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ERIC Number: EJ1017602
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Oct-23
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1990-3839
EISSN: N/A
School-Based Learning for Individual Diversity in Education: The SLIDE Project
Harrington, Ingrid
Educational Research and Reviews, v8 n20 p1924-1929 Oct 2013
Whole-School Professional Development (PD) days held regularly in schools are designed to promote and up-skill teaching and administrative staff on relevant areas of educational policy and practice. An aim of PD days is to empower participants with new knowledges and skills, and to confirm that current practices and interpretations of education policy and procedure are correct. In determining the nature of the professional development content, school executives make decisions based on their perceived needs of the staffing group, available speakers, current departmental policy and practice requirements. Deciding the topics for the professional development day for school staff has tended to adopt a "one size fits all" general approach that is rationalised as being broad in nature and of benefit to all. In adopting such an approach to a diverse teaching cohort, one may question just how valuable and meaningful this training day is in meeting the individual needs of all participating teachers. This paper reports on the benefits a more individualised approach to a whole-school PD training day had for one government primary school in Australia. Foundational to the detailed design of the PD days, the "School-based Learning for Individual Diversity in Education" (SLIDE) project proceeded by identifying the individual needs of each staff member in the school community through an interview prior to the delivery of the two-day training. The interviews provided staff with a professional and safe "space" in which to voice their concerns, inadequacies, suggestions for improvement and professional needs. Embedded in an action research model, the SLIDE project reported evidence of improved teacher self-confidence, improved communication between all levels, and a boost to the level of whole-school staff cohesion and morale.
Academic Journals. e-mail: err@academic.journals.org; e-mail: service@academicjournals.org; Web site: http://academicjournals.org/ERR2
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A