MEWAKA National Teacher Development Reform in Tanzania: Design-Based Implementation Research: Cycle 1 Findings

MEWAKA (Mafunzo Endelevu kwa Walimu Kazini, or Teacher Continuous Professional Development [TCPD]) is a landmark, school-based teacher professional development programme being implemented nationally by the Government of Tanzania, with the ultimate aim of raising learning outcomes in schools. EdTech Hub, Aga Khan University, and the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) are conducting research to iteratively enhance the MEWAKA implementation at primary school level and to understand the role that technology can play in scaling TCPD. This report presents the findings and recommendations from the first cycle of design-based implementation research (DBIR) conducted in rural schools in the Lindi region. Following a pilot peer facilitator workshop, data was collected through observation and self-reporting methods between September and December 2022. The aims were to capture stakeholders\u27 perspectives at all levels of the education system and to see how schools are implementing the programme on the ground. The emerging findings and recommendations are being used to inform the redesign and further implementation of this TCPD model, and were used to identify key areas to test and investigate in the second cycle of the DBIR in 2023

Pedagogic approaches to using technology for learning: literature review

This literature review is intended to address and support teaching qualifications and CPD through identifying new and emerging pedagogies; "determining what constitutes effective use of technology in teaching and learning; looking at new developments in teacher training qualifications to ensure that they are at the cutting edge of learning theory and classroom practice and making suggestions as to how teachers can continually update their skills." - Page 4

Self-initiated professional development (SI-PD) elements for Malaysian vocational colleges’ TVET teachers using Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM)

Self-Initiated Professional Development (SI-PD) has gained much attention lately due to increasing concern on the effectiveness of teachers’ professional development practice. It is also one of Ministry of Education (MOE) agenda in Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) 2013-2025 to transform Continuous Professional Development (CPD) by increasing Self-Initiated Professional Development (SI-PD) from 16 percent to 60 percent and reducing Ministry-led professional development by the year of 2025. Specifically, the aim of this study was to explore the elements required in Self-Initiated Professional Development (SI-PD) framework for TVET teachers in vocational colleges according to experts’ consensus. Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was used as a tool in this study to explore the elements and data presented here were a part of a larger study which explored SI-PD among TVET teachers in Vocational Colleges. Nineteen experts were involved consisted of MOE officers, lecturers from universities and teacher training institutions who have at least five years of experience in teachers’ professional development and TVET. Based on the data analysis, the defuzzification values for all elements exceeded the minimum value 33.6 and therefore, the findings conclusively suggested that the experts have consensually agreed that there are ten elements required in Self-Initiated Professional Development (SI-PD). The ranking of the elements based on experts’ consensus was listed as follows, (1) Industrial attachment opportunity, (2) Attitude, (3) Understanding, (4) Collaborative environment, (5) School administrators’ role, (6) Strategy, (7) Readiness, (8) Autonomy, (9) Reward and (10) Professional development system. The findings were used to design Self-Initiated Professional Development (SI-PD) framework for TVET teachers in vocational colleges. This study also promotes the suitability of Fuzzy Delphi Method as a current research tool in the field of research on professional development. The proposed SI-PD elements can underpin TVET teachers’ professional learning and support the cultivation of Self-Directed Learning (SDL) which then enable changes in their teaching and learning practice to be more meaningful and effective

Motivating Continuing Professional Development : Factors Influencing University Academic Staff And The Implications For Management

This is a study about a specific aspect of educational practice and the relationship between relevant theories and that practice. It focuses on educational management in higher education and, in particular, the management of continuing professional development (CPD) for academic staff. The research question that this study seeks to answer is ‘what factors are influencing university academic staff to engage with CPD?’ The study then goes on to determine the implications for managers of the research findings and makes recommendations to university managers that will enhance the motivation of staff to engage with CPD. In pursuing this research, the study uses educational management concepts and models to explore how higher education institutions are managed, with particular reference to how the appraisal aspect of CPD is managed and how this might affect the motivation of academics to engage with CPD. It includes an examination of the external environment of higher education and attempts to explain where the pressures for change are coming from and how these pressures are influencing working practices in higher education institutions (HEIs). The concepts of CPD and motivation are analysed in this context, as well as the concept of the learning organisation and how this relates to CPD for higher education personnel. The management of CPD within HEIs is considered with particular reference to appraisal processes. In addressing these issues, qualitative data on the perceptions of CPD and how it is currently being managed have been gathered from academics and their line managers in three universities and analysed in relation to theoretical models of educational management. Cultural tensions were found within universities in the areas of strategic implementation, performance management and ‘middle’ management development. These appear to derive primarily from two sources. The first is the conflict between senior management rationality and the collegial decision making approach favoured by academics. The second is related to academic autonomy and the issue of accommodating individual as well as institutional needs in development activities. The link connecting these two sources is the existence of conflict between individual and institutional needs exemplified by appraisal processes in HE. Suggestions for organisational development to reduce conflict and resistance to change are given. However, there are other environmental factors, which need to be addressed by the wider academic community that will influence any development. One is a curriculum development issue centred on the acceptability by academics of professional development as a core higher level educational aim, and another is the current narrow focus of the Institute of Teaching and Learning (ILT) as a professional body for academics

Exploring early career teachers' experiences of classroom behaviour they perceive as challenging and the continuous professional development that supports them.

Teaching can be an emotionally exhausting profession, with student behaviour frequently cited as a significant source of stress that can negatively impact teacher wellbeing and lead to burnout (Chang, 2009). Government data indicates that approximately 32% of teachers in England leave the profession within their first five years of teaching (DfE, 2020b). To address teacher retention and wellbeing, it is important to consider effective ways in which teachers, particularly those early in their careers, can be supported with classroom behaviour that they perceive as challenging. This study comprises of two distinct phases. The first phase consists of a systematic literature review of effective CPD approaches and models for supporting teachers with classroom behaviour. Sixteen primary studies were selected for review and the findings were synthesised using a narrative synthesis approach (Popay et al., 2006). The second phase of this study examines how early career teachers (ECTs) describe their perceptions of, attitudes towards, and responses to behaviour that they perceive as challenging. It also explores ECTs’ experiences of CPD and considers their views on effective support in regard to classroom behaviour. Teachers in their first, second or third year of teaching (N = 10) participated in semi-structured interviews and findings were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019, 2020). The findings of the systematic literature review indicate that effective interventions tend to target either teacher behaviour or teacher cognition, or both, as a means to change. Effective interventions typically use a combination of traditional and transmissive CPD models (Kennedy, 2005) and include active-based learning methods, goal setting or needs assessment, and opportunities to develop relationships with peers or receive personalised feedback from a coach or mentor. The results of the thematic analysis demonstrate how the overarching theme of professional values and beliefs informs how ECTs talk about and respond to challenging behaviour. Four additional themes were identified. The first indicates that ECTs’ perceptions of and attitudes toward particular behaviours point to their views about what a teacher is and does; the second theme explores the tensions experienced by ECTs when determining how to manage classroom behaviour while also meeting the needs of all the children in their class; the third considers that while ECTs generally attribute behaviour that they find challenging to causes outside of their control, this does not prevent them from seeing themselves as impacting classroom behaviour and contributing positively to the solution; and the fourth theme demonstrates that ECTs value support from their colleagues, as well as CPD training activities that are relevant to their circumstances and delivered by those who understand their schools’ context. The study concludes by exploring implications for educational psychologists. It considers future directions for their role in the development, delivery, and facilitation of CPD that supports teachers, particularly those in the early stages of their career, with classroom behaviour that they find challenging

Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development CPD in Algeria and England: A Comparative Study of MFL Teachers in Medea and London

This study explores how Modern Foreign Language (MFL) teachers in two research contexts in Algeria and England perceived their experiences with Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The study also explored the factors that MFL teachers perceived to have either supported or hindered them from engaging with CPD more profitably. The research is timely and original because it is the first empirical research that brings the two contexts together to document MFL teachers’ perceptions of their engagement with CPD. It explores theories of workplace learning, focusing on Situated Learning Theory (SLT) to help unpack the different layers involved in teacher learning. These include the influence of government policy; the institutional learning environment; as well as teachers’ individual dispositions to learning, which forms the conceptual framework for the thesis. Research methods used to collect data in this study were non-participant observation and individual semi-structured interviews. Observations took place during formal CPD sessions of teachers and data was collected from these sessions using field notes. This helped gain an understanding of the CPD provision in the Algerian and English context. Individual semi-structured interviews were held with ten MFL teachers from each of the research contexts to gain an in-depth understanding of their experiences and engagement with CPD. Interviews were also held with two CPD coordinators from Algeria and one CPD coordinator from England to investigate the nature and purpose of the CPD sessions in the eyes of the CPD coordinators. Data analysis was carried out using thematic analysis to provide deeper understandings of teachers’ perceptions of CPD. The study identified teachers’ CPD as a complex phenomenon with an amalgam of influences that impacted upon their learning. There are significant factors affecting MFL teachers’ engagement with CPD including governmental policies that have promoted a culture of performativity and accountability in schools; the expansiveness, and/ or the restrictiveness of the institutional learning environment; as well teachers’ 3 individual dispositions to engage in CPD opportunities. While the findings of this research have provided greater insight into the CPD provision for MFL teachers in both research contexts, it is hoped that it will also inspire for further research that would bring more light to the professional needs of MFL teachers in different educational contexts. Myriad factors need to be considered when planning for formal and informal activities of CPD in secondary schools for MFL teachers. Based on the practical implications of this study, suggestions have been made to guide future CPD provision and make suggestions for school leaders, researchers, and policy makers to bring about changes to MFL teachers’ engagement with CPD and practice