Reviewing the existing discourses in the field of teacher professional development; from professionalism to professionality

Document Type : Original Research

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University,Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background and Objectives: This study aims to represent and reflect on the prevailing discourse surrounding teacher professional development, examining the consequences related to teacher professional development programs and practices from the perspectives of professionalism and professionality. The efficacy and outcomes of professional development programs in practice represent a significant challenge within the employee professional development planning system. Beyond implementation processes and stages, these outcomes must be studied as tangible outputs in real-world settings through observation of employees' professional behaviors. Methods: This research employs a qualitative methodology with a critical discourse analysis approach, drawing upon environmental narratives. The study population consisted of elementary school teachers. Participants were selected through purposive sampling from several schools of varying performance levels, with sample size determined by the principle of theoretical saturation. Data were collected through participatory observation and analyzed using critical discourse analysis. Findings: Analysis of environmental narratives revealed that teachers' behaviors toward professional development programs could be arranged along a continuum from professionalism to professionality, organized into four major discourses: resistance, compromise, acceptance, and action. Conclusion: The narratives indicate that discourses of resistance and compromise in response to professional development programs primarily reflect the requirements of functional development, with fewer indications of attitudinal development - representing what may be termed professionalism challenges among teachers. Conversely, in the discourses of acceptance and action, a form of professional development can be perceived in teachers' behaviors, resulting from the integration of attitudinal development with functional development. This integrated approach is attributed to professionality in this article.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

بیتس، دانیل؛ پلاگ، فرد. (1375). انسان‌شناسی فرهنگی، ترجمه محسن ثلاثی، تهران: انتشارات علمی.
طاهرپورکلانتری، مسعود؛ پورشافعی، هادی. (1400). الگوی جاری توسعه حرفه‌ای معلمان ابتدایی استان خراسان جنوبی:           رویکرد مبتنی بر نظریه داده‌بنیاد. نشریه مدیریت و برنامه‌ریزی در نظام‌های آموزشی، دوره 14، ش 2: 284-259 .
طاهری، مرتضی؛ عارفی، محبوبه؛ پرداختچی، محمدحسن و قهرمانی، محمد. (1392). کاوش فرایند توسعه حرفه‌ای معلمان در مراکز تربیت‌معلم: نظریه داده بنیاد، پژوهشگاه علوم انسانی و مطالعات فرهنگی، ش 45: 176-149.
عبداللهی، بیژن؛ صفری، اکرم (1395). بررسی موانع اساسی فراروی رشد حرفه‌ای معلمان. نوآوری های آموزشی، ش 58:   99-134.
سعیدی رضوانی، محمود؛ بینقی، تقی. (1382). طراحی برنامه‌های درسی آموزش‌های علمی _ کاربردی در جمهوری اسلامی   ایران.  پژوهش‌نامه مبانی تعلیم‌وتربیت، ش 2: 105-123.
سیلورمن، دیوید. (1381). روش تحقیق کیفی در جامعه شناسی، ترجمه محسن ثلاثی، تهران: انتشارات تبیان
فرکلاف، نورمن. (1379). تحلیل انتقادی گفتمان، ترجمه فاطمه شایسته پیران و دیگران، تهران: مرکز مطالعات و تحقیقات رسانه‌ها.
Abdollahi, B., & Safari, A. (2016). Investigating the fundamental obstacles to teachers' professional growth. Educational Innovations, (58), 99–134. [In Persian]
Agee, J. (2009). Developing qualitative research questions: A reflective process. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(4), 431–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390902736512
Archer, M. S. (1995). Realist social theory: The morphogenetic approach. Cambridge University Press.
Bates, D., & Plog, F. (1996). Cultural Anthropology (M. Solasi, Trans.). Tehran: Elmi Publications. (Original work published 1990). [In Persian]
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Harvard University Press.
Boyt, T. E., Lusch, R. F., & Naylor, G. (2001). The role of professionalism in determining job satisfaction in professional services: A study of marketing researchers. Journal of Service Research, 3(4), 321–330. https://doi.org/10.1177/109467050134005
Chilton, P., Tian, H., & Wodak, R. (2010). Reflections on discourse and critique in China and the West. Journal of Language and Politics, 9(4), 489–507. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.9.4.02chi
Collin, K., Van der Heijden, B., & Lewis, P. (2012). Continuing professional development. International Journal of Training and Development, 16(3), 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2419.2012.00401.x
Diaz-Maggioli, G. (2004). Teacher-centered professional development. ASCD.
Dreyfus, H. L., & Rabinow, P. (2014). Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. University of Chicago Press.
Evans, L. (2002). What is teacher development? Oxford Review of Education, 28(1), 123–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054980120113670
Evans, L. (2008). Professionalism, professionality and the development of education professionals. British Journal of Educational Studies, 56(1), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8527.2007.00392.x
Evetts, J. (2003). The sociological analysis of professionalism: Occupational change in the modern world. International Sociology, 18(2), 395–415. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580903018002005
Fairclough, N. (2000). Critical Discourse Analysis (F. Shayesteh Piran et al., Trans.). Tehran: Media Studies and Research Center. (Original work published 1995). [In Persian]
Fairclough, N., & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis. In T. A. van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse as social interaction (pp. 258–284). Sage.
Foucault, M. (1984). Space, knowledge and power. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), The Foucault reader (pp. 239–256). Pantheon Books.
Freidson, E. (1994). Professionalism reborn: Theory, prophecy, and policy. University of Chicago Press.
Hargreaves, A., & Goodson, I. (1996). Teachers’ professional lives: Aspirations and actualities. In I. Goodson & A. Hargreaves (Eds.), Teachers’ professional lives (pp. 1–27). Falmer Press.
Helsby, G. (1995). Teachers' construction of professionalism in England in the 1990s. Journal of Education for Teaching, 21(3), 317–332. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607479550038549
Horn, K. P. (2016). Profession, professionalisation, professionality, professionalism—historical and systematic remarks using the example of German teacher education. British Journal of Religious Education, 38(2), 130–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2014.984586
Hoyle, E., & Wallace, M. (2007). Educational reform: An ironic perspective. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 35(1), 9–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143207071384
Kitzinger, C., & Wilkinson, S. (1996). Theorizing representing the other. In S. Wilkinson & C. Kitzinger (Eds.), Representing the other: A feminism and psychology reader (pp. 1–32). Sage.
Muylaert, C. J., Sarubbi, V., Jr., Gallo, P. R., Neto, M. L. R., & Reis, A. O. A. (2014). Narrative interviews: An important resource in qualitative research. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP, 48(spe2), 184–189. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0080-623420140000800027
Neville, K. S., & Robinson, C. J. (2003). The delivery, financing, and assessment of professional development in education: Pre-service preparation and in-service training. RAND Corporation.
Reisigl, M., & Wodak, R. (2001). Discourse and discrimination: Rhetorics of racism and antisemitism. Routledge.
Sachs, J. (2001). Teacher professional identity: Competing discourses, competing outcomes. Journal of Education Policy, 16(2), 149–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930116819
Saeedi Rezvani, M., & Binaqi, T. (2003). Designing curriculum for applied science education in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Research Journal of Foundations of Education, (2), 105–123. [In Persian]
Silverman, D. (2002). Qualitative Research in Sociology (M. Solasi, Trans.). Tehran: Tabyan Publications. (Original work published 1993). [In Persian]
Taheri, M., Arefi, M., Pardakhtchi, M. H., & Ghorbani, M. (2013). Exploring the process of teachers' professional development in teacher training centers: A grounded theory study. Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, (45), 149–176. [In Persian]
Taherpour Kalantari, M., & Pourshafei, H. (2021). The current model of professional development for primary school teachers in South Khorasan province: A grounded theory approach. Journal of Management and Planning in Educational Systems, 14(2), 259–284. [In Persian]
Tichenor, M. S., & Tichenor, J. M. (2005). Understanding teachers' perspectives on professionalism. The Professional Educator, 27(1–2), 89–95.
Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (Eds.). (2009). Methods for critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.). Sage.
Theory and Practice in Teachers Education
Volume 11, Issue 19
May 2025
Pages 203-223

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics