Against Professional Development

This paper raises questions about the sort of knowledge which has come to count as professional development knowledge. The author interrogates the curriculum and pedagogy of academic professional development programs in Australian universities, drawing parallels with Third World development programs. She argues that professional development knowledge is privileged over disciplinary knowledge in setting lifelong learning agendas for academics, and notes some problematic consequences of this for academics engaged in professional development programs

Charting collective knowledge: Technology-enhanced professional learning

The workplace is an environment where powerful, deep and effective learning takes place through non-formal workplace learning, as well as through formal training and education. This article describes a mechanism to enhance learning at work by capitalising on collective knowledge within an organisation. Two scenarios are presented illustrating how individual and group learning and performance may be improved. These scenarios are based on empirical data of knowledge work practices within a multinational organization

Mathematics teachers’ professional knowledge

This paper addresses the study of teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, conceptions and practices, presenting some illustrations from the area of problem solving. In mathematics education, the teacher has attracted much less work than the student. This may be due, in part, to the different knowledge base of interest in each case. Regarding students, we are concerned with their learning of mathematics. The nature of mathematical knowledge is itself problematic, yet that does not seem to raise too many difficulties for our work. Regarding teachers, it is much less clear what is the specific knowledge (nec-essary for teaching mathematics) that we should be looking at. Is it knowledge of math-ematics content? Of mathematics pedagogy? Of students’ cognitive processes? Some mixture of several of these? In the first part of the paper I will briefly review work done on teachers’ professional knowledge and related concepts within and outside PME. Then, I will present cases taken from empirical research and discuss a few concepts used in our investigations. And in the final part I will contrast some general frameworks to study mathematics teachers’ professional knowledge and draw some perspectives for future work

Migrating professional knowledge: progressions, regressions, and dislocations

Drawing on practice-based learning theory, this chapter examines issues pertaining to the deskilling of immigrant professionals in Canada. It argues that adult educators need to have an awareness of transnational migration dynamics and work in meaningful ways to keep immigrant professionals connected to professional knowledge practices

Active Facilitation: What Do Specialists Need to Know and How Might They Learn It?

Sustained, innovative professional development is now widely acknowledged as essential to the improvement of mathematics instruction in the nation’s schools. In recent years, this recognition has prompted the production of a variety of materials designed to support new teacher development programs. However, with the availability of such materials, serious concerns arise as to the kinds of knowledge required of professional development providers, often teachers who have been assigned Mathematics Specialist roles, and the means by which this knowledge is to be acquired. The authors of this paper address such questions in the context of one professional development seminar, Developing Mathematical Ideas [1]. Our paper builds on the research of Remillard and Geist who identify the potential for learning in those moments of discontinuity—“openings in the curriculum —in which the beliefs, knowledge, and commitments of seminar participants diverge from those of facilitators or materials developers [2]. By looking closely at several such moments. we establish how successful facilitation entails deep content knowledge, awareness of seminar goals, and appreciation of the beliefs and understandings of seminar participants. We then describe the kinds of supports available to DMI facilitators to help them cultivate the skills and knowledge needed to exploit these openings productively. While the paper focuses particularly on professional development seminars. we suggest that our conclusions apply to Mathematics Specialists‘ tasks more generally

Professional Development Principles for Teachers of English Language Learners

Since effective professional development is logically embedded in the reality of schools and teachers‘ work, it stands to reason that the principal would consider that reality for teachers of English language learners (ELL). Certainly, in general, professional development would incorporate principles of adult learning as reported by Knowles (1980): (1) adult learners need to be self-directed; (2) they display readiness to learn when they have a perceived need; and (3) they desire immediate application of new skills and knowledge. Based on adult learning theory, then, principals would provide teachers of ELLs professional development that addresses a need for self-direction, that addresses their particular needs, and that addresses the desire to apply what is learned. Time and created situations whereby teachers can dialogue with other teachers and principals can dialogue with other principals is critical for the effective application of the knowledge gained in professional development sessions and afterward as well

The relationship between recalled self-esteem as a child and current levels of professional burnout among Anglican clergy in England

This study links and tests three strands of theory concerned with explaining individual differences in levels of professional burnout in general and among religious professionals in particular. These three strands concern the significance of current self-esteem, recalled self-esteem as a child, and personality. Data were provided by a sample of 1,278 male stipendiary parochial clergy working in the Church of England who completed the modified Maslach Burnout Inventory (specially designed for use among clergy), and the short-form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (designed to measure the personality dimensions of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism), together with a semantic differential index of recalled self-esteem as a child. The bivariate correlation coefficients demonstrated significant associations between more positive self-esteem as a child and lower levels of professional burnout (higher personal accomplishment, lower emotional exhaustion and lower depersonalisation). The bivariate correlation coefficients also demonstrated significant associations between personality and professional burnout. Multiple regression analyses, however, demonstrated that the association between recalled self-esteem as a child and professional burnout largely disappeared after controlling for the personality variables. The conclusion is drawn that knowledge about the personality profile of clergy functions as a more secure predictor of susceptibility to professional burnout than knowledge about recalled self-esteem as a child

HOW ROMANIAN FINANCIAL AND INTERNAL AUDITORS ACQUIRE ACCOUNTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS KNOWLEDGE AND COMPETENCES?

Research theme - in this article we investigate how Romanian financial and internal auditors acquire accounting information systems knowledge and competences and how they use this knowledge to improve their activity in order to fulfill their mission as required by the professional standards. Objectives - our main purpose is to establish through what type of courses Romanian financial and internal auditors acquiring accounting information systems knowledge and competences and how useful these courses are perceived by the auditors. Prior work - audit professional organizations prescribed that auditors must acquire, maintain and develop their knowledge and competences. Information technology and information systems are considered to be a main knowledge component of professional development programs. The scientific literature indicates that auditors have to enhance their information systems knowledge in order to cope with the increasing complexity of the client's entities accounting information systems. We consider that our article embraces Curtis et al. (2009) call for research on how auditors obtain information systems knowledge. Methodology - an electronic questionnaire was created and sent to Romanian financial and internal auditors, which were required to indicate the number of accounting information systems course they attended and how the knowledge gained improved their activity. Results - We concluded that financial auditors acquire accounting information systems knowledge mainly by attending the courses organized by the Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romanian, while internal auditors by attending the course organized by the companies they are working with. Implications - The results of this study might be used by Romanian professional audit organizations in reconsidering their priorities regarding the accounting information systems knowledge and competence needs of their constituents. Originality/Contribution - Our study is the first one to investigate how financial and internal auditors acquire accounting information systems knowledge.accounting information systems, auditors, knowledge

A Comparison of Information Systems Coverage in the CPA, CIA and CMA Examinations for the Period 1987-1991

In recent years, three major accounting professional organizations, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and Internal Auditors Institute (IIA) have considered and issued statements on the body of knowledge deemed necessary for practice as a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor. In each instance, knowledge and skills in information systems technology were included. This is not surprising, in view of the fact that changes in technology have dramatically altered the way in which accounting data is gathered, processed, stored, accessed and reported. Each of these professional organizations also requires or recommends the passing of an organization-sponsored certification examination for entry into or recognition within the various practice areas. While the examinations are not the only means of assessing the knowledge and skills necessary for certification, they are an important tool in evaluating the extent of the qualifications presented by a candidate. In view of the above, one may postulate that the certification examination, in each instance, would include coverage of the areas of knowledge included in the prerequisite body of knowledge. In particular, since each of the professional groups cite information systems (IS) knowledge as an important knowledge component, one would expect to observe test items addressing current IS in each exam