sdpd who pulls the strings - saarmste 2008

8/9/2019 Sdpd Who Pulls the Strings - SAARMSTE 2008

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Self-directed professional development: Who pulls the strings?

Emmanuel Mushayikwa1

and Fred Lubben2

1School of Education, University of Cape Town,

2

Department of Educational Studies, University of York, [email protected];

[email protected]

This paper discusses the development of a model for self-directed professional development using

data derived from interviews of 55 Zimbabwean A-level Science and Mathematics teachers. The

interviews encouraged teachers to reflect on the reasons why they sought to develop themselves

using ICT. The study identified teacher efficacy as the single most important driver for self-directed

professional development. In addition, teacher efficacy was also found to be made up of two

platforms: classroom efficacy and professional efficacy.

Introduction

Researchers across several educational disciplines (e.g. Andrews, 2004 in linguistics; Wellington,

2005 in ICT; Crossley and Guthrie, 1987 in curriculum studies) have reported their frustration at the

inconclusiveness of determining the impact of educational innovations on teachers classroom and

professional practice. Some staff developers (e.g. Chambers, 2001; Kinder et al., 1991) have

reported similar difficulties with regard to evaluating the effectiveness of professional development

programmes. Cunningham (2001) and Jay and Johnson (2002) have attributed these difficulties to

the complex nature of the professional teacher, and the fact that innovations operate within a

context in which teachers are constantly trying to find a balance between professional, systemic and

classroom influences that they are subjected to on a daily basis.

In this paper systemic and generic models of self-directed professional development, arising from

the teachers interactions with ICT, are advanced to enhance our understanding of the process of by

which teachers make decisions pertaining to their professional development, and hence shed light

on how classroom impact of professional development interventions can be increased.

Literature Review

The term professional development is taken to mean the accumulation of skills, professional

knowledge, values and personal qualities that enable teachers to operate effectively within the

educational system (Vonk, 1991; Bertani and Tafel, 1992). This implies that professional

development is regarded as being experiential. However, other researchers (Steffy, 1987; Bell and

Gilbert 1996; Harland and Kinder 1997) recognise that experience alone cannot account for the way

teachers learn and develop within their careers, or the decisions they make to adopt or not to adopt

innovations. Hea-Jin (2001) reports that over the years, the focus for professional development

programmes has shifted from a deficit approach (focus on content knowledge: use of external

expertise) to a technical approach (focus on teaching practice: school based with outside help) to
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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continuing professional development (focusing on teacher professionalism and context:

collaborative practice). These approaches were associated with models that were developed to

describe the professional development process from that particular perspective. Whilst these models

have been very useful in planned professional development programmes, they do not shed light on

the uptake of innovation by teachers once the professional development programme has beencompleted. They do not explain why some teachers easily integrate what they learn during the

planned professional development process, whilst others soon go back to their prior practice

without any signs of having gained from the experience. As a result, staff-developers still suffer

from anxiety when considering evaluating the impact of their professional development

interventions.

Self-directed professional development is defined as the professional development arising from the

teachers own initiative, i.e. internally determined and initiated (Hofstrand, 1979; Hall, 1997;

Mushayikwa; 2005). Although the term self-directed professional development has been around

for some time, interest in this area of study has been low and relatively recent. The few researcherswho have published papers in this area are agreed on the importance of self-direction in

professional development (e.g. Hofstrand, 1979; Hall, 1997). They also agree that there are lots of

gaps in our understanding of the process and that self-directed professional development could be a

key determinant in the success or failure of professional (staff) development programmes.

However, few of the studies have suggested a theory as to how the process takes place or why.

Bouchard (1996) has made the observation that self-directed professional development appears to

be most prominent when teachers or professionals are operating in deprived environments. Perhaps

this is precisely the reason why researchers have missed it researchers have tended to concentrate

more on evaluating effects of supported professional development. They have tended to overlook

the fact that teachers are continually engaged in professional development even in the absence of, or

in between, supported professional development programmes.

The focus on self-directed professional development has been increasing recently in tandem with a

shift in the provision of professional development from external expertise bias to empowerment

(Hea-Jin, 2001). By empowering teachers, professional developers encourage them to take the

initiative in identifying and acting on their own individual needs.

The fact that several models have been developed to describe the professional development process

underlines the multifaceted nature of the process, and also the difficulty involved in using current

theoretical frameworks to satisfactorily explain the complexities underlying the process. It isbecoming increasingly clear that professional development is a complex process which cannot

easily be explained through linear cause and effect, but is dependent on cross linkages and

interactions between individuals, institutions and their context (Feltovich et al., 1996; Cunningham,

2001). These interrelationships can best be described in Figure 1.

Figure 1 highlights the relationships existing between the individual teacher and the institution.

Where the institution and the individual are in mutually supportive relationships, symbiosis occurs

and the individual feels empowered, identifies with the mission of the institution. The needs of the

institution become identified as the needs of the individual and there is a shared vision and high

delivery. On the other hand, where there is strain between the institution and the individual, thereare lower shared values, lower retention and the individual does not feel obligated to identify with


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the needs of the institution. In such a case, school based professional development will not

necessarily result in an uptake and adoption of an innovation.

Institution Individual

Support

(Symbiosis)

Challenge(Strain)

EmpowermentMutually strengtheningSense of belongingHigher retention

Supportive

PolicyOrganisationalgoals realisedQuality delivery

Frustrating(Powerlessness)Lowered self-efficacyLowered perception of selfBurnoutExit

Unresponsive heads

Lower shared valuesGoals not realisedPoor quality delivery

Figure 1. Symbiotic interactions in between the individual and the institution

However, both the individual teacher and the institution are components of the complex educational

system. In complex systems, individual needs are often super-ceded by systemic self-organisingforces. As the system is dynamic and changes, mirroring the changes in society, it forces

individuals to adjust and accommodate the new needs created by its transformation. Where

transformation is not accompanied by systemic support, as is the case in impoverished societies,

teachers are often left with little support and have to find ways of dealing with the transformation.

Several researchers in education and the social sciences (Merry, 1995; Brennan, 1997; Jay and

Johnson, 2002 and Pryor and Bright, 2003) have turned to chaos / complexity theory to help them

unravel the complex relationships between individuals, institutions and their contexts. Developed

from non-linear dynamics, chaos theory tries to describe the behaviour of open systems, i.e. systems

which are in constant interchange with their surroundings. Chaos theory recognises that opensystems are unpredictable because there are complex interactions which take place between system

elements and the environment. Such systems have four main characteristics:

i) Chaotic systems are non-linear: For example, due to the complex interplay betweensystemic, individual and classroom influences on the teachers behaviour, it is difficult

to apply a simple causeeffect relationship between a professional development

innovation and the teachers resultant behaviour. Thus professional development is a

non-linear systemic process.

ii) Chaos system events are iterative, i.e. the products of one process become the inputs ofthe next cycle (Merry, 1995). In terms of professional development, teachers tend to

build on their perceptions from previous experience.


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iii) Chaos system processes are dependent on the prevailing initial contexts, and are alsosensitive to the initial conditions. For example, the impact of a professional development

programme will depend on the initial state of the teacher before the change was

introduced, and also on the ways the teachers perceive the programme before they join it

(Bloch, 2003). A small change in the teachers initial perception can result in wholesale

rejection of the process, or partial uptake, or whole hearted adoption.iv) Chaos systems are self-organising. Chaos theory recognises that systemic changes are

ordered, even though individual elements of the system might appear to behave in

random and undetermined ways. Change takes place gradually and occurs in such a way

as to enhance the system, so that the system develops in a definite direction. For

example, the adoption of most educational, and indeed, scientific innovations have taken

place gradually against a backdrop of some resistance which has fallen as new systemic

paradigms are adopted (Hea-Jin, 2001).

As the illustrations above show, the education system behaves like a typical chaotic system.

Sullivan (1994) attempted to apply chaos theory to school organisation on the premise that the

education system behaved more or less like a complex system. Since then more researchers, e.g.Sawyer (2001) and Davis (2003) have extended the application of chaos theory to teachers

professional development. They justified their approach on the assumption that teachers are

systemic elements of the education system.

As a result of these studies, our interpretation of the education system has been recast in a chaotic

framework leading to a re-definition of the professional development process which recognises the

fundamental part played by self-direction.

Given the complex nature of the self-directed professional development process described above, it

seems plausible to expect that teacher perceptions precede behaviour, i.e. teachers will adopt

professional practices that they perceive to be beneficial to them (Doyle and Ponder, 1978). If thisis the case, several questions need to be answered about what stimulates teachers to direct their own

professional development. Some of these questions are listed below:

a) What motivates teachers to engage in self-directed professional development?b) What are the underlying organising forces for self-directed professional development?

Methodology

55 A-level science, mathematics and geography teachers were interviewed over a period of two

years. In the first year, semi-structured interviews were held mostly at teacher resource centres.These interviews were short (averaging 25 30 minutes per teacher). They were held to tease out

the main concerns teachers had regarding their professional development. They were also used to

select teachers who would be willing to participate in more elaborate follow-on interviews in

their schools. During the second year, school-based interviews took place which sought teachers

views about their reasons for directing their own professional development, the strategies that they

used and the reasons for these choices. What benefits they gained from their professional

development activities and how these impacted on their students and their professional standing.

After recording, the interview transcripts were transcribed verbatim and typed into a word

document.


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Interview data was analysed using grounded theory principles to determine the areas of professional

concerns for the teachers in order to come up with a theory for self-directed professional

development. Proponents of grounded theory, Glaser and Strauss (1967) and Charmaz (1983) argue

that theory should develop out of the data collected and that the process of theorising involves

repeated cross-referencing between emerging theory and the data collected. The data analysis wasbased on the constructionist (Strauss and Corbin, 1998) approach which ascribes the value of

coding in grounded theory to the construction of meaning from the wording used by the participants

to provide succinct descriptions of the teachers activities. Post-modernists (Manning, 1995;

Denzin, 1994) stress the importance of cultural immersion of research and the need for researchers

to see the world from the point of view of the participants. They argue that cultural immersion

allows multiple voices to be heard in research and encourages reflexivity among researchers, as the

focus moves from mere data collection, to the active role of the researcher as a co-constructor of

knowledge. In this way, theories derived from this analysis could serve as a basis for more

extensive studies.

The transcripts were read several times. Recurring (repeating) ideas across transcripts were then

coded for all the transcripts. In vivo codes were used to mark transcript sections where repeating

ideas were identified, using the comment function in the word-processor for highlighting text

sections and inserting a code. The ideas consisted of single words or phrases expressing some

attribute of the teachers perception of the influence of ICT. These single ideas were further

grouped according to the aspect that they described. For example, some teachers talked of the use of

ICT as increasing their self esteem, whilst others claimed that the use of ICT increased their self

confidence, or made them feel empowered. Self esteem, self confidence, self respect and

empowermentare terms that can be said to describe a persons state of well-being. Thus the first

group of repeating ideas was coded as well-being. The notion of well-being was found to unify

the repeating ideas and was therefore called an analysis issue. Thus repeating ideas were

organised into unifying issues as organisers (Auerbach and Silverstein, 2003). The issues were

similarly organised into themes by identifying unifying factors across the constructs, and those in

turn into overarching goals. The resulting framework was the chief instrument to be used in

analyzing the data. Figure 2 provides a summary of the process of coding and analysis framework

development.

During the coding process, each code was defined to be made up of a number for the issue and

another number for the theme. Thus in the above example where a teacher described how the use of

ICT made her more confident in her teaching, the confidence falls under the first issues of well

being. The issue, well being also falls within the first theme, which is to do with the perceived

professional identity of teachers. Thus on the transcript, a coding of1.1 would be entered.


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Goals

Theoretical abstractions unifyingseveral themes

ThemesUnifying factors linkingseveral issues

Themes

issues

IssuesGroups of Repeating Ideas

issues

Raw dataRepeating Ideas identified and codedTeachers perceptions of ICT impact on theirprofessional development: Interview data

Figure 2. Development of the analysis framework using grounded theory principles

Several times the framework was put aside and the researcher worked through the transcripts

redeveloping the framework anew, to see whether the new framework contained categories and

groups similar to the original framework. This was done to check whether the model fitted the

evidence available. In particular, care was taken to avoid using two different codes for the same

issue. This meant that the coding had to be exclusive and very concise. The completed framework

was then compared to the original and variations in the issues and themes were clarified and re-

assigned. The researcher continued to check reliability by coding and re-coding the same script aftera few days, and comparing the rate of coding agreement. By the end of the framework development,

the agreement rate was close to 95%.

To ensure the reliability of the use of the coding framework the repeating ideas were coded and

recoded until saturation was achieved, when no new codes could be identified from the raw data. At

the early stages, independent coding was also carried out by the researchers associates, to compare

whether the issues and themes were concise and mutually exclusive and the hierarchy of issues and

themes were logical. For the final draft of the framework, two copies of the same script were

independently coded by three researchers using the coding framework. The codes were then cross

checked to determine the reliability of the framework. A high coding reliability of 80% wasachieved. The final coding framework is shown in Table 1.


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Table 1. Interview analysis coding framework

Themes Repeating Ideas

1. Perceived Professional

Identity

1.1 Well-being; self esteem/respect/confidence;

1.2 Social status; (commanding) respect/trust from fellow teachers/student

1.3 Perceived role of teacher: control vs facilitator/guide;

2. Career Development Needs 2.1 Career change; job applications; searching greener pastures/opportuniti

2.2 continuing professional development/training; keeping abreast with de

2.3 Further study; improvement of qualifications;

3. Theoretical and content

knowledge

3.1 New content; interest in new knowledge; deepening/broadening/updati

3.2 Textbook supplements/alternatives; background/variety of reading; rev

4. Practical knowledge and

professional skills

4.1 Teaching resources; demonstrations; simulations; practicals; use of equ

4.2 Organisation of teaching and assessment; syllabus; examination materi

4.3 Ideas on improving teaching approaches; variety of teaching approache

5. Pedagogical Content

Knowledge

5.1 Adaptation to syllabus depth/requirements; differentiation for student a

5.2 Modification of materials to suit local conditions/context/language leve

5.3 Developing teaching/learning materials; modules; tests and evaluate m

6. Professional Networking 6.1 Collaboration; comparing/sharing experiences/teaching skills; jointly d

6.2 Peer support/encouragement; online coaching; peer review; mentoring/

6.3 Professional communications; peer communications; making contacts;

7. Benefits to teachers and

students

7.1 Student performance/achievement; quality of passes;

7.2 Affective issues: teaching becomes interesting/enjoyable; students gain

7.3 Cognitive issues: students understanding/appreciation improves; critica

7.4 Reflective/critical practitioner; developing coping mechanisms;

7.5 Student participation/attentiveness/discipline increases; memory retent


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Once the coding framework was developed, the rest of the transcripts were re-visited and re-coded.

Colours were used on the transcript to identify text that was coded and text which identified issues

that were outside the coding frame. These issues could be contextual or epistemological relating

to the way teachers perceived or defined themselves in general not directly related to their use of

ICT for their professional development but nevertheless exerting an influence on how the teachersviewed such use. For example, issues such as who has responsibility for teachers professional

development, the nature of the teaching profession and gender conflicts had not been

accommodated in the analysis framework, and yet they were found to recur, and in some cases to

influence the teachers use of ICT. Thus when such issues appeared in an interview script, they

were highlighted in a different colour, to enable them to be identified easily later.

Although the interview questions were posed in English, several teachers tended to use code-

switching during their discussions. The researcher saw this as a sign that teachers wanted to convey

their feelings more accurately, and allowed the use of the mother tongue wherever the teacher felt

this would convey more accurately, what they wanted to say. In the transcripts, the originalexpressions were preserved. Translations were only made when the script was being quoted the

original script was presented along with the translation in brackets.

Once all the transcripts were coded using the methods described above, the codes were transferred

to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and tabulated, including interviewee demographics such as

gender, subject taught, experience and qualifications. A more detailed description of the coding

process and the development of the analysis framework is provided in the thesis (Mushayikwa,

2005) and would be beyond the scope of this paper.

Discussion of Results

The analysis of the teachers perceptions revealed that teachers were motivated towards self-

directed professional development by seven main concerns:

i) Professional identityConcerns for professional well-being, i.e. self-esteem, self-respect, self-confidence; Concerns

for professional recognition, i.e. commanding respect, trust and credibility from students,

colleagues and society. Being able to meet expectations from parents / society; and concerns

about the nature of teaching, i.e. the role of the teacher in terms of control / facilitation or

guidance.

ii) Career development needsConcerns for better / more fulfilling careers, concerns for continuing professional development

needs, i.e transferable skills training, keeping abreast with developments in teaching, getting

support for lifelong learning, and concerns for higher qualifications, study opportunities.

iii)Theoretical and content knowledgeConcerns for broadening of understanding of subject content knowledge, i.e. updating /

enriching existing content knowledge and concerns for access and provision of textbook

supplements to provide background material resources for subject content.

iv)Practical knowledge and professional skills


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Concerns for acquisition of diversified teaching resources, i.e. resources for organising

teaching and assessment; resources for developing skills on diversifying teaching approaches

and resources for acquiring innovative ideas on improving professional and classroom

performance.

v) Pedagogical content knowledgeConcerns for adapting subject content and making it relevant to the local context, i.e. adapting

content to the syllabus depth required and to different student abilities; adapting content to the

local environment, taking into account language and numeracy proficiencies of the students;

adapting content to the social and historical context of students, and thus making it relevant to

their current experiences. Finally, concerns for the development of local teaching and learning

materials that are relevant to the needs of the students.

vi)Professional NetworkingConcerns for peer collaboration, i.e. comparing and sharing experiences and skills; peer

support, i.e. peer coaching, mentoring and tutoring; and professional communication, i.e.discussion groups and making new contacts.

vii)Benefits to the teacher and studentsConcerns for improving performance, attitudes, cognitive skills and participation of students in

the classroom, so that students achieve higher passes, enjoy their subject, critically appreciate

the implications of their subject content and participate enthusiastically in classroom activities.

Teachers also demonstrated concerns for improving their subject expertise by keeping informed

and up to date with developments in their field, being more reflective and critical of their

teaching approaches and seeking to network with colleagues in their subject area.

Using the theory construction principles suggested by Charmaz (1983), Strauss and Corbin (1998)

and Auerbach and Silverstein (2003), these seven themes of concerns were shown to fall into two

main categories, grouped according to the perceived intentions of the teachers:

i) Professional identity, career development and professional collaboration all lead towardsprofessional efficacy of the teacher

ii) Practical knowledge and skills, Theoretical and content knowledge and pedagogical contentknowledge all lead towards classroom efficacy.

Perceived student and teacher benefits were found to relate to both strands of efficacy because they

were generalised. Therefore the single underlying organising principle for self-directed professionaldevelopment was found to be related to the improvement of general efficacy (here called teacher

efficacy) as shown in Figure 3.

The study revealed that teachers had basic concerns related to either their professional efficacy or

their classroom efficacy. When these concerns were not met, teachers could not operate effectively

as teachers and so they tried to find ways of meeting them. When this happened, selfdirected

professional development took place.

Several characteristics self-directed professional development within a chaotic system can be

identified. Firstly, self-directed professional development is a systemic attribute, which is sensitive

to the initial conditions bounded by teacher concerns. The initial conditions presented by teachers in


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the study included lack of resources, professional isolation, weaker disciplinary knowledge base

leading to lowered PCK. If these conditions are not addressed adequately, the system tends towards

increased stress, stagnation, burnout and ultimately, lower self-efficacy.

Self-esteem, nature of teaching, further study, collaboration,new knowledge, practical work, adaptation, pass-rates

Professional Identity, Careerdevelopment,

Professional networking

Benefits Content Knowledge,Practical knowledgePCK

Professional EfficacyClassroom Efficacy

Teacher Efficacy

Figure 3: Thematic map of concerns leading towards self-directed professional developmentSecondly, the study also revealed that chance events in the operating context of the teacher can

trigger awareness of potential for growth, which may lead to empowerment. In this case, awareness

of ICT as a possible empowerment tool led to teachers making decisions about using ICT for their

own professional development, which had life-changing consequences for their careers. Successful

empowerment tended to leave teachers more confident in their use of ICT and this opened further

avenues for growth. Thirdly, the self-directed professional development process itself was shown to

be iterative, i.e. it enabled teachers to continue to develop their skills and capabilities throughout

their careers. Each successful development opened new doors of opportunity and challenges for

them.

A model of self-directed professional development

From the relationships between the themes and goals depicted in figure 3 a theoretical model of the

self-directed professional development process emerges. The model represents a systemic or

holistic view of the professional development process. It describes the process of self-directed

professional development as a targeted process which is characterised by self-regulated and

organised fractal behaviour patterns aiming towards teacher-efficacy. The process constantly

recycles itself and adopts new properties that aid in its development whilst discarding those that donot. The model is presented in figure 4 below:


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Combined

Self-e f f icacy

( re fer red as

Teacher e f f icac y)

Ne two r k i n g

Deve lopment o f a

posi t ive professional

iden t i ty

Career

Development

Subject Content

Knowledge

PCK

1. Professional Plat form 2 . C lassroom Pract ic e

Platform

Pract ica l knowledge

and sk i l l s

3 . Impact on Se l f -e f f i cacy

Professional

Ef f i cacy ClassroomEf f icacy

Figure 4: Model of self-directed Professional Development

The Professional Platform

The professional platform enhances the teachers professional efficacy (McLaughlin (1992). Lasley

(1989) and Lee (1991) both see professional efficacy as being related to the environment in which

teachers operate. Lasley further associates the development of professional efficacy in teachers with

institutional development and increased responsibility, i.e. the development of leadership.

The professional platform is composed of three aspects, as derived from the study. These were

found to be:

i) Networking: Associating with special interest groups whereby teachers were communicatingwith colleagues and institutions, led to opportunities to develop collaborative practice and

personal development. For example, several teachers reported that they, together with

colleagues, were developing subject modules in Chemistry and in Mathematics;

ii) Career development: links personal needs to institutional needs and supports organisationaldevelopment. For example, teachers were using ICT skills and resources to gain qualifications

and skills that would enable them to leave their current posts or to effect career progression

(promotion);

iii) A positive professional identity: i.e. development of values, attitudes, ethics and moralsassociated with being a teacher. Teachers also reported that ICT made them aware ofeducational standards, reinforced their beliefs about teaching and what it means to be a teacher.

Some of the values and attitudes were quite immanent in what they said about themselves and

their profession.

The research established that activities in these areas on the professional platform resulted in

teachers feeling empowered, respected and confident among their peers. Thus it can be concluded

that their professional efficacy was raised.

The Classroom Practice Platform:


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The classroom practice platform enhances the teachers classroom efficacy. This is the efficacy

associated with instruction (Yaghi and Ghaith, 1997), classroom management (Labone, 2004) and

innovation (Guskey, 1988). In short, it is associated with the actual teaching and learning situation.

This platform has three aspects as well. These are:

i) Subject content knowledge teachers used ICT to access subject-based web resources fromeducational sites like the high schools hub. From these sites teachers were able to access and

download teaching materials and notes, which improved their teaching resource-base.

ii) Practical knowledge and skills: - Knowledge about teaching methodology and presentation.Teachers reported that they were also able to benefit from new innovative teaching techniques.

Teachers also revealed that they were now engaged in more reflective teaching and developing

their classroom expertise.

iii) Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): - Adaptation of teaching to suit context / Integration ofexpertise. Teachers sited several examples in which they were able to modify and adapt

Internet-derived teaching materials for use in their classrooms. Adaptations involved making

use of current events or contextualising materials, modifying materials to suit the localconditions and adapting and organising materials to the depth required by the syllabus. These

experiences helped teachers to experience an increase in their pedagogical content knowledge.

An increase in expertise at classroom practice level results in increased confidence in teaching,

higher self-esteem and higher passes for the students. In return, the teachers classroom efficacy

increases.

Teacher Efficacy

The aggregate of these two efficacies is what is commonly referred to simply as teacher efficacy.

The broken lines connecting the two platforms directly denote the relationships and

interconnectedness of the layers. There was evidence of the interplay between factors in the areas

on the professional platform and those on the classroom practice platform. For example, the

modules referred above, which were produced through collaborative activity, were then used in

class to teach those topics. In addition the acquisition of ICT skills originally intended to enhance

one teachers promotion prospects also resulted in the teacher being able to access ICT facilities at

the new school, to make use of web-based teaching materials. Therefore, from the teachers

perspectives, an increase in both professional efficacy and classroom efficacy resulted in an

increase in the combined self-efficacy of the teacher.

Teacher efficacy (te - the centre circle) can be imagined as a translucent globe receiving light from

both platforms, which act like light sources with variable power supply, and glowing in proportion

to the light received. The light received represent the individual contributions of the platforms to

teacher efficacy. An increase either in classroom efficacy (ce) or professional efficacy (pe) can be

viewed as an increase in the currents for the corresponding light sources and will be reflected by a

proportional increase in the glow of the translucent globe (te). Thus, under normal circumstances,

(te) glows brighter than the two light sources because it radiates light from both sources.

In the study, ICT was used as a tool or pathway for the self-directed professional development of

the teachers. It is conceivable that other tools or pathways could be used, but in each case, one

would expect the impact of the professional development process to follow similar patterns, hence


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the systemic model can be considered to be generic. Teachers reported on the benefits that they and

their students allegedly gained from their use of ICT. Among the benefits for students cited,

teachers claimed that students were more motivated, their interest in the subject was re-kindled, and

they participated more readily than before. Clearly, in this case, the use of ICT in self-directed

professional development yielded new experiences that helped the students to learn. For theteachers, the use of ICT also enabled them to keep informed and aware of developments in their

professional and subject disciplines. Being kept up to date and aware helped them to build new

understanding of their practice. Thus self-directed professional development meets Hea-Jin (2001)s

idea of an effective professional development strategy.

Conclusions

This paper has identified seven factors that drive teachers on the path of self-directed professional

development. These seven factors can further be grouped into two major themes: professional

efficacy and classroom efficacy. Both themes describe the efficacy of the teacher. Therefore the

paper concludes that teacher efficacy is the underlying organising force that powers self-directed

professional development.

It is important to highlight that the self-directed professional development model was developed

from theory grounded in data and as such presents an authentic attempt to describe the behaviour of

Zimbabwean A-level science and mathematics teachers who participated in the study. These

teachers were operating in an environment that was politically, socially and economically

constrained, and thus had little recourse to institutional support. The model provides a basis for both

a longitudinal study of self-directed professional development and also for more representativestudies in the future. The analysis framework matrix identified themes that teachers are concerned

about, and these could be used as a basis for developing more refined future models.

Whilst one cannot do much about external socio political constraints, it is also useful to consider

that some researchers on self-directed professional development have noted that this process seems

to become evident in conditions of adversity; i.e. when teachers are fighting for professional

survival, they tend to become tenacious in their bid to improve themselves. As Bouchard (1996)

noted:

It is this problem-solving quality that makes self-directed professional

development more likely to occur in conditions marked by a prevalence ofopposing factors (p15)

This means that although, self-directed professional development is a continuing process, under

normal circumstances it is masked by other professional development processes such as planned

programs. It is the researchers firm belief however, that the benefits of self-directed professional

development as demonstrated by this study are worth investing in the process for every teacher, for

as Hea-Jin (2001) argues, the goal of professional development should be to help teachers become

effective in all spheres of their work. Self-directed professional development provides an internal

locus of control that ensures that the teachers continue to build new understanding of teaching and

learning.


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