Background/Purpose: There is growing recognition of the importance of providing teachers with professional development (PD) opportunities where learning is aligned, coherent, and sustained (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). Therefore, to be successful, PD must take into consideration how teachers learn and be intentionally designed to enhance and foster that learning.
Method: The purpose of this study was to examine the conceptions of physical education PD viewed as successful by both facilitators (N = 14) and participating teachers (N = 103). Data sources included: a) formal and informal interviews with facilitators and participants, b) field notes from observations of teacher development sessions, and c) artifacts.
Analysis/Results: Responses to individual interview questions were analyzed using open and axial coding (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). Results indicated that facilitators viewed success as focusing on teacher capacity building. Likewise teachers, who had experienced carefully facilitated and sustained PD where they were viewed as learners and active seekers of knowledge, going beyond the simple acquisition of new ideas and skills, felt empowered. Participants highlighted experiences that were transformative, providing voice, ownership, and empowerment while focusing on student learning.
Conclusions: Overall these results provide insight into views of the pedagogy of PD and the context in which it is most successful. Findings further discount the notion that ‘one size fits all', one-shot PD is beneficial to teachers. Results indicate a picture of PD requiring facilitators to adopt more encompassing goals and take greater responsibility for the outcomes of their efforts (Stein et al., 1999).
See more of: Research Consortium