Page 121 - Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education

The Role of Teacher Leadership for Promoting Professional Development Practices

Table 3. Perceived benefit of MBAMP

N P
Teaching Skills
Deepening my mathematics understanding 8 80
Deepening my pedagogical understanding 9 90
Learning new teaching practices 8 80
Sense of Belonging
Part of a professional community of educators 10 100
Feeling connected an less isolated 7 70
Sharing my teaching experience with teachers 10 100
Being a professional outside of the class 8 80
Sharing about your work with MBAMP 8 80
Professional Development Skills
Developing a session to present 6 60
Developing the skills to present to other teachers 7 70
Spreading the word on effective practices 10 100
Planning an institute 8 80
Planning a 1-day conference 7 70

rated and include 100% of the participants reported a benefit of being “part of a professional community
of educators”. Participants also reported sharing their teaching practices (100%), being a professional
outside of the classroom (80%) and sharing what they are doing at MBAMP (80%) to be a benefit as
well. The most common professional development skill reported was 100% of participants identified
spreading the word on effective practices to be a benefit of their work at MBAMP. They also reported
planning an institute (80%) and 1-day conference (70%) to be a benefit as well.
Shaping Classroom Instruction

Participants were asked to share how their participation in the MBAMP organization shaped their class-
room instruction. Similar to the results from the survey above the participants’ responses were generally
related to three specific areas: teaching skills, sense of belonging, and presentation skills. With regards
to teaching skills one participant shared “I have learned specifically how to implement number talks
and use different engagement strategies which encourage my students to communicate and be part of
our discussions about math.” Participant responses also indicate the value of belonging to a professional
development organization with regards to their own motivation and teaching style “being involved in
leadership helps me to stay motivated to teach the way we preach” and “MBAMP helps inspire me to
keep stretching for the next best practice”. Sense of belonging to a professional development organization
was also evident in teacher responses as one teacher shared “It has sustained me through difficult times”
and “I bring more of a spirit of curiosity into my classroom now than I did previously”. With regards to
presentation skills teachers reported “I became more confident in my presentation skills” and “I use my
classroom as a lab to try new lessons or ideas that I consider sharing with other teachers.”

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