Professional learning: what teachers want to learn

  In light of the argument that many teacher professional development (PD) initiatives are not adapted to meet what teachers say they want to learn, we were interested to learn about teachers’ self-directed learning. The studies in this thesis therefore aimed to address what, how and why teachers want to learn and how this relates to their years of teaching experience and their workplace context. For this purpose 31 teachers from two secondary schools were interviewed and a large-scale questionnaire study with 309 teachers was conducted. From the interview studies we could deduct teachers’ professional learning goals, their professional concerns, the relation between them, and teachers’ perceptions of their workplace as a learning environment. The questionnaire study produced data on teachers’ preferences for learning domains and learning activities and their reasons to learn. The results showed that teachers’ learning was mostly aimed at improving their teaching practice, but also at professional learning in a broader sense, and about issues currently encountered at the school. Learning about communication and classroom organization was a topic mentioned by early- and late-career teachers. Mid-career teachers had learning goals aimed at extra-curricular tasks and at new challenges besides the goals related to their teaching practice.  Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

Tensions experienced by teachers when participating in a professional learning community

Contains fulltext : 199560.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)29 november 201

Professional learning: what teachers want to learn

  In light of the argument that many teacher professional development (PD) initiatives are not adapted to meet what teachers say they want to learn, we were interested to learn about teachers’ self-directed learning. The studies in this thesis therefore aimed to address what, how and why teachers want to learn and how this relates to their years of teaching experience and their workplace context. For this purpose 31 teachers from two secondary schools were interviewed and a large-scale questionnaire study with 309 teachers was conducted. From the interview studies we could deduct teachers’ professional learning goals, their professional concerns, the relation between them, and teachers’ perceptions of their workplace as a learning environment. The questionnaire study produced data on teachers’ preferences for learning domains and learning activities and their reasons to learn. The results showed that teachers’ learning was mostly aimed at improving their teaching practice, but also at professional learning in a broader sense, and about issues currently encountered at the school. Learning about communication and classroom organization was a topic mentioned by early- and late-career teachers. Mid-career teachers had learning goals aimed at extra-curricular tasks and at new challenges besides the goals related to their teaching practice.  </div

The relationship between primary school teacher and student attitudes towards science and technology

Contains fulltext : 149324.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)This study focuses on the effects of teachers' attitudes towards teaching about science and technology on student attitudes towards science and technology. A one-year longitudinal study involving 91 teachers and 1822 students from the higher years of Dutch primary schools showed that students develop less positive attitudes towards science and technology during their primary school years and that girls showed less positive attitudes than boys. Female teachers showed less positive attitudes towards teaching about science and technology than male teachers. Girls appeared to be susceptible of their teacher's attitudes and especially developed less positive attitudes when their female teacher showed less enthusiasm for teaching science and technology. Implications for teacher education and teacher recruitment are discussed.8 p

Understanding teachers’ professional learning from their current professional concerns

In the day-to-day workplace teachers direct their own learning, but little is known about what drives their decisions about what they would like to learn. These decisions are assumed to be influenced by teachers’ current professional concerns. Also, teachers in different professional life phases have different reasons for engaging in professional learning. In this study, we explored the professional concerns underlying teachers’ learning goals in order to understand variation in professional learning over a teacher’s career. In this qualitative study, we administered a semi-structured interview and a card sorting task to 15 secondary school teachers to elicit teachers’ learning goals and current professional concerns. By conceptually combining teachers’ learning goals with professional concerns in concern-goal pairs, we sought to understand the different reasons for teachers’ learning. These concern-goal pairs were characterized in three different types of reasons: continuous, growth and improvement, and work-management. The results showed that early career teachers have mainly growth and improvement concerns, whereas mid- and late-career teachers have both continuous and growth and improvement concerns. Work-management concerns differ for early- and late-career teachers. Results are further discussed in terms of professional life phase models and teachers’ developmental tasks throughout their career.Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

Exploring the relation between teachers’ perceptions of workplace conditions and their professional learning goals

Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

Personalizing learning with mobile technology in a secondary school in the Netherlands: Effects on students’ autonomy support, learning motivation and achievement

Personalizing learning with technology in secondary schools is a way to empower students to take control of their learning. The more learners can direct their own learning experiences, including path, pace and instructional approach, the more they may learn what they want and need to learn. In a quasi-experimental design, data about the implementation and evaluation of three interventions in one secondary school in the Netherlands have been gathered with student questionnaires and regular exams. In these three interventions, each lasting one entire school year, teachers attempted to support their students’ autonomy in decisions during their learning process. Effects on students’ perceived autonomy support, learning motivation and their achievement have been examined. One intervention – the one with the highest scores on perceived autonomy support – shows small positive effects on students’ learning motivation and their achievement. Learner control over structural aspects of the curriculum, such as students’ autonomy to choose their tasks for practicing and reviewing and the way to complete them, is a possible effective way of designing personalizing learning in secondary education. In future research, more attention should be addressed to which combination of autonomy supportive activities might be effective. These effects might also be different for different student groups, based on, for example, their learning preferences and abilities

Understanding teachers’ professional learning goals from their current professional concerns

In the day-to-day workplace teachers direct their own learning, but little is known about what drives their decisions about what they would like to learn. These decisions are assumed to be influenced by teachers’ current professional concerns. Also, teachers in different professional life phases have different reasons for engaging in professional learning. In this study, we explored the professional concerns underlying teachers’ learning goals in order to understand variation in professional learning over a teacher’s career. In this qualitative study, we administered a semi-structured interview and a card sorting task to 15 secondary school teachers to elicit teachers’ learning goals and current professional concerns. By conceptually combining teachers’ learning goals with professional concerns in concern-goal pairs, we sought to understand the different reasons for teachers’ learning. These concern-goal pairs were characterized in three different types of reasons: continuous, growth and improvement, and work-management. The results showed that early career teachers have mainly growth and improvement concerns, whereas mid- and late-career teachers have both continuous and growth and improvement concerns. Work-management concerns differ for early- and late-career teachers. Results are further discussed in terms of professional life phase models and teachers’ developmental tasks throughout their career.Teaching and Teacher Learning (ICLON

Explicit and implicit measures of teacher attitudes toward science and technology

Item does not contain fulltextIn this chapter, teacher attitudes towards science and technology and the way these attitudes can be accessed in empirical research are discussed. The study of teacher attitudes towards science and technology is highly relevant, since teacher attitudes seem strong predictors of the quality of their teaching and of student attitudes and performance (Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003)