Part+IV+-+Chapter+18

Submitted by Sarah Breyer


 * Section IV – Chapter 18

Teacher Beliefs and Professional Development**

Diane August and Margarita Calderon

August, D. & Shanahan, T. (2006). Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

	**Overview of Chapter / Report and Critique of the Research:**


 * This chapter gives an extensive overview of the research conducted in the area of professional development with regard to teaching students with special needs and also ESL students. There are two studies that look specifically at the attitudes and beliefs of teachers, which are thought to influence what happens in the classroom. The additional five studies reveal information about professional development for teachers, exclusively those who teach English-as-a-second-language and/or those who teach language minority students with learning disabilities.


 * The National Staff Development Council (NSDC) defines staff development as “the continuous education of teachers, administrators, and other employees; it often incorporates collaborative work among other teachers and principals; and it applies to specific learning strategies, as well as planning and decision making (National Staff Development Council, 2001) (August & Calderon 2006, p 555). The researchers go on further to highlight the necessity for professional development, which leads to better instructional practices and improved student learning. When professional development is effective it aids teachers in becoming better teachers while allowing them to infuse learned professional development strategies into practice in their own classrooms.


 * The studies focusing on teacher beliefs and attitudes highlighted the fact that all teachers have their own set of beliefs. The way a teacher run his or her class aligns with his or her theoretical beliefs and this can influence student performance in many ways. Therefore, if two teachers attend the same professional development, return to his or her classroom and implement the exact same strategies learned, there may or may not be two different outcomes with the students in the two classrooms. It is important that this is pointed out in the research because often there is a “blanket” statement that makes readers believe that all teachers and students will receive the same instruction based on the same professional development when this may not be the case at all. Teacher training can have an effect on the level of awareness teachers have of their own beliefs and practices allowing them to reflect on the influence of their attitude on the instruction of their students.


 * More explicitly, the studies focusing on Bilingual, ESL, and Special Education explore the “development of literacy alone or in the context of teaching content to these students” (p 557). These studies looked at training to facilitate teachers with the ability to specifically deal with reading to children, literacy acquisition, and literature sharing strategies. The results of one study determined there was an increase in the teachers’ use of effective after professional development training. Yet another study described the implementation of discussion among teacher-directed learning and the findings showed that the teachers’ conception of effective practice evolved over time (p 558). The results of the study indicated that a balanced approach to teaching provides students with the best learning environment where there is both direct instruction and also the use of instructional conversations allowing for students to give their input in instruction and assessment as well.
 * Additional professional development training was explored through studies on “professional development institutes where there are multidistrict trainers of trainers who focus on literacy development. This institute idea provided teachers with theory training, coaching, practice of ideas taught, and encouragement to use the models in classroom practice through coaching checklists and collection of information about implementation” (p 559). Teachers reported with this particular professional development, they used it, it worked for their language-minority students, and the teachers also felt confident to aid colleagues to use these effective strategies. The researchers in the report make an important point in saying, “to ensure that the training would be used, it is necessary to present theory, model the instructional strategies, and give teachers the opportunity to practice with feedback and extensive support” (p 559). The hands on approach to professional development is evident in both the teaching of ESL and special education students.


 * Overall, the studies presented in this research study gave an excellent and extensive overview in the areas of professional development pertaining to the instruction of ESL and Special Education students. The researchers point out that “ it is best to think of professional development as including three outcomes: change in teachers’ classroom practices, change in their beliefs and attitudes, and change in students’ learning outcomes” (p 562). The findings showed two dimensions of change; practices and beliefs. All parties involved in professional development – teachers, administrators, trainers, trainees, and students – must keep an open and willing mind and be eager and ready for change in both practice and personal theory.


 * 	Recommendations from the Research:**


 * The research discussed above, outlines the necessity for teachers to approach professional development with the willingness to modify and change his or her current practice and theoretical befilefs. The recommendations for coaching are extremely important for any professional development training to be effectively implemented fully and correctly. Teachers often attend valuable professional development training that never is implemented correctly or fully because of the lack of coaching and guidance into practice.
 * In an ideal setting, where budget was not a determining factor, each school site would have a professional development coach assigned to the school by the company providing the professional development training. This person would be at the school site for a few weeks after the training to answer questions and to see the new practices in action in the classroom. This would ensure that the teachers who attended the training were not only implementing the acquired strategies correctly, but the teachers also would have a professional and qualified mentor to guide them trough the full implementation process. Teachers would also be able to turn to these experts to answer questions and provide both mental and practical support for teachers.


 * 	NLP Research Recommendations:**


 * Personal Recommendation:


 * Professional development must be applicable and desired by teachers at any school site. The requests of the teachers must be considered when deciding what professional development will be conducted. Teachers know what the students in their classrooms would benefit from and also what would make them better teachers.


 * Teachers observing teachers in a non-threatening, open environment would allow for teachers to become more comfortable around each other and also allow for knowledge and ideas to be spread around the school and the district. At the beginning of the school year, or during summer meetings, it would be beneficial for teachers to be able to sign up and volunteer to be observed or to go and observe fellow colleagues in action. This would allow for those who want to participate be able to and those who feel they would rather not they would not feel obligated.


 * Implementation of Recommendation:**


 * The rules for observing: all “negative” feedback would need to be formatted in a positive and non-threatening way in order to keep the observations useful and constructive. Teachers who are being observed will pick the date and time to be observed. People who are wishing to observe this teacher would need to sign up through the list in the teacher’s lounge or through the district website if there are teachers at schools willing to bring in teachers from other schools. Teachers who will be observing will need to aid in the coordination of getting someone to “cover” their class for them. In order to keep the cost for hiring substitute teachers to a minimum here are a list of alternative ideas. Possible solutions: the use of aids at school, resource teachers, EL teachers/coaches, administration, student teachers, or through obtaining a substitute using a professional development substitute. Ideally, a teacher would be able to observe several teachers in one day in order to make use of the substitute, however if a student teacher or person in administration was covering a class, the observation would more likely be for half of a day or in a classroom at one’s own school site. Teacher’s being observed would be encouraged to set up a time convenient for both parties in order to allow for questions to be asked and for the observers comments to be shared. Allowing for this type of open dialogue would be necessary on order to promote a “safe” and effective share of information and knowledge.


 * Both beginning and veteran teachers would benefit from this type of professional, practical exchange. The observation set-up is informal, which breaks down the intimidation barrier and there is also time allotted to share ideas learned, and suggestions to be made. Beginning teachers complete an immense amount of observation hours during their undergraduate degree requirements, however this is not as useful or practical as it would be in the initial stages of their careers. Veteran teachers have a great deal of experience and knowledge that only comes with the years of teaching in a classroom full of unique students. It is also important to note that veteran teachers can also benefit from observing beginning teachers who are new and fresh in their career with innovative inspirations.

**Links for additional Resources:**


 * http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/PDModels.html
 * http://www.cal.org/services/eslworkshops.html
 * http://memory.loc.gov/learn/educators/index.html
 * http://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/
 * http://www.teachervision.fen.com/pro-dev/resource/5778.html