Perspectives on the Barriers to and Needs of Teachers’ Professional Development in the Philippines during COVID-19

Establishing a professional learning community for cultivating future design talents using a 'peer coaching' mechanism

The Professional Learning Community (PLC) has an interdisciplinary focus on the humanities, arts, and technology. In order to explore the impact of peer coaching on the learning outcomes of eight university faculty members involved in the PLC for 'cultivating future design talents through inquiry-based learning', to develop an innovative approach for the university faculty members professional growth. A qualitative case study approach through six professional development courses with a dynamic revision process, participant observation and in-depth interviews to determine the potential of peer coaching as a tool for PLC teachers. It shows that peer coaching facilitated collaborative learning and positively contributed to PLC teachers' co-construction of knowledge in relation to Inquiry-Based Learning teaching approaches. The study found four processes of course-driven professional development and shows that multiple roles of PLC teachers, the PLC group dynamics, and online peer interaction are important issues in the post-COVID-19 era.

How to Sustain Quality Education in a Fully Online Environment: A Qualitative Study of Students’ Perceptions and Suggestions

This study explored the learning experience of university students in Hong Kong, where remote online instruction was adopted to sustain student learning during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on student voices, this study aimed to improve online instruction. A qualitative case study approach was adopted, involving 12 university students from different subject disciplines and universities. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted, followed by a series of qualitative data analysis procedures. The findings of this study suggested that our participants were generally satisfied with the way synchronous online lessons progressed, but that instructors’ technical problems were common. Furthermore, the students’ self-reported level of engagement tended to be negative due to, for example, lengthy lessons and poor group dynamics in virtual rooms. We also revealed the need for professional development opportunities for instructors to enhance their online teaching skills. Recommendations for improving online instruction are discussed, such as limiting online lessons to between 90 and 120 min, and allowing students to form their own groups, while helping shy students to join a group. This study thus has important implications for sustaining quality education in a fully online environment.

Improving Professional Skills of Pre-Service Teachers Using Online Training: Applying Work-Integrated Learning Approaches through a Quasi-Experimental Study

Preparing preservice teachers for professional engagement is important for teacher education and has received much attention over the past decades. Therefore, finding effective training and coaching to improve the professional skills of preservice teachers (PSTs) is of great importance. This study developed a proactive online training program (POTP) based on a model of work-integrated learning (WIL) activities and teacher education. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the POTP in improving PSTs’ professional skills. The participants consisted of 83 PSTs in an education program from two universities in Thailand. This study comprises three phases: phase I, the development of the POTP; phase II, a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design; and phase III, a focus group discussion. The findings demonstrated that PSTs in the group in which the POTP was implemented exhibited increased professional skill development compared to the PSTs in the control group, i.e., without the POTP. Analysis from the focus group confirmed that participants gained knowledge and satisfying online tools, and they were found to have better skills. They also revealed that the POTP not only improved professional skills but also enhanced the inspiration and confidence of the PSTs and supported their life and career goals and preparation. Therefore, educators, practitioners, and policymakers involved in pedagogical content knowledge development in teacher education programs can apply the POTP and assessment models proposed in this work to develop essential soft skills for PSTs and to better prepare them for their careers as teachers in the 21st-century digital era.

The relationship between Technostress levels and job satisfaction of Teachers within the COVID-19 period

This research aims to determine the technostress levels experienced by teachers in distance education during the COVID-19 period and examine the relationship between this technostress level and job satisfaction. The research was structured in relational comparison type. The attendees comprised 525 teachers working at different echelons of education, determined in accordance with the purposive sampling method. Technostress Scale, job satisfaction scale, and open-ended questions form were used as data collection tools during the research. The data were collected online through Google Forms due to COVID-19 conditions. Descriptive statistics, backward hierarchical multiple regression (BHMR), MANOVA analysis, and inductive content analysis were used for the data analysis. According to the research findings, it was figured out that teachers were exposed to intensive use of technology in distance education, this negatively affected their life and performance, their workload increased, and they had to put much more effort to adapt to modern technologies in the Covid-19 pandemic period. It was found that the teachers' job satisfaction levels were high in general, and the female teachers' job satisfaction levels were higher than those of male teachers. The job satisfaction levels of private school teachers were lower than those of public-school teachers. In the research, the gender of teachers and the institution type they work under, both being among the main factors affecting teachers' technostress level, were determined to make a significant difference. However, the distance education process, conducted during the COVID-19 period, was also noted to involve educational, psychological, and administrative challenges. Based on research results, it is recommended to improve teachers' online learning and technology literacy skills, and review present undergraduate programs in terms of preparation for distance education.