Session Information
10 SES 11 A, Research on Programmes and Pedagogical Approaches in Teacher Education
Paper Session
Contribution
This paper provides a comparative analysis of teacher professional development across 19 European countries, focusing on the development needs an possibilities for teachers of STEM (Science, Technology,Engineering, Mathematics) subjects. It argues that the fragmented state of teacher professional development, revealed in the OECD TALIS study (OECD, 2009) is confirmed by closer analysis of the situation for STEM subjects. Whilst teacher educators are already in possession of the requisite theoretical and practical knowledge to provide effective development activities, national systems are not internally or externally coherent when it comes to delivery. On the basis of evidence from several EU-funded projects, there are considerable opportunities for teacher education and teacher educators to take the lead in formulating and delivering effective professional development programmes aimed specifically at the pedagogical needs of STEM teachers. Such programmes would focus on inquiry-based methods but move further in the direction of allowing teachers the time and space to come up with their own agenda for change through reflection and debate, assisted by teacher educators and researchers.
The research question for the paper is therefore:
What is the state-of-the art in teacher professional development for STEM subjects in Europe?
Related sub-questions are
What are the professional development needs of STEM teachers?
How can teacher educators take a leadership role in providing such TPD?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development) (2009) Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments: First results from TALIS, Paris, OECD: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/51/43023606.pdf
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