

    2004-02-01

    School-based assessment of science students' practical skills has two important roles--as a complement to written papers in public examinations and as a catalyst for enriching the science curriculum in schools. This article describes a quantitative study of the concerns chemistry and biology teachers experience as they engage in the process of implementation of a school-based assessment scheme for practical work. A 23-item questionnaire was developed to measure five categories of teacher concern: evaluation, information, management, consequence and refocusing. The nature of each category of teacher concern is discussed in relation to innovation adoption and implementation. Data were collected from 400 chemistry and 412 biology teachers in Hong Kong. Teachers' information and management concerns lessened in intensity when they became experienced users of a school-based assessment scheme. However, teaching experience alone could not motivate teachers to think more about the impact of school-based assessment on student learning, their professional development in student assessment and the possible refinements in their school-based assessment scheme. Concerns-based interventions are suggested to help teachers grow professionally.

  7. Twelve Middle-School Teachers' Planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Deborah Sardo

    1988-01-01

    Case studies described 12 middle-school teachers' instructional yearly, unit, weekly, and daily planning on the basis of a background questionnaire, interview protocols, an analysis of written plans, think-aloud typescripts, and a questionnaire. A process model best characterized teachers long-term planning, while an agenda-formulation model fit…

  8. Value Forming Education of Prospective Primary School Teachers in Kazakhstan and Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Utyupova, Gulnara Ye.; Baiseitova, Zhanar B.; Mukhamadiyeva, Aizhan A.

    2016-01-01

    Value education is one of the most effective forms of education. However, this system is applied only in developed countries due to a number of factors. The purpose of this study is to develop a method for training primary school teachers capable of implementing the value education system in developing countries. Teachers not only conveys…

  9. "Cancer--Educate to Prevent"--high-school teachers, the new promoters of cancer prevention education campaigns.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Barros

    Full Text Available Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and thus represents a priority for national public health programs. Prevention has been assumed as the best strategy to reduce cancer burden, however most cancer prevention programs are implemented by healthcare professionals, which constrain range and educational impacts. We developed an innovative approach for cancer prevention education focused on high-school biology teachers, considered privileged mediators in the socialization processes. A training program, "Cancer, Educate to Prevent" was applied, so that the teachers were able to independently develop and implement prevention campaigns focused on students and school-related communities. The program encompassed different educational modules, ranging from cancer biology to prevention campaigns design. Fifty-four teachers were empowered to develop and implement their own cancer prevention campaigns in a population up to five thousands students. The success of the training program was assessed through quantitative evaluation--questionnaires focused on teachers' cancer knowledge and perceptions, before the intervention (pre-test and immediately after (post-test. The projects developed and implemented by teachers were also evaluated regarding the intervention design, educational contents and impact on the students' knowledge about cancer. This study presents and discusses the results concerning the training program "Cancer, Educate to Prevent" and clearly shows a significant increase in teacher's cancer literacy (knowledge and perceptions and teachers' acquired proficiency to develop and deliver cancer prevention campaigns with direct impact on students' knowledge about cancer. This pilot study reinforces the potential of high-school teachers and schools as cancer prevention promoters and opens a new perspective for the development and validation of cancer prevention education strategies, based upon focused interventions in restricted

  10. Empowering Middle School Teachers with Portable Computers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weast, Jerry D.; And Others

    1993-01-01

    A Sioux Falls (South Dakota) project that supplied middle school teachers with Macintosh computers and training to use them showed gratifying results. Easy access to portable notebook computers made teachers more active computer users, increased teacher interaction and collaboration, enhanced teacher productivity regarding management tasks and…

  11. Conventional School and Curriculum Is Not for Everyone: Guidelines for Middle School Administrators and Teachers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunningham, Valerie G.; Karr-Kidwell, PJ

    This paper provides an extensive literature review on how society, families, and schools are entwined in a student's educational development and how these interactions influence the student's opinion of the value of education. It provides middle-school administrators and teachers a working guide for an educational environment that addresses the…

  12. Development and exemplification of a model for Teacher Assessment in Primary Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, D. J.; Earle, S.; McMahon, K.; Howe, A.; Collier, C.

    2017-09-01

    The Teacher Assessment in Primary Science project is funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust and based at Bath Spa University. The study aims to develop a whole-school model of valid, reliable and manageable teacher assessment to inform practice and make a positive impact on primary-aged children's learning in science. The model is based on a data-flow 'pyramid' (analogous to the flow of energy through an ecosystem), whereby the rich formative assessment evidence gathered in the classroom is summarised for monitoring, reporting and evaluation purposes [Nuffield Foundation. (2012). Developing policy, principles and practice in primary school science assessment. London: Nuffield Foundation]. Using a design-based research (DBR) methodology, the authors worked in collaboration with teachers from project schools and other expert groups to refine, elaborate, validate and operationalise the data-flow 'pyramid' model, resulting in the development of a whole-school self-evaluation tool. In this paper, we argue that a DBR approach to theory-building and school improvement drawing upon teacher expertise has led to the identification, adaptation and successful scaling up of a promising approach to school self-evaluation in relation to assessment in science.

  13. Pedagogical Stances of High School ESL Teachers: "Huelgas" in High School ESL Classrooms

    Science.gov (United States)

    del Carmen Salazar, Maria

    2010-01-01

    This article presents a qualitative case study of the pedagogical stances of high school English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, and the subsequent responses of resistance or conformity by their English Language Learners (ELLs). The participants include three high school ESL teachers and 60 high school ESL students of Mexican origin. Findings…

  14. THE CONCEPT OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING OF FUTURE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER TO INFORMATICS TRAINING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olena Sagan

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In the article the problem of professional training of future elementary school teacher to teach Informatics of junior schoolchild is revealed. Rapid development of information and communication technologies actualizes the high-quality requirements to informational competent members of society. Transformation of content of primary education, namely putting Informatics in the curricula, exerted impact on a social request of the elementary school teacher who doesn’t only thoroughly use means of information technologies, but also teaches Informatics as invariant discipline of elementary school. In work it is designed the methodical model of training of future elementary school teacher for teaching Informatics, its purpose is forming of methodology informational competence at future elementary school teacher, which is based on theoretical and practical readiness for teaching Informatics of junior schoolchild and is shown in abilities to organize of the teaching and educational process. Finding of a ratio of essential results of training in higher education institution and general and professional competences which were determined by means of expert evaluations became a basis of a substantial component of system. We design the expected result in the form of competence-based model of future elementary school teacher in a perspective of its preparation for the decision the informational and the methodology-informational tasks of elementary school.

  15. Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences Consulting with School Counselors: A Qualitative Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cholewa, Blair; Goodman-Scott, Emily; Thomas, Antoinette; Cook, Jennifer

    2016-01-01

    School counselor-teacher consultation is an efficient strategy for school counselors to indirectly serve students on their caseload. Teachers' perceptions are crucial in examining this consultation process. This qualitative study examined elementary school teachers' perceptions and experiences of school counselor-teacher consultation. The…

  16. Enabling Adaptive System Leadership: Teachers Leading Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boylan, Mark

    2018-01-01

    Internationally, there is increasing emphasis on teacher leadership of professional development. This provides opportunities for teachers to initiate and facilitate professional learning activities beyond their own schools. There is a need for theoretical tools to analyse their leadership activity and how to support it. Constructs from complexity…

  17. Using Facet Clusters to Guide Teacher Professional Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seeley, Lane; DeWater, L. S.; Vokos, S.; Kraus, P.

    2006-12-01

    The Department of Physics and the School of Education at Seattle Pacific University, together with FACET Innovations, LLC, are beginning the second year of a five-year NSF TPC project, Improving the Effectiveness of Teacher Diagnostic Skills and Tools. We are working in partnership with school districts in Washington State to help teachers make their classrooms into better diagnostic learning environments. In this talk, we describe initial efforts to construct content-rich professional development courses for teachers, which are infused with diagnostic assessment that target the fine structure of student ideas in specific topical areas. * Supported in part by NSF grant #ESI-0455796, The Boeing Corporation, and the SPU Science Initiative.

  18. Teacher Reflective Practice in Jesuit High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klug, Joseph H.

    2010-01-01

    Teachers who engage in reflective practice are more effective and may encourage higher student achievement. The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the methods that teachers use in order to engage in reflective practice. Further, it is essential to gain an understanding of how schools, including Jesuit high schools, promote reflective…

  19. A Comparison of Middle School Teachers' Pupil Control Ideology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Paul; Garner, Arthur E.

    1978-01-01

    Compares pupil control ideology--discipline policy--of middle school classroom teachers with the intent of finding what attributes are needed for middle school teachers and the particular type classroom environment that facilitates optimum learning conditions for middle school children. (Author/RK)

  20. EFL Teachers' Self-Initiated Professional Development: Perceptions and Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simegn, Birhanu

    2014-01-01

    This study assessed perceptions and practices of secondary schools (Grade 9-12) EFL teachers' self-initiated professional development. A questionnaire of likert scale items and open-ended questions was used to gather data from thirty-two teachers. The teachers were asked to fill out the questionnaire at Bahir Dar University during their…

  1. Exploring English-Language Teachers' Professional Development in Developing Countries: Cases from Syria and Pakistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dayoub, Ruba; Bashiruddin, Ayesha

    2012-01-01

    This paper attempts to present the findings of a study carried out in Pakistan that explored English-language teachers' professional development in developing countries. The main guiding question for the study was: How do English-language teachers at secondary schools learn to teach and develop professionally in Syria and Pakistan? Two cases were…

  2. Secondary school as a context for expressing and developing creativity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maksić Slavica

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the results of a research on the views of teachers about expressing and developing creativity of students at the secondary educational level. The analysis of the discussion with ten grammar school teachers allocated as the most important the teachers' views of the nature of creativity, the capacity of the school to stimulate creativity in students and the conditions for stimulating creativity in school. The majority of teachers saw creativity as a complex phenomenon for whose understanding a multi-perspective approach is needed. Although only few teachers believe in distributivity of creativity, the majority agreed that school should stimulate students' creativity, but that it does not do it sufficiently. Among the factors which support creativity they singled out the teacher's engagement, specificities of certain school subjects, the application of certain teaching techniques and the image of the school. Among the factors that obstruct creativity they stated curricular requirements, selection of students, characteristics of young generations and current social values.

  3. Impact of Teacher Self-Efficacy on Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khurram Shahzad

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The study of self-efficacy and its impact on human performance has intrigued many scholars during the last two decades, for example, Clayson and Sheffet, 2006; Nauta, 2004; Muijsand Rejnolds 2001; Bandura, 1997 and Soodak and Podell, 1993. This study was conducted with the objective to find out the impact ofteacher self-efficacy on the secondary school students’ academic achievement. For this purpose, sixty (60 secondary school teachers and a hundred (100 secondary school students in Chiltan Town of Quetta city were randomly selected. To collect the data, teacher self-efficacy questionnaire for teachers was used and to measure students’ academic achievement a test was developed. Data were analyzed through Pearson Correlation and Multiple Regressions. The findings of the study revealed that teacher self-efficacy has a positive impact on the students’ academic achievement. The results of the study and their pedagogical implications have been discussed, and recommendations have been provided for further researches.

  4. Professional Development Needs of English Language Teachers in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khandehroo, Koroush; Mukundan, Jayakaran; Alavi, Zhinoos Kamal

    2011-01-01

    This study surveyed the professional development (PD) needs of school English language teachers at Melaka State in Malaysia. With close cooperation with the Department of Language at the Ministry of Education, the whole population of English language teachers had been studied on their types of professional development needs in instructional…

  5. Real Questions, Real Answers. Focusing Teacher Leadership on School Improvement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarke, John H.; Sanborn, Stephen D.; Aiken, Judith A.; Cornell, Nancy A.; Goodman, Jane Briody; Hess, Karin K.

    This book examines how a relationship between the University of Vermont and school districts throughout the state enables teachers to earn graduate credits through year-long Problem-Based School Development Institutes. The institutes take participants through a cycle that includes identifying a problem, conducting background and action research,…

  6. Attitudes of Nigerian Secondary School Teachers to Student Evaluation of Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joshua, Monday T.; Joshua, Akon M.

    2004-01-01

    This study was designed to assess the attitudes of Nigerian secondary school teachers to student evaluation of teachers (SET), and to find out if the attitudes expressed were influenced by teacher characteristics such as gender, professional status, geographical location, academic qualification and teaching experience. The study was a survey, and…

  7. Teacher change and professional development: A case study of teachers engaged in an innovative constructivist science curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akura, Okong'o. Gabriel

    This study examined both the changes that elementary school teachers experienced when they implemented a reform-based science curriculum and the impact of professional development on this transformation. The research involved a case study of three purposefully selected teachers implementing the Linking Food and the Environment (LIFE) program during the 2002--2003 school year. The LIFE program is a curriculum designed to enhance science literacy among learners from high poverty urban environments. While the study was grounded in the tradition of critical theory (Carspecken, 1996), the theoretical perspective of hermeneutic phenomenology (van Manen, 1990) guided data collection and analysis. Extensive observations of the teachers were made in order to capture and record the teacher change phenomenon. Data were recorded by means of field notes, audio and videotapes, semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and video Stimulated Recall (SR) interviews. Emerging themes relating to teacher change, knowledge interests, constructivist pedagogy, and professional development illustrated how teachers grapple with various aspects of implementing a reform-based science curriculum. The teachers in this study were similar to those in earlier investigations, which found that sustained professional development programs involving mentoring and constant reflection enable elementary science teachers to change their instructional strategies from the technical-realist orientation towards the practical-hermeneutic and emancipatory-liberatory orientations. The study has implications for science curriculum developers and designers of professional development programs.

  8. Secondary School Teachers' Conceptions and Their Teaching Practices Using Graphing Calculators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jane A.; McDougall, Douglas E.

    2010-01-01

    This article investigates secondary school teachers' conceptions of mathematics and their teaching practices in the use of graphing calculators in their mathematics classrooms. Case studies on three teacher participants were developed using quantitative and qualitative data that consisted of self-assessments on beliefs in mathematics,…

  9. Satisfaction of teachers-managers of sport at Andalusian schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfonso Murillo Fuentes

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available The school is becoming the focus of policies on sport at school age in their educational aspect, placing teachers as responsible not only for planning, but management of school resources. This study aims to determine the degree of satisfaction of teachers-managers of Escuelas Deportivas that educational centers develop, according to different ways of management (municipalities, utility companies or associations of parents of students. The research was conducted with the participation of 440 subjects who were administered a questionnaire designed specifically to know their satisfaction. The results show significant differences in indicators of Technical Staff (p = .004, with a better appreciation for the councils, and Monitoring and Control by the Administration (p = .017, reflecting greater satisfaction in those cases where management was performed by utility companies.

  10. Developing Partnerships between Higher Education Faculty, K-12 Science Teachers, and School Administrators via MSP initiatives: The RITES Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caulkins, J. L.; Kortz, K. M.; Murray, D. P.

    2011-12-01

    The Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Science Project (RITES) is a NSF-funded Math and Science Partnership (MSP) project that seeks to improve science education. RITES is, at its core, a unique partnership that fosters relationships between middle and high school science teachers, district and school administrators, higher education (HE) faculty members, and science education researchers. Their common goal is to enhance scientific inquiry, increase classroom technology usage, and improve state level science test scores. In one of the more visible examples of this partnership, middle and high school science teachers work closely with HE science faculty partners to design and teach professional development (PD) workshops. The PD sessions focus on technology-enhanced scientific investigations (e.g. use of probes, online simulations, etc.), exemplify inquiry-based instruction, and relate expert content knowledge. Teachers from these sessions express substantial satisfaction in the program, report increased comfort levels in teaching the presented materials (both via post-workshop surveys), and show significant gains in content knowledge (via pre-post assessments). Other benefits to this kind of partnership, in which K-12 and HE teachers are considered equals, include: 1) K-12 teachers are empowered through interactions with HE faculty and other science teachers in the state; 2) HE instructors become more informed not only about good pedagogical practices, but also practical aspects of teaching science such as engaging students; and 3) the PD sessions tend to be much stronger than ones designed and presented solely by HE scientists, for while HE instructors provide content expertise, K-12 teachers provide expertise in K-12 classroom practice and implementation. Lastly, the partnership is mutually beneficial for the partners involved because both sides learn practical ways to teach science and inquiry at different levels. In addition to HE faculty and K-12 science teacher

  11. Helping Teachers Help Themselves: Professional Development That Makes a Difference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patton, Kevin; Parker, Melissa; Tannehill, Deborah

    2015-01-01

    For school administrators to facilitate impactful teacher professional development, a shift in thinking that goes beyond the acquisition of new skills and knowledge to helping teachers rethink their practice is required. Based on review of the professional development literature and our own continued observations of professional development, this…

  12. Beginning and experienced secondary school teachers' self- and student schema in positive and problematic teacher-student relationships

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Claessens, Luce|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/357401530; van Tartwijk, Jan|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/112629385; Pennings, Heleen|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/323242588; van der Want, Anna; Verloop, Nico; den Brok, Perry; Wubbels, Theo|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/070651361

    2016-01-01

    The quality of teacher-student relationships is important for teachers' well-being in schools. In this interview study we investigated which cognitions comprise secondary school teachers' self- and student schema in positive and problematic teacher-student relationships. Frequency analyses of these

  13. An Evaluation of the Data from the Teacher Compensation Survey: School Year 2007-08 through 2009-10. Research and Development Report. NCES 2018-120

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glander, Mark; Cornman, Stephen Q.; Zhou, Lei; Noel, Amber M.; Nakamoto, Nanae

    2018-01-01

    The Teacher Compensation Survey (TCS) was a research and development effort by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to explore the possibility of developing an administrative records survey that would compile compensation and demographic data on all public school teachers in the nation. A pilot survey in 2007 collected data from…

  14. Continuing Professional Development in Context: Teachers' Continuing Professional Development Culture in Germany and Sweden

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wermke, Wieland

    2011-01-01

    This article investigates the continuing professional development (CPD) culture of teachers, and asks how it is influenced by properties of the school system. It reports the results of a questionnaire study with 418 secondary teachers from Sweden and Germany. The results show highly significant differences between Swedish and German teachers'…

  15. High school teachers' perspectives on effective approaches for teaching biology to students with special needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kos, Agnieszka

    The demands of national educational reforms require high school biology teachers to provide high quality instruction to students with and without special needs. The reforms, however, do not provide teachers with adequate teaching strategies to meet the needs of all students in the same context. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to understand high school biology teachers' perspectives, practices, and challenges in relation to teaching students with special needs. This approach was used to develop a substantive model for high school biology teachers who are challenged with teaching students with and without special needs. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 15 high school teachers in a Midwestern school district. The data were analyzed using open coding, axial coding, and selective coding procedures in accordance with the grounded theory approach. Essential model components included skills and training for teachers, classroom management strategies, teaching strategies, and student skills. The emergent substantive theory indicated that that teacher preparation and acquired skills greatly influence the effectiveness of inclusion implementation. Key findings also indicated the importance of using of a variety of instructional strategies and classroom management strategies that address students' special needs and their learning styles. This study contributes to social change by providing a model for teaching students and effectively implementing inclusion in regular science classrooms. Following further study, this model may be used to support teacher professional development and improve teaching practices that in turn may improve science literacy supported by the national educational reforms.

  16. Quality of School Work Life of Public School Teachers: Cases from Turkey and Pakistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akram, Muhammad; Ilgan, Abdurrahman; Ozu, Oyku; Shah, Ashfaque Ahmad

    2017-01-01

    The Quality of Work life (QWL) is the employees' feeling or perception of being comfortable with their work. The objective of the present study was to compare Quality of School Work Life (QSWL) of public school teachers from Turkey and Pakistan. A QSWL scale developed by Ilgan, Ata, Zepeda and Ozu-Cengiz (2014) having 30 items was used as the…

  17. Science Teachers' Conceptualizations and Implications for the Development of the Professional Development Programs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaymakamoglu, Sibel Ersel

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the two primary school science teachers' conceptions of professional development, their perceptions of self-improvement and the factors influencing their professional development. In this investigation, a case study approach was adopted. The participant teachers were given a semi-structured interview and the data…

  18. Sustainable Architecture in the Context of Education: Reponses of Primary School Teachers on the Topical Subject

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cencič Majda

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available The concept of sustainability and a sustainable and ecological development are common debate topics in today’s society. This paper discusses the concept of sustainability in green building with regard to schools. The research was conducted on a representative sample of primary school teachers, focusing on some of their opinions on green building. We asked them which aspect of building they favoured and how often they asked themselves certain questions about the school they taught in. Furthermore, we were interested to see whether we would find age-related differences. To this end, teachers were divided into two groups, namely, teachers of up to 35 years of age and teachers over 35. We were surprised to find that teachers over 35 had a more positive attitude towards green building in schools compared to their younger colleagues. Based on the results, we came to a conclusion that the topics pertaining to ecology and sustainable development are neglected in today’s education. However, making them part of school curriculum is not enough, as the opinions and attitudes of teachers on sustainable and ecological issues also have an important impact on the subject-matter itself.

  19. Impacting the Science Community through Teacher Development: Utilizing Virtual Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulay, Rachel; van Raalte, Lisa

    2014-01-01

    Commitment to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) pipeline is slowly declining despite the need for professionals in the medical field. Addressing this, the John A. Burns School of Medicine developed a summer teacher-training program with a supplemental technology-learning component to improve science teachers' knowledge and skills of Molecular Biology. Subsequently, students' skills, techniques, and application of molecular biology are impacted. Science teachers require training that will prepare them for educating future professionals and foster interest in the medical field. After participation in the program and full access to the virtual material, twelve high school science teachers completed a final written reflective statement to evaluate their experiences. Using thematic analysis, knowledge and classroom application were investigated in this study. Results were two-fold: teachers identified difference areas of gained knowledge from the teacher-training program and teachers' reporting various benefits in relation to curricula development after participating in the program. It is concluded that participation in the program and access to the virtual material will impact the science community by updating teacher knowledge and positively influencing students' experience with science.

  20. DOES MODERN SCHOOL NEED A TEACHER-RESEARCHER?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. A. Strokova

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the publication is to draw attention of educatorsof all levels to the need of improving quality of teacher training in research field.Methods. Based on the results of observations, interviews and surveys of teachers aged between 23 and 30 years with teaching experience of 1 to 5–6 years, and analysis of teacher practice, the assessment of the current state of innovation processes in public school and quality of university training of pre-service teachers in research field is given.Results. Insufficient training of young teachers for independent research has been revealed. It was established that the research experience acquired by them while writing the final qualifying work is non-demanded in modern educational work, where innovation is pushed out due to mismatch of educational policy and the actual educational practice. The reasons of reluctance of young professionals to combine educational activities and research are the following: lack of innovation environment, academic overload, household and personal problems, and, most importantly, unwillingness and inability to carry out independent scientific and pedagogical search. Also, the problems of final qualifying works supervision and management of pedagogical practice of students have been found out.Scientific novelty. Self-assessment of young teachers, concerning their research activities, has been conducted; it included a cluster of research activities that constitute its subject matter. The point for the need to abandon the narrow,  focused specialization in high school training of pre-service teachers and enhance their methodological preparation has been developed. Practical significance. Different ways of organizing work with in-service teachers concerning combination of subject specific and research specific aspects of their professional activities have been presented.

  1. Teacher leadership in (in)action: three case studies of contrasting schools

    OpenAIRE

    Muijs, Daniel; Harris, Alma

    2007-01-01

    Teacher leadership is a concept that is gaining increasing interest from both practitioners and researchers, but at present the literature is characterised by a largely normative rather than empirical orientation, which has led to a lack of in-depth information on what teacher leadership looks like in practice, and what school factors can facilitate or present barriers to its development.In this paper we will present findings from three case studies in the UK. These three schools can be chara...

  2. Especially for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emory Howell, J.

    1999-11-01

    More Feature Articles This Month This issue contains a larger-than-usual number of Secondary School Chemistry feature articles (see side-bar). Mary Harris, who teaches in St. Louis, Missouri, and her student, Lauren Picard, contributed an account of student research on the cuprammonium rayon process (p 1512). In addition to being informative and interesting, the article provides a model for student-teacher interaction in carrying out an independent research project. Two North Carolina teachers, Charles Roser and Catherine McCluskey, describe how to use a Calculator Based Laboratory (interface) to measure the kinetics of the reaction that occurs when a lightstick is activated (p 1514). The method and the easy-to-construct device they made could be used with other systems, as well. Don't Throw Away the Carrier Sheet All areas of JCE Online are now accessible to all JCE subscribers. To find out how you can benefit, read the article appearing on p 1599, Now That I Have It, What Can I Do with It? Jon Holmes, Editor of JCE Online, explains in the article how you can use this resource most effectively. Access to several areas, such as full text access to articles, requires that you log in. The mailing label on the carrier sheet that accompanies your Journal each month contains a password that you need to log in. That is why you need to keep the carrier sheet, at least until you have logged in for the first time and either memorized the number or written it in a safe place. Detailed instructions for logging on are found by clicking on the "How to Log On" link, which appears near the upper left corner of the JCE Online Home Page, jchemed.chem.wisc.edu. If you read a school library copy you need to ask your librarian what password you need to log in. Congratulations Among the recipients of the most prestigious American Society Awards (p 1481) are two individuals who have given generously of their time and energy to the cause of chemical education. Both are familiar names to

  3. INDIGENOUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS OPINION ON SEX EDUCATION IN A SCHOOL OF DOURADOS - MS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosaldo de Albuquerque Souza

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available A large portion of the population consists of adolescents aged by 12 to 19 years. During this period of human life occur several behavioral factors involving sexuality that intrigues many researchers, teachers and parents and according to the Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais (PCNs, sex education must be taught in schools as a crosscutting theme. The aim of this study was to investigate perceptions and attitudes towards sexual education among elementary school Indigenous teachers in a rural school in Dourados-MS. Data collection was conducted through a questionnaire completed by individual teachers. The results show that teachers consider important to work with sex education in elementary schools involving different areas of knowledge and with the help of health professionals. Most teachers work or have worked this theme in his classes, and consider the students receptive and interested, however, some teachers have difficulty in approaching the subject. One of the difficulties encountered are related to the low acceptance of their parents, highlighting the need for guidance on the same theme. The Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais ensures that the sex education should begin in early school years.

  4. Teacher Identity in a Multicultural Rural School: Lessons Learned at Vista Charter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wenger, Kerri J.; Dinsmore, Jan; Villagomez, Amanda

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we describe a 30-month qualitative exploration of diverse teachers' identities in a high-poverty, bilingual, K-8 public charter school in rural eastern Oregon. First, we use the perspectives of saberes docentes and a situated view of teacher development to document the life histories of monolingual and bilingual teachers at Vista…

  5. Readiness for School, According to the Perspectives of Grade 1 Teachers and Parents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sezai KOÇYIĞIT

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In Turkey, every child who turned 72 months old are initiated elementary school without considering individual differences and whether or not they had any pre-school education, but is every child who started school mentally, socially-emotionally and physically ready to meet requirements of elementary school? Purpose of this research is to determine skills and abilities required for the “school readiness” according to the Grade 1 teachers and parents and reveal results of this situation related to pre-school education. This study was performed with 14 Grade 1 teachers who work in the private and public elementary schools of Konya city and with 13 parents. In research, semi-structured interview was used in order to get perspectives of participants about the phenomenon of readiness level of school that was consisted of open-ended questions. Raw data that were obtained through interviews have been analyzed by using descriptive analysis technique. According to the findings of research, Grade 1 teachers of elementary school described school readiness as “being matured to the ability required by the Grade 1 of elementary school” and stated that this maturity depends on parallel development of social, emotional, mental and physical aspects of child. Teachers also think that pre-school education must be compulsory for children to readily start school.

  6. Teachers' perceptions of school nutrition education's influence on ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Qualitative investigation can provide invaluable information towards understanding the influence of school nutrition education (NE). The study explored teachers' perceptions of the immediate impact of NE on learners' eating behaviours. Twenty-four primary school teachers in the Bronkhorstspruit district, Gauteng, South ...

  7. Perceived collective teacher efficacy in low performing schools

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Education Management and Leadership, School for Professional Studies in ... enhance collective teacher efficacy, the challenge of low-performing schools ... Collective teacher efficacy, therefore, involves the combined perceptions of ... because greater efficacy leads to greater effort and ... One of the strategies for sharing.

  8. Humor in High School and the Role of Teacher Leaders in School Public Relations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosiczky, Bonnie; Mullen, Carol A.

    2013-01-01

    How can public schools improve public relations strategies, particularly in communications between teachers and students? The purposes of this study were to investigate teacher leaders' perceptions of the use of humor in the high school classroom and discover how humor might bridge instruction to student learning and strengthen teacher-student…

  9. School-University-Community Pathways to Higher Education: Teacher Perceptions, School Culture and Partnership Building

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alemán, Enrique, Jr.; Freire, Juan A.; McKinney, Ashley; Delgado Bernal, Dolores

    2017-01-01

    This article provides a snapshot in time of teacher perceptions, school culture, and partnership building. We delineate how teachers perceive our partnership's purpose and its role in transforming school culture. Second, we describe how teachers express the life expectations they have and the possibilities they hope for their students and the…

  10. the relationship between primary school teachers extrinsic

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    PROF EKWUEME

    Primary School Teachers Motivation Questionnaire (PSTMQ) and objective test items in English Language, Mathematics and Primary Science to measure students' performance. ... Mathematics and Primary Science. ... teachers as those who mediate pupils learning and act as facilitators ..... Students' perception of teacher- ...

  11. From Pre-Service to In-Service Teachers: A Longitudinal Investigation of the Professional Development of English Language Teachers in Secondary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Mingyue Michelle

    2013-01-01

    This study reports on a longitudinal inquiry into professional identity construction among six novice cross-border English language teachers from mainland China, who completed their pre-service teacher education in Hong Kong (HK) and began their teaching practice in local HK schools. The findings indicate that the participants navigated obstacles…

  12. Factors That Influence Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Willingness to Collaborate with School Librarians

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnabel, Stephanie L.

    2017-01-01

    Collaboration between school libraries and classroom teachers can have a powerful impact on student learning. School librarians routinely collaborate with English language arts and social studies curriculum and less frequently with areas in STEM education. This research examines middle school mathematics teachers' extent of or willingness to…

  13. Methodology of Comparative Analysis of Public School Teachers' Continuing Professional Development in Great Britain, Canada and the USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukan, Nataliya; Kravets, Svitlana

    2015-01-01

    In the article the methodology of comparative analysis of public school teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) in Great Britain, Canada and the USA has been presented. The main objectives are defined as theoretical analysis of scientific and pedagogical literature, which highlights different aspects of the problem under research;…

  14. Examining Teachers' Motivation Level According to School Principals' Humor Styles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Recepoglu, Ergun; Kilinc, Ali Cagatay; Cepni, Osman

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this research is to examine the motivation level of teachers according to school principals' humor styles. The humor styles survey and job motivation scale were used to gather data from 305 randomly selected teachers employed in primary schools in Karabuk. Results indicated that 141 of the teachers claimed school principal had…

  15. Child-centered versus teacher-directed teaching practices: Associations with the development of academic skills in the first grade at school

    OpenAIRE

    Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Kiuru, Noona; Pakarinen, Eija; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Rasku-Puttonen, Helena; Siekkinen, Martti; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

    2016-01-01

    This study examined the extent to which child-centered versus teacher-directed teaching practices predicted the development of children’s reading and math skills in the first year of elementary school. In addition, we investigated whether associations between teaching practices and children’s academic skills development in Grade 1 differed among children who had low, average, or high initial academic skills at the beginning of school. The reading and math skills of 1,132 Finnish c...

  16. Factors Affecting Teacher Satisfaction in an Urban School District

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halpert, Michael A.

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to distinguish factors that influence the satisfaction levels of teachers in urban school districts. This work also distinguished factors that directly impacted teachers' level of satisfaction towards their work and their attitude towards the administration of their schools. Forty-one teachers from two kindergarten…

  17. Charter Schools and the Teacher Job Search in Michigan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cannata, Marisa

    2010-01-01

    This paper examines the position of charter schools in prospective elementary teachers' job search decisions. Using a labor market segmentation framework, it explores teacher applicants' decisions to apply to charter schools. The data come from a mixed-methods longitudinal study of prospective teachers looking for their first job. This paper finds…

  18. In-Service Training of Teachers in Multicultural Urban Schools: A Systematic Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nickolai-Mays, Susanne; Davis, Jerry L.

    1986-01-01

    Presents seven guidelines for developing effective teacher in-service training programs. Describes a training model for multicultural urban schools which addresses these topics: instructional methods; curriculum; interpersonal relations in the classroom; classroom management and discipline; parent-teacher-student involvement; and multicultural…

  19. Teachers' Coping Strategies for Teaching Science in a ``Low-Performing'' School District

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Felicia M.

    2007-10-01

    This study describes how teachers use their personal knowledge of a school district and their students to cope with teaching under stressful situations associated with economic, social, and institutional factors. The 3 teachers dealt with these issues in unique ways, focusing on helping students to overcome negative perceptions, value the importance of an education, and build strong relationships. A model of multicultural science professional development is proposed that complements the strengths that these teachers have. A task for science educators working with teachers and administration in schools and districts that are “critically low performing” is to support everyone in implementing pedagogical methods aimed at empowerment, social justice, and high achievement for all students.

  20. Energy: options for the future. Curriculum development project for high school teachers. Final report. [Packet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carroll, T.O.

    1978-04-01

    Recent state and regional energy crises demonstrate the delicate balance between energy systems, the environment, and the economy. Indeed, the interaction between these three elements of society is very complex. This project develops curriculum materials that would better provide students with an understanding and awareness of fundamental principles of energy supply, conversion processes, and utilization now and in the future. The project had two specific objectives: to transfer knowledge of energy systems, analysis techniques, and advanced technologies from the energy analyst community to the teacher participants; and to involve teachers in the preparation of modular case studies on energy issues for use within the classroom. These curriculum modules are intended to enhance the teacher's ability to provide energy-related education to students within his or her own academic setting. The project is organized as a three-week summer program, as noted in the flyer (Appendix A). Mornings are spent in seminars with energy and environmental specialists (their handout lecture notes are included as Appendix B); afternoons are devoted to high school curriculum development based on the seminar discussions. The curriculum development is limited to five areas: conservation, electricity demand scheduling, energy in the food system, new technologies (solar, wind, biomass), and environment. Appendix C consists of one-day lession plans in these areas.

  1. Teachers' Perception of Team Teaching Middle School Mathematics in Urban Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serrano, Vanessa

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of team teaching middle school mathematics in urban schools. The research questions focused on student academic performance and the impact that team teaching may have from the perspective of teachers. The theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bruner formed the theoretical foundation…

  2. Developmental Links Between Children's Working Memory and their Social Relations with Teachers and Peers in the Early School Years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Wilde, Amber; Koot, Hans M; van Lier, Pol A C

    2016-01-01

    This study assessed the developmental links between children's working memory development and their relations with teachers and peers across 2 years of kindergarten and early elementary school. Kindergarten and first grade children, N = 1109, 50% boys, were followed across 2 school-years. Children were assessed across 3 waves, in the fall and spring of the first school-year (within school-year), and finally in the spring of the second school-year. Working memory was assessed using a visuo-spatial working memory task. The developmental links between working memory and child-reported teacher-child relationship quality (warmth and conflict) and peer-nominated likeability and friendedness were assessed using autoregressive cross-lagged models. Lower working memory scores were related to increases in teacher-child conflict and decreases in teacher-child warmth one school-year later, in addition to decreases in likeability by peers within the same school-year. Conversely, teacher-child conflict was negatively associated with the development of working memory across the studied period. Path estimates between working memory and social relational factors were similar for boys and girls. Findings show developmental links between working memory and social-relational factors and vice versa. These results suggest that children's working memory development can be fostered through pro-social relations with teachers in early elementary school children.

  3. Science and Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs of Pre-School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aydogdu, Bülent; Peker, Murat

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this research was to examine science and mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of pre-school teachers in terms of some variables. The sample of the study was comprised of 191 pre-school teachers working in a city in Aegean Region of Turkey. Since it attempted to define self-efficacy beliefs of pre-school teachers toward science and…

  4. A Comparison of Teacher Stress and School Climate across Schools with Different Matric Success Rates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milner, Karen; Khoza, Harriet

    2008-01-01

    Our aim was to investigate differences in teacher stress and perceptions of school climate among teachers from schools with differing matriculation success rates in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Two schools with matric pass rates of 100% and two schools with matric pass rates of less than 25% were selected from a list of schools provided…

  5. The effects of a professional development geoscience education institute upon secondary school science teachers in Puerto Rico

    Science.gov (United States)

    Llerandi Roman, Pablo Antonio

    The geographic and geologic settings of Puerto Rico served as the context to develop a mixed methods investigation on: (1) the effects of a five-day long constructivist and field-based earth science education professional development institute upon 26 secondary school science teachers' earth science conceptual knowledge, perceptions of fieldwork, and beliefs about teaching earth science; and (2) the implementation of participants' newly acquired knowledge and experience in their science lessons at school. Qualitative data included questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, reflective journals, pre-post concept maps, and pre-post lesson plans. The Geoscience Concept Inventory and the Science Outdoor Learning Environment Inventory were translated into Spanish and culturally validated to collect quantitative data. Data was analyzed through a constructivist grounded theory methodology, descriptive statistics, and non-parametric methods. Participants came to the institute with serious deficiencies in earth science conceptual understanding, negative earth science teaching perspectives, and inadequate earth science teaching methodologies. The institute helped participants to improve their understanding of earth science concepts, content, and processes mostly related to the study of rocks, the Earth's structure, plate tectonics, maps, and the geology of Puerto Rico. Participants also improved their earth science teaching beliefs, perceptions on field-based education, and reflected on their environmental awareness and social responsibility. Participants greatly benefited from the field-based learning environment, inquiry-based teaching approaches modeled, the attention given to their affective domain, and reflections on their teaching practice as part of the institute's activities. The constructivist learning environment and the institute's contextualized and meaningful learning conceptual model were effective in generating interest and confidence in earth science teaching

  6. Mutual attitudes and expectations of teachers, school counselors and parents in the context of cooperation between the school and the home

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barbara Šteh

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we focus on the role of some factors of quality co-operation between the school and the home, particularly focusing on the role of attitudes and expectations of parents, teachers and counselling workers towards each other. The empirical research was carried out in the 2007/08 school year on a representative sample of primary school teachers together with primary and secondary school counsellors and parents of children who attended the third, fifth/sixth and ninth primary school grades in Slovenia. One of the main findings is that teachers, counsellors and parents doubt each other's competences, which is not a sound basis for quality mutual co-operation. Establishment of successful co-operation is based primarily on awareness that both parents and the school share responsibility for the child's development and socialization and that in this shared responsibility they meet as equal interlocutors who confer, through their varied areas of expertise, skills, experiences and sources of power, concerning goals and tasks of mutual co-operation, aimed at supporting and encouraging the child's comprehensive personal development.

  7. [Development and Effects of an Instructional Coaching Program Regarding Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder for Elementary School Teachers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Shin Jeong; Park, Wan Ju

    2017-06-01

    The aim of this study was to identify the effects of a newly developed instructional coaching program regarding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for teachers. Seventy teachers participated in this study involving a nonequivalent control group and a pretest-posttest design. The instructional coaching program consisted of eight 60-minute sessions. The program was developed through a theoretical development program involving six steps. To evaluate the effects of the program, data were collected through self-report questionnaires including the Knowledge Scale of Attention Deficit Disorder, Attitude Scale of Primary School Teachers Experiencing Students with ADHD, Practice Scale of Educational Intervention Activity, and the Korean ADHD Rating Scale. Data were analyzed with an independent t test, a chi-square test, and an ANCOVA using SPSS WIN version 20. The intervention program consisted of 3 sectors, 8 subjects, and 24 content items. The experimental group showed a significant improvement in attitudes toward ADHD (F=22.83, pteacher's knowledge regarding ADHD (F=7.16, p=.010) and the implementation of instructional interventions (F=4.29, p=.043) improved. Further, teachers reported a reduction in children's ADHD-related behavior (F=4.34, p=.041). Results showed that the coaching program made a positive contribution to teaching skills and understanding of school-age children with ADHD. The instructional coaching program was well structured and significantly improved not only teachers'attitudes, knowledge, and teaching skills but also the behavior of children with ADHD in class. Therefore, the program is recommended as a means of facilitating teaching and managing children with ADHD in class. © 2017 Korean Society of Nursing Science

  8. Teachers perception of school

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    User

    This paper is part of MA thesis in which primary school teachers' perceptions of was explored. The study was ... of relevance, management, and result in enhancement of students learning, and obstructions. ...... Professional Ethics, Counseling.

  9. Professional Development for Rural and Remote Teachers Using Video Conferencing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maher, Damian; Prescott, Anne

    2017-01-01

    Teachers in rural and remote schools face many challenges including those relating to distance, isolation and lack of professional development opportunities. This article examines a project where mathematics and science teachers were provided with professional development opportunities via video conferencing to help them use syllabus documents to…

  10. CLASSROOM INTERACTION STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY ENGLISH TEACHERS AT LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nunung Suryati

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This article reports a study on teachers’ use of interaction strategies in English Language Teaching (ELT in lower secondary level of education. The study involved eighteen teachers from Lower Secondary Schools in Malang, East Java. Classroom observation was selected as a method in this study by utilizing Self Evaluation Teacher Talk (SETT as the instrument. SETT, developed by Walsh (2006, was adopted as the observation protocol as it characterises teacher-student interaction. Thirty lessons taught by 18 teachers were observed. The findings revealed that much of the teacher student interaction in Lower Secondary Schools centred on the material mode, skill and system mode. The most frequent strategies were initiation response feedback (IRF patterns, display questions, teacher echo, and extended teacher turns, while students’ extended turns were rare. It is argued that in order to improve the Indonesian ELT, there is a need to provide an alternative to ELT classroom interaction. The article concludes by highlighting the importance of adopting some classroom interaction strategies that are more facilitative to students’ oral communicative competence.

  11. Debilitating and Invigorating Stress Sources for Teachers at Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Süleyman Göksoy

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The current study aimed to determine the level of institutional support during the stress management process with negative and positive stress sources originating from teachers’ assignments in educational organizations. The working group of the qualitative study in survey form was composed of 50 teachers enrolled in a master’s program in the field of Educational Administration and Supervision in Düzce Province during the 2013-2014 academic year. Data was analyzed descriptively. Some of the results obtained in the study are as follows: teachers experience debilitating stress at schools originating from their profession and due to social relationships, school environment and bureaucratic structure. Negative stress causes psychological, physiological and professional problems for teachers. The majority of teachers do not receive institutional support against negative or debilitating stress and have developed personal solutions such as receiving support form colleagues and family. Positive sources of stress that invigorate teachers are social relationships, organizational structure and profession-based sources. As a result of sources of positive stress, teachers experience happiness, affection for their profession, self-confidence, an opportunity to lead regular lives, higher performance and motivation and an increase in productivity and job satisfaction in psychological, physiological and professional aspects.

  12. Transformational Leadership and Transfer of Teacher Professional Development to the Classroom in the Kuwait Public High School Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winokur, Ilene Kay

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers' perceptions of transformational leadership behavior of head of department (HOD) as instructional leader related to their motivation to transfer learning through professional development in public high schools in Kuwait. The study also addressed two other training transfer factors: ability to…

  13. Primary School Teachers' Knowledge and Awareness of Dyslexia in Kuwaiti Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aladwani, Amel M.; Al Shaye, Shaye S.

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated Kuwaiti primary school teachers' knowledge and awareness of early signs of dyslexia among Kuwaiti students. To achieve this purpose, a survey was developed to collect data randomly from more than 700 participants of primary language teachers across Kuwait's six educational districts. The results showed that the majority of…

  14. Examining the Relationship between Teacher Organizational Commitment and School Health in Turkish Primary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sezgin, Ferudun

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between teachers' perceptions of organizational commitment and school health in Turkish primary schools. The Organizational Commitment Scale and the Organizational Health Inventory were used to gather data from 323 randomly selected teachers employed in 20 primary schools in Ankara.…

  15. Investigation of School-Based Staff Development Programs as a Means to Promote International Cooperation in Curriculum Improvement Through Teacher Training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thurber, John C.

    This study explores the feasibility of utilizing school-focused staff development programs in promoting international cooperation through transferability and/or adaptation of relevant aspects of this type of inservice education by foreign countries. The objective of this presentation is to develop interest in ways in which teachers in various…

  16. Teachers' Beliefs about the Development of Teacher-Adolescent Trust

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Shannon L.; Wentzel, Kathryn R.; Donlan, Alice E.

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we examined teachers' beliefs concerning the meaning and nature of teacher--student trust in a diverse sample of secondary-school teachers (n = 34). Using a grounded-theory approach, a process model of teacher-adolescent trust emerged based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Antecedents of trust could be categorised as…

  17. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TURKISH EFL STATE SCHOOL TEACHERS' CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND THEIR PROFESSIONAL WELL-BEING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    İ. EFE EFEOĞLU

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Cultural intelligence is described as the ability of a person to behave adequately in culturally diverse environments. It involves comprehending the effects of cultural background on the attitudes of people for auspicious participation in any social setting. Cultural intelligence may be positively and significantly correlated with professional well-being among English as foreign language (EFL teachers. So, the present study sought to investigate the correlation between Turkish EFL state school teachers' cultural intelligence and their professional well-being. A sample including 120 EFL state school teachers completed two questionnaires: (1 Cultural Intelligence Scale developed by Cultural Intelligence Center (2005; and (2 the Scale of Teacher Perception of Professional Well-Being developed by Yildirim, Arastaman and Dasci (2016. The results of the study indicated significant correlations between Turkish EFL state school teachers' cultural intelligence and their professional well-being. This study may help English Language Teaching (ELT departments to implement materials to their curriculum for aiding EFL teachers in terms of developing cultural intelligence. Furthermore, this paper makes a unique contribution to the area of cultural intelligence by identifying whether there is a relationship between cultural intelligence and professional well-being.

  18. The Effect of School Culture on the Management of Professional Development in Secondary Schools in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rauf, Parwazalam Abdul; Ali, Syed Kamaruzaman Syed; Aluwi, Aliza; Noor, Nor Afizah Mohd

    2014-01-01

    This study explores the influence of school culture on the management of professional development in secondary schools in Malaysia. It illustrates how school culture influences the school professional development management. The instrument used in this study is a self-administered questionnaire involving 515 secondary school teachers. The results…

  19. Teaching planetary sciences to elementary school teachers: Programs that work

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebofsky, Larry A.; Lebofsky, Nancy R.

    1993-01-01

    Planetary sciences can be used to introduce students to the natural world which is a part of their lives. Even children in an urban environment are aware of such phenomena as day and night, shadows, and the seasons. It is a science that transcends cultures, has been prominent in the news in recent years, and can generate excitement in young minds as no other science can. Planetary sciences also provides a useful tool for understanding other sciences and mathematics, and for developing problem solving skills which are important in our technological world. However, only 15 percent of elementary school teachers feel very well qualified to teach earth/space science, while better than 80 percent feel well qualified to teach reading; many teachers avoid teaching science; very little time is actually spent teaching science in the elementary school: 19 minutes per day in K-3 and 38 minutes per day in 4-6. While very little science is taught in elementary and middle school, earth/space science is taught at the elementary level in less than half of the states. It was pointed out that science is not generally given high priority by either teachers or school districts, and is certainly not considered on a par with language arts and mathematics. Therefore, in order to teach science to our youth, we must empower our teachers, making them familiar and comfortable with existing materials. In our earlier workshops, several of our teachers taught in classrooms where the majority of the students were Hispanic (over 90 percent). However, few space sciences materials existed in Spanish. Therefore, most of our materials could not be used effectively in the classroom. To address this issue, NASA materials were translated into Spanish and a series of workshops for bilingual classroom teachers from Tucson and surrounding cities was conducted. Our space sciences workshops and our bilingual classroom workshops and how they address the needs of elementary school teachers in Arizona are

  20. Urban Teacher Academy Project Toolkit: A Guide to Developing High School Teaching Career Academies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berrigan, Anne; Schwartz, Shirley

    There is an urgent need not only to attract more people into the teaching profession but also to build a more diverse, highly qualified, and culturally sensitive teaching force that can meet the needs of a rapidly changing school-age population. This Toolkit takes best practices from high school teacher academies around the United States and…

  1. Computer Education for Teachers in Secondary Schools; Aims and Objectives in Teacher Training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    International Federation for Information Processing, Geneva (Switzerland). Working Group on Secondary School Education.

    Society and education are changing rapidly, and since computers are playing a significant role in these changes it is imperative that secondary school teachers become more fully informed about computers. Computers are of interest to learners because they have led to new theoretical developments, such as automata theory, have many practical…

  2. Burnout Syndrome in High School Teachers' in Bilecik, Bozuyuk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet Topuzoglu

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available AIM: Burnout syndrome is manifested by physical exhaustion, long lasting tiredness and feelings of hopelessness. And also it consists of individual’s negative attitudes towards to life, occupation and the other persons. Burnout frequently seen in the occupations who work face to face with people like doctors, polices, nurses and managers. Generally teachers’ burnout level is higher than other occupations. Our aim is to determine the burnout levels and related factors of teachers working in high school of Bilecik Bozuyuk. METHODS: Totally 228 teachers participated to this cross sectional study (participating rate is %90.4. To find out the burnout level in these teachers Maslach Burnout Inventory was used. RESULTS: Of the total participants 52.1% were women, median age of participants were 33.0 years (Quartiles: 28.0–40.0 years There was no relation between the burnout level and the years in the occupation, weekly working time and the school that they educated. Occupational high school teachers, unwilingly occupation choosing, bad physical work environment, violence experience in the school significantly had higher points from burn out scale. CONCLUSION: Burnout level was higher in high school teachers, who didn’t want to be a teacher and who were working at bad physical environment and who had violence experience. [TAF Prev Med Bull 2009; 8(3.000: 217-222

  3. [Appraisal of occupational stress and strain in primary and secondary school teachers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Z; Lan, Y; Li, J; Wang, M

    2001-09-01

    This study was conducted to assess occupational stress and strain in primary and secondary school teachers. A test of occupational stress and strain was carried out by using Occupational Stress Inventory Revised Edition (OSI-R) in 1460 primary and secondary school teachers (teacher group) and 319 mental workers in non-educational area (non-teacher group as control). The results showed the level of occupational stress in role overload and physical environment in the teacher group was significantly higher than that in the non-teacher group (P < 0.05). In teacher group the level of occupational stress and strain increased with age; the occupational stress and strain in male teachers were significantly higher than those in female teachers (P < 0.01); the occupational stress and strain in secondary school teachers were significantly higher than those in primary school teachers. These results indicate: to protect and promote primary and secondary school teacher's health, particularly male teachers' health, to mitigate their work pressure and to raise the quality of education are important tasks in the area of occupational health.

  4. Teacher Evaluation Policy as Perceived by School Principals: The Case of Flanders (Belgium)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuytens, Melissa; Devos, Geert

    2018-01-01

    In Flanders (Belgium), a new teacher evaluation policy was issued which placed a lot of autonomy with school principals to develop and implement a new teacher evaluation system. In this study, we explore how Flemish principals perceive the new teacher evaluation policy and what influences their perception. Results demonstrate that principals…

  5. Evaluation of awareness and preparedness of school Principals and teachers on earthquake reduction effects issues - State's actions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kourou, Assimina; Ioakeimidou, Anastasia; Mokos, Vasileios; Bakas, Konstantinos

    2013-04-01

    It is generally accepted that the effects of the disasters can be mainly reduced if people are aware, well informed and motivated towards a culture of disaster prevention and resilience. Particularly, in earthquake prone countries, a continuous update and education of the public, on earthquake risk management issues, is essential. Schools can play a crucial role concerning training and building a disaster prevention culture, among various community groups. Principals and teachers have a key role to play in any school-wide initiative through developing and reviewing awareness policy, developing and revising emergency response plans, holding emergency drills and training the students. During the last decade, the Greek State have done a lot of efforts in order to better educate teachers and students in disaster preparedness and management, such as: a. implementation of the E.P.P.O.'s educational project "Earthquake Protection at Schools" which is addressed mainly to school Principals. The project started right after the 1999 earthquake in Athens. b. publication of educational material for students, teachers and people with disabilities and publication of guidelines concerning the development of emergency plans. c. implementation of projects and elaboration of innovative and mobile experiential educational material connected with school curricula. The aim of the present study is to assess levels of awareness and preparedness concerning earthquake protection issues, as well as risk mitigation behaviours, undertaken by teachers at individual, family and workplace level. Furthermore, the assessment of teachers' current levels of earthquake awareness and preparedness, could lead to conclusions about the effectiveness of State's current Policy. In this framework, specific questionnaires were developed and were addressed to Principals and teachers who were responsible for the preparation of their School Emergency Preparedness Plans. The sample of the survey comprises of

  6. Teachers' Perceptions about School Violence in One Turkish City

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yavuzer, Yasemin; Gundogdu, Rezzan; Dikici, Ayhan

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this study is to determine the types and frequencies of violence encountered by teachers in primary and high schools in Nide province in Turkey, and, in addition, to determine the perceptions of teachers regarding the reasons for and methods of prevention of violent actions at schools. One hundred forty-two teachers were chosen for this…

  7. Practices implemented by a Texas charter school system to overcome science teacher shortage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasar, Bilgehan M.

    The purpose of this study was to examine practices used by a charter school system to hire and retain science teachers. The research design for this study was a qualitative case study. This single instrumental case study explored the issue within a bounded system. Purposeful sampling strategy was used to identify the participants who were interviewed individually. Findings of the case study supported that using online resources, advertising in the newspaper, attending job fairs, using alternative certification programs, attracting alumni, contacting the college of educations and hiring internationally helped the charter school system with hiring science teachers. Improving teacher salary scale, implementing teacher mentorship programs, reimbursing teachers for certification and master's programs, providing professional development and supporting teachers helped to retain science teachers. Therefore, this study contributes to determining strategies and techniques, selecting methods and programs, training administrators, and monitoring for successful hiring and retaining science teacher implementation.

  8. University-School Partnerships: Student Teachers' Evaluations across Nine Partnerships in Israel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maskit, Ditza; Orland-Barak, Lily

    2015-01-01

    This article presents and discusses the findings of a study which focused on student teachers' evaluation of their practice teaching in the context of a university-school partnership model integrated for the first time into the academic programme of a university teacher education department in Israel. A questionnaire was developed to examine the…

  9. Evaluating the Impact of Teacher Professional Development: An Evidence-Based Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Fiona

    2014-01-01

    Does teacher professional development make a difference? How do we know? While researchers and policy-makers acknowledge that teacher professional development (PD) needs to be assessed and evaluated, there is often little clarity as to how this can be achieved. Evaluation of teacher PD by schools has been described as the weak link in the PD chain…

  10. ACE: A Collaborative School Consultation Program for Secondary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Couture, Caroline; Massé, Line

    2014-01-01

    This article presents a description of ACE (Accompagnement collaboratif des enseignants (Collaborative teacher accompaniment)), a new program designed to guide secondary school teachers in integrating students with behavioral problems in their classrooms. ACE proposes collaborative accompaniment inspired by behavioral and mental health…

  11. Trust in School: A Pathway to Inhibit Teacher Burnout?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Maele, Dimitri; Van Houtte, Mieke

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consider trust as an important relational source in schools by exploring whether trust lowers teacher burnout. The authors examine how trust relationships with different school parties such as the principal relate to distinct dimensions of teacher burnout. The authors further analyze whether school-level…

  12. Mexican Parents' and Teachers' Views of Effective Elementary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slate, John R.; Jones, Craig H.

    2007-01-01

    We surveyed 374 parents and 82 teachers in the Juarez, Mexico schools regarding their views of what makes an effective elementary school. The survey was a Spanish translation of an instrument used by Johnson (1998). Although both parents and teachers supported most of the factors associated with effective schools, they emphasized different aspects…

  13. Middle school science teachers' reaction and pedagogical response to high stakes accountability: A multiple case study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tse, Kenneth

    The purpose of this study was to understand how science teachers reacted to the high stakes accountability and standardized testing in California. In a multiple case study of middle and intermediate schools in Southern California, four research questions focused on the perceptions of secondary science teachers and how they responded to the changes in the accountability specifically geared towards science as a content area, the pedagogical skills teachers were using both outside and inside of the classroom that impact instruction, the pedagogical training received that related specifically to the content standards, the tools or impediments that existed for teachers to successfully utilize these pedagogical methods and types of support and assistance the school site administration and/or school district offered in learning about the California Science Standards and the STAR test. Interviews were conducted with multiple middle/intermediate school teachers, science department chairpersons and school site administrators to gather information about what the classroom teachers were doing pedagogically to improve student performance on the STAR tests. Moreover, the study described the issues that supported the professional development of the teacher and what schools and districts were doing to support them.

  14. Transformational Leadership and Teacher Motivation in Southwestern Arizona High Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reynolds, Catherine L.

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher motivation in Southwestern Arizona high schools. Teachers in a school district in Southwestern Arizona comprised of high schools were surveyed using two instruments, Leithwood and Jantzi's (1998) The Leadership and Management of Schools in…

  15. Mobile Technology in Hospital Schools: What Are Hospital Teachers' Professional Learning Needs?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCarthy, Aidan; Maor, Dorit; McConney, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to identify hospital teachers' professional learning needs to enable effective use of mobile technology in hospital schools. Hospitalized students cannot attend their regular schools and as a result their educational progress and development can suffer. In an attempt to address this, hospital schools provide learning…

  16. Why Rural Schools Are Important for Pre-Service Teacher Preparation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanks, Brooke; Robbins, Holly; Rose, Dana; Beasley, Loren; Greene, Michelle; Kile, Melissa; Broadus, Allison

    2013-01-01

    Rural schools are often overlooked in educational research. At least one in five children in the United States attends a rural school and one-third of all public schools are located in rural areas. Research on the effects of teacher education in rural schools on teacher candidates and the rural schools themselves is almost nonexistent. This…

  17. Solar cell and photonics outreach for middle school students and teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilchrist, Pamela O.; Alexander, Alonzo B.

    2017-08-01

    This paper will describe the curriculum development process employed to develop a solar cell and photonics curriculum unit for students underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. Information will explain how the curriculum unit was piloted with middle and high school teachers from public schools in North Carolina, high school students from underrepresented groups in an informal science program, and workshop settings. Measures used to develop the curriculum materials for middle school students will be presented along with program findings documenting students' urban versus rural interest in STEM, career aspirations, and 21st century learning skills in informal learning settings.

  18. Mathematics and Science Teachers Professional Development with Local Businesses to Introduce Middle and High School Students to Opportunities in STEM Careers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miles, Rhea; Slagter van Tryon, Patricia J.; Mensah, Felicia Moore

    2015-01-01

    TechMath is a professional development program that forms collaborations among businesses, colleges, and schools for the purpose of promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers. TechMath has provided strategies for creating highquality professional development by bringing together teachers, students, and business…

  19. The influence of professional teachers on Padang vocational school students' achievement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ramli Bakar

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This study determined: (1 the competency of professional teachers teaching in the classroom, (2 students' achievement in vocational schools in Padang, and (3 the influence of professional teachers on vocational school students' achievement in Padang. The population was 2,647 students in vocational schools. The sample, consisting of 160 students, was selected using a multistage, random sampling technique. Data were collected using questionnaires and documentation, and then analyzed and presented using the SPSS software. The results showed: (1 overall, the professional teachers of vocational schools in Padang had good qualifications in pedagogical competence, professional competence, social competence, and personal competence, (2 the learning process of vocational schools in Padang was going well and in general, student achievement was at a good level of performance, and (3 there was a significant influence of professional teachers on vocational school students' achievement in Padang. Keywords: professional teacher, student achievement, vocational school

  20. Future Elementary School Teachers' Conceptual Change Concerning Photosynthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahopelto, Ilona; Mikkila-Erdmann, Mirjamaija; Anto, Erkki; Penttinen, Marjaana

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine conceptual change among future elementary school teachers while studying a scientific text concerning photosynthesis. Students' learning goals in relation to their learning outcomes were also examined. The participants were future elementary school teachers. The design consisted of pre- and post-tests. The…

  1. School Culture: Teachers' Beliefs, Behaviors, and Instructional Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hongboontri, Chantarath; Keawkhong, Natheeporn

    2014-01-01

    This mixed-methods research project documents the school culture of Hope University's Language Institute and reveals the reciprocal relationship between the school culture and the instructional practices of the English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in this particular institute. Altogether, 62 EFL teachers agreed to complete a questionnaire.…

  2. Awareness on Learning Disabilities among Elementary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menon K. P., Seema

    2016-01-01

    The study aims to find out the awareness on learning disabilities among elementary school teachers. The sample for the present study consisted of 500 elementary school teachers of Kerala. In this study the investigator used an Awareness Test on Learning Disabilities to measure the Awareness on Learning Disabilities among Elementary School…

  3. Teachers' Views on the Impact of Teacher-Student Relationships on School Dropout: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Misrecognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nairz-Wirth, Erna; Feldmann, Klaus

    2017-01-01

    Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's relational theory this paper shows that many teachers misrecognize the impact of teacher-student relationships on school dropout. The study is based on a series of 60 semi-structured interviews with teachers from Austrian secondary schools. The analysis of the empirical data reveals that many teachers attribute school…

  4. Peer Observation of Teaching: Perceptions and Experiences of Teachers in a Primary School in Cyprus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karagiorgi, Yiasemina

    2012-01-01

    This article examines teachers' perceptions of, and experiences with, professional development opportunities involving a school-based project on peer observation of teaching. The study aims to reveal the ways in which seven teachers in one primary school in Cyprus see themselves as agents improving their own and peers' teaching through informal…

  5. The Role of the Perceptions of School Climate and Teacher Victimization by Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Francis L; Eddy, Colleen Lloyd; Camp, Emily

    2017-07-01

    Violence directed toward teachers in schools is relatively understudied in comparison with other school-based forms of peer aggression (e.g., school bullying). Based on the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) 2011-2012, approximately 10% of K-12 public school teachers in the United States, received a threat in the past 12 months and 6% reported being physically attacked. The effects of teacher-directed violence are far reaching and affect not just the victimized teacher, but the larger community itself. In the current study, we used multilevel logistic regression models with state fixed effects to analyze the SASS data set. The analytic sample consisted of 24,070 K-12 teachers in 4,610 public schools and specifically excluded special education teachers and teachers in alternative settings (i.e., online schools, special education centers, juvenile correction facilities). Guided by authoritative school climate theory, we tested for the beneficial associations of disciplinary structure and administrative support with the reduced likelihood of a teacher being threatened or physically attacked by a student, while controlling for teacher (e.g., gender, years of experience, race/ethnicity), school (e.g., school size, percent minority enrollment), and state-level factors. Results indicated that teachers who felt supported by the administration and worked with others (i.e., the principal and other teachers) who enforced the rules consistently were less likely to be victims of threats of injury or physical attacks. Although school climate has been shown to have a positive effect on student outcomes, the current study also suggests that school climate, characterized by consistent rule enforcement and supportive administrators and teachers, may play a role in reducing the likelihood of teacher victimization.

  6. Human Resource Management Strategies and Teacher's Efficiency within Schools: A Co-Relational Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashmi, Kiran

    2014-01-01

    The aim of the paper is to study Human Resource Management and Development (HRMD) strategies and their effect on teachers' efficiency within the Catholic Board of Education (CBE) schools of Pakistan whose teachers are graduates in educational leadership courses from a private teacher education institutes in Karachi. The study endeavored to build a…

  7. Help provided by school counsellor to teachers and students in behaviour management at secondary school

    OpenAIRE

    Atıcı, Meral; Çekici, Ferah

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the views of teachers, school counsellors, and students on counsellor help for dealing with misbehaviour at school. Qualitative data were collected from counsellors, teachers and students using interviews to address the research questions. Five counsellors, 20 teachers and 35 students in five high schools with a low socioeconomic level in Adana, Turkey, participated in the study. Data were analysed by using a content analysis technique. Results sho...

  8. Understanding a High School Physics Teacher's Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Argumentation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jianlan; Buck, Gayle A.

    2016-08-01

    Scientific argumentation is an important learning objective in science education. It is also an effective instructional approach to constructivist science learning. The implementation of argumentation in school settings requires science teachers, who are pivotal agents of transforming classroom practices, to develop sophisticated knowledge of argumentation. However, there is a lack of understanding about science teachers' knowledge of argumentation, especially the dialogic meaning of argumentation. In this case study, we closely examine a high school physics teacher's argumentation-related pedagogic content knowledge (PCK) in the context of dialogic argumentation. We synthesize the teacher's performed PCK from his argumentation practices and narrated PCK from his reflection on the argumentation practices, from which we summarize his PCK of argumentation from the perspectives of orientation, instructional strategies, students, curriculum, and assessment. Finally, we describe the teacher's perception and adaption of argumentation in his class. We also identity the barriers to argumentation implementation in this particular case and suggest solutions to overcome these barriers.

  9. An examination of the perceived teaching competencies of novice alternatively licensed and traditionally licensed high school science teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shea, Kathleen A.

    In most states, there are two routes to teacher licensure; traditional and alternative. The alternative route provides an accelerated entry into the classroom, often without the individual engaging in education coursework or a practicum. No matter the route, teaching skills continue to be learned by novice teachers while in the classroom with the guidance of a school-based mentor. In this study, the perceptions of mentor teachers of traditionally and alternatively licensed high school science teachers were compared with respect to mentees' science teaching competency. Further, the study explored the novice teachers' self-perception of their teaching competency. A survey, consisting of 56 Likert-type questions, was completed by mentors (N = 79) and novice high school science teachers (N = 83) in six northeastern states. The results revealed a statistically significant difference in the perceptions of the mentors of traditionally and alternatively licensed novice high school science teachers in the areas of general pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and professional growth, with more favorable perceptions recorded by mentors of traditionally licensed science teachers. There were no differences in the perceptions of the mentors with respect to novice high school teachers' content knowledge. There was no statistical difference in the self-perceptions of competency of the novice teachers. While alternative routes to licensure in science may be a necessity, the results of this study indicate that the lack of professional preparation may need to be addressed at the school level through the agency of the mentor. This study indicates that mentors must be prepared to provide alternatively licensed novice teachers with different assistance to that given to traditionally licensed novice teachers. School districts are urged to develop mentoring programs designed to develop the teaching competency of all novice teachers regardless of the route that led them

  10. Are elementary school teachers prepared to tackle bullying? : A pilot study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Oldenburg, Beau; Bosman, Rie; Veenstra, Rene

    The aim of this pilot study was to investigate to what extent elementary school teachers were prepared to tackle bullying. Interview data from 22 Dutch elementary school teachers (M age=43.3, 18 classrooms in eight schools) were combined with survey data from 373 students of these teachers (M

  11. Investigation of the Work Motivation Levels of Primary School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ates, Hatice Kadioglu; Yilmaz, Perihan

    2018-01-01

    This study was conducted to examine the work motivation levels of primary school teachers working in primary school institutions located in Istanbul province, Kucukcekmece district. The descriptive survey model was used in this study. The population of the study consists of primary school teachers and primary school administrators working in state…

  12. Science teachers' beliefs about teaching and reform: Case studies from a restructured high school

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Elizabeth A.

    A qualitative research study of the beliefs of three science teachers about teaching and educational reform was carried out at a restructured high school belonging to the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES), a nationally prominent restructuring movement. One problem of educational reform is to sustain change in the science classroom. A new wave of reform is shifting the focus away from curriculum changes and towards professionalism of teachers empowered to restructure schools. The beliefs of the teachers are key to decisions made in the classroom. The teachers and staff of Metro High School adopted the Ten Common Principles of CES as their guide to restructuring and sustaining change. Changes included increased authority for teachers in shared decision making, increased staff time for professional development, grouping students heterogeneously, grouping students and faculty in teams for extended time periods, and organizing instruction around small group and individual student study (student-centered). The theoretical framework centers on the constructivist theory of learning, particularly Vygotsky's socio-cultural model, and Bakhtin's dialogic function of language. Nespor's belief system model was used to describe the four characteristic features of beliefs: episodic memories, alternativity, existential presumption, and evaluative loading. My research questions were: What memories of teaching have influenced the teachers? What are the teachers' beliefs about the learning environment? What are the teachers' beliefs about their students? What are the teachers' beliefs about student activities? Interviews were the primary data source for the case studies of the three teachers, with additional data from lesson plans, photo-voice, and other artifacts. The teachers shared many common beliefs including that strong peer support is necessary for reform. The teachers' beliefs allied themselves to the majority of the common principles of CES, especially personalization and

  13. They need to be recognized as a person in everyday life: Teachers' and helpers' experiences of teacher-student relationships in upper secondary school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krane, Vibeke; Karlsson, Bengt; Ness, Ottar; Binder, Per-Einar

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to explore how teachers and helpers experience that teacher-student relationship (TSR) is developed and promoted in upper secondary school.We also explored their experiences of qualities of TSR with students with mental health problems or at risk of dropping out. The study used a qualitative and participative approach; key stakeholders were included as co-researchers. Focus group interviews were held with 27 teachers and helpers. A thematic analysis was conducted. The participants' descriptions of important experiential dimensions of TSR were clustered around four themes: (1) to be recognized as a person with strengths and challenges in everyday life, (2) collaborative relationships between students and teachers, (3) flexible boundaries in the relationship between teachers and students and (4) organization of classes and procedures set the stage for TSR. Collaborative, emotional and contextual qualities were found important to the development of TSR in upper secondary school. Experiences of negative qualities of TSR can contribute to push students out of school. Teachers and helpers experience that TSR may have the potential to play a role in promoting mental health in students' everyday life.

  14. The Physically Active Lifestyle of Flemish Secondary School Teachers: A Mixed-Methods Approach towards Developing a Physical Activity Intervention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bogaert, Inge; De Martelaer, Kristine; Deforche, Benedicte; Clarys, Peter; Zinzen, Evert

    2015-01-01

    Objective: The primary aim of this study was to describe and analyse the physical activity and sedentary levels of secondary school teachers in Flanders. A secondary aim was to collect information regarding a possible worksite intervention of special relevance to secondary school teachers. Design: Mixed-methods quantitative and qualitative…

  15. The influence of school leadership on teachers' perception of teacher evaluation policy

    OpenAIRE

    Tuytens, Melissa; Devos, Geert

    2010-01-01

    The understanding of teachers' perception of new educational policy is crucial since this perception shapes the policy's implementation. However, quantitative research in this area is scarce. This article draws on empirical data to investigate whether the school leader might influence his teachers' perception of the new teacher evaluation policy. The conceptualisation of teachers' perception consists of three policy characteristics: practicality, need and clarifying function. Our results indi...

  16. Interpretation Awareness of Creativity Mathematics Teacher High School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mastuti, Ajeng Gelora; Nusantara, Toto; Purwanto; As'ari, Abdurrahman; Subanji; Abadyo; Susiswo

    2016-01-01

    The purposes of this study are: a) to investigate high school math teacher creativity equality, b) to investigate what factors can inhibit their creativity consciousness. The subjects of this study consisted of two high school math teacher who had a different experience academically. The results of the qualitative research show the relationship…

  17. Teachers and Counselors: Building Math Confidence in Schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joseph M. Furner

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Mathematics teachers need to take on the role of counselors in addressing the math anxious in today's math classrooms. This paper looks at the impact math anxiety has on the future of young adults in our high-tech society. Teachers and professional school counselors are encouraged to work together to prevent and reduce math anxiety. It is important that all students feel confident in their ability to do mathematics in an age that relies so heavily on problem solving, technology, science, and mathematics. It really is a school's obligation to see that their students value and feel confident in their ability to do math, because ultimately a child's life: all decisions they will make and careers choices may be determined based on their disposition toward mathematics. This paper raises some interesting questions and provides some strategies (See Appendix A for teachers and counselors for addressing the issue of math anxiety while discussing the importance of developing mathematically confident young people for a high-tech world of STEM.

  18. Staff development and secondary science teachers: Factors that affect voluntary participation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corley, Theresa Roebuck

    2000-10-01

    A researcher-designed survey assessed the perceptions of Alabama secondary science public school teachers toward the need for staff development and toward certain staff development strategies and programs. Factors that encouraged or discouraged attendance at voluntary staff development programs and opinions regarding effective and ineffective features of programs were identified. Data were analyzed using descriptive techniques. Percentages and frequencies were noted. Average rankings were computed for the staff development techniques considered most and least effective and for the preferred designs of future staff development offerings. Chi squares were computed to respond to each of the 4 research hypotheses. Narrative discussions and tables were utilized to report the data and provide clarification. This study related demographic information to the research hypotheses. Analysis of the research hypotheses revealed that experienced teachers agree more strongly about the features of staff development programs that they consider effective and about the factors that may affect participation in staff development programs. Analysis of the research questions revealed that secondary science teachers in Alabama agree that staff development is a personal responsibility but that the school systems are responsible for providing staff development opportunities. Teachers believe that staff development is needed annually in both science content and teaching strategies and favor lengthening the school year for staff development. Teachers identified interest level, graduate credit, ability to implement material, scheduling factors, and the reputation of the organizer as the most important factors in determining participation in voluntary staff development programs. Hands-on workshops were identified as the most effective type of voluntary staff development and teachers requested that future staff development experiences include hands-on workshops, networking, curriculum

  19. Collaborative Action Research between Schools, a Continuing Professional Development Centre for Teachers and the University: A Case Study in Spain

    Science.gov (United States)

    González Alfaya, Maria Elena; Olivares García, Maria Ángeles; Mérida Serrano, Rosario

    2017-01-01

    This article describes a collaborative action research project developed over the course of the 2011/12 academic year in the Faculty of Education at Cordoba University (Spain). The RIECU school-continuing professional development centre for teachers-university learning network is part of this research process. The aim is to create and consolidate…

  20. Explaining Teacher Turnover: School Cohesion and Intrinsic Motivation in Los Angeles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuller, Bruce; Waite, Anisah; Irribarra, David Torres

    2016-01-01

    Lifting achievement in many schools depends on reducing the exit of effective teachers. We examine the extent to which teacher perceptions of school cohesion and intrinsic motivators stemming from two theoretical traditions contribute to the intent to leave one's school. We find that elementary teachers report higher levels of organizational…

  1. Primary School Teachers' Perceptions of Mathematical Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loong, Esther Yook-Kin; Vale, Colleen; Bragg, Leicha A.; Herbert, Sandra

    2013-01-01

    Little is known about how Australian teachers interpret, enact and assess reasoning. This paper reports on primary teachers' perceptions of reasoning prior to observation and subsequent trialling of demonstration lessons in a primary school. The findings indicate that while some teachers were able to articulate what reasoning means, others were…

  2. Home School Relationships: Challenges for Teachers and Head Teachers in Pakistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safdar, Qamar

    2006-01-01

    The connection between home and school is referred to in various ways such as parent involvement, home-school relations or community involvement in schools. This paper conceptualize that connection as a "partnership" with parents being viewed as partners with teachers in educating children. Parental involvement at all stages is crucial…

  3. Professional development and poststructural analysis: Stories of African-American science teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Felicia Michelle

    2003-10-01

    This interpretivist study focused on the professional development of three African American science teachers from a small rural school district, Carver School District (pseudonym), in the southeastern United States. Stories teachers shared of their experiences in teaching and learning science and in their professional development were analyzed using a feminist poststructural analysis of power, knowledge/meaning, language, and difference. For science teaching, power was viewed as a form of ownership or possession and also as effect and processes that impact teaching, learning, and professional development. Teachers through instructional practices exerted a certain amount of power in their classrooms. Teaching practices heavily influenced student learning in science classrooms. For teacher professional development, power was viewed as effecting relationships between administration, peers, and students as a shifting force within different social contexts. Science teachers were perceived as objects of the system and as active social agents who in particular relations of power acted in their best interests as they developed as science teachers. Teachers negotiated for themselves certain power relations to do as they wished for teaching science and for participating in teacher professional development activities. Power was an inherent and critically important aspect in understanding what science teachers do in their classrooms, in teaching and learning science, and in developing as science teachers. Knowledge was closely tied to relations of power in that teachers acquired knowledge about themselves, their teaching of science, and their students from their past experiences and professional development activities. Through language, interactions between teachers and students enabled or disabled access to the culture of power via instructional practices. Language was implicated in teacher professional development as a powerful force for advancing or hindering teachers

  4. The perceptions and practices of selected high school teachers in special admission schools regarding writing across the curriculum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Rebecca Hayward

    The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) measured the writing achievement of 55,000 American school children. The students performed at the basic or lower level. In 1988, "The Writing Report Card of the NAEP," and in 1996, the Pennsylvania Mathematics and Reading Assessment along with the Stanford 9 Exam concluded that students, of all racial/ethnic backgrounds, are unable to write well except in response to the simplest tasks. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions and practices of math, science, and social studies high school teachers in special admission schools regarding writing across the curriculum (WAC). Specifically, this study attempted to answer: (1) Do math, science, and social studies teachers differ in their perceptions and practices regarding student writing in their classrooms? (2) Are teacher characteristics related to the perceptions and practices of math, science, and social studies teachers regarding the need for student writing in their classrooms? The questions led to the following null hypotheses: (1) There is no significant difference among math, science, and social studies teachers regarding their perceptions and practices for student writing in their classrooms. (2) There is no significant relationship between the highest degree earned, the length of teaching experience, and the level of grades taught by math, science, and social studies teachers and their perceptions and practices regarding the need for student writing in their classrooms. A review of the literature since 1992 using ERIC and Dissertation Abstracts revealed that there were no studies concerned with the focus of this particular study. A cross sectional survey of School District of Philadelphia math, science, and social studies high school teachers in special admission schools was conducted. A questionnaire was developed to obtain the data. A panel of experts was selected to establish validity of the instrument. Thirty-two usable

  5. A Multilevel Analysis of Teacher and School Academic Optimism in Taiwan Elementary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Jason Hsinchieh; Lin, Chunn-Ying

    2018-01-01

    Research on teacher and school academic optimism has abounded ever since these two constructs were confirmed and shown to have positive effects on student achievement. However, one overlooked research question is the nested association between teacher and school academic optimism. This study intends to fill this gap by using hierarchical linear…

  6. An Engineering Research Program for High School Science Teachers: Year Two Changes and Results

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeJong, Brian P.; Yelamarthi, Kumar; Kaya, Tolga

    2016-01-01

    The research experiences for teachers program at Central Michigan University was initiated to team in-service and pre-service teachers with undergraduate engineering students and engineering faculty, in an engineering research setting. During the six-week program, teachers learn engineering concepts and develop high-school instructional material…

  7. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Teacher Career Development Program.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlechty, Phillip C.; And Others

    1985-01-01

    Effective training, evaluation, and incentives are key aspects of this school system's six-level career ladder program for teacher development. The three-pronged committee structure for planning and communication and the program's ownership by everyone involved have been vital to its successful planning and development. (DCS)

  8. Are school policies focused on sexual orientation and gender identity associated with less bullying? Teachers' perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Russell, Stephen T; Day, Jack K; Ioverno, Salvatore; Toomey, Russell B

    2016-02-01

    Bullying is common in U.S. schools and is linked to emotional, behavioral, and academic risk for school-aged students. School policies and practices focused on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) have been designed to reduce bullying and show promising results. Most studies have drawn from students' reports: We examined teachers' reports of bullying problems in their schools along with their assessments of school safety, combined with principals' reports of SOGI-focused policies and practices. Merging two independent sources of data from over 3000 teachers (California School Climate Survey) and nearly 100 school principals (School Health Profiles) at the school level, we used multi-level models to understand bullying problems in schools. Our results show that SOGI-focused policies reported by principals do not have a strong independent association with teachers' reports of bullying problems in their schools. However, in schools with more SOGI-focused policies, the association between teachers' assessments of school safety and bullying problems is stronger. Recent developments in education law and policy in the United States and their relevance for student well-being are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Interrogation in Teacher-Student Interaction in Bahasa Indonesia Learning at Elementary School

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akmal Hamsa

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Interrogation in Teacher-Student Interaction in Bahasa Indonesia Learning at Elementary School. This study aimed to describe the form, function, and questioning strategies teachers in teacher-student interrogation in Bahasa Indonesia learning in elementary school. Data sourced from four teacher of elementary school, SDN Tamangapa and SD Inpres Tamangapa. Data were obtained by (1 recording, (2 documentation, (3 field notes, (4 interview. The results showed that: (1 the form of questioning the teacher in the teacher-student interaction in Bahasa Indonesia learning in primary schools generally examined the low-level thinking skills, (2 functions of teacher questions are generally intended to check student understanding, and (3 teachers utilize a variety of strategies in addressing student answers correctly and the apparent hesitation. Some disadvantages are indicated teachers in providing interrogation.

  10. Increasing Elementary School Teachers' Awareness of Gender Inequity in Student Computer Usage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole LUONGO

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This study was designed to increase gender equity awareness in elementary school teachers withrespect to student computer and technology usage. Using professional development methods with agroup of teachers, the writer attempted to help them become more aware of gender bias intechnology instruction. An analysis of the data revealed that teachers who were exposed to genderequity professional development training sessions were more likely to exhibit gender equitableteaching behaviors than they did prior to the sessions. The data also indicated that teachers providedmore equitable assistance to their classroom students after being presented with gender equityinterventions.

  11. The sustainability of a teacher professional development programme for beginning urban teachers

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gaikhorst, L.; Beishuizen, J.J.J.; Zijlstra, B.J.H.; Volman, M.L.L.

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the long-term effects of a professional development intervention for beginning urban teachers and explored which characteristics and activities in school organisations contributed to the sustainability of these effects. A quasi-experimental study (n = 72) investigated whether

  12. Male and Female Secondary School EFL Teachers' Code ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study explored male and female secondary school EFL teachers' attitudes, reasons and beliefs about the functions of code-switching to L1 (Amharic) in their classes. The participants of the study were all the available (38 male and 19 female) English language teachers in seven secondary schools in Bahir Dar City and ...

  13. Job Satisfaction Amongst Teachers at Special Needs Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strydom, Louise; Nortjé, Nico; Beukes, Roelf; Esterhuyse, Karel; van der Westhuizen, Jeanne

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this study was to establish the level of job satisfaction amongst teachers at special schools. Teachers in special schools need to cope with curriculum changes, the administrative duties that come with these changes, and the learners with their diverse needs. Learners with special needs require a specific educational programme and also…

  14. When school-based, in-service teacher training sharpens pedagogical awareness

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lund, Lea

    2018-01-01

    Research in the field of professional development (PD) stresses the importance of the development of professional learning communities (PLCs) designed to promote the process of inquiry in teaching. PLCs are of great importance with regard to both school improvement and in-service teacher training...

  15. Leadership Styles and Teachers' Job Satisfaction in Tanzanian Public Secondary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyenyembe, Fabian W.; Maslowski, Ralf; Nimrod, Beatrice S.; Peter, Levina

    2016-01-01

    This study explores the relationship between leadership styles applied by school heads and teachers' job satisfaction in Tanzanian secondary schools. Using a questionnaire, data in this study was collected from 180 teachers in ten secondary schools in Songea District in Tanzania. The most salient finding of this study revealed that teachers were…

  16. Teacher Leadership Development in PDSs: Perceptions of 22 Veteran Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cosenza, Michael N.

    2013-01-01

    Although there is no common definition for teacher leadership, the concept is continually advanced as a key component for both the success of schools and professionalization of teachers. Many view teacher leadership as specific administrative roles while others view it as any opportunity in which teachers contribute to the decision-making process.…

  17. Master mathematics teachers as mentors for underperforming and disadvantaged schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Annemarie Hattingh

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available The work of teachers has a significant role both with regard to learners’ achievement and their opportunities in life. In the context of a developing country, particularly with respect to township and rural schools, it is a common occurrence that many practising teachers are un- or under qualified for the teaching of mathematics. What kind of professional development would be effective for upgrading the content knowledge and professional competence of such teachers? It is the aim of this article to give an overview of a professional development approach, called mentorship by master mathematics teachers, which had a positive effect both on teacher learning and their learners’ performance. Where mentorship usually focuses on the induction of beginning or student teachers, the Teacher Mentorship Programme (TMP in this case, had as its target experienced teachers who had been teaching mathematics for years in township schools, but without the appropriate qualifications. The mentee teachers had never previously, due to no fault of their own, been exposed to excellent teaching practices as learners, student or practising teachers. The TMP was an initiative of a university’s Faculty of Engineering, that collaborated with private engineering companies and the Department of Education with the aim of preparing more and better equipped Grade 12 leavers who enrol for studies in engineering and technology related fields. The intended outcomes of the TMP were: To improve teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical competence and attitude towards mathematics and science. To broaden teachers’ knowledge of careers related to the mathematics, science and technology fields. To improve learners’ attitudes towards mathematics, science and related careers. To increase the number of learners who enrol for mathematics on the higher grade which is the equivalent of “core” mathematics in the new National Curriculum Statement.Why a mentorship programme

  18. Scientific Conceptions of Photosynthesis among Primary School Pupils and Student Teachers of Biology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darja Skribe Dimec

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Photosynthesis is the most important biochemical process on Earth. Most living beings depend on it directly or indirectly. Knowledge about photosynthesis enables us to understand how the world functions as an ecosystem and how photosynthesis acts as a bridge between the non-living and living worlds. It is, therefore, understandable that photosynthesis is included in national curricula around the world. The practice unfortunately shows that students at all school levels mostly learn about photosynthesis by rote. Consequently, they have difficulties understanding this vital process. Research also shows many misconceptions in relation to photosynthesis among students of different ages. Based on these, the main aim of our study was to explore the scientific conceptions about photosynthesis held by primary school pupils and student teachers of biology. Data were collected using a questionnaire containing seven biology content questions. The sample consisted of 634 participants, 427 primary school pupils (aged 11–14, and 207 student teachers of biology (aged 20–23. We found that the populations of primary school pupils and student teachers of biology differ greatly concerning scientific conceptions of photosynthesis. The student teachers showed good and complex understanding of photosynthesis, while pupils showed some misconceptions (location of chlorophyll and photosynthesis in a plant, transformation of energy in photosynthesis. Analysis of the development of scientific conceptions about photosynthesis with age showed that there is very little progress among primary school pupils and none among biology student teachers. More involvement of student teachers of biology in practical work at primary schools during their study was suggested to make student teachers aware of, and better understand pupils’ misconceptions.

  19. Internet Literacy of Vocational High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vernanda, D.; Abdullah, A. G.; Rohendi, D.

    2018-02-01

    Internet literacy is needed to know the development of the world in various things quickly and precisely, as well as in the world of education, especially teachers. Seeing the importance of internet literacy, there is an interest to discuss and analyze the level of internet literacy of teachers. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The sample of research is vocational school teacher (SMK) as many as 99 respondents. Data are collected through questionnaires. The theory used is adopted from Suitable Learning Object Type (LRE APV4.7) and Three Elements of Literacy Digital. The result data of the questionnaire is processed and analyzed using Capability Maturity Model theory, the result of the research shows that the level of internet literacy of vocational teachers is at level 2, meaning that SMK teachers have used the internet many times to assist their daily activities and have pattern of repetition in internet utilization. The use of internet by teachers of SMK with various needs that support the process of teaching, communicating, sharing knowledge, but the most dominant is to communicate through social media. Factors affecting internet usage include age, gender, and employment status.

  20. Teachers' participation in school policy: Nature, extent and orientation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jongmans, C.T.; Sleegers, P.J.C.; Biemans, H.J.A.; Jong, F.P.C.M. de

    2004-01-01

    Against the background of several large-scale innovations in secondary agricultural education, this study explores the relation between teachers' professionality and their participation in school policy. For the research into this, 1,030 teachers of 98 schools for preparatory and secondary

  1. When a Teacher Switches Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaSalle, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    In this article, northeast Philadelphia teacher Daniel LaSalle describes the transition and struggle of leaving his past students and adjusting to a new school. He concludes that the highly contextualized knowledge of how to navigate, and be accepted in, a school culture is not something found in the latest journal articles or books on education.…

  2. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD): Primary school teachers ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Hennie

    The participants were 200 South African primary school teachers (178 female, 22 male; mean age = 43 years) of children enrolled in ... education reforms would be the training of teachers in classroom management. ..... Assistive technology.

  3. Increasing Bellevue School District's elementary teachers' capacity for teaching inquiry-based science: Using ideas from contemporary learning theory to inform professional development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maury, Tracy Anne

    This Capstone project examined how leaders in the Bellevue School District can increase elementary teachers' capacity for teaching inquiry-based science through the use of professional learning activities that are grounded in ideas from human learning theory. A framework for professional development was constructed and from that framework, a set of professional learning activities were developed as a means to support teacher learning while project participants piloted new curriculum called the Isopod Habitat Challenge. Teachers in the project increased their understanding of the learning theory principles of preconceptions and metacognition. Teachers did not increase their understanding of the principle of learning with understanding, although they did articulate the significance of engaging children in student-led inquiry cycles. Data from the curriculum revision and professional development project coupled with ideas from learning theory, cognition and policy implementation, and learning community literatures suggest Bellevue's leaders can encourage peer-to-peer interaction, link professional development to teachers' daily practice, and capitalize on technology as ways to increase elementary teachers' capacity for teaching inquiry-based science. These lessons also have significance for supporting teacher learning and efficacy in other subject areas and at other levels in the system.

  4. Characteristics of High School Students' and Science Teachers' Cognitive Frame about Effective Teaching Method for High School Science Subject

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Duk Ho; Park, Kyeong-Jin; Cho, Kyu Seong

    2016-04-01

    We investigated the cognitive frame of high school students and inservice high school science teachers about effective teaching method, and we also explored how they understood about the teaching methods suggested by the 2009 revised Science Curriculum. Data were collected from 275 high school science teachers and 275 high school students. We analyzed data in terms of the words and the cognitive frame using the Semantic Network Analysis. The results were as follows. First, the teachers perceived that an activity oriented class was the effective science class that helped improve students'' problem-solving abilities and their inquiry skills. The students had the cognitive frame that their teacher had to present relevant and enough teaching materials to students, and that they should also receive assistance from teachers in science class to better prepare for college entrance exam. Second, both students and teachers retained the cognitive frame about the efficient science class that was not reflected 2009 revised Science Curriculum exactly. Especially, neither groups connected the elements of ''convergence'' as well as ''integration'' embedded across science subject areas to their cognitive frame nor cognized the fact that many science learning contents were closed related to one another. Therefore, various professional development opportunities should be offered so that teachers succinctly comprehend the essential features and the intents of the 2009 revised Science Curriculum and thereby implement it in their science lessons effectively. Keywords : semantic network analysis, cognitive frame, teaching method, science lesson

  5. Examining a math-science professional development program for teachers in grades 7-12 in an urban school district in New York State

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaszczak, Lesia

    With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards in New York State and the Next Generation Science Standards, it is more important than ever for school districts to develop professional development programs to provide teachers with the resources that will assist them in incorporating the new standards into their classroom instruction. This study focused on a mathematics and science professional development program known as STEMtastic STEM. The two purposes of the study were: to determine if there is an increase in STEM content knowledge of the participants involved in year two of a three year professional development program and to examine the teachers' perceptions of the impact of the professional development program on classroom instruction. The sample included teachers of grades 7-12 from an urban school district in New York State. The scores of a content knowledge pre-test and post-test were analyzed using a paired sample t-test to determine any significant differences in scores. In order to determine mathematics and science teachers' perceptions of the impact of the professional development program, responses from a 22 item Likert-style survey were analyzed to establish patterns of responses and to determine positive and negative perceptions of participants of the professional development program. A single sample t-test was used to determine if the responses were significantly positive. The results of this study indicated that there was no significant increase in content knowledge as a result of participation in the STEMtastic STEM professional development program. Both mathematics and science teachers exhibited significant positive perceptions of items dealing with hands-on participation during the professional development; support provided by STEMtastic STEM specialists; and the support provided by the administration. It was concluded that both mathematics and science teachers responded positively to the training they received during the professional

  6. GIS Adoption among Senior High School Geography Teachers in Taiwan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lay, Jinn-Guey; Chen, Yu-Wen; Chi, Yu-Lin

    2013-01-01

    This article explores the adoption of geographic information system (GIS) knowledge and skills through in-service training for high school geography teachers in Taiwan. Through statistical analysis of primary data collected from a census of Taiwan's high school geography teachers, it explores what motivates these teachers to undertake GIS…

  7. Especially for High School Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howell, J. Emory

    1999-07-01

    Secondary School Feature Articles * Super Science Connections, by Patricia B. McKean, p 916 * A pHorseshoe, by Roger Plumsky, p 935 National Conferences in Your Part of the Country For the past several months, considerable space in this column has been devoted to forthcoming national conferences and conventions and to highlights of conferences past. For some of us, location is fairly unimportant; but for most of us travel costs and time are both factors to consider when choosing a conference. The community of high school chemistry teachers is favored by the number of national conventions and conferences that are held each year in different locations. In 1999, for example, the spring National Meeting of the American Chemical Society was in Anaheim and the National Science Teachers Association National Convention was in Boston. This summer CHEMED '99 will be held in Fairfield, CT, August 1-5, and the fall National ACS Meeting will be in New Orleans. Teachers from the mid-South especially should consider attending the High School Program at New Orleans, described below by Lillie Tucker Akin, Chairperson of the Division's High School Program Committee. The event will be held on Sunday to minimize conflicts with the beginning of the school year. JCE at CHEMED '99 Stop by the JCE booth at CHEMED '99 in the exhibits area to learn more about the wide array of print and nonprint resources you can use in your classroom and laboratory. Members of the editorial staff will be on hand to talk with you. You are invited to participate in a workshop, "Promoting Active Learning through JCE Activity Sheets and Software", on Monday, August 1, 8:30-10:30. The free hands-on workshop is number WT11 and we encourage you to include it among your choices in the blanks provided on the third page of the registration form. We will also conduct an interactive session to listen to ideas for making the Journal more useful to you. Check the final program for location and time or inquire at the JCE

  8. Effective Practices for Training and Inspiring High School Physics Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magee-Sauer, Karen

    It is well-documented that there is a nationwide shortage of highly qualified high school physics teachers. Not surprising, institutions of higher education report that the most common number of physics teacher graduates is zero with the majority of institutions graduating less than two physics teachers per year. With these statistics in mind, it is critical that institutions take a careful look at how they recruit, train, and contribute to the retention of high school physics teachers. PhysTEC is a partnership between the APS and AAPT that is dedicated to improving and promoting the education of high school physics teachers. Primarily funded by the NSF and its partnering organizations, PhysTEC has identified key components that are common to successful physics teacher preparation programs. While creating a successful training program in physics, it is also important that students have the opportunity for a ``do-able'' path to certification that does not add further financial debt. This talk will present an overview of ``what works'' in creating a path for physics majors to a high school physics teaching career, actions and activities that help train and inspire pre-service physics teachers, and frameworks that provide the support for in-service teachers. Obstacles to certification and the importance of a strong partnership with colleges of education will be discussed. Several examples of successful physics high school teacher preparation programs will be presented. This material is part of the Physics Teacher Education Coalition project, which is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 0808790, 0108787, and 0833210.

  9. Literacy-Related Professional Development Preferences of Secondary Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Shara L.; Lee, Elizabeth A.

    2014-01-01

    A survey of 100 teachers in one Ontario school board examined their literacy-related professional development preferences. The majority preferred short durations of literacy-related professional development. A small number did not want any literacy-related professional development. The most preferred forms of professional development were shared…

  10. PRINCIPAL AND TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL FACULTY MEETINGS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    AMIDON, EDMUND; BLUMBERG, ARTHUR

    THE EFFECTS OF FACULTY MEETINGS ON TEACHER MORALE WERE INVESTIGATED VIA A SIX-ITEM QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONDED TO BY 40 ELEMENTARY AND 49 SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ENROLLED IN GROUP DYNAMICS WORK AT ONE UNIVERSITY AND BY 74 ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS SELECTED AT RANDOM FROM A STATE EDUCATIONAL DIRECTORY. RESPONSES WERE ON A NINE-STEP,…

  11. A qualitative study of teacher's perceptions of an intervention to prevent conduct problems in Jamaican pre-schools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker-Henningham, H; Walker, S

    2009-09-01

    There is a growing evidence base showing the efficacy of school-based interventions to prevent conduct problems but few evaluations have addressed teachers' perceptions of these programmes. Teachers' views on the acceptability, feasibility and usefulness of an intervention will influence implementation fidelity and programme sustainability and can help further our understanding of how the intervention works and how it may be improved. A pilot study of the Incredible Years Teacher Training Programme supplemented by a curriculum unit on social and emotional skills was conducted in inner-city pre-schools in Kingston, Jamaica. Three pre-schools comprising 15 classrooms participated in the intervention which involved seven monthly teacher workshops and 14 weekly child lessons in each class. At the end of the intervention in-depth individual interviews were conducted with each intervention teacher. Teachers reported benefits to their own teaching skills and professional development, to their relationships with children and to the behaviour, social-emotional competence and school readiness skills of the children in their class. Teachers also reported benefits to teacher-parent relationships and to children's behaviour at home. A hypothesis representing the teachers' perceptions of how the intervention achieved these benefits was developed. The hypothesis suggests that intervention effects were due to teachers' gains in skills and knowledge in three main areas: (1) a deeper understanding of young children's needs and abilities; (2) increased use of positive and proactive strategies; and (3) explicitly teaching social and emotional skills. These changes then led to the variety of benefits reported for teachers, children and parents. Teachers reported few difficulties in implementing the majority of strategies and strongly recommended wider dissemination of the intervention. The intervention was valued by Jamaican pre-school teachers and teachers felt they were able to

  12. Teacher participation in science fairs as professional development in South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clement K. Mbowane

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This research was undertaken to understand the perceptions of the Physical Sciences teachers who participate in the South African ‘Eskom Expo for Young Scientists’, regarding the educational significance of the science fair, and the extent to which expo participation provides an opportunity for professional development. The educational significance of this article is found in its contribution to the professional identity of teachers in their roles as organisers, mentors and judges. The model of Beijaard et al. (Teach Teach Educ. 2004;20:107–128 was used to characterise the teachers’ professional identity in terms of professional knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, norms and values, as well as emotions and agency. Interviews with the Physical Sciences teachers were analysed using thematic analysis, ultimately interpreting and linking the categories of responses to the theme of professional identity. The study found that expo participation contributes to pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge (as both procedural and declarative or factual knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Self-efficacy beliefs were strengthened, positive attitudes were developed, and strategies of inquiry-based learning and effective methodological instruction were observed during participation, which contributed to the participants’ school-based teaching. Teachers learn both from their engagement with learners, and through networking opportunities with fellow teachers. Teachers themselves value these aspects, and consequently, science fair participation is a sustainable form of professional development. It is recommended that the opportunity for professional development that is provided by teachers’ participation in such school-level science fairs should be acknowledged and promoted by schools and fair organisers. Significance: Science expos offer professional development to participating teachers and improve learners’ academic performance.

  13. Finnish and Russian Teachers Supporting the Development of Social Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Väyrynen, Sai; Kesälahti, Essi; Pynninen, Tanja; Siivola, Jenny; Flotskaya, Natalia; Bulanova, Svetlana; Volskaya, Olga; Usova, Zoya; Kuzmicheva, Tatyana; Afonkina, Yulia

    2016-01-01

    We argue that a key aspect of inclusive pedagogy is the interaction between the learners, their teachers and the environment. For effective interaction, learners need to develop social competence. This study explores how teachers support the development of the key social skills in schools in Finland and in Russia. The data were collected by…

  14. Correlational Study between Teacher Perceived High School Principal Leadership Style and Teacher Self-Efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riggs, Robert

    2017-01-01

    This quantitative correlational study addressed the concept that teacher-perceived high school principal leadership style correlated with teacher self-efficacy. A relationship existed between teacher self-efficacy and student outcomes and research indicated a relationship between leadership style and teacher self-efficacy. Also, the effect of…

  15. Elementary teachers' perceptions of science inquiry and professional development challenges and opportunities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Kathleen M.

    Inquiry science, including a focus on evidence-based discourse, is essential to spark interest in science education in the early grades and maintain that interest throughout children's schooling. The researcher was interested in two broad areas: inquiry science in the elementary classroom and the need/desire for professional development opportunities for elementary teachers related to science education, and specifically professional development focused on inquiry science. A cross sectional survey design was prepared and distributed in May 2005 and usable responses were received from 228 elementary teachers from the south-central area of Pennsylvania which was a representative sample of socio-economical and geographical factors. Areas of particular interest in the results section include: (1) The use of Science Kits which is popular, but may not have the desired impact since they are "adjusted" by teachers often removing the opportunity for evidence-based discourse by the students. This may be partly based on the lack of time dedicated to science instruction and, secondly, the teachers' lack of comfort with the science topics. Another issue arising from science kits is the amount of preparation time required to utilize them. (2) Teachers demonstrated understanding of the high qualities of professional development but, when it came to science content professional development, they were more inclined to opt for short-term opportunities as opposed to long-term learning opportunities. Since elementary teachers are generalists and most schools are not focusing on science, the lack of attention to a subject where they are least comfortable is understandable, but disappointing. (3) There is a great need for more training in evidence--based discourse so teachers can implement this needed skill and increase students' understanding of science content so they are more able to compete in the international science and math measurements. (4) Professional development, especially

  16. High School Teacher Perceptions of Empowerment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobs, Tricia S.

    2014-01-01

    As the responsibilities of principals become more complex and as accountability becomes more evident in K-12 cultures, it becomes increasingly important that high school principals be trained to empower teachers. This paper examined the research concerning the conditions of the empowerment of teachers. More specifically, it measured high school…

  17. Learning from Others: Developing Preservice Teachers' Workplace Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ammentorp, Louise; Madden, Lauren

    2018-01-01

    Being a teacher requires the ability to work with difficult behaviors--not just of students and parents but also of colleagues. Preservice teachers need the opportunity to develop and practice collaboration and communication skills in school settings. This essay draws on research from organizational psychology to offer a framework for…

  18. The Relationship between Bureaucratic School Structures and Teacher Self-Efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kilinç, Ali Çagatay; Kosar, Serkan; Er, Emre; Ögdem, Zeki

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between bureaucratic school structures and teachers' self-efficacy. Participants included 252 teachers from 15 primary schools in Ankara, Turkey. Mean, standard deviation, correlation, and regression analyses were conducted. Results indicated that bureaucratic school structures and teacher…

  19. Identity Development of Literacy Teachers of Adolescents with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, Carly A.

    2013-01-01

    This study employs the theory of identity development and figured worlds to investigate how historical and current education context, preservice and inservice teacher preparation, and school and classroom context influence the development of the literacy teaching identity of teachers of adolescents with significant cognitive disabilities. A…

  20. School-age children development

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... such a reading disability Stressors, such as bullying Mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression If you suspect any of these in your child, talk to your child's teacher or health care provider. LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT Early school-age children should be able to use simple, ...