Browsing by Subject "teacher professional development"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Arts for Academic Achievement: A Descriptive Report on the Development of an Embedded Course on Observational Drawing and Science
    (Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 2007-11) Ingram, Debra
    During the 2006-2007 school year Arts for Academic Achievement (AAA) established a work group of high school science teachers, district science curriculum specialists, a visual artist, and AAA staff to develop an embedded course on integrating observational drawing and science instruction. The new course would join the embedded courses on Readers’ Theatre and Tableau that were being offered by AAA for the first time during 2006-2007. The embedded courses were distinct in that they trained teachers in specific arts-integration strategies. As part of a larger study of AAA, program staff asked the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) to document the course development process. The purpose of this report is to describe: 1) the process AAA staff used to develop the course, and 2) how two teachers, who were involved in developing the course, integrated drawing into their science instruction.
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    Teaching as a Spiritual Practice: Cultivating Teacher Presence through Mindfulness, A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Exploration
    (2018-07) Niedzielski, Jennifer
    Mounting evidence suggests the pervasiveness of stress and insidiousness of burnout in the teaching profession (Blasé, 1986; Chubbuck & Zembylas, 2008; Eskridge & Coker, 1985; Larrivee, 2012; Spilt, Koomen, & Thijs, 2011; Vandenberghe & Huberman, 1999). Exposure to chronic stressors can have a negative cascading effect on a teacher’s mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. While the inherent stressors of the profession cannot be avoided, this body of work explores how a mindfulness-based training program designed for teachers (Present Teacher Training) allows them to transform stress into opportunities for cultivating a healthy, authentic, and purpose-driven teacher Presence. A phenomenological exploration of what it means to be and become a mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy teacher through the stress inherent in the profession holds great potential for learning how to support a teacher’s holistic well-being-ness. This study utilized a post-intentional phenomenological research design (Vagle, 2018) to explore the cultivation of the phenomenon of teacher Presence through the integration of different phenomenological material. Vagle’s (2018) whole-part-whole analysis of the phenomenological material was used to capture provocations and pathic productions of the phenomenon. The primary research question in this post-intentional phenomenological exploration was: How might cultivating teacher Presence take shape in mindfulness work for teachers? The three primary “pathic productions” that were produced and explored in depth through this three paper dissertation are: (1) creating the micro-miracle moment: slowing down fast-paced teacher time to be present; (2) cultivating teacher self-trust and intuition in moments of uncertainty and risk; and (3) “burning in” to human service oriented work through the Infinite Well-Being Integration Model. This study illuminates the myriad ways a teacher’s being-ness in the present moment entangles with one’s trajectory of becoming one’s most authentic and healthy self through the professional practice of teaching. It is suggested that an integrated approach to teacher preparation and in-service professional development that supports the mind (i.e., mental agility), body (i.e., emotional agility), and spirit (i.e., awareness of self) to be beneficial in preparing teachers for the courageous and commendable inner and outer work they are called to engage.
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    Teaching Neuroscience to Science Teachers: Facilitating the Translation of Inquiry-Based Teaching Instruction to the Classroom
    (The American Society for Cell Biology, 2012-07-30) Roehrig, Gillian; Michlin, Michael; Schmitt, Lee; MacNabb, Carrie; Dubinsky, Janet M
    In science education, inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning provide a framework for students to building critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Teacher professional development has been an ongoing focus for promoting such educational reforms. However, despite a strong consensus regarding best practices for professional development, relatively little systematic research has documented classroom changes consequent to these experiences. This paper reports on the impact of sustained, multiyear professional development in a program that combined neuroscience content and knowledge of the neurobiology of learning with inquiry-based pedagogy on teachers’ inquiry-based practices. Classroom observations demonstrated the value of multiyear professional development in solidifying adoption of inquiry-based practices and cultivating progressive yearly growth in the cognitive environment of impacted classrooms
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    Tiered Neuroscience and Mental Health Professional Development in Liberia Improves Teacher Self-Efficacy, Self-Responsibility, and Motivation.
    (Frontiers Journals, 2021-05-11) Brick, Kara; Cooper, Janice L; Mason, Leona; Faeflen, Sangay; Monmia, Josiah; Dubinsky, Janet M
    After acquiring knowledge of the neuroscience of learning, memory, stress and emotions, teachers incorporate more cognitive engagement and student-centered practices into their lessons. However, the role understanding neuroscience plays in teachers own affective and motivational competencies has not yet been investigated. The goal of this study was to investigate how learning neuroscience effected teachers’ self-efficacy, beliefs in their ability to teach effectively, self-responsibility and other components of teacher motivation. A pilot training-of-trainers program was designed and delivered in Liberia combining basic neuroscience with information on social, emotional, behavioral and mental health issues faced by students. Tier I of the professional development was a 2 weeks workshop led by a visiting neuroscientist. A subset of the 24 Tier I secondary science teachers formed a Leadership Team who adapted the content to the Liberian context and subsequently led additional workshops and follow-up sessions for the Tier II secondary science teachers. Science teachers in both tiers completed the affective-motivational scales from the internationally vetted, multiscale Innovative Teaching for Effective Learning Teacher Knowledge Survey from the OECD. Tier II teachers completed the survey in a pre-post-delayed post design. Tier I teachers completed the survey after the workshop with their attitudes at that time and separately with retrospective projections of their pre-workshop attitudes. Ten of the 92 Tier II teachers participated in structured interviews at follow-up. Statistical analysis of survey data demonstrated improved teacher self-efficacy, self-responsibility for student outcomes, and motivation to teach. Qualitatively, teachers expressed more confidence in their ability to motivate students, engage them through active learning, and manage the class through positive rather than negative reinforcement. Teachers’ own self regulation improved as they made efforts to build supporting relationships with students. Together, these results demonstrated that (i) teacher affective-motivational attitudes can be altered with professional development, (ii) basic neuroscience, as knowledge of how students learn, can improve teacher competency, and (iii) a training-of-trainers model can be effective in a low and middle income country for disseminating neuroscience knowledge, increasing teachers’ knowledge of students’ social and emotional needs, and promoting educational improvement.
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    Training-of-Trainers Neuroscience and Mental Health Teacher Education in Liberia Improves Self-Reported Support for Students
    (Frontiers Journals, 2021-06-18) Brick, Kara; Cooper, Janice L; Mason, Leona; Faeflen, Sangay; Monmia, Josiah; Dubinsky, Janet M
    Education programs have been central to reestablishing social norms, rebuilding public educational institutions, and addressing public attitudes toward mental illness in Liberia following a protracted civil war and the Ebola epidemic. The aim of this study was to determine if a program combining an understanding of neuroscience with mental health literacy content could increase teachers’ awareness of students’ mental health issues and produce changes in teacher attitudes and classroom practices. A tiered Training-of-Trainers approach was employed. The first workshop trained 24 Liberian secondary science teachers in the neurobiology of learning, memory, emotions, stress and adolescent brain development. A Leadership Team formed from eight of the Tier I participants then adapted the curriculum, added in more mental health literacy content and led four Tier II workshops and four follow-up Refresher sessions. Participants completed a neuroscience knowledge test and surveys assessing stigma, general perceptions of people with mental illness, and burnout. A subset of Tier II teachers participated in a structured interview at the Refresher time point. Teachers in both tiers acquired basic neuroscience knowledge. Tier I, but not Tier II teachers significantly improved their surveyed attitudes toward people with mental illness. No changes were found in overall teacher burnout. Despite these survey results, the interviewed Tier II teachers self-reported behavioral changes in how they approached their teaching and students in their classrooms. Interviewees described how they now understood social and emotional challenges students might be experiencing and recognized abnormal behaviors as having a biopsychosocial basis. Teachers reported reduced use of verbal and corporal punishment and increased positive rewards systems, such as social and emotional support for students through building relationships. Refresher discussions concurred with the interviewees. In contrast to previous teacher mental health literacy programs which did not bring about a change in helping behaviors, this pilot program may have been successful in changing teacher knowledge and self-reported behaviors, improving teacher–student relationships and decreasing harsh discipline. The combination of basic neuroscience concepts with training on how to recognize mental health issues and refer students should be investigated further as a strategy to promote teacher mental health literacy.