From teacher professional development to teacher personal-professional growth: the case of expert STEM teachers. Issue 3 (27th May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Even-​Zahav, Anat; Widder, Mirela; Hazzan, Orit
• Is Part Of: Teacher development. Volume 26:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 299
• Page End: 316
• Publication Date: 2022-05-27
• Subjects: Self-determination theory -- teachers' professional well-being -- teachers' personal-professional growth -- effective teachers' professional development -- expert STEM teachers; Teachers -- In-service training -- Periodicals; Teachers -- Training of -- Periodicals; Career development -- Periodicals; 370.711
• DOI: 10.1080/13664530.2022.2052947
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1366-4530

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Following Self-Determination Theory, scholars theorize that professional well-being is essential for teachers' satisfaction and personal-professional growth. However, teacher professional development programs (TPDPs) primarily focus on promoting student achievement and only partially and indirectly address teachers' professional well-being. The lack of teachers' voices in this discrepancy is noticeable. This study aimed at confronting teachers' perceptions about their professional well-being needs with how actual practices in effective TPDPs address these needs. Well-being components (competence, relatedness, autonomy, and aspirations) were thematically identified within 20 interviews with expert STEM teachers. The findings show that teachers attribute importance to their professional well-being in all components. In particular, aspirations for personal-professional growth, pointed out by teachers as the most important, were totally ignored by effective TPDPs. The findings emphasize the need to establish well-being as an additional characteristic of effective TPDPs. This additional characteristic may have practical and theoretical implications for designing and assessing TPDPs' effectiveness.