A Study of Staffs’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Professional Development of the Head Start Program in Jim Wells County
1.0 Context of the Study
Effective and competent academic professionals are the most important resources of academic institutions. Thereby, the continuous development of these professionals of is enormously important in the vitality of the industry and the betterment of the posterity. The dynamics of professional development now centers the ideology that academic professionals are instrumental in advocating, facilitating and renewing affirmative and constructive changes for the academic industry. In an environment where lifelong learning is a commonplace, professional development was perceived to be the panacea. The development of professional knowledge and abilities is an integral component of professional development.
Signifying the development of intellectual, affective and psychomotor domains of an individual, professional development enables teachers to expand and fulfill their personal and professional potential as well as meeting the present and future demands of the job and the workplace – formally and or unplanned and unstructured. As a process of acquiring knowledge, experience and skills, professional development assures teachers to meet the required expertise and competencies that relate to the evolving professional practice (Gaff, Festa and Gaff, 2006). Through workshops and other trainings provided, teachers will be able to increase awareness of the role. Specifically, teachers will be able to determine how their knowledge, skills and attitudes and competencies could be furthered. Teachers are then enabled to build greater confidence and accountability among personal career goals and objectives.
As such, for the continuing professional development of teachers to flourish, professional knowledge must be updated and professional competence must be improved. Teachers’ professional development focuses on developing process, leadership and tasks skills. Process and leadership skills contend with effectiveness, functioning and systems thinking whereas task skills are those that are required on the accomplishment of a specific undertaking.
One amongst the educator-centred programs that aim at quality professional development is Head Start Program, a program of the Department of Health and Human Services providing comprehensive education, health, nutrition and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. By virtue of Section 648A of the Head Start Act, guidelines are set for the training of Head Start teachers and aides. The section was revised in 2007 to mandate that all teachers must have associate degrees in a related field by 2013 and half must have bachelor’s degrees.
2.0 Statement of the Problem
Whether this is effective especially for teachers and aides in the Jim Wells County in Texas in not known. The study will investigate the effectiveness of the Head Start Program in relation to professional development of teachers and aides. Questions to be given answer to include:
1) What does literature indicate in respect to the effects of the head start program on the professional development for head start teachers?
2) How do teacher/teacher aides perceptions compare to the staff development of public schools?
3.0 Aims and Objectives
The main aim of the study is to explore the perceptions of the teachers and aides about the effectiveness of the professional development approaches inherent to the Head Start Program. There are trainings and workshops that would-be teachers and aides should undergo. In lieu with this, it would be necessary to:
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the professional development from the perspectives of the teachers and aides
- Determine the approaches of Head Start Program to professional development
- Distinguish the perceptions of teachers and aides on these approaches
- Determine the elements of professional development integrated in the Head Start Program
- Distinguish the perceptions of teachers and aides on the process of integration
4.0 Overview of Methodology
The research strategy that the study will utilize is the descriptive method as it intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (Creswell, 1994). The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study.
In this study, primary and secondary research will be both incorporated. The reason for this is to be able to provide adequate discussion for the readers that will help them understand more about the issue and the different variables that involve with it. The primary data for the study will be represented by the survey results that will be acquired from the respondents. On the other hand, the literature reviews to be presented in the second chapter of the study will represent the secondary data of the study. The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from books, journals and theses and related studies.
References
Creswell, J. W. (1994) Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
Gaff, S. S., Festa, C. and Gaff, J. G. (2006). Professional Development: A Guide to Resources. Transaction Publishers.
Timeframe
TASK
Weeks
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
Read preliminary literature
Finalize objectives
Devise preliminary literature review
Devise research approach
Update literature read
Review secondary data
Organize survey
Develop survey questions
Conduct survey
Analyse secondary and primary data
Evaluate data
Draft findings chapter
Complete remaining chapters
Submit to tutor and await feedback
Revise draft and format for submission
Print, bind and submit
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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