EASTERN SAMAR STATE UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE SCHOOL
BORONGAN CITY

BIO-PSYCHO FOUNDATION
MODULE 10: PROFESSIONAL GROWTH OF THE TEACHER
REPORTER: JESSIE B. MONTES JR.

PART II.

A. #PROMOTING PROFESSIONAL GROWTH THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN CURRICULUM IMPROVEMENT

Curriculum
 It includes all the experiences, curricular and co-curricular, of the learners for which the school should accept
responsibility.
 The program used by the school to accomplish its purposes.
 Direct teaching in the classroom
 School activities
 School services
 Social environment of the school
 A curriculum should not be static. It must be dynamic and flexible.
 It must be continuously IMPROVED for several reasons.

“There is no such thing as fixed and final set of objectives, even for the time being or temporarily. Each day of teaching ought to enable
us teachers to revise and better in some respects, the objectives aimed at, in previous works.” – Dewey, 1929

“The educational conduct of the school, as well as its administration, the selection of subject matter, and the working out of the course
study, as well as the actual instruction of children, have been almost entirely in the hands of the teachers of the school; and that there has
been a gradual development of the educational principles and methods, not fixed equipment."

HOW TEACHERS SHAPE AND IMPLEMENT THE CURRICULUM:

PLANNING - Teachers provide
insight into the type of materials,
activities and specific skills that CREATION- Because teachers must use the

Planning best promote learning. curriculum, they should have input in its
 creation. A teacher can gauge whether an
activity will fit into a specified time frame
Reflection Curriculum Creation
and whether it will engage the students.

IMPLEMENTATION- Teachers implement

Implementation the curriculum in their own classrooms. A
good curriculum is designed to allow a
teacher to be flexible and to insert few
personalized components or choose from
among a selection of activities. (using
 MEETINGS various methods in teaching)
REFLECTION-This allows teachers and others
 PROFESSIONAL ENHANCEMENT involved in the process to find any
weaknesses in the curriculum and try to make
 CURRICULUM-REVISION PROGRAMS it better.

The 5 PURPOSES of Curriculum Improvement:

 Meeting cultural demands
 Social change and scientific advancement are pertinent reasons for curriculum improvement.
 Solving Instructional Problems
 Changing People’s ways of behaving
 Changing Perceptions
 Improving students’ experiences

 HOW do teachers participate in curriculum IMPROVEMENT?

 In GENERAL
 Teacher becomes a member of a general committee
 Membership on more specific committees
 Exchange of ideas with other teachers
 Acts as a Communication Agent
 Attending Conferences and conventions
 In the Classroom setting
 Knowing and understanding students through case studies.
 Promoting classroom exploration
 Evaluating newer practices and programs
 Creating good learning environment
 Doing ACTION RESEARCH
  Teacher- Parent conferences
 Inviting specialists as consultants
 Awareness of symptoms of inadequate curriculum (poor grades, irregular attendance)
 Using checklists, questionnaire and surveys to gain pertinent information
 Initiation of direct teacher-pupil planning
 PERSONAL
 Teacher develops better personal philosophy of education in a democratic society
 Visits to others schools, planned travel during vacation periods and efforts to learn about the
communities.

B. #PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES OF IN-SERVICE EDUCATION PROGRAM

 The administrator has an important responsibility to promote his own professional growth, and second, to
develop and implement in-service education programs for the professional growth of the teachers. B. Manuel
(1974) termed it as the “Administrative Accountability in Education”.
 To successfully develop in-service education programs the following 8 PRINCIPLES and PROCEDURES
according to B. Manuel must be considered:
 A superintendent/administrator/school-head -leader:

Create an atmosphere for working

1. Becomes personally acquainted with classroom teachers and other school
personnel
2. Makes himself easily available to teachers at school and at the office
3. Creates a permissive atmosphere in conferences with teachers
4. Listens to and talks with teachers about their problems
5. Recognizes, respects and utilizes the opinions of all persons with whom he
works
Help others see problems
1. Raising questions, stimulating teachers and others to talk about the school and
its strengths and weaknesses
2. Helping a teacher, faculty group, or committee evaluate procedures used in a
phase of the school program
3. Providing opportunities for teachers to visit other schools to observe teaching
procedures, improvement in buildings and other programs
4. Arranging for teachers to see exhibits, films and filmstrips; to have access to
professional materials; and to participate in conferences, clinics and workshops
5. Providing teachers opportunities to participate in school and community
surveys and evaluations
Helps others get started
1. Inviting teachers who have indicated an interest in a problem to meet
together to study the problem
2. Working with existing groups (faculty, grade-level groups)
3. Helping groups interested in studying problems to find suitable time and place
for work
4. Securing suggestions from the group about how they wish to work and what
they wish to do
5. Helping the group to determine who should assume leadership roles
Help others make good decisions
1. Helping teachers and others to locate, and use effectively, persons who can
supply information on such programs as improving teacher’s welfare and
school programs.
2. Helping teachers and others locate or collect and use in a meaningful way
data on:

Results from physical examinations, achievement and maturity tests,


diet surveys, surveys of building needs, results of visits to other
schools and communities, studies of drop-outs in different grades
3. Helping teachers and others make decisions in terms of factors such as:
 What is best for the over-all situation; What is best of long-range
planning: What is possible to achieve; Where beginning can be
made; How far it is wise to go.
Help others put plans into action
1. Be clear about the decisions they make.
2. See that members are selected for the committees.
3. Name time, place and purpose of next meeting of committee and group.
Help others evaluate programs
1. Helping teachers and others review plans made at the beginning of the year,
project or activity
2. Helping teachers and others determine what has been accomplished
3. Helping teachers and others determine their difficulties (lack of interest,
crowded schedules, lack of information about problem)
4. Helping teachers see growth in themselves
5. Helping teachers determine next steps for continuing the project
 Help groups improve their competence
1. Examining and evaluating the group processes to help individuals and groups
to identify their strengths and weaknesses by designating a person as
observer.
2. The observer helps the group look at the way it has worked in terms of such
factors as: formation and clarity of goals, degree and kind of participation,
clarity of discussion, effectiveness of leadership, use of resources, progress
towards goals..etc..
Share responsibilities of leadership
1. Share the responsibilities with principals, teachers and supervisors
2. Provide the kind of leadership for these “leaders” that will enable them to
assume responsibilities with understanding, confidence and skill
3. Provide in-service experiences for these “leaders” that will prepare them for
their leadership roles.

C. #ANALYZING TEACHING BEHAVIOR

 The analysis of teaching behavior can be done through “INTERACTION ANALYSIS”.
 A system for OBSERVING and CODING the verbal interchange between a teacher and
his pupils.
 The assumption underlying the concept of interaction analysis is that teaching behavior
and pupil responses are expressed primarily through spoken word as a series of verbal
events which occurs one after another.
 These events are identified, coded as to preserve sequence, and tabulated systematically
in order to represent a sample of the spontaneous teacher influence.
 Interaction analysis has been used to study spontaneous teaching behavior and in
projects which attempt to help teachers modify their behavior.

TEACHER TALK

RESPONSE

1. Accept Feelings Accepts and clarifies the feeling tone of students in a non-threatening manner. Feelings may be
positive or negative.

2. Praises and encourages Praises or encourages student action or behavior. Jokes that release tension, but not at the expense of
another individual.

3. Accepts or uses ideas of Clarifying, building, or developing ideas suggested by a student.

students
4. Ask questions Asking a question about content or procedure

5. Lecturing Giving facts or opinions about content or procedures; expressing his own ideas, asking rhetorical
questions.
6. Giving Directions Directions, commands, or orders to which a student is expected to comply.

7. Criticizing or justifying Statements intended to change student behavior from non-acceptable to acceptable pattern; bawling
authority someone out; stating why the teacher is doing what he is doing

STUDENT TALK

RESPONSE

8. Student Talk—Response: Talk by students in response to teacher. Teacher initiates the contact or solicits student statement.

INITIATION

9. Student Talk--Initiation Talk by students which they initiate. If “calling on” student is only to indicate who mat talk next,
observer must decide whether student wanted to talk. If he did use this category.

10. Silence or confusiion Pauses, short periods of silence and periods of confusion in which communication cannot be
understood by the observer.

(Flanders Interaction Analysis)

 In the country, Lilia Q. Japson (1972) and Zenaida B. Alambra (1974) used the Flander interaction analysis
system. Japson, in her study involving UP first year science classes found out that the teacher talk dominated
student talk, and that student talk was more responsive than initiatory. The following interaction patterns
were also revealed in the study:

1. Teacher’s questions followed by student responses.

2. Student response followed by teacher acceptance of student ideas then followed by
encouragement.
3. Teacher’s periods of concentrated lectures unbroken by teacher questions or student contributions.
 Japson concluded that:
1. Students are stimulated to talk by teacher’s questions, praises and encouragement.
2. Teachers are accustomed to the telling of facts to students and explaining, leaving no room for the
development of the student’s initiative mind.
  Alambra analyzed the verbal behavior patterns evident among grade 1, 2 and 3 social studies classes in
Quezon City.
 Her findings concluded that:
1. Out of the total number of episodes collected, pupil-talk response had the most number of
episodes
2. Out of the total verbal interaction, there was more pupils’ talk than teacher’s talk.
3. In asking questions, teachers in general used direct rather than indirect statements.
4. In terms of classroom atmosphere (motivation and control), teachers directly influenced the pupils.
 The researcher concluded, among other things, that the interaction in the social studies is
predominantly autocratic in terms of control and motivation inspite of the teachers’ attempts
to make their interactions democratic, and that on the whole, the teachers in the school are
still of the dominating type, using direct statements more often than indirect ones. In addition,
pupil’s feelings are rarely given consideration.

D. #IMPLICATION FOR IN-SERVICE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

 In-service professional development programs help teachers acquire or deepen their knowledge about subject matter content, teaching skills,
and assessment methods required to implement an existing or a new curriculum. Relevant activities include the following:

Improving teachers’ general education background

Improving teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the subjects they teach

Understanding how children learn different subjects

Developing practical skills and competencies

Learning new teaching strategies

Learning how to use new technologies

Strengthening professionalism and ethics

Providing knowledge and skills linked to the ever-changing needs of a dynamic society. (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2006)

# CHALLENGES

P
>>>> lanning and designing collaboratively

 Designing in-service programs is a complex process and requires careful and collaborative planning, phased-in implementation, and strong
monitoring and evaluation.

>>>>>Designing programs that are relevant for both new and experienced teachers
 Meeting the needs of both novice and experienced teachers in the same program is a challenge. Because professional development should be
provided throughout educators’ careers, yearly programs must be flexible enough to cover both previously covered topics (for new teachers),
new topics (for all teachers), and specialized or advanced topics (for experienced teachers with particular responsibilities). In other words, the
same program cannot be rerun year after year for all teachers.

>>>>>Including budget implications in all planning to create sustainability

 Cost is a major problem and often determines whether a program is attempted at all and, if attempted, whether it is successful in the short run
and sustainable in the long run.

 The costs of program design and materials development are considerable, but the main cost is running the program. In many cases, costs
include paying educators per diem and travel expenses (when away from their own school). Unless this cost is sustainable, other mechanisms for
encouraging participation in programs must be institutionalized. For instance, on a policy level, successful participation in in-service programs
could be a requirement for continued employment, or participation and demonstrated improvement in teaching practice could be the criteria
for salary increase and promotion.

>>>>>Scheduling programs when the maximum number of teachers can participate

 Timing is always a challenge and has cost implications. Do teachers and other educators participate in in-service activities during normal
working hours (this usually is not permitted), at the end of the school day or on weekends (this often discriminates against female teachers), or
on special in-service days (when students do not come to school)? Timing during the calendar year is also a challenge, especially in countries that
have different calendars for different regions.

>>>>>Emphasizing effective and realistic approaches to active learning in program content

 Active-learning principles are now part of many countries’ policies of teaching and learning and thus are promoted in most preservice and in-
service programs. Because they represent a major paradigm shift, active-learning pedagogies are often misunderstood, partially comprehended,
or superficially or poorly implemented. Additional challenges for implementing active-learning pedagogies include a discrepancy between what
is taught and what is examined, overcrowded classrooms that make interactive methods difficult, limited instructional materials, and
contradictions between the evaluation frameworks that school administrators and local supervisors use and teachers’ changing and improving
practice.
Prepared by:
Jessie B. Montes Jr.