Continuing Professional Development and Curriculum Development: Enhancing Teacher Satisfaction and Commitment

This dissertation, "Continuing Professional Development and Curriculum Development: Enhancing Teacher Satisfaction and Commitment" by Judith Leslie, Crocker, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: ABSTRACT of thesis entitled Continuing Professional Development and Curriculum Development: Enhancing Teacher Satisfaction and Commitment submitted by Judith Leslie Crocker For the degree of Master of Education at the University of Hong Kong August 2005 Teachers have been leaving the profession at an alarming rate. Some of the symptoms that have been identified in the past are teachers' lack of satisfaction and commitment. This has often been construed as the result of teachers feeling isolated in their jobs with little perceived support from colleagues and administrators. Another issue that has reportedly affected teachers' satisfaction and commitment is the lack of control and input they have in professional and curriculum development initiatives in their schools. As a result, the initiatives have little contextual value and subsequently fall by the wayside. This concern was investigated through a qualitative interpretive case study involving teachers at an international elementary school in Hong Kong where an ongoing professional development initiative with a curriculum development focus was implemented. Teachers' feelings of satisfaction and commitment were studied in relation to this initiative, through the use of semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The emergence and establishment of conceptual codes led to the development of grounded theory. Findings were presented in narrative form, and revealed worthwhileness, collaboration, valuedness, empowerment, commitment and satisfaction as mutually interdependent key concepts for the teachers when discussing ongoing professional development. Both satisfaction and commitment were factors, to varying degrees, in the importance teachers placed on the extent they felt the initiative was worthwhile to the context of their jobs and their students. The importance of working closely with colleagues and administrators, as well as having their voices heard and respected as legitimate contributors to the school improvement process were also reported to be essential to teachers' levels of satisfaction and commitment in their jobs. Worthwhileness emerged as an issue on which teachers placed significance regarding both satisfaction and commitment. This finding had not been indicated in the literature consulted. Collaboration was reiterated as essential in determining teachers' satisfaction and commitment; feeling valued and empowered were also important factors. Commitment was not strongly recognized as an ongoing professional development consequence as previously suggested in the literature, but satisfaction was repeatedly noted as a resultant effect. Context emerged as the key to professional development initiatives, which can be best ensured when teachers are actively involved in the decision making process in planning such activities, facilitating engagement by teachers. Promoting collegiality and a collaborative culture in schools, as in a professional learning community, brings all key issues pointed out by teachers to light in reference to their job satisfaction and commitment. - 1 - DOI: 10.5353/th_b3533988 Subjects: Motivation (Psychology)Elementary school teachers - Job satisfaction - China - Hong KongReflective teaching - China - Hong KongElementary school teachers - China - Hong Kong - Attitudes