Development and Validation of an Instrument of Continuing Professional Development for Inservice Physical Educators
The purpose of this study was to design and validate an instrument of continuing professional development for inservice physical educators. Professional development opportunities for teachers have been recognized for improving classroom practices for greater student achievement (Garet, Porter, & Desimone, 2001; Hirsh, 2004; U.S. Department of Education, 2004). It is important to identify the work that is taking place in the area of continuing professional development in physical education. Presently, professional development data are not available for this academic domain. A total of 218 PK-12 physical educators completed the research questionnaire which included two distinct inventories, (a) the Teacher's Continuing Professional Development Inventory (TCPDI) and (b) the Self-Regulated Learning Dispositions Inventory (Wittenburg, 2000) for Teachers (SRLDI-T). Perceptions and opinions of continuing professional development experiences and the individual learning process, particularly self-regulated learning attributes, were examined. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate analysis. Exploratory factor analysis utilized a principle component analysis with varimax rotation. Items within factors with coefficients ¬>.40 were retained within the matrix. Any items with cross loadings were omitted from the matrix. Cronbach's Alpha was used for the internal reliability testing. Two factors with six and nine item loadings respectively were identified within the TCPDI and SRLDI-T. Cronbach's Alpha reliability computed at (a) .697 for factor one from the TCPDI, Self-Direction/Development, and (b) .854 for factor two from the SRLDI-T, Pro-active Engagement. All nine items within factor one of the SRLDI-T had a reflective implication and were expressive of actions taking place, linking to one of the original SRLDI (Wittenburg, 2000) dispositions labeled Pro-active Reflection. In the context of inservice physical educators, this disposition may interpretively address pro-active engagement, encompassing reflective planning and reflective analysis. The six items within factor one of the TCPDI and four items within factor one of the SRLDI-T encompassed attributes based in autonomous actions and self-direction/development. This suggests a learner-centered position on behalf of learning (Vorhaus, 2002). Within this study, learning was encapsulated within continuing professional development. Therefore, those teachers who take charge of, guide, and direct their self-development or professional development, actively participate and regulate a true agentic pursuit of education. Future studies will involve (a) re-validation of this instrument, (b) a confirmatory factor analysis, and (c) investigation into the relationship between self-regulated learning and continuing professional development.