The role of PDTs in novice teachers' professional development
Date of Award
8-1-2002
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Education (M. Ed.)
Department
Institute for Educational Development, Karachi
Abstract
Literature on educational development suggests that the last decade has witnessed tremendous quantitative expansion in education but the quality of education being offered in developing countries has been a main concern for everyone. One of the reasons could be due to recruitment of untrained teachers, since experienced teachers have started leaving the profession. This has further aggravated the situation. Hence, many developing countries including Pakistan initiated effective teacher education programmes. The Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development has played a critical role by offering a wide range of teacher education programmes. The purpose of these programmes is to develop critical mass for institutional capacity building, required for school improvement. The M.Ed. programmes graduates called Professional Development Teachers (PDTs), work closely with teachers, in general, and inexperienced teachers in particular in their own context. In order to understand the role of PDTs in the professional development of novice teachers, a qualitative study was conducted in AKU-IED's four cooperating schools. A battery of research tools such as interview, observation and document analysis were used to gather the relevant information. The study suggests some important findings related to PDTs' role in the professional development of novice teachers. The PDTs seemed to have an adequate understanding of how to work with novice teachers for their professional development. The novice teachers feel that the PDTs have been great supporters for enhancing their professional learning. However, novice teachers need more professional support in the areas such as pedagogical approaches, classroom management, and material development. PDTs seem to have a major agenda of professional development in both, private and community-based schools; they need to use multiple instructional strategies for the professional development of novice teachers.
Recommended Citation
Shabolov, K. (2002). The role of PDTs in novice teachers' professional development (Unpublished master's dissertation). Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.