Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Now What?, David L. Hart Jr, Rebecca J. Armstrong

FDLA Journal

NOW WHAT?

David Hart, Ph.D. and Rebecca Armstrong, Ph.D.

Making the decision to pursue an advanced degree is certainly commendable. To add to one’s knowledge base is ambitious and the results of such a commitment are monumental. However, it goes without saying that in that scheme, life’s challenges are ever-present, and along with other given responsibilities, the concept of time becomes a faded memory. If that is not enough, COVID-19 presented all degree-seekers with issues that seemed insurmountable. Many decided that virtual learning programs would provide an environment that allowed for success in the academic arena despite the forces that …

University Foreign Language Teachers’ Perceptions Of Professor-Student Rapport: A Hybrid Qualitative Study, Maryam Roshanbin, Musa Nushi, Zahra Abolhassani

The Qualitative Report

Research has shown a consensus that positive professor-student relationship makes meaningful contributions to academic outcomes such as faculty effectiveness, increased motivation, enhanced learning, and excellent teaching. Employing a qualitative research design, the authors of this study examine the conceptualization of one specific aspect of faculty-student relationship; namely, rapport, which they believe is particularly salient in college classrooms characterized by effective teaching and a positive interpersonal climate. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with 26 Iranian foreign language professors who were selected through snowball sampling. A hybrid thematic analysis of the data revealed two core themes of rapport antecedents: (1) …

Teacher Professionalism In Light Of Biometric Controls On Teacher Mobility And Autonomy, David L. Knott

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, I investigate the introduction of biometric technology, specifically fingerprint scanners, for the purposes of managing faculty members’ working hours at a higher education institution (HEI) located in the Middle Eastern Gulf States. Utilizing semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data, three expatriate teachers of English discussed their experiences before and after management installed the fingerprint scanners, discussing the influence such a change has on their professional identities and the additional impacts on their teaching, their identification with the institution, and the overall culture of the HEI. The results show that the existence of the fingerprint scanners adversely affects …

Curriculum-Making And Development In A Pakistani University, Said Imran, Mark Wyatt

The Qualitative Report

Despite frequent calls for increased teacher engagement in curriculum-making and development, there are still many English language teachers worldwide who are required to work with materials that are either culturally inappropriate or inadequate. A related concern is that such materials may deprive teachers of their creative and professional capabilities to address students’ needs and interests, so that, weighed down by contextual challenges, the teachers then simply deliver the materials, adhering to the textbook closely. Contextual challenges faced by teachers may be more acute in the developing world. However, it is unclear to what extent teachers in under-resourced contexts cope. In …