Quality Teachers: Professional Development Training - Assignment Example

Running head: QUALITY TEACHERS Quality Teachers: Professional Development Training of the of the of the Abstract Many researches and investigations have been conducted for the purpose of developing understanding with the level of excellence of educational system. Among different elements that have higher impact on the upheaval of the quality of education, quality teachers had been noted to be the biggest element. This paper aims to discuss quality teachers and way of professional development of such teachers to transform them into effective instructors. The research had been conducted on the basis of review of literature that had been conducted so far in the area of evaluating quality teachers and their impact on quality education. Quality Teachers: Professional Development Training The concept of raising the excellence of educational system is dependent upon certain factors. Among different factors with a higher impact on the excellence of education system, presence of quality teachers in the schools is regarded very imperative. Different states have designed models to find the quality teachers for their schools in order to make sure that the students are being imparted knowledge with the use of effective instruction techniques. This paper presents a broader review of the literature that had been written so far in understanding the impact of quality teachers on the higher excellence of educational system. Moreover, the paper discusses professional teaching and some of the traits such as leadership and abilities of teachers to work through pressurized processes. The paper also develops ways to make the professional significance of teaching as a productive profession. Background: Among various means of upgrading the means of imparting better knowledge, the most commonly used way out as researched by many educationist was the use of rating plans. Many programs have been introduced in which different schools have been rated for the purpose of literacy survey. Such rating plans were greatly used as the source of putting schools in different orders of literacy. Upon the use of such programs to rate different schools, the role of teachers was observed to be very important in enhancing the excellence of the education standard (Hyson, Tomlinson, & Morris, 2009). Many investigations have been conducted on how the quality of teachers can raise the quality of educational standard. Researchers have conducted researches on evaluating the traits of quality teachers and how such traits can impact excellence of school. On researchers, it was observed that different traits could have made it possible for teachers to uphold the excellence of educational system. Some of the notable traits which were mentioned were leadership, effectiveness in instructions, ability of working in pressured situation of rising educational standard internationally etc (Henard & Ringuet, 2009). Following the paradigm of research, different aspects of teachers were also investigated such as compensation being given to teachers who proved to be skillful. Educationists have also proposed models in order to evaluate how quality teachers could be recruited and then hired with encouraging prospects of the profession of teaching. It has also been researched that how different teachers could be transformed into effective instructors (Goe, Bell, & Little, 2008). With a number of researchers which were being conducted to create understanding regarding the role of teachers and excellence of educational standard, some of the problems were still untouched for evaluation. For instance, the problem in of lower expertise of teacher and literacy rate of students was also noticed to be disappointing as the rating of school was being done on international basis. In case of international rating, it was observed that even 15 years old children of primary schools legged behind the 11 years olds of another state. The rating system appeared to be as a war-like system of dividing students in different levels of literacy (Hyson, Tomlinson, & Morris, 2009). In the context of above noted problem, many educational investigators tried to search the main reason behind the ineffectiveness of the newest education system which are being applied world wide but no researcher had been able to search it successfully. It is due to the fact that the factors that affect the effectiveness of educations system are interrelated (Cain & Watts, 1970). Some of the common factors behind the short falls of the education system have been noted as limited investment in the education sector of the state, lesser reforms and ideas claiming increased experiments to search ways in which knowledge can be best imparted in schools etc. Among all the interrelated factors, the most important factor that had widely caused a number of short falls in the ineffectiveness of education systems of the school is the lack of highly qualified teachers and effective instructors. Many educationists have researched on the increasing need of quality teachers. Darius Lakdawalla (2001) had put the perspective of having quality teachers forward by relating it to the excellence of the entire educational system (Lakdawalla, 2001). Teachers are considered to be an important factor in the higher standards of education. Many institutions have stressed the need of policies in relation to the role being played by the teachers. Institutions comprising the power of quality teachers can actually increase their budget because they get their demands fulfilled. A number of surveys had claimed that many parents enrolled their children in a school by depending upon the quality of teachers. Significance of Having Quality Teachers: The significance of having a quality staff in the institution is itself an achievement. Higher excellence could only be achieved in the case where more and more knowledge is imparted with higher rate of successful instruction delivering techniques being used by the faculty. According to the report conducted by Mckinsey and Company, the teachers can make use of latest techniques of imparting knowledge I n order to increase the excellence of education system (McKinsey and Company , 2007). The way of imparting knowledge had a potential to yield different results. Mckinsey and Company mentioned a survey by Tennessee that concluded if two children are assigned one teacher each then it had been found that the level of knowledge of the students would be different from each other (McKinsey and Company , 2007). The significance of quality teachers increased as the investigators and researchers claimed that the results have proven that teachers with higher expertise to teach have provided quality education. Different researchers have provided different statistics on how teachers have made differences in providing quality education and upgrading the standard of education system. A number of studies had been conducted where different levels of teacher’s expertise had been tested by assigning students of different grades. The evaluation of teacher’s expertise had been widely done with the help of this method (Follett, 1970). It had been researched by a great deal of investigators that most of the schools experiment on the primary levels of education. Primary level is regarded as the building blocks of educational career of an individual. In case of applying experimental techniques of imparting knowledge on the primary level, it had been noted that impact is highly negative (Hyson, Tomlinson, & Morris, 2009). The need of quality teachers is very high even in the primary level because the form of education which is imparted in the primary level is considered to be the base of understanding the following concepts. The problem that needs to be solved in the current era is to understand what could be done to gain excellence of educations system. As it had been observed earlier that teachers play a very important role in the upgrade of educational standard. An important pointer as noted in the research report of McKinsey and Company is that the institutions which are imparting knowledge effectively are following some of the policies. One approach of such successful institutions is to depend upon teachers who are capable to impart knowledge with sincerity. Successful institutions regard teachers as the driving factor of the institution (Lakdawalla, 2001). Depending upon the teachers for evident change in gaining excellence of education system makes sense as the significance of teacher had been claimed really high by researchers and investigators in increasing the role of institutions for higher literacy rate. According to the pointer as claimed by McKinsey and Company, right teachers are required to propagate right goal of education. It had been suggested in the research report that the best way to increase the standard of the education is to get the right people i.e. quality teachers. The claim could not be regarded as incorrect as the practical examples have been proved as relevant (McKinsey and Company , 2007). Researchers claim that a number of characteristics must be observed while interviewing teachers for the job. The investigators have researched the characteristics of excellent teachers with different approaches. Some claim that excellence in the role of teachers could never be achieved as the level of education continuously changes. The excellence could be achieved with the help of pilot courses for the development of teacher’s role (Follett, 1970). The need of pilot courses for the teachers’ professional development is not a new approach towards the attainment of quality teachers. It had been an ongoing activity which is now in use for decades but still the results have not been observed to be as expected. Attractive Profession, Quality Teachers: Attractiveness of the teaching profession is supposed as one of the heatedly debated issue in different societies. Researchers have claimed that quality teachers are not dependent upon the societal process because they are able to bring positive changes themselves by introducing effective methods of teaching. In contrast, here are people who believe that effective instructors could only be found if they are encouraged and motivated towards teaching by providing benefits (McKinsey and Company , 2007). The question that arises with the development of understanding regarding the role of teachers is that how can schools recruit effective instructors and quality teachers. According to the research conducted by the McKinsey and Company, quality teachers could only be found in the societies where the majority considers that the teachers could be the source of social change. Quality teachers can only be found in a society where the profession of teaching is considered as a noble and productive nature (McKinsey and Company , 2007). In reply of such an observation, programs of teaching have been originated in many societies to make sure that the profession teaching is taken as a very interesting profession. Following the same strategy to make the teaching profession as an interesting profession, many international programs had been originated. One example of such programs is Teach for America was founded purposely by Wendy Kopp (Decker, Mayer, & Glazerman, 2004). The purpose of such programs is to encourage graduates as well as experienced teachers to take part in teaching all types of institutions. The agreement which is signed with such teachers is generally for two years along with the compensation (McKinsey and Company , 2007). Investigations have also been conducted to understand the effectiveness of such programs in the societies of different states. According to the researches and different investigations that had been conducted so far claimed that teaching programs have been proved as effective programs in encouraging graduated selecting teaching as a profession in some states (Goe, Bell, & Little, 2008). The research by Mckinsey and Company stressed on the fact that the teaching profession in Finland is regarded as very productive. One reason that have been mentioned in he research is that the education board had made it compulsory for teachers to acquire a master degree. Following the same manner, other states have also made use of the similar approach to make the profession of teaching interesting and productive. Among all the states that have implemented the same approach of requirement of master degree, Finland had strictly followed the requirement. In this way the state educational system has managed to yield positive results (McKinsey and Company , 2007). Moreover, with the help of surveys it was understood that in many states the profession of teaching is not considered as productive because of the compensation. There are many states especially Asian countries where the compensation for teaching duties is very less relatively. The productivity is thus lessened in past few years (Henard & Ringuet, 2009). Many states have gauged the problem of compensation and its concern with the attractiveness of the teaching profession. One school of thought claims that the attractiveness of the teaching profession could not be in the hand of policymakers. Such a statement leads to a debate concerning with the attractiveness of the teaching profession and role of policymakers. The debate links the relation of teaching compensation with the quality of teachers. The supporters of the statement state that it is based upon the schools to pay higher salaries to make the profession of teaching interesting for graduates who are capable to make positive changes in the policies and present effectiveness in giving instructions (Lakdawalla, 2001). On the other hand there are some of the educators who believe that quality of education or excellence of the complete educational system is dependent upon the teachers who are qualified and are effective instructors. Professional Development Training and Getting Quality Teacher: The educationists believe that the need of remote and pilot courses is needed to help the teachers to become effective instructors. It is believed that teachers can become more skillful if they are given professional development training. In the globalized world of today, it is important to stay in contact with the latest and emerging phenomenon. Thus it is suggested that timely professional development training courses of teaching must be held to help the teachers in becoming effective instructors. The professional development training of teachers had proved that the teaching profession is a very serious and devoting profession. Many people have been taking the profession of teaching as a very typical profession. Mckinsey and Company research also mentioned in their research report that teaching have now become a very attractive career because institutions have appointed the approach of testing individuals of the basis of their professional development training results which in return is beneficial for the candidates who apply for teacher’s designation. The attraction had also increased the requirement of quality teachers which may be a problematic concern for most of the candidates applying for teaching (McKinsey and Company , 2007). The increasing need of quality of teachers also raises the pointer of compensation that is provided to teachers for their professional duties of imparting knowledge. It could also be said that the increase in compensation of teachers could become a very important element that could encourage teachers to get professional development training. Many institutions select teachers on the basis of professional development training results and this further leads to the decision for compensation (McKinsey and Company , 2007). Teachers with higher quality and skills of imparting knowledge in skilled way can help them get higher compensation. Thus it could be noted that the compensation for the teachers is dependent upon their quality and professional development training results. According to the report by Sydney morning Herald, there is an avid need of reforms in the courses for the training purposes when the matter of quality of education is in question. The article had published some of the important factors which could be used in order to raise the standard of Australian education. The research updates that teachers are suppose to make sure that they choose the right way to handle the situations of pressure whether internal or external. The decision-making and training is required for such action. The OECD’s research about Australian academics standard ended up in suggestion i.e. school leadership and training could be a very good practice to make sure that the quality of education (Teaching Australia, 2007). Another factor that had been observed in the requirement of highly qualified teachers is that the world is becoming global village with a fast pace. New fields and subject matters have become eminent part of curriculum of academics. With the introduction of new subject of matter in the education system, it has become extremely important to increase the understanding of mind sets (Hyson, Tomlinson, & Morris, 2009). The courses of professional development training could help teachers in understanding the psychology of different students and yielding positive results by implementing the approach as per the psychology of the person. The author McKinsey and Company of the research “How the World’s best Performing School Systems come out on Top?” pointed out in his research that the need of skilled teachers would always be there even if the education system is successful and effectively being employed (McKinsey and Company , 2007). The research conducted by McKinsey and Company depends upon the survey especially designed for the participant schools from different countries. The role of quality teachers in the current world had rapidly changed to me more of an instructor (McKinsey and Company , 2007). The role of the teachers in the current age of education is not just restricted to imparting knowledge but also to manage the administrative and dynamics of education system of the particular institution. Management of issues such as external pressures of educational system of due to the competition among state and internal pressure of school dynamics with respect to the school system should be done by teachers. The responsibilities of the teachers are to enhance the level of understanding of parents and students with the education system. The government plays a significant role in relation to other factors which are potential of affecting the education system of any state (Follett, 1970). According to the researches being conducted in the field of education, currently there is a requirement of courses which would help the teachers in knowing the best possible ways (Henard & Ringuet, 2009). Such methods could be used to impart knowledge to students on higher level. Such methods are expected to me more creative and unlike traditional methods. The different statistics as proposed by the author McKinsey and Company illustrates that the education system of England had been well worked on with reforms but after its evaluation in the practice period of fifty years, it came to our understanding that the education system still included some of the fallacies (McKinsey and Company , 2007). The research carried by Linda Darling-Hammond regarding the connection between quality teachers and development in the student’s motivational level to get higher grades in academics also claim that by educating teacher with the help of professional development, students capability could be increased (Hammond, 1999). Relationship between Teachers and Students: On the basis of the proposition of McKinsey and Company’s it could be supposed that only those schools could create a positive implementation plan of the education systems where the teachers are trained especially in such a way that they can easily fulfill the responsibilities of effective instructors (McKinsey and Company , 2007). Trained teachers are highly capable to make use of vocabulary which could be very useful for a student’s achievement in academics. The reason behind such an achievement is due to the fact that there is a profound relation between teachers and students. According to the research conducted by Samuel Coleman it had been concluded that teachers are connected to teachers in a relationship through verbal communication. It is important to note here that teachers communicate with students with the help of imparting knowledge through lectures, conversations, debates, giving instructions etc. Teachers must be very careful about the words that are selected in the activities of classroom. The need of effective communication and choosing the right vocabulary is the most important task for teachers. Research suggests that effective learning takes place when words are used appropriately. The meanings of words could also take a different impact (Follett, 1970). A quality teacher would be able to understand the relation of words and learning process of students. It could be regarded as the quality of a teacher to understand the psychology and need of students and using the accurate techniques to make the learning process easier and productive in terms of higher grades. Among different qualities which are able to help in judging the quality of teachers, verbal communication and selection of vocabulary can be regarded as a very important element. In order to analyze the element of verbal communication and selection of words by teachers, a number of tests had been originated and altered. SAT’s verbal test activity is one of the effective examples of judging the expertise of selecting words and communication of teachers in a classroom (Cain & Watts, 1970). Following the same context of the relationship between teachers and students, it could be said that the relation between a teacher and student is important that both of them search the meanings. According to the research by The Teacher-student relation, the search of meanings and ways to response to a daily routine experience could be achieved with the help of integration of a relationship between a teacher and student. The gain in knowledge could not be achieved in isolation but by joining bit and pieces of every single information. Teachers have rather an important role to play in this regard. The achievement of information is based upon the importance of objectivity (Follett, 1970). Issues of Professional development training the Teachers: Only those institutions could raise the number of literacy count where the teachers are equal in measure to the demand of class size. Class size matters when it comes to teaching. Some of the teachers are only able to manage classes where very less students are enrolled. The limitation of professional development training teachers for becoming effective instructor is that there are many teachers who are completely new to field of teacher and they do not have prior experience of teaching. Teaching is that type of profession that may be start as a tutor but later in life the leadership trait of the profession could become a driving force in a social change. Teachers become as they teach and they learn from the knowledge and their experience of imparting knowledge. Professional development training of teachers could yield better results when the teachers have prior experience of teacher so that they can understand their mistakes and understand needs of newer techniques for teaching children. It is thus suggested and comes to the notice of educators that there must be two types of professional development training programs. The distinction could be in terms of experienced and fresh teachers in the profession. The distinction could be made because experienced teachers are fresh teachers have different approach towards teaching. According to the report by Teachers Make Difference by John Hattie in the year of 2003, teachers with prior experience have the approach to solve problems by available data or facts and figures. On the other hand expert teachers who are fresher with teaching will try to solve questions in academics with newer research and survey (Hattie, 2003). The experienced teachers would surely require professional development training that will go beyond their expertise which could be a complication for the jury. But it could yield greater response as highly skilled and quality teachers can be recruited (McKinsey and Company , 2007). Experienced teachers have the ability to have traits of leadership that can be taken as a beneficial concern for the institution. Such teachers can help in appointing policies and decisions for the institution. It is important to note the fact that accurate and effective policies can be an interrelated factor which can have a positive influence on the effectiveness of education system. A larger size of class is an important concern when it is about hiring quality teachers. It had been observed in the past that a large number of candidates applied for the teacher designation. It increased the supply number of teachers with respect to demanded number of teachers. Such a problem arises when the size of the professional development training class is increased. This could be a limitation that could be observed while evaluating teachers through professional development training model approach (Hyson, Tomlinson, & Morris, 2009). According to the investigations it had been observed that most of the states have made it mandatory for the candidates interested in teaching profession to qualify in the four year program of bachelors in education. The requirement of completing bachelors in education had been introduced because of higher supply of teachers. States where the requirement of bachelors in education program for four years is not being fulfilled have resulted in making the profession of teaching less attractive. Consequently, such an approach had managed to restrict traffic for application for teaching profession. England, Australia, USA etc. are some of the states where the strict rule for requirement fulfillment of bachelors in education is being practiced (McKinsey and Company, 2007). Another way to make sure that the supply and demand phenomenon is in equilibrium is that the teachers who are already employed in the school are not hired for permanent basis. According to the research conducted by McKinsey and Company, schools in England do not hire teachers on regular basis. The reason behind the act of keeping teachers on temporary agreement is that they can be replaced with qualified teachers if they are not showing any skillful ways to instruct students (McKinsey and Company, 2007). Education board of England had managed to implement the policy to the schools and other academic institutions. Results have shown that considerable boost in the responsibility had been observed in the teachers hired in such schools. Another problem that has been noted in the process of providing professional development training to the candidates is that the period of teaching courses is estimated to be for one year. The time period of one year appears to be a loss for candidates in terms of earning (Henard & Ringuet, 2009). One year time thus becomes unattractive to the graduates who apply for teaching openings. Consequently, many candidates have skipped applying for teaching openings as they cannot afford to appear in one year program of training for teaching. In case, graduates who are married and have quite many responsibilities on themselves would result in applying for any other profession. This is another big issue that has been investigated by many researchers with respect to teaching professions. In this way many institutions are deprived of quality teachers (McKinsey and Company, 2007). This would also work as a factor of making the profession less productive for majority. Screening of Quality Applicants: The article by Mckinsey and Company claimed with the help of survey of recruitment criteria of best school, teachers are hired on the basis of their expertise in their different courses. Graduates who are capable of getting higher grades in their universities are more offered with the teaching jobs by schools. The next step of hiring is professional development training where they are analyzed and are trained about their school policies. In this way the best and quality teachers get the designation in such schools (McKinsey and Company, 2007). Another model that had been used in the current times is to select undergraduates who are capable to achieve higher grades and can continue their degrees along with studies. The selection of such candidates for job is that such teachers would always been stay in touch of new phenomenon (Goe, Bell, & Little, 2008). Some of the schools consider that such students can have better capability of imparting knowledge and designing the flow of instructions. Some investigators have pointed out the fact that more and more institutions prefer to appoint those candidates for teaching profession who are undergraduate. This is due to the fact that upon graduation, it could be a lot for candidates for professional development training. McKinsey and Company suggest that there must be a limited size of professional development training class so that it could be easy to evaluate the skills of each and every candidate. Smaller size will also help the jury to decide the teacher’s ability to suit respective job openings (McKinsey and Company, 2007). To understand the need of smaller size of the class and the model for recruiting the right candidates for the teaching profession, researchers have made use of the word supply and demand. There should be a chosen number of candidates who can prove as needed supply amount for the job of teaching as it is demanded. Concluding Remarks: Through the analysis of above facts and statements by different researchers and investigators, it comes to our understanding that the need of quality teachers is higher in most of the states. Only few states have been able to find qualified teachers and effective instructors. Among different ways of finding highly qualified teachers, the most widely used way is to train the teachers and hire the teachers who resulted higher in the professional development training course. Along with the advantages of the process of finding quality teachers, there are some of the issues of professional development training which have made the profession of teaching a bit unattractive. Thus it is suggested in return of the problem of higher supply of teachers with respect of demand of teachers that the candidates are selected for by having a smaller professional development training class size. It would result as help for the jury to conduct a thorough evaluation of candidate skills and expertise but also a considerable measure of supply can be achieved. Moreover, the educationist must make sure that the teaching profession is made attractive with the help of encouraging graduates. Programs such as Teach for America must be founded in order to develop understanding and opportunities. Reference List Cain, G., & Watts, H. (1970). Problems in Making Policy Inferences from the Coleman Report. American Sociological Review , 35 (2), 228-242. Decker, P., Mayer, D., & Glazerman, S. (2004). The Effects of Teach For America on Students. New Jersey: The Carnegie Corporation. Follett, M. (1970). The Teacher-Student Relation. Administrative Science Quarterly , 15 (2), 137-148. Goe, L., Bell, C., & Little, O. (2008). Approaches to Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness: A Research Synthesis. Washington DC.: National Comprehensive Centre for Teaching Quality. Hammond, L. (1999). Teacher Quality and Student Achievement. Washington: Stanford University. Hattie, J. (2003). Teachers Make a Difference: What is the research evidence? Auckland: University of Auckland. Henard, F., & Ringuet, S. (2009). The Path to Quality Teaching in Higher Education. London: London School of Economics and Political Science. Hyson, M., Tomlinson, H., & Morris, C. (2009). Quality Improvement in Early Childhood Teacher Education. Illinnois: University of Illinois. Lakdawalla, D. (2001). The Declining Quality of Teachers. Masschuets: National Bureau of Economic Research. McKinsey and Company . (2007). How the Worlds Best-Performing School Systems come out on Top. How the Worlds Best-Performing School Systems come out on Top. Teaching Australia. (2007, March 23). Quality Teaching in Australian Schools. Retrieved September 2010, 24, from Cirriculum: http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/quality_teaching_in_australian_schools,18372.html?issueID=10753 Read More