Scaling and Adapting Teacher Professional Development Approaches in Honduras

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Designing Teacher Preparation and Professional Development Systems for Resilience, Sustainability and Scale: The Role of Policy Alignment and Reform.

Proposal

The "Scaling and Adapting Teacher Professional Development Approaches in Honduras" was a comprehensive project that extended over a period of almost three years, from 2020 to 2023. The project aimed to enhance Teacher Professional Development (TPD) by exploring the potential of Information and Communication Technology - ICT-mediated approaches to elevate the quality, equity, and efficiency in supporting teachers' continuous professional growth. This collaborative project closely involved the SEDUC Secretary of Education, and the four TPD Regional Centers of Honduras dedicated to support in service training. The pilot study addressed the fundamental questions of what structures, practices, competencies, and resources local educators require to enable and support quality learning in TPD at scale. A local research team, led by the Pedagogical National University, examined the changes and factors in place to optimize the scaling of a TPD model.
Working in collaboration with an international team, the project initiated by contextualizing the existing TPD system, its policies, and enabling scaling factors in Honduras. This step laid the foundation for the subsequent Customization phase. Drawing on insights from local practices in the different municipalities of Honduras and successful approaches implemented elsewhere, the teams developed a solution for an ICT-mediated TPD model that considered specific needs of the local context. The following field-testing phases encompassed two significant activities: i) field test 1, a small sample of 30 teachers was engaged to assess the usability and pertinence of the new TPD model. Throughout this process, a cycle of improvement was established to inform the subsequent test field. ii) field test 2, conducted in 95 municipalities, involving over 800 math teachers using an online training course.
The longitudinal research revealed several findings that can be organized in 6 dimensions: i) Information and Communication Technologies, in Honduras teachers displayed willingness to engage in virtual professional development processes. However, it also indicated that older teachers tended to value and participate less in such courses. ii) Communication Channels, the study highlighted the need for improved coordination among system actors, such as regional centers and departmental directors; iii)Policies, connectivity constraints and digital competencies emerged as significant factors affecting key actors in the TPD system, including teachers, directors, and pedagogical supporters; iv) Learning Design, the study also revealed the importance of course design, suggesting that it should not only consider the digital skills and technological equipment of teachers and the Ministry of Education but also incorporate flexible online learning designs that differ from traditional in-person training activities; v) Partnership, although regarding the costing aspect, the preliminary findings indicated that virtual TPD incurred significantly lower costs compared to in-person courses, TPD initiatives can be costly and the alliances can help to support ICT mediated TPD; vi) Supporting Capacities, the study reveal that the TPD mediated by technology requires personnel that often is not in place.
As Honduras remain having cultural and disadvantaged communities in remote areas of the country, the findings from the field testing played a crucial role in the analysis of the opportunities and challenges associated with implementing ICT-mediated TPD.

Authors

• Rosa Maria Moncada, SUMMA

• Dante Castillo-Canales, SUMMA - Universidad Diego Portales - Universidad Alberto Hurtado