Page 138 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 138
When analysing the characteristics of competencies, it is obvious that we
are not discussing only various competencies and areas that the competen-
cies, linked to education, encompass, but also how these develop and change.
Competence development and change take place at two different levels, how-
ever all the factors are interconnected. This is why it is almost impossible to talk
about a single activity or form of activity that could impact teachers’ actions
while teaching. In order to change teachers’ actions, a direct hypothesis that a
specified activity will contribute to cannot simply be made. Rather, it is neces-
sary to suppose that a wide range of various activities are needed, which en-
compass both personal and professional progress.
Professional Development
Professional and personal progress can be defined in its widest scope as pro-
fessional development, which influences the alteration of teachers’ actions.
Professional development of teachers can, in the narrowest sense, be under-
138 stood as further education and training, even though it will be defined much
more broadly in this paper. The wider context has also been used by other
studies which have dealt with this topic. The TALIS (Teaching and Learning In-
ternational Survey, 2009) study carried out by the OECD, defined professional
development as all activities with the aim of developing individuals’(teachers’)
skills, knowledge and other characteristics that are reflected during teaching.
These therefore include teachers’ social, emotional and other competencies,
which are not directly linked to education and training within the confines of
their profession.
In her definition of professional development, Valenčič Zuljan (1999) lists
two broader models of teachers’ professional development, which branch out
from different epistemological points of origin, namely:
- A traditional perception of the occupation, which stems from a techni-
cal-rational understanding of professional activities and a behaviou-
rist model of teaching and learning. Within this perception teachers
are treated as passive objects and have to be forced to undertake de-
velopment. The initiative for teachers’ professional development is
thus external. This perception also stresses the need to change tea-
chers, but pays scant attention to teachers’ thoughts during the chan-
ge, their needs, worries etc.
- A critical-reflective perception of the teaching occupation is based on an
alternative understanding of expertise and a cognitive-constructivist
model of teaching and learning, which focuses on qualitative explora-
tion of teachers’cognition and stems from the assumption that it is ne-
cessary to understand how teachers think about their actions, and the
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
are not discussing only various competencies and areas that the competen-
cies, linked to education, encompass, but also how these develop and change.
Competence development and change take place at two different levels, how-
ever all the factors are interconnected. This is why it is almost impossible to talk
about a single activity or form of activity that could impact teachers’ actions
while teaching. In order to change teachers’ actions, a direct hypothesis that a
specified activity will contribute to cannot simply be made. Rather, it is neces-
sary to suppose that a wide range of various activities are needed, which en-
compass both personal and professional progress.
Professional Development
Professional and personal progress can be defined in its widest scope as pro-
fessional development, which influences the alteration of teachers’ actions.
Professional development of teachers can, in the narrowest sense, be under-
138 stood as further education and training, even though it will be defined much
more broadly in this paper. The wider context has also been used by other
studies which have dealt with this topic. The TALIS (Teaching and Learning In-
ternational Survey, 2009) study carried out by the OECD, defined professional
development as all activities with the aim of developing individuals’(teachers’)
skills, knowledge and other characteristics that are reflected during teaching.
These therefore include teachers’ social, emotional and other competencies,
which are not directly linked to education and training within the confines of
their profession.
In her definition of professional development, Valenčič Zuljan (1999) lists
two broader models of teachers’ professional development, which branch out
from different epistemological points of origin, namely:
- A traditional perception of the occupation, which stems from a techni-
cal-rational understanding of professional activities and a behaviou-
rist model of teaching and learning. Within this perception teachers
are treated as passive objects and have to be forced to undertake de-
velopment. The initiative for teachers’ professional development is
thus external. This perception also stresses the need to change tea-
chers, but pays scant attention to teachers’ thoughts during the chan-
ge, their needs, worries etc.
- A critical-reflective perception of the teaching occupation is based on an
alternative understanding of expertise and a cognitive-constructivist
model of teaching and learning, which focuses on qualitative explora-
tion of teachers’cognition and stems from the assumption that it is ne-
cessary to understand how teachers think about their actions, and the
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
