Bridging the gap: investigating teachers' perceptions of professional development and the role of the university
Paper
Paper/Presentation Title | Bridging the gap: investigating teachers' perceptions of professional development and the role of the university |
---|---|
Presentation Type | Paper |
Authors | Baguley, Margaret (Author) and Kerby, Martin (Author) |
Editors | Wright, Jan |
Journal or Proceedings Title | Proceedings of the AARE Conference 2011: Researching Across Boundaries |
ERA Conference ID | 50546 |
Number of Pages | 14 |
Year | 2012 |
Place of Publication | Melbourne, Australia |
Web Address (URL) of Paper | http://www.aare.edu.au/11pap/papers_pdf/aarefinal00462.pdf |
Conference/Event | AARE 2011: Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference 2011: Researching Across Boundaries |
International Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education | |
Event Details | AARE 2011: Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference 2011: Researching Across Boundaries Event Date 27 Nov 2011 to end of 01 Dec 2011 Event Location Hobart, Australia |
Event Details | International Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education |
Abstract | Although professional development in Australian schools is often part of the mandatory requirement for teachers to remain current with policies, practices and pedagogy, some teachers question the relevance of such programs. As Lieberman and McLaughlin (1992) note, many teachers are critical of conventional staff development ventures with workplace driven in-services traditionally being met with ‘aversion’. The perception that such professional development is of limited worth is exacerbated by the very universality of an experience that often sees an entire staff ‘complete’ many hours of passive learning with little apparent relevance to the core business of teaching. At least some of these criticisms can be addressed with the forging of mutually beneficial relationships between schools and universities. Professional development programs run by universities expose teachers, who can feel isolated from educational developments as they grapple with the minutia of a school day, to modern educational thinking. The university lecturers maintain links with the practical application of their research, ensuring that they remain credible experts to successive generations of pre-service teachers. The value of establishing communities of practice, particularly during initial teacher training, between the school in which pre-service teachers undertake practicum, and the university cannot be underestimated. This paper discusses the experiences of two teachers, one working in the school system and the other in the university system in Australia, and their perception of the role of the university in the professional development area. Narrative inquiry methodology has been utilised to provide important insights into the researcher participants’ experiences of professional development in the school and university sector. The findings reveal that there is a disjuncture between the culture of the school and university which are important to their survival but nevertheless also results in partnerships which need to be consistently reviewed. |
Keywords | professional development; collaboration; schools; universities; communities of practice; school-university partnerships |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 390307. Teacher education and professional development of educators |
390303. Higher education | |
390308. Technical, further and workplace education | |
Public Notes | Paper 462. Paper is copyright © by the individual author or authors and may not be reproduced without permission of the author or authors. |
Byline Affiliations | Faculty of Education |
St Joseph's College, Nudgee, Australia | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q13v0/bridging-the-gap-investigating-teachers-perceptions-of-professional-development-and-the-role-of-the-university
Download files
1953
total views192
total downloads1
views this month0
downloads this month