Facing the challenge to empower students: A longitudinal case study of Teachers’ professional development

Chen (Mei-Fang)¹, Chen (Hsin-Yi)^1
1National Taiwan Normal University

 

Submission type

Poster only

Scheduled

Hallway, 10-07-2019, 15:30 - 17:00

Keywords

teachers’ professional development, empower students

Summary

Education reform is a crucial issue in Taiwan. The Basic Education extended to 12 years recently; teachers are expected to empower students with differential learning needs, and inspire students to become  life-long learners. Teachers are the Key to quality education. A 6-year  case study of two teacher groups were conducted to investigate the crucial factors for teacher professional development. Multi-faceted qualitative data (focus group interview, observation, and document analyses) were collected. Group A consisted of 130 teachers, who implemented a school-based executive function promoting program in a high school. Group B consisted of 5 teachers working together to develop differentiated and remedial Chinese curriculum for high school students. Data validation were conducted through cross verification from two or more sources. The result can be summarized as following: 1) teachers’ learning derives from experiences in action. Students’ positive improvement is the key inspiring factor; 2) teachers’ transform reveals on transferring learned concepts or strategies to new situations, willing to investigate, and searching for advanced development opportunities; 3) scaffolds and supporting system, such as administrative support and cooperative peer group, are important facilitators; 4) teachers have differential needs during the development; 5) task-oriented mission was found showing clear directions and greater group efficacy. 

Auteurs