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Dissertation
Private School Teachers' Perceptions of Professional Development
University of West Florida Libraries
Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida
2023
Abstract
Fewer than 10% of private and public school teachers implement instructional innovation following professional development sessions (Spelman et al., 2016). This qualitative interpretive phenomenological study addressed the problem of private school teachers’ desires for effective professional development to improve student learning outcomes. The study aimed to provide private school leaders with specific characteristics differentiating effective and noneffective professional development using rigorous comparisons of teacher training workshops. Research questions explored private school teachers’ perceptions of whether current teacher professional development impacted learning and supported teachers’ needs for pedagogical shifts. Eleven private school teachers from an educational conference in the southeastern part of the United States shared experiences through semistructured, one-on-one interviews and a focus group. Concrete experiences, reflective observations, abstract conceptualizations, and active experimentations are elements of D. A. Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory linked to the four stages of learning. Enactive mastery and vicarious experiences were the foundation for interview questions that examined private school teachers’ relationships with learning. Principles of phenomenology guided data analysis to identify interconnected themes. The study intended to comprehensively understand how highly effective professional development may have actively engaged teachers’ in-depth reflections on their practice and provided a potential framework for educational reform. Emerging themes suggested structures of successful techniques for professional development programs aimed at private school teachers and offered suggestions for reimagined professional education sessions. Future researchers might learn about the opinions of other parties involved in the professional development process, such as private school administrators and teacher trainers.
Details
- Title
- Private School Teachers' Perceptions of Professional Development
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Contributors
- Sikha Bagui (Committee Chair)Kay Uchiyama (Committee Member)Catherine Willoughby (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 227
- Copyright
- Unpublished work © Lisa Stavola Ockerman
- Identifiers
- 99380461595806600
- Academic Unit
- School of Education
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Doctor of Education (EDD)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida