How to develop four competencies for teacher educators

Abstract

Understanding competencies and the process of acquiring them contributes to a shared set of essential abilities for teacher educators’ professional development. Practical experiences of practitioners expose which competencies the work context requires them to possess and situations in which their learning is conducted. The necessity for essential contextual competency is pressing, particularly for teacher educators working in developing countries where teacher education has undergone reforms to respond to national and international demands.This study explores competencies for teacher educators in Vietnam through in-depth interviews with experienced practitioners and their visual metaphors. Eight participants with working experience ranging from 6 to 26 years were interviewed for 60–180 min during January–April 2021.The results reveal four competency areas of (1) knowledge and skills consisting of (a) teaching skill, (b) subject content, (c) scientific and subject-related information, (d) the reality of education and multidisciplinary knowledge, (e) research procedural knowledge, (f) collaboration with others, and (g) English language; (2) ethical manner; (3) motivation; and (4) self-reflection about personal values. Professional development includes learning from and working with others, learning in organized courses, conducting independent and collaborative research, and other field-related academic activities. An interesting highlight is that even motivational competency is gradually formed by professionals’ effort put into work.The findings suggest these four competency components should be attended to when providing professional development activities for teacher educators. Motivational competency should be prioritized since it fosters job productivity and commitment. The findings also serve as practical guidance for self-preparation and development for those working as teacher educators in demanding contexts.

Towards practice-based professional development by teacher educators

“…In this study, we shared perspectives on educators' professional learning in and for practice, intrinsic motivations in engaging with self-initiated professional learning practices (MacPhail et al, 2019;Nguyen, 2023;Ping et al, 2018). Congruent with the practice-based professional development model (Vanassche et al 2021), the experiences of this study show how the collective problematization of existing practices inspired the FA in mobilizing research to improve a learning context.…”

“…The interactive spaces created as part of the self-study research revealed critical situations and the central roles of educators' motivations while enacting active teaching approaches as reflective practices. The data show three main sources of motivations of educators in developing contextual competencies (Nguyen, 2023) in improving teaching practices in general and practices of facilitating reflection in particular at the study college. These include increased recognition of the suitability of reflective practices, being responsive to student teachers' feedback on their learning experiences during the semester, and sensitivities toward the extent of educators' readiness to enact pedagogic changes.…”

“…Adopting a pedagogy of investigation, as self-study, seems to facilitate the concretization of practical reasonings during the enactment of practices that underpin the professional learning of educators (Vanassche et al, 2021). Situations for developing educators' contextual competencies (Nguyen, 2023) in the study site are discussed in the next section.…”

“…Partly due to TEs' limited exposure to espoused practices, e.g., reflection, learner learnercentred pedagogies, (Abdella & Fataar, 2021), the development of TEs' contextual competencies in practice becomes imperative. Nguyen (2023) identified competencies that need to be developed by TEs in challenging contexts: knowledge and skills in disciplinary and pedagogic domains, ethical manner, motivation, and self-reflection on personal values. Such competencies relate to the studies that highlighted significant interconnections between TEs'…”

Menyulam Karakter Anak Usia Dini Melalui Literasi Islamic Story

“…Implikasi penelitian ini dapat memberikan bantuan dalam pembentukan kebijakan atau perbaikan dibidang pendidikan mengenai pembentukan karakter anak khususnya di tingkat PAUD dengan memprakasi terlaksananya kegiatan pelatihan dan pengembangan terhadap kopetensi guru agar lebih kreatif dan inovatif dalam memberikan pembelajaran. Kegiatan pengembangan kopetensi guru sangat diperlukan untuk merespon tuntutan permasalahan nasional dalam upaya mereformasi sistem pendidikan, khsusunya untuk negara berkembang (Nguyen, 2023). Selain itu, kolaborasi sekolah, orangtua, dan masyarakat harus diselaraskan guna dalam mendukung dan mengembangkan pribadi anak yang bekarakter sesuai dengan ajaran islam.…”