Section archive - Professional Development

This qualitative case study examined K-8 in-service teachers’ interactions with pedagogical contexts in a chemistry professional development course.

In this study, the authors were interested to understand how lesson study (LS) protocols were adapted to suit local school conditions and contexts and the kinds of problems and constraints the schools faced in the implementation process. The Sixty-four schools responded to three survey questionnaires. The findings reveal that 56 schools implemented LS. Twenty-nine schools indicated that they would definitely continue implementing LS. The results show that in 22 schools LS was initiated by school leaders such as principals and vice-principals.

The current article describes a collaborative professional development experience with student teaching supervisors. The participants were 98 preservice teachers and 16 early childhood supervisors from early childhood teacher education program at a large, public university in the southeastern United States. The findings reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the project. The findings offered some suggestions to improve the collaborative professional development. The authors conclude with the recommendation that university-based personnel must understand the complexity of school-based supervision and work to find ways to foster more collaborative and supportive relationships with supervisors.

This paper focuses on teachers’ learning in a research and development (R&D) work project. The purpose of this article is to show what teachers can learn and how they can learn during such a project. During the R&D work the teachers learn how reflections become part of the planning process for their next teaching sessions.