Computer science is increasingly becoming an essential 21st century skill. As school systems around the world recognize the importance of computer science, demand for teachers who have the knowledge and skills to deliver computer science instruction is rapidly growing. Yet a number of recent studies indicate that teachers report low confidence and limited understanding of computer science, frequently confusing basic computer literacy skills with computer science. This is true for both teachers at the K-8 level as well as secondary education teachers who frequently transition to computer science from other content areas, such as mathematics. As computer science is not yet included in most teacher preparation programs, professional development is a critical step in efforts to prepare in-service teachers to deliver high-quality computer science instruction. To date, however, research on best practices in computer science professional development has been severely lacking in the literature, making it difficult for researchers and practitioners alike to examine effective in-service preparation models. This book provide examples of professional development approaches that help teachers integrate aspects of computing in existing curricula at the K-8 level or deliver stand-alone computer science courses at the secondary school level. Further, this book identifies computational competencies for teachers, promising pedagogical strategies that advance teacher learning, as well as alternative pathways for ongoing learning including microcredentials. The primary audience of the book is graduate students and faculty in educational technology, educational or cognitive psychology, learning theory, curriculum and instruction, computer science, instructional systems and learning sciences. Additionally, the book will serve as a valuable addition to education practitioners and curriculum developers as well as policy makers looking to increase the number of teachers who are prepared to deliver computing education.

The “ideal” 21st century public school teacher has a keen understanding of the racialized history of education and has already taken a critical stance regarding that history. This teacher is a changemaker and able to create classroom conditions that enable all children and youth to be changemakers as well. In order to assist teachers to become this ideal educator, antiracist professional development must be undertaken. Antiracist professional development has as its goal the transformation of teachers for the eventual transformation of classroom environments, instruction, and curricula to provide for equitable and inclusive educational experiences, particularly for students of color. Unfortunately, such transformative teacher professional development has been in short supply in the age of high-stakes standardized testing and the deprofessionalization of the teaching profession. Antiracist Professional Development for In-Service Teachers: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a crucial reference book that addresses the historical, sociological, and pedagogical background concerning racial issues in education. It proposes an antiracist model for professional development as a tool for transforming schools and teachers to be critically sensitive changemakers. Drawing upon more than 20 years of developing a transformative teaching master’s program, the book includes data from the authors’ national survey of teacher professional development, assignment examples, teacher work products, and the authors’ self-critique/reflections on their efforts to support teachers in transforming their practice. The book also presents the voices of P-12 teachers, including those who thought that they already “knew it all,” the new teacher at a punitive public charter school with high turnover, teachers who took leadership within the school and in the larger community, and teachers who significantly changed their classroom practice for the long-term. Moreover, the authors offer policy recommendations for teacher professional development experiences that meet the needs of all teachers; experiences that provide support for teachers’ professional growth, that have an immediate impact on student learning, and that create the conditions for school communities to work together as changemakers. It includes an epilogue that considers the urgency of these issues as were revealed by the 2020 global pandemic. As such, this book is ideal for teachers, teacher educators, educational leaders, administrators, policymakers, academicians, researchers, and students.

This book offers a comprehensive, up-to-date review of the recent professional developments of teachers of English in the western region of China in the context of English language teaching reform and teacher education reform. It discusses a wealth of theories, frameworks, qualitative case studies and quantitative investigations, while also covering a range of key practices that are indispensable. It equips readers with an in-depth understanding of the impact of the current curriculum reform on the promotion of teachers’ cognition, emotions, attitudes and awareness of their self-development, as well as teachers’ corresponding efforts to update their educational concepts, reassess their teacher roles, enhance their teaching skills, and implement new approaches to their professional development. It is a valuable resource for anyone pursuing research in this field as well as in-service teachers, teacher educators and education administrators. And as it offers practical help for the potential difficulties and challenges they might encounter, it is also a must-read for the student teachers of English.

As educational standards continue to transform, it has become essential for educators and pre-service teachers to receive the support and training necessary to effectively instruct their students and meet societal expectations. However, there is not a clear consensus on what constitutes teacher effectiveness and quality within the education realm. The Handbook of Research on Professional Development for Quality Teaching and Learning provides theoretical perspectives and empirical research on educator preparation and methods for enhancing the teaching process. Focusing on teacher effectiveness and support provided to current and pre-service educators, this publication is a comprehensive reference source for practitioners, researchers, policy makers, graduate students, and university faculty.

This up-close look at Chinese ESL teachers documents undertakings at formal and informal levels to support and sustain their expertise in ways that balance collaborative and competitive efforts, situated and standards-based programs, ethnically responsive and government-based efforts, and traditional and 21st-century teaching visions. English is a mandated subject for approximately 400 million Chinese public school students. Making transparent the training and professional development received respectively by pre-service and in-service teachers, this book provides a rare window into how Chinese English Language teachers (ELTs) reconcile the two needs with the responsibility to teach large numbers of students while also navigating societal, cultural, and institutional cross currents. It also explores the range of ways China invests in the training and professional development of its English language teachers.

"This book will examine how individuals and organizations are using Web 2.0 tools to create informal learning and professional development opportunities"-- Provided by publisher.

This comprehensive handbook provides an overview of current trends in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) teacher education and professional development across the globe. It highlights theories and practices in CALL teacher education and professional development in five sections, such as English language teaching, including pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, teacher educators, material developers, course designers and researchers. It explores the role of CALL teacher education and professional development in many underexplored countries such as Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It stresses the critical role of professional development programs, from the use of technology in its generic sense. The theoretical and empirical chapters in the book provide a more inclusive and comprehensive picture of various aspects of CALL teacher education and professional development globally. It offers context-specific approaches and strategies to language teachers and teacher educators. It provides pedagogical implications and suggestions for promoting digital literacy and autonomy in online education. This book provides valuable insights for researchers, teacher educators and teacher trainers in applied linguistics.

This bookextends the national discussion about the Professional Development School (PDS) movement of the past three decades. The volume highlights school/university partnerships’ focus on collaborative activities that endeavor to promote social justice in and across P-12 and university classrooms, educational institutions, and communities. Professional Development Schools and Social Justice: Schools and Universities Partnering to Make a Difference guides veteran teachers, undergraduate and graduate pre-service teachers, and university faculty to understand how the PDS model might be oriented toward social justice ideals. Co-authored by school- and university-based educators, each chapter details the social justice work of specific partnerships and provides concrete instructional and curricular methods for application within both teacher education and PK-12 settings. Readers are provided insight into a range of elements of Professional Development Schools, including the development of PK-12 and teacher education curricula, processes of program implementation, and research and data collection.

School-university partnerships have the potential to greatly benefit teaching and learning in PK-12 environments, as well as educator preparation programs. This collaboration is advantageous to teachers, counselors, and administrators. Professional Development Schools and Transformative Partnerships provides a comprehensive look at the design, implementation, and impact of educational initiatives between schools and universities. Including cases and research on existing collaborations, this publication addresses barriers and trends in order to provide direction for successful partnerships in the future. This book is an essential reference source for educational leaders in colleges, schools, and departments of education, as well as leaders of PK-12 schools.

This book offers a counterpart to the extensive corpus of literature available on the same topic from a Western perspective. It showcases innovative approaches to professional development of mathematics teachers in Asian countries, and reports on both empirical and expository studies of teachers’ professional development in these counties. It provides scholars from non-English-speaking and under-represented Asian countries the opportunity to engage in discourse with other scholars in the field, and is the first book to present substantial contributions from scholars in Asia on the professional development of mathematics teachers in their respective countries. It includes perspectives that shed valuable light on how the approaches pursued in Asian countries resemble or differ from those in the West.