The roles of professional development leaders

Professional development leaders play a crucial role in effective professional development. However, they are underresearched and often lack opportunities for their own professional development. This article summarises findings from an ongoing series of studies focused on the leadership of professional development. These include a model of professional development leadership, which defines three roles: coordinator, designer and facilitator; and the learning and practices used by facilitators of professional development, including how they learn and enact their roles and the choices they make in their practice. These studies support improved understanding of the leadership of professional development, in turn helping to identify ways in which those operating in the roles of professional development leader can be better supported

MS

thesisPrevention of infection remains a challenge to the implementation of the percutaneous sseointegrated implant technology of prosthetic limb attachment in amputees. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if a broad spectrum antimicrobial, Ceragenins™ (CSA - 13), could prevent pin track infections in a percutaneous pin wound site in a sheep model. The pin was inserted through both cortices of the proximal tibia and protruded through the skin on the medial side of the hind leg. All twenty sheep received the smooth titanium alloy pin. Ten sheep were treated with a polyurethane foam pad coated with a CSA-13-polyurethane polymer conjugate, and ten sheep served as controls receiving an uncoated, sterile foam pad. The sheep were euthanized at the end of the 24-week trial or when they presented with clinical signs of pin track infection. After euthanasia, cultures were obtained of muscle, blood, and bone, and muscle and bone were harvested for histology. In addition to the clinical signs of infection, the sheep was considered infected if at least one tissue culture was positive and/or one histologically stained sample was found positive. Statistical analysis included Kaplan-Meier survivorship curves to display time to pin track infection rates and the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test to compare the Appositional Bone Index between the groups

Modern Yoga in America

Yoga’s immense growth and popularity during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, along with its proliferation into countless varieties and styles, presents teachers, students, and scholars with the question: “What is yoga?” Answering this question requires the investigation of a number of cultural, historical and philosophical tensions at play in modern expressions of this ancient tradition: (1) Is modern postural yoga (MPY)—the yoga widely practiced in studios across the country today—an authentic expression of yoga or is it simply another form of physical fitness? (2) Does the modern focus on the physical dimension of yoga forsake its original purpose of pursuing spiritual enlightenment? (3) Should the academic study of yoga proceed through a scientific study of yoga’s health benefits or through a humanistic study of yoga as a religious, cultural and philosophical phenomenon? This paper will explore these questions by tracing the history of modern postural yoga to uncover the sources of these tensions and the cultural forces that have kept them in play. The paper will then offer suggestions as to how such tensions can be navigated productively by both scholars and practitioners

Building capacity for professional development: the development of teachers as facilitators in Ghana

In low and middle income countries, cascade models of teacher professional development are often used as routes to educational reform. In these models, external agents deliver professional development which is then disseminated by in-country facilitators. However, little is known about how to support facilitators of professional development, particularly in low and middle income countries. In this study, we report on a model of capacity building for professional development in Ghana. In the context of a large-scale programme of science teacher professional development, a group of Ghanaian teachers gradually assumed responsibility for professional development facilitation, working alongside experienced facilitators from the UK. Using interviews focussed on a storyline technique, we explore the experiences of the Ghanaian teachers as they reflected on their roles. We found the teachers’ epistemological beliefs about teaching were coherent with those of the programme and suggest that this may be an important factor in the success of cascade models of professional development. The teachers gained self-confidence and improved their knowledge and skills of teaching and of professional development facilitation. We propose that this is useful learning for all facilitators and that the model described here is one which is potentially useful for capacity building in other contexts

Developing the developers : supporting and researching the learning of professional development facilitators

Research on teacher professional development is extensive but there are fewer studies about the practitioners who facilitate professional development. Here we report on a pilot programme for professional development facilitators rooted in a cycle of action research. Informed by a categorisation of professional knowledge and skills of facilitators, in the ‘developing the developers’ programme, professional development facilitators enquired collaboratively into their practice using video observation and peer review and engaged with theories of professional learning. The impact of the programme was evaluated using a framework based on Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (2002) interconnected model of teacher professional growth. The programme was effective in allowing participants to gain insights into their practice to develop it further and to identify participants’ learning needs. The latter related to improving facilitation skills and knowledge and improving knowledge about professional development. The interconnected model was found to be applicable to professional development facilitators with some adaptations. Its use enabled understanding of the impacts of the programme and the learning processes involved. Although limited in scale, our study offers a model for professional development that is potentially useful in other contexts. Further, the theoretical frameworks developed may support the design and evaluation of similar programmes