Professional development

About: Professional development is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 81108 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1316681 citations.

Re-thinking continuing professional development through changing metaphors and location in professional practices

Abstract: Many professions have requirements for professional development activities to ensure continuing registration or membership. These commonly focus on participation in a limited range of activities. This paper questions the assumptions behind such approaches and what alternatives might be considered. It explores the suitability of metaphors used for continuing professional education and suggests that continuing professional development might be better conceptualised within practice theory. It identifies what a practice theory view of continuing professional development might involve and discusses the implications, particularly the notion of locating development within the practices of work.

Roles and responsibilities of the problem based learning tutor in the undergraduate medical curriculum

Abstract: Over recent decades, many countries have recognised that traditional undergraduate medical education must change substantially in order to match the changing healthcare needs of the population and become more centred on the students. 1 2 This changes the role of medical educators. Problem based learning is one approach to reform that has international credibility. Numerous undergraduate medical curriculums have incorporated problem based learning; in 1992-3, 27 North American medical curriculums were using this approach, 14 of them across the board.3 In 1993, three systematic reviews of problem based learning in undergraduate medical education were published. These reviews, spanning 20 years, were cautiously optimistic about the short term and long term outcomes of problem based learning compared with traditional approaches.4–6 They found that the results for students' evaluation of the programme; students' attendance, mood, and clinical performance; and faculty attitudes were better for problem based learning—even allowing for different definitions, curricular context and costs, and study design in the evidence base. Evidence about the coverage of basic science and curricular costs is conflicting,5 but Berkson believed that the students' enjoyment4 of the adult learning route to competence6 countered these concerns or unrealistic expectations. Traditional medical schools face many difficulties—from the resistance of staff7 to underresourcing6—in converting comprehensively to problem based learning. These pitfalls were illustrated in the unsuccessful attempt to convert Otago Medical School, New Zealand.8 The pioneering problem based undergraduate medical curriculums originated in new medical schools—McMaster, Canada; Maastricht, Holland; and Newcastle, Australia. Nevertheless, large scale conversion continues, and includes (since the mid-1990s) the first British medical schools—Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. This reflects the recommendations of the General Medical Council2 and worldwide imperatives to incorporate theories of adult and problem focused education. Problem based learning is characterised by …

A Comparison of Beginning and Experienced Teachers' Concerns.

Abstract: Over the past thirty years, numerous studies confirmed that new teachers do not have the requisite knowledge to understand the complex interrelationships among management, behavior, and academic tasks. An important missing piece in the literature is how the concerns of experienced teachers differ from those cited by beginning teachers. Based on previous research, this study compares beginning and experienced teachers' concerns with respect to managing classroom behavior, dealing with time constraints and work load, parent interactions, and academic preparation. This paper examines these complex relationships by comparing a national sample of beginning teachers to a national cross-section of experienced teachers to ascertain if beginning teachers' concerns diminish with experience. Significant differences were found on the Classroom Management and Parent Interaction scales while no differences were found on the Academic Preparation and Time Management scales. This study points to a number of issues important to teacher educators responsible for preparing candidates for initial certification as well as to school district personnel responsible for mentoring new teachers and strengthening professional development for in-service teachers. Theoretical Framework Three in-depth reviews of thie literature offer a comprehensive examination of preservice to inservice teacher transition over the past thirty years. Veenman (1984) analyzed eighty-three international empirical studies to identify the most serious problems of beginning teachers. A problem was defined as a difficulty that beginning teachers encounter in the performance of their work, which hinders the achievement of intended goals. Beginning teachers were defined as teachers who had not yet completed three years of teaching after receiving initial teacher certification. Veenman culled fifteen of the most serious problems and classified and rank ordered them according to tiieir importance. The eight most serious problems that new teachers reported in order of importance were as follows: classroom discipline, motivating pupils, dealing with individual differences, assessing pupils' work, relations with parents, organization of class work, insufficient materials and supplies, and dealing with problems of individual pupils. The next seven in rank order were as follows: heavy teaching load resulting in insufficient preparation time; relations with colleagues; planning of lessons and schooldays; effective use of different teaching methods; awareness of school policies and rules; determining learning level of students; and tied for fifteenth knowledge of subject matter, burden of clerical work, and relations with principals/administrators. Veenman' s ( 1987) continued work added several more studies to the data base, bringing the total number of studies to one hundred. The eight most serious problems remained the same, although the rank order changed stightly. Insufficient materials and supplies traded rank order witii organization of classwork in this second group of studies. Kagan (1992) examined forty "learning to teach" studies published or presented between 1987 and 1991. Twenty-seven of the studies dealt with preservice teachers; thirteen, with first-year or beginning teachers. All forty studies were naturalistic and qualitative in methodology. This group of studies confirmed that preservice teachers enter teacher education programs with personal beliefs about images of good teachers, images of themselves as teachers, and memories of themselves as students. These personal beliefs and images of preservice teachers remain unchanged by their teacher certification programs and follow them into classroom practica student teaching, and inservice teaching. Thus, new teachers approach the classroom with pre-conceived personal beliefs about teaching and students. This lack of change in attitudes and beliefs translates to a classroom reatity that does not meet their expectations. …