Page 16 - Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education

Preface

needsfordiscreteskilllearningbasedonpresetlearningoutcomes,whilethelatteraddresseslongterm
needsbasedondevelopmentpersonallyidentifiedwhichrequiredcognitiveprocessingofwhatislearnt.
Knowledgegeneratedinthiswaymightleadtomorepermanentlearninganddevelopingownershipof
self-constructedknowledge.Learnersaretheprimarybeneficiariesasopposedtoactorsandlearningis
theultimateprocessthatneedspromotingthroughtheimpactofPDparticipation.

Professional Development Methods and Strategies

Severaldifferentmethodsandstrategiesareemployedtopromoteteachers’knowledge,beliefsand
skillswhichcouldplayakeyroleinenhancingstudents’learningandpromotingschooldevelopment,
whichinturncontributetosocio-intellectualprogress.Ingeneraltherearetwogeneralparadigmsto
theconceptofprofessionaldevelopment.Oneisthetop-downmodelswhichareplanned,designedand
deliveredbythosepartieswhoarenotgoingtobenefitdirectlyfromtheinterventionnamelydecision
makerssuchasadministratorsorcoordinators.Theotherisbottomupmodelswhichprioritizethose
whowillbenefitfromtheinterventions,namelytheteachers.Inthelatterteachersaregiventhecontrol
oftheirownprofessionaldevelopmentwithlittleorminimizedinterferencefromotherssuchastrainers,
supervisorsormentors.Teachers’ownneedsandideasarecentralizedinthesemodels,thushelping
themsustaintheirprofessionaldevelopmentwithanintrinsicmotivationwhichincludesapurposeto
fulfilorabenefittomakeattheend.Ontheotherhand,theformermaynotbeaddressingandcover-
ingteachersownneedsandunderstanding,thusleadingtolittleornopositiveimpactattheendofthe
engagementintheactivities.
MostPDmodelsrequireprinciplesofbottom-upparadigm,whichissupportedbytop-downre-
sources.Thisclarifiestheroleofeachparty.Teachers’rolehasshiftedfromtherecipientofknowledge
toconstructorofit,whichhasalsochangedPDproviders’rolefromsourceofknowledgetosupporters
ofpersonalandsocialknowledgeconstruction.However,itshouldbenotedthattopdownmodelsare
notcompletelyignoredbutarechanginginnature.Whentopdowndecisionsaretakeninrelationto
theneedsoftheteachers,andtheguidanceandcontrolofthetrainingprocessisshareddemocratically,
whereteachersalsoplaykeyrolesinlearningnewknowledgeandskills,thentopdownmodelsarenot
tobeharshlycriticized.Similarly,bottomupmodelsmayalsobringaboutfailureincreatingefficient
impactandresultsiftheparticipantsaretotallygiventhecontrolofthetrainingprocess.First,itcould
bebecausetraineesorteachersmaynotpossesstheskillsandknowledgetodecideproperlyonexact
PDprocedurestobefollowed.Second,generalorganizationofPDcanbeevaluatedanddevelopedon
thebasisoftheexpertinputandperspectivewithoutanyrelevancetotheactuallyneedsofthetrainees.
ItisthenclearthattwomodelsshouldgohandinhandtoensurequalityofPDandclearandobservable
influenceoftheparticipants.

Scope of Professional Development

Inthelightofthediscussionhitherto,itisnecessarytoconsiderasetofninestandardsthatallprofessional
developmentshouldfollowwhichwerehighlightedbyTheNationalStaffDevelopmentCouncil(2007):
contentknowledgeandqualityteaching,research-basis,collaboration,diverselearningneeds,student
learningenvironments,familyinvolvement,evaluation,data-drivendesign,andteacherlearning.This

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