Measuring the impact of an intensive professional development course for TTC Lecturers

• In Event: Strengthening teacher education across Malawi: Collaboration, training, and development

Proposal

Darling-Hammond et al. (2009) state that effective professional development is intensive, ongoing, connected to practice, and focuses on the teaching/learning of specific academic content. Action research is another opportunity for professional development. Burnaford (1999) states that preservice/in-service teacher action research serves as professional development with useful products for all the participants in their classrooms.
The professional development approaches used by the STEP Activity in Malawi aim to strengthen the higher education systems that train teachers in early grade instruction and provide pathways of continuous professional development. As part of this activity, teacher educators are engaged in intensive professional development focused on pedagogical practices. Practical activities include microteaching, lesson delivery with primary school children, assessing young children’s emergent literacy and language skills, identifying appropriate data-driven instruction, ongoing reflective practices through self-evaluations, and Participatory Action Research in their TTC classrooms. This presentation will introduce and discuss empirical data from, and effective approaches for delivering, intensive and continuous professional development for Teacher Educators. Data documenting growth in Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes related to the instruction of early literacy pedagogy will be shared, as well as how these findings will be used to design Continuous Professional Development at Teacher Training Colleges in Malawi. This presentation will inform current and future CIES members undertaking similar work how intensive professional development courses can amplify their results.

Authors

• Providence Uwera, School-to-School International (STS)

• Fanny Tasiye Nkunika, School to School International