Professional development of Teacher Educators: What do they do? Findings from an explorative international study among teacher educators
Professional development of Teacher Educators: What do they do? Findings from an explorative international study among teacher educators
Samenvatting
The professional development of teacher educators is increasingly acknowledged as a topic of paramount importance. This is partly due to the stronger emphasis on improving the quality of teacher education programs and as a consequence of the increasing focus on lifelong learning of those responsible for teaching student teachers. Teacher educators themselves are also showing a greater interest in their own professional development, which is reflected in the rise of publications on this topic. A number of recent studies have been devoted to teacher educators' professional development, with the emphasis on induction of novice teacher educators. The attention for professional development beyond the induction stage is also increasing however studies that allow an international comparison of further professional development practices are rather scarce.
Over the past two years the RDC Professional Development of Teacher Educators conducted an explorative international comparison to deepen our understanding in this area. The main research theme of this study concerned experienced teacher educators' ongoing professional development activities and how these may contribute to the further development of their qualities and the kinds of factors (person-related and institute-related) that impact, positively or negatively, their professional development. The study focused on teacher educators with at least 5 years and no more than 20 years experience as a teacher educator. In total 23 teacher educators from a range of different countries participated in the study. A highly structured interview guideline was adopted to ensure sufficient opportunities for comparison between the interviewees' answers. Existing research instruments were inspected and all RDC members were involved in the process of composing the interview guideline. Topics for its content were discussed during the RDC meetings at the 2009 ATEE Conference at Majorca, and later on members were invited to provide feedback by e-mail on the draft version. All interviews have been transcribed, and were sent to the interviewees for their approval of the interview report.
This presentation will provide a comparison analysis of the interview data followed by an interpretation of its outcomes and its implications for improving practice and further research.
Organisatie | Fontys |
Afdeling | Fontys Lerarenopleiding Tilburg |
Lectoraat | Lectoraat Professionalisering van leraren en lerarenopleiders |
Jaar | 2011 |
Type | Conferentiebijdrage |
Taal | Engels |