Introduction
Models and Best Practices in Teacher Professional
Development
By Mary Hooker, Education Specialist, GeSCI
Task
Models and Best Practices in Teacher Professional
Development
By Mary Hooker, Education Specialist, GeSCI
Objective:
This document presents examples of models and best practices in Teacher Professional
Development (TPD) for ICT in Education. To be effective and successful teacher
professional development should be of high quality and relevant to teachers’ needs.
Introduction:
Education changes, in particular those changes associated with the rhetoric of the global
information society, require staff development activities. In order for changes to be
affected in the classroom, additional technical and pedagogical support is necessary.
Professional Development programmes should include all ‘staff’ who are to contribute
to the implementation of the intended changes – school principals, teachers, and
Process
Models and Best Practices in Teacher Professional
Development
By Mary Hooker, Education Specialist, GeSCI
Objective:
This document presents examples of models and best practices in Teacher Professional
Development (TPD) for ICT in Education. To be effective and successful teacher
professional development should be of high quality and relevant to teachers’ needs.
Introduction:
Education changes, in particular those changes associated with the rhetoric of the global
information society, require staff development activities. In order for changes to be
affected in the classroom, additional technical and pedagogical support is necessary.
Professional Development programmes should include all ‘staff’ who are to contribute
to the implementation of the intended changes – school principals, teachers, and
technical and administrative support personnel. In this section the focus will be on
teachers. Apart from the students themselves, teachers and school leadership are the
main agents of change at the school level.
Information and communication technologies have brought new possibilities to the
education sector, but at the same time, they have placed more demands on teachers.
They now have to learn how to cope with computers in their classrooms, how to
compete with students in accessing the enormous body of information – particularly via
the internet and how to use the hardware and software to enhance the teaching/learning
process. Bhatta (2008) would contend that unless teachers are fully comfortable with
new approaches to teaching inherent in ICT integration, providing students with
computers and educational content alone will have limited impact on the teaching and
learning process. It is also essential that teachers understand that ICT-based education
only changes their role, rather than minimizing or eliminating their role altogether.
Butler and Leahy (2003) would argue that there is a need to develop teachers’ thinking
to that of ‘critical judgment’ (Papert, 1990) to ensure that teachers are not limited by
their current understandings and experiences of digital technologies as a somewhat
intimidating new dimension to their classroom practices. They add that there is a need
Models and Best Practices in Teacher Professional Development
Page 2 of 23
for teachers to be provided with opportunities to reflect on their practice as they make
use of the technologies so that they can become active generators rather than passive
consumers of knowledge. Teachers they believe must be empowered as transformative
agents who through professional development should cultivate “knowledge of practice”
(ibid: 2).
Conclusion
Education changes, in particular those changes associated with the rhetoric of the global
information society, require staff development activities. In order for changes to be
affected in the classroom, additional technical and pedagogical support is necessary.
Professional Development programmes should include all ‘staff’ who are to contribute
to the implementation of the intended changes – school principals, teachers, and
for teachers to be provided with opportunities to reflect on their practice as they make
use of the technologies so that they can become active generators rather than passive
consumers of knowledge. Teachers they believe must be empowered as transformative
agents who through professional development should cultivate “knowledge of practice”
(ibid: 2).