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Self-directed professional development: Who pulls the strings?

Emmanuel Mushayikwa1 and Fred Lubben2


1
School of Education, University of Cape Town,
2
Department of Educational Studies, University of York, UK
1
Emmanuel.Mushayikwa@uct.ac.za; 2Fel1@york.ac.uk

This paper discusses the development of a model for self-directed professional development using
data derived from interviews of 55 Zimbabwean A-level Science and Mathematics teachers. The
interviews encouraged teachers to reflect on the reasons why they sought to develop themselves
using ICT. The study identified teacher efficacy as the single most important driver for self-directed
professional development. In addition, teacher efficacy was also found to be made up of two
platforms: classroom efficacy and professional efficacy.

Introduction
Researchers across several educational disciplines (e.g. Andrews, 2004 in linguistics; Wellington,
2005 in ICT; Crossley and Guthrie, 1987 in curriculum studies) have reported their frustration at the
inconclusiveness of determining the impact of educational innovations on teachers’ classroom and
professional practice. Some staff developers (e.g. Chambers, 2001; Kinder et al., 1991) have
reported similar difficulties with regard to evaluating the effectiveness of professional development
programmes. Cunningham (2001) and Jay and Johnson (2002) have attributed these difficulties to
the complex nature of the professional teacher, and the fact that innovations operate within a
context in which teachers are constantly trying to find a balance between professional, systemic and
classroom influences that they are subjected to on a daily basis.
In this paper systemic and generic models of self-directed professional development, arising from
the teachers’ interactions with ICT, are advanced to enhance our understanding of the process of by
which teachers make decisions pertaining to their professional development, and hence shed light
on how classroom impact of professional development interventions can be increased.

Literature Review
The term ‘professional development’ is taken to mean the accumulation of skills, professional
knowledge, values and personal qualities that enable teachers to operate effectively within the
educational system (Vonk, 1991; Bertani and Tafel, 1992). This implies that professional
development is regarded as being experiential. However, other researchers (Steffy, 1987; Bell and
Gilbert 1996; Harland and Kinder 1997) recognise that experience alone cannot account for the way
teachers learn and develop within their careers, or the decisions they make to adopt or not to adopt
innovations. Hea-Jin (2001) reports that over the years, the focus for professional development
programmes has shifted from a deficit approach (focus on content knowledge: use of external
expertise) to a technical approach (focus on teaching practice: school based with outside help) to
continuing professional development (focusing on teacher professionalism and context:
collaborative practice). These approaches were associated with models that were developed to
describe the professional development process from that particular perspective. Whilst these models
have been very useful in planned professional development programmes, they do not shed light on
the uptake of innovation by teachers once the professional development programme has been
completed. They do not explain why some teachers easily integrate what they learn during the
planned professional development process, whilst others soon go back to their prior practice
without any signs of having gained from the experience. As a result, staff-developers still suffer
from anxiety when considering evaluating the impact of their professional development
interventions.
Self-directed professional development is defined as the professional development arising from the
teachers’ own initiative, i.e. internally determined and initiated (Hofstrand, 1979; Hall, 1997;
Mushayikwa; 2005). Although the term “self-directed professional development” has been around
for some time, interest in this area of study has been low and relatively recent. The few researchers
who have published papers in this area are agreed on the importance of self-direction in
professional development (e.g. Hofstrand, 1979; Hall, 1997). They also agree that there are lots of
gaps in our understanding of the process and that self-directed professional development could be a
key determinant in the success or failure of professional (staff) development programmes.
However, few of the studies have suggested a theory as to how the process takes place or why.
Bouchard (1996) has made the observation that self-directed professional development appears to
be most prominent when teachers or professionals are operating in deprived environments. Perhaps
this is precisely the reason why researchers have missed it – researchers have tended to concentrate
more on evaluating effects of supported professional development. They have tended to overlook
the fact that teachers are continually engaged in professional development even in the absence of, or
in between, supported professional development programmes.
The focus on self-directed professional development has been increasing recently in tandem with a
shift in the provision of professional development from external expertise bias to empowerment
(Hea-Jin, 2001). By empowering teachers, professional developers encourage them to take the
initiative in identifying and acting on their own individual needs.
The fact that several models have been developed to describe the professional development process
underlines the multifaceted nature of the process, and also the difficulty involved in using current
theoretical frameworks to satisfactorily explain the complexities underlying the process. It is
becoming increasingly clear that professional development is a complex process which cannot
easily be explained through linear cause and effect, but is dependent on cross – linkages and
interactions between individuals, institutions and their context (Feltovich et al., 1996; Cunningham,
2001). These interrelationships can best be described in Figure 1.
Figure 1 highlights the relationships existing between the individual teacher and the institution.
Where the institution and the individual are in mutually supportive relationships, symbiosis occurs
and the individual feels empowered, identifies with the mission of the institution. The needs of the
institution become identified as the needs of the individual and there is a shared vision and high
delivery. On the other hand, where there is strain between the institution and the individual, there
are lower shared values, lower retention and the individual does not feel obligated to identify with
the needs of the institution. In such a case, school based professional development will not
necessarily result in an uptake and adoption of an innovation.

Supportive Support
Empowerment
Policy (Symbiosis) Mutually strengthening
Organisational Sense of belonging
goals realised Higher retention
Quality delivery

Institution Individual

Unresponsive heads Frustrating


Lower shared values (Powerlessness)
Goals not realised Challenge Lowered self-efficacy
Poor quality delivery Lowered perception of self
(Strain)
Burnout
Exit

Figure 1. Symbiotic interactions in between the individual and the institution


However, both the individual teacher and the institution are components of the complex educational
system. In complex systems, individual needs are often super-ceded by systemic self-organising
forces. As the system is dynamic and changes, mirroring the changes in society, it forces
individuals to adjust and accommodate the new needs created by its transformation. Where
transformation is not accompanied by systemic support, as is the case in impoverished societies,
teachers are often left with little support and have to find ways of dealing with the transformation.
Several researchers in education and the social sciences (Merry, 1995; Brennan, 1997; Jay and
Johnson, 2002 and Pryor and Bright, 2003) have turned to chaos / complexity theory to help them
unravel the complex relationships between individuals, institutions and their contexts. Developed
from non-linear dynamics, chaos theory tries to describe the behaviour of open systems, i.e. systems
which are in constant interchange with their surroundings. Chaos theory recognises that open
systems are unpredictable because there are complex interactions which take place between system
elements and the environment. Such systems have four main characteristics:
i) Chaotic systems are non-linear: For example, due to the complex interplay between
systemic, individual and classroom influences on the teacher’s behaviour, it is difficult
to apply a simple cause–effect relationship between a professional development
innovation and the teacher’s resultant behaviour. Thus professional development is a
non-linear systemic process.
ii) Chaos system events are iterative, i.e. the products of one process become the inputs of
the next cycle (Merry, 1995). In terms of professional development, teachers tend to
build on their perceptions from previous experience.
iii) Chaos system processes are dependent on the prevailing initial contexts, and are also
sensitive to the initial conditions. For example, the impact of a professional development
programme will depend on the initial state of the teacher before the change was
introduced, and also on the ways the teachers perceive the programme before they join it
(Bloch, 2003). A small change in the teachers’ initial perception can result in wholesale
rejection of the process, or partial uptake, or whole hearted adoption.
iv) Chaos systems are self-organising. Chaos theory recognises that systemic changes are
ordered, even though individual elements of the system might appear to behave in
random and undetermined ways. Change takes place gradually and occurs in such a way
as to enhance the system, so that the system develops in a definite direction. For
example, the adoption of most educational, and indeed, scientific innovations have taken
place gradually against a backdrop of some resistance which has fallen as new systemic
paradigms are adopted (Hea-Jin, 2001).
As the illustrations above show, the education system behaves like a typical chaotic system.
Sullivan (1994) attempted to apply chaos theory to school organisation on the premise that the
education system behaved more or less like a complex system. Since then more researchers, e.g.
Sawyer (2001) and Davis (2003) have extended the application of chaos theory to teachers’
professional development. They justified their approach on the assumption that teachers are
systemic elements of the education system.
As a result of these studies, our interpretation of the education system has been recast in a chaotic
framework leading to a re-definition of the professional development process which recognises the
fundamental part played by self-direction.
Given the complex nature of the self-directed professional development process described above, it
seems plausible to expect that teacher perceptions precede behaviour, i.e. teachers will adopt
professional practices that they perceive to be beneficial to them (Doyle and Ponder, 1978). If this
is the case, several questions need to be answered about what stimulates teachers to direct their own
professional development. Some of these questions are listed below:
a) What motivates teachers to engage in self-directed professional development?
b) What are the underlying organising forces for self-directed professional development?

Methodology
55 A-level science, mathematics and geography teachers were interviewed over a period of two
years. In the first year, semi-structured interviews were held mostly at teacher resource centres.
These interviews were short (averaging 25 – 30 minutes per teacher). They were held to tease out
the main concerns teachers had regarding their professional development. They were also used to
select teachers who would be willing to participate in more elaborate “follow-on” interviews in
their schools. During the second year, school-based interviews took place which sought teachers’
views about their reasons for directing their own professional development, the strategies that they
used and the reasons for these choices. What benefits they gained from their professional
development activities and how these impacted on their students and their professional standing.
After recording, the interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim and typed into a word
document.
Interview data was analysed using grounded theory principles to determine the areas of professional
concerns for the teachers in order to come up with a theory for self-directed professional
development. Proponents of grounded theory, Glaser and Strauss (1967) and Charmaz (1983) argue
that theory should develop out of the data collected and that the process of theorising involves
repeated cross-referencing between emerging theory and the data collected. The data analysis was
based on the constructionist (Strauss and Corbin, 1998) approach which ascribes the value of
coding in grounded theory to the construction of meaning from the wording used by the participants
to provide succinct descriptions of the teachers’ activities. Post-modernists (Manning, 1995;
Denzin, 1994) stress the importance of cultural immersion of research and the need for researchers
to see the world from the point of view of the participants. They argue that cultural immersion
allows multiple voices to be heard in research and encourages reflexivity among researchers, as the
focus moves from mere data collection, to the active role of the researcher as a co-constructor of
knowledge. In this way, theories derived from this analysis could serve as a basis for more
extensive studies.
The transcripts were read several times. Recurring (repeating) ideas across transcripts were then
coded for all the transcripts. In vivo codes were used to mark transcript sections where repeating
ideas were identified, using the “comment” function in the word-processor for highlighting text
sections and inserting a code. The ideas consisted of single words or phrases expressing some
attribute of the teacher’s perception of the influence of ICT. These single ideas were further
grouped according to the aspect that they described. For example, some teachers talked of the use of
ICT as increasing their self esteem, whilst others claimed that the use of ICT increased their self
confidence, or made them feel empowered. Self esteem, self confidence, self respect and
empowerment are terms that can be said to describe a person’s state of well-being. Thus the first
group of repeating ideas was coded as “well-being”. The notion of “well-being” was found to unify
the repeating ideas and was therefore called an “analysis issue”. Thus repeating ideas were
organised into unifying “issues” as organisers (Auerbach and Silverstein, 2003). The issues were
similarly organised into “themes” by identifying unifying factors across the constructs, and those in
turn into overarching “goals”. The resulting framework was the chief instrument to be used in
analyzing the data. Figure 2 provides a summary of the process of coding and analysis framework
development.
During the coding process, each code was defined to be made up of a number for the issue and
another number for the theme. Thus in the above example where a teacher described how the use of
ICT made her more confident in her teaching, the confidence falls under the first issues of well
being. The issue, well being also falls within the first theme, which is to do with the perceived
professional identity of teachers. Thus on the transcript, a coding of 1.1 would be entered.
Goals
Theoretical abstractions unifying
several themes

Themes Themes
Unifying factors linking
several issues

issues
issues
Issues
Groups of Repeating Ideas

Raw data
Repeating Ideas identified and coded
Teachers’ perceptions of ICT impact on their
professional development: Interview data

Figure 2. Development of the analysis framework using grounded theory principles


Several times the framework was put aside and the researcher worked through the transcripts
redeveloping the framework anew, to see whether the new framework contained categories and
groups similar to the original framework. This was done to check whether the model fitted the
evidence available. In particular, care was taken to avoid using two different codes for the same
issue. This meant that the coding had to be exclusive and very concise. The completed framework
was then compared to the original and variations in the issues and themes were clarified and re-
assigned. The researcher continued to check reliability by coding and re-coding the same script after
a few days, and comparing the rate of coding agreement. By the end of the framework development,
the agreement rate was close to 95%.
To ensure the reliability of the use of the coding framework the repeating ideas were coded and
recoded until saturation was achieved, when no new codes could be identified from the raw data. At
the early stages, independent coding was also carried out by the researcher’s associates, to compare
whether the issues and themes were concise and mutually exclusive and the hierarchy of issues and
themes were logical. For the final draft of the framework, two copies of the same script were
independently coded by three researchers using the coding framework. The codes were then cross
checked to determine the reliability of the framework. A high coding reliability of 80% was
achieved. The final coding framework is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Interview analysis coding framework

Themes Repeating Ideas


1. Perceived Professional 1.1 Well-being; self esteem/respect/confidence;
Identity 1.2 Social status; (commanding) respect/trust from fellow teachers/students/society; social expectations;
1.3 Perceived role of teacher: control vs facilitator/guide;
2. Career Development Needs 2.1 Career change; job applications; searching greener pastures/opportunities outside education;
2.2 continuing professional development/training; keeping abreast with developments; life long learning;
2.3 Further study; improvement of qualifications;
3. Theoretical and content 3.1 New content; interest in new knowledge; deepening/broadening/updating/enriching content understanding;
knowledge 3.2 Textbook supplements/alternatives; background/variety of reading; revision; correction of misconceptions
4. Practical knowledge and 4.1 Teaching resources; demonstrations; simulations; practicals; use of equipment/models/illustrations;
professional skills 4.2 Organisation of teaching and assessment; syllabus; examination materials; teaching administration;
4.3 Ideas on improving teaching approaches; variety of teaching approaches; innovative/creative ideas;
5. Pedagogical Content 5.1 Adaptation to syllabus depth/requirements; differentiation for student abilities/learning and teaching styles;
Knowledge 5.2 Modification of materials to suit local conditions/context/language level/learning needs;
5.3 Developing teaching/learning materials; modules; tests and evaluate materials; judging quality of materials;
6. Professional Networking 6.1 Collaboration; comparing/sharing experiences/teaching skills; jointly developing ideas;
6.2 Peer support/encouragement; online coaching; peer review; mentoring/tutoring;
6.3 Professional communications; peer communications; making contacts; online discussion groups
7. Benefits to teachers and 7.1 Student performance/achievement; quality of passes;
students 7.2 Affective issues: teaching becomes interesting/enjoyable; students gain interest/confidence in learning;
7.3 Cognitive issues: students understanding/appreciation improves; critical reasoning; creativity;
7.4 Reflective/critical practitioner; developing coping mechanisms;
7.5 Student participation/attentiveness/discipline increases; memory retention.
Once the coding framework was developed, the rest of the transcripts were re-visited and re-coded.
Colours were used on the transcript to identify text that was coded and text which identified issues
that were outside the coding frame. These issues could be contextual or epistemological – relating
to the way teachers perceived or defined themselves in general – not directly related to their use of
ICT for their professional development but nevertheless exerting an influence on how the teachers
viewed such use. For example, issues such as who has responsibility for teachers’ professional
development, the nature of the teaching profession and gender conflicts had not been
accommodated in the analysis framework, and yet they were found to recur, and in some cases to
influence the teachers’ use of ICT. Thus when such issues appeared in an interview script, they
were highlighted in a different colour, to enable them to be identified easily later.
Although the interview questions were posed in English, several teachers tended to use code-
switching during their discussions. The researcher saw this as a sign that teachers wanted to convey
their feelings more accurately, and allowed the use of the mother tongue wherever the teacher felt
this would convey more accurately, what they wanted to say. In the transcripts, the original
expressions were preserved. Translations were only made when the script was being quoted – the
original script was presented along with the translation in brackets.
Once all the transcripts were coded using the methods described above, the codes were transferred
to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and tabulated, including interviewee demographics such as
gender, subject taught, experience and qualifications. A more detailed description of the coding
process and the development of the analysis framework is provided in the thesis (Mushayikwa,
2005) and would be beyond the scope of this paper.

Discussion of Results
The analysis of the teachers’ perceptions revealed that teachers were motivated towards self-
directed professional development by seven main concerns:
i) Professional identity
Concerns for professional well-being, i.e. self-esteem, self-respect, self-confidence; Concerns
for professional recognition, i.e. commanding respect, trust and credibility from students,
colleagues and society. Being able to meet expectations from parents / society; and concerns
about the nature of teaching, i.e. the role of the teacher in terms of control / facilitation or
guidance.
ii) Career development needs
Concerns for better / more fulfilling careers, concerns for continuing professional development
needs, i.e transferable skills training, keeping abreast with developments in teaching, getting
support for lifelong learning, and concerns for higher qualifications, study opportunities.
iii) Theoretical and content knowledge
Concerns for broadening of understanding of subject content knowledge, i.e. updating /
enriching existing content knowledge and concerns for access and provision of textbook
supplements to provide background material resources for subject content.
iv) Practical knowledge and professional skills
Concerns for acquisition of diversified teaching resources, i.e. resources for organising
teaching and assessment; resources for developing skills on diversifying teaching approaches
and resources for acquiring innovative ideas on improving professional and classroom
performance.
v) Pedagogical content knowledge
Concerns for adapting subject content and making it relevant to the local context, i.e. adapting
content to the syllabus depth required and to different student abilities; adapting content to the
local environment, taking into account language and numeracy proficiencies of the students;
adapting content to the social and historical context of students, and thus making it relevant to
their current experiences. Finally, concerns for the development of local teaching and learning
materials that are relevant to the needs of the students.
vi) Professional Networking
Concerns for peer collaboration, i.e. comparing and sharing experiences and skills; peer
support, i.e. peer coaching, mentoring and tutoring; and professional communication, i.e.
discussion groups and making new contacts.
vii) Benefits to the teacher and students
Concerns for improving performance, attitudes, cognitive skills and participation of students in
the classroom, so that students achieve higher passes, enjoy their subject, critically appreciate
the implications of their subject content and participate enthusiastically in classroom activities.
Teachers also demonstrated concerns for improving their subject expertise by keeping informed
and up to date with developments in their field, being more reflective and critical of their
teaching approaches and seeking to network with colleagues in their subject area.

Using the theory construction principles suggested by Charmaz (1983), Strauss and Corbin (1998)
and Auerbach and Silverstein (2003), these seven themes of concerns were shown to fall into two
main categories, grouped according to the perceived intentions of the teachers:
i) Professional identity, career development and professional collaboration all lead towards
professional efficacy of the teacher
ii) Practical knowledge and skills, Theoretical and content knowledge and pedagogical content
knowledge all lead towards classroom efficacy.
Perceived student and teacher benefits were found to relate to both strands of efficacy because they
were generalised. Therefore the single underlying organising principle for self-directed professional
development was found to be related to the improvement of general efficacy (here called teacher
efficacy) as shown in Figure 3.
The study revealed that teachers had basic concerns related to either their professional efficacy or
their classroom efficacy. When these concerns were not met, teachers could not operate effectively
as teachers and so they tried to find ways of meeting them. When this happened, self–directed
professional development took place.
Several characteristics self-directed professional development within a chaotic system can be
identified. Firstly, self-directed professional development is a systemic attribute, which is sensitive
to the initial conditions bounded by teacher concerns. The initial conditions presented by teachers in
the study included lack of resources, professional isolation, weaker disciplinary knowledge base –
leading to lowered PCK. If these conditions are not addressed adequately, the system tends towards
increased stress, stagnation, burnout and ultimately, lower self-efficacy.

Teacher Efficacy

Classroom Efficacy
Professional Efficacy

Content Knowledge,
Professional Identity, Career Benefits Practical knowledge
development, PCK
Professional networking

Self-esteem, nature of teaching, further study, collaboration,


new knowledge, practical work, adaptation, pass-rates

Figure 3: Thematic map of concerns leading towards self-directed professional development


Secondly, the study also revealed that chance events in the operating context of the teacher can
trigger awareness of potential for growth, which may lead to empowerment. In this case, awareness
of ICT as a possible empowerment tool led to teachers making decisions about using ICT for their
own professional development, which had life-changing consequences for their careers. Successful
empowerment tended to leave teachers more confident in their use of ICT and this opened further
avenues for growth. Thirdly, the self-directed professional development process itself was shown to
be iterative, i.e. it enabled teachers to continue to develop their skills and capabilities throughout
their careers. Each successful development opened new doors of opportunity and challenges for
them.

A model of self-directed professional development


From the relationships between the themes and goals depicted in figure 3 a theoretical model of the
self-directed professional development process emerges. The model represents a systemic or
holistic view of the professional development process. It describes the process of self-directed
professional development as a targeted process which is characterised by self-regulated and
organised fractal behaviour patterns aiming towards teacher-efficacy. The process constantly
recycles itself and adopts new properties that aid in its development whilst discarding those that do
not. The model is presented in figure 4 below:
Networking PCK
Subject Content
Career Knowledge
Development
Combined
Professional Self-efficacy
Efficacy (referred as Classroom
Teacher efficacy) Efficacy

Development of a
Practical knowledge
positive professional
and skills
identity

1. Professional Platform 2. Classroom Practice


3. Impact on Self-efficacy Platform

Figure 4: Model of self-directed Professional Development


The Professional Platform
The professional platform enhances the teacher’s professional efficacy (McLaughlin (1992). Lasley
(1989) and Lee (1991) both see professional efficacy as being related to the environment in which
teachers operate. Lasley further associates the development of professional efficacy in teachers with
institutional development and increased responsibility, i.e. the development of leadership.
The professional platform is composed of three aspects, as derived from the study. These were
found to be:
i) Networking: Associating with special interest groups whereby teachers were communicating
with colleagues and institutions, led to opportunities to develop collaborative practice and
personal development. For example, several teachers reported that they, together with
colleagues, were developing subject modules in Chemistry and in Mathematics;
ii) Career development: links personal needs to institutional needs and supports organisational
development. For example, teachers were using ICT skills and resources to gain qualifications
and skills that would enable them to leave their current posts or to effect career progression
(promotion);
iii) A positive professional identity: i.e. development of values, attitudes, ethics and morals
associated with being a teacher. Teachers also reported that ICT made them aware of
educational standards, reinforced their beliefs about teaching and what it means to be a teacher.
Some of the values and attitudes were quite immanent in what they said about themselves and
their profession.
The research established that activities in these areas on the professional platform resulted in
teachers feeling empowered, respected and confident among their peers. Thus it can be concluded
that their professional efficacy was raised.

The Classroom Practice Platform:


The classroom practice platform enhances the teacher’s classroom efficacy. This is the efficacy
associated with instruction (Yaghi and Ghaith, 1997), classroom management (Labone, 2004) and
innovation (Guskey, 1988). In short, it is associated with the actual teaching and learning situation.
This platform has three aspects as well. These are:
i) Subject content knowledge – teachers used ICT to access subject-based web resources from
educational sites like the high schools hub. From these sites teachers were able to access and
download teaching materials and notes, which improved their teaching resource-base.
ii) Practical knowledge and skills: - Knowledge about teaching methodology and presentation.
Teachers reported that they were also able to benefit from new innovative teaching techniques.
Teachers also revealed that they were now engaged in more reflective teaching and developing
their classroom expertise.
iii) Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): - Adaptation of teaching to suit context / Integration of
expertise. Teachers sited several examples in which they were able to modify and adapt
Internet-derived teaching materials for use in their classrooms. Adaptations involved making
use of current events or contextualising materials, modifying materials to suit the local
conditions and adapting and organising materials to the depth required by the syllabus. These
experiences helped teachers to experience an increase in their pedagogical content knowledge.
An increase in expertise at classroom practice level results in increased confidence in teaching,
higher self-esteem and higher passes for the students. In return, the teacher’s classroom efficacy
increases.

Teacher Efficacy
The aggregate of these two efficacies is what is commonly referred to simply as teacher efficacy.
The broken lines connecting the two platforms directly denote the relationships and
interconnectedness of the layers. There was evidence of the interplay between factors in the areas
on the professional platform and those on the classroom practice platform. For example, the
modules referred above, which were produced through collaborative activity, were then used in
class to teach those topics. In addition the acquisition of ICT skills originally intended to enhance
one teacher’s promotion prospects also resulted in the teacher being able to access ICT facilities at
the new school, to make use of web-based teaching materials. Therefore, from the teachers’
perspectives, an increase in both professional efficacy and classroom efficacy resulted in an
increase in the combined self-efficacy of the teacher.
Teacher efficacy (te - the centre circle) can be imagined as a translucent globe receiving light from
both platforms, which act like light sources with variable power supply, and glowing in proportion
to the light received. The light received represent the individual contributions of the platforms to
teacher efficacy. An increase either in classroom efficacy (ce) or professional efficacy (pe) can be
viewed as an increase in the currents for the corresponding light sources and will be reflected by a
proportional increase in the glow of the translucent globe (te). Thus, under normal circumstances,
(te) glows brighter than the two light sources because it radiates light from both sources.
In the study, ICT was used as a tool or pathway for the self-directed professional development of
the teachers. It is conceivable that other tools or pathways could be used, but in each case, one
would expect the impact of the professional development process to follow similar patterns, hence
the systemic model can be considered to be generic. Teachers reported on the benefits that they and
their students allegedly gained from their use of ICT. Among the benefits for students cited,
teachers claimed that students were more motivated, their interest in the subject was re-kindled, and
they participated more readily than before. Clearly, in this case, the use of ICT in self-directed
professional development yielded new experiences that helped the students to learn. For the
teachers, the use of ICT also enabled them to keep informed and aware of developments in their
professional and subject disciplines. Being kept up to date and aware helped them to build new
understanding of their practice. Thus self-directed professional development meets Hea-Jin (2001)’s
idea of an effective professional development strategy.

Conclusions
This paper has identified seven factors that drive teachers on the path of self-directed professional
development. These seven factors can further be grouped into two major themes: professional
efficacy and classroom efficacy. Both themes describe the efficacy of the teacher. Therefore the
paper concludes that teacher efficacy is the underlying organising force that powers self-directed
professional development.
It is important to highlight that the self-directed professional development model was developed
from theory grounded in data and as such presents an authentic attempt to describe the behaviour of
Zimbabwean A-level science and mathematics teachers who participated in the study. These
teachers were operating in an environment that was politically, socially and economically
constrained, and thus had little recourse to institutional support. The model provides a basis for both
a longitudinal study of self-directed professional development and also for more representative
studies in the future. The analysis framework matrix identified themes that teachers are concerned
about, and these could be used as a basis for developing more refined future models.
Whilst one cannot do much about external socio – political constraints, it is also useful to consider
that some researchers on self-directed professional development have noted that this process seems
to become evident in conditions of adversity; i.e. when teachers are fighting for professional
survival, they tend to become tenacious in their bid to improve themselves. As Bouchard (1996)
noted:
It is this problem-solving quality that makes self-directed professional
development more likely to occur in conditions marked by a prevalence of
opposing factors (p15)
This means that although, self-directed professional development is a continuing process, under
normal circumstances it is masked by other professional development processes such as planned
programs. It is the researcher’s firm belief however, that the benefits of self-directed professional
development as demonstrated by this study are worth investing in the process for every teacher, for
as Hea-Jin (2001) argues, the goal of professional development should be to help teachers become
effective in all spheres of their work. Self-directed professional development provides an internal
locus of control that ensures that the teachers continue to build new understanding of teaching and
learning.
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