Professional Development in Hard Times Mark A. Minott FHERDSA(Registrant), Ed.D., M.Sc., PGDE. Associate Professor, Teacher Education Department University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) Ionie Liburd Willett M.A., B.Ed., Cert. Ed. Head, Division of Teacher Education Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College, St. Kitts- Nevis November 26-27, 2010

The economic hard times. Need for cost effective professional development methods. Professional Development in Hard Times

A belief that acting as a cooperating teacher is a cost effective professional development method Professional Development in Hard Times

Why cost effective? Work related skills are developed or reinforced during the regular working day in the context of teachers classroom Little or no financial demands Little or no financial demands Professional Development in Hard Times

Need to sell this idea to potential cooperating teachers we train. Professional Development in Hard Times

Problems Encountered Little knowledge of skills that could be developed or reinforced. No known local research which addressed this concern. Professional Development in Hard Times

Potential skills that could be developed and/or reinforced: Self-reflection (Lopez-Real & Kwan 2005, Hamlin 1997 Simpson et al 2007 & Koerner 1999). Adopting and utilising strategies and innovations introduced by student teachers (Simpson, Hastings and Hill 2007). Professional Development in Hard Times

Modelling best practices (Weasmer & Woods 2003). Instructional advising and guiding the student teaching (Weasmer & Woods 2003, Blank & Sindelar, 1992). Observing and giving feedback (Glenn, 2006). Professional Development in Hard Times

Tuning-in and becoming a listener (Blank and Sindelar, 1992 and McCann and Baker, 2001) Empathy (Feldman, 1997). Being friendly (McCann and Baker 2001). Professional Development in Hard Times

1. To ascertain what specific skills local cooperating teachers reinforced or developed. Professional Development in Hard Times

2. To aid in filling a literary gap and make an original contribution to knowledge development (Phillips & Pugh 1995). Professional Development in Hard Times

3. To discuss the implications of the findings for teachers professional development. Professional Development in Hard Times

Qualitative instrumental case study (Creswell 1998 and Stake 2000). 4 cooperating teachers, Cayman Islands 4 cooperating teachers, St. Kitts-Nevis Professional Development in Hard Times

Purposeful convenience or opportunity sampling (Guba and Lincoln 1998). and face-to-face interviews Professional Development in Hard Times

Having recently completed the supervision of a student teacher, what skills did you develop or reinforce during the process? Please provide a practical example in support of each skill you identify. Professional Development in Hard Times

Within and cross-case analyses Direct interpretation of the data (Creswell 1998). Professional Development in Hard Times

We read through each response to find words and phrases that recurred These became our initial categories Professional Development in Hard Times

By examining these initial categories, the main categories emerged. Main categories were defined after working with the data or as a result of working with the data. Professional Development in Hard Times

For example, we found words such as Lessons, planning, teaching strategy, modelling and evaluations. (Essential teaching skills) Professional Development in Hard Times

Categories Skills ReinforcedSkills Developed Essential teaching skillsEssential teaching skills reinforced Essential teaching Skills developed Lesson planning. Evaluating. Modelling. Instructing students. Adopting new pedagogical strategies utilised by the student teacher. Information Technology. Mentoring skillsMentoring skills reinforced Open discussion and dialogue. Tuning-in Giving feedback Giving instructional support Counselling

Professional Development in Hard Times Categories Skills ReinforcedSkills Developed Collaborative skillCollaborative skill reinforced Team-building Strategic skillsStrategic skills reinforced Knowing what actions to take or not to take that will help the student teacher accomplish his/her goals. Knowing when to give only positive feedback to boost confidence and when to be critically constructive. Organise, in order to accommodate the student teacher for the whole practice time in the classroom to ensure that the curriculum was delivered.

Professional Development in Hard Times Categories Skills ReinforcedSkills Developed Other skill not identified by participants but could be inferred from the data Other skill reinforced Reflection

First, we concur with the findings of the study of Mark (2006) which highlight that it is acceptable and feasible to recognise the work of cooperating teachers in schools as Professional Development: Professional Development in Hard Times

because they develop and reinforce work-related skills. they are contributing to the development of the teaching profession. Professional Development in Hard Times

Specifically : In St. Kitts-Nevis and the Cayman Islands where the teaching practicum is scheduled for ten weeks, cooperating teachers have some time to be exposed to current best practices which they use to improve their instruction. Professional Development in Hard Times

Over time, these teachers are selected for subsequent teaching practicums and thus become expert cooperating teachers, contributing to the development of their personal repertoire of skills and strategies. Professional Development in Hard Times

Despite the benefits to cooperating teachers, universities and colleges run the risk of not finding competent teachers who readily agree to assume such responsibilities. This is because the teaching practicum experience has not been duly given the recognition it deserves. Professional Development in Hard Times

In the Cayman Islands and St Kitts-Nevis, there is the need to develop policies to guide the recognition process. Professional Development in Hard Times

Secondly, our study suggests the need to provide opportunities - through training programmes - to encourage cooperating teachers to engage reflectively with their teaching Professional Development in Hard Times

Carrying out the role of cooperating teacher had some positive effects on the majority of the participants. There were clear reports of the various skills reinforced or developed. Professional Development in Hard Times

The comments show that participants are aware of the need to make time for their role but, this is not without its challenges. Professional Development in Hard Times

Data in this study facilitate general conclusions similar to other studies, but also provide a more in depth analysis of cooperating teachers responses from a part of the world not yet explored by other researcher, i.e. the Cayman Islands and St Kitts-Nevis. Professional Development in Hard Times

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