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Professional Development and Reflection on Teaching As a Career Among University Teachers

Thesis Info

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Author

Mariyam Akram

Program

PhD

Institute

Government College University

City

Lahore

Province

Punjab

Country

Pakistan

Thesis Completing Year

2019

Thesis Completion Status

Completed

Subject

Psychology

Language

English

Link

http://prr.hec.gov.pk/jspui/bitstream/123456789/12106/1/mariyam%20akram%20psychology%202019%20gcu%20lhr%20prr.pdf

Added

2021-02-17 19:49:13

Modified

2024-03-24 20:25:49

ARI ID

1676724948647

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This dissertation entitled as “Professional Development and Reflection on Teaching as a Career among University Teachers” is based on three studies. These studies are interlinked with each other in a sense that study I is an exploratory research which uncovers the opinions of university teachers towards their teaching profession and it also identifies the sources of professional development which can be utilized by the university teachers to attain professional excellence in their career. The identification of sources of professional development provided a base for study II which was aimed on development and validation of “Sources of Professional Development Scale (SPDS)” by Akram (2018). Furthermore, the study III validated the scale through qualitative inquiry by carrying out in-depth interviews with experienced teachers to reflect upon their teaching as a career. The study I which was exploratory in nature highlighted the opinions of university teachers towards teaching as a profession. Mixed-method research design was followed in a study and the purposive sample consisted of 202 university teachers with age range from 25-58 years with varying designations. A self-generated questionnaire consisting of 14 open-ended questions was designed to extract information regarding their selection of teaching as a career, sources of professional development in teaching and their satisfaction with teaching as a career was administered to university teachers along with Stage Concern Questionnaire by (George, Hall and Stielgelbauer, 2006) to investigate the concerns of teachers in university setting. The qualitative part of the study was analyzed through deductive content analysis which indicated that it was the passion of 90% of the respondents to be a university teacher. Furthermore, the study indicated that the training followed by workshops and research publications are considered by both male and female university teachers as important parameters for professional excellence. However, females are more inclined to consider teaching as a stereotypical job for women than men. Moreover, this study has identified the financial incentives such as monetary benefits, salary, grant for academic trips and research along with non-financial incentives such as respect of teachers and professional alliance are the important sources of gratification of university teachers. The study highlighted the professional development programs, well-equipped classes, safe and secure environment are the utmost professional needs of the university teachers. Similarly, the study unveiled the co-curricular activities followed by research exposure and paper presentation and publication contributes significantly to the professional development of the teachers. On the contrary, it also highlighted the constraints which hampered the teaching progression such as fewer opportunities to grow, followed by peer pressure, lack of job structure and management issues. The quantitative phase of the study indicated that lecturers are higher in their concern of refocusing due to their professional survival and associate professors were significantly higher in their personal concerns due to changing trends in teaching setup. However, the results indicated that males exhibited more collaboration concerns as compared to female teachers. although, there was no significant differences in terms of gender and designation among university teachers on job satisfaction which indicate interesting finding that male and female university teachers and with varying ranks more or less enjoy same level of job satisfaction. The study II was aimed to construct a “Sources of Professional Development Scale (SPDS)” and had five phases namely: Items generation, content validation through Aiken’s V coefficient, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and convergent validity. Keeping in view the results of study I, previous literature and theoretical frameworks on professional development the initial pool of 127 items were generated which was then deduced to 48 items due to representation of construct under evaluation. Then, opinion of five academicians was taken on the 48 items scale with 1 (not appropriate) – 10 (most appropriate) and ratings were statistically evaluated by Aiken’s V coefficient. As a result, 17 items were removed from the scale on the basis of expert’s opinion and the resultant scale was of 30 items scale. Moreover, the pilot study on 10 university teachers also indicated that the scale is appropriate in assessing the construct. After piloting, the scale was administered on 205 participants and the exploratory factor analysis resulted exclusion of 10 items and generation of two factors namely: professional progression and professional recognition with 11 and 9 items respectively. Afterwards, the data of 224 participants was collected for confirmatory factor analysis of the scale and it resulted in removal of five more items resulting in 15 items scale with professional progression (8 items )and professional recognition (7 items). The overall, reliability of the scale was .84 which is highly acceptable. In the last, the convergent validity of the 15 items scale, SPDS, was assessed with 5 items scale, TAP (Torff, Sessions, & Byrnes, 2005), as both scales were evaluating the same construct. So, the results indicated that the significantly positive correlation of TAP with SPDS scale and its factors as well which means that the scale possesses construct validity. Lastly, the study III used the qualitative inquiry to validate the resultant scale by means of in-depth interviews with professors who reflected on their career and highlighted the sources of their professional development as university teacher. Four professors (2 male & 2 female) were interviewed to explore their teaching experience in universities of Pakistan and the IPA resulted in 15 super-ordinate themes which highlighted different aspects of their life-time teaching. Participants of the study claimed teaching to be profession of prophets, blessing for oneself and others, good way of catharsis as well as accountable profession while talking about their general perception of teaching. They also mentioned good communication skills, love for knowledge sharing, urge for professional knowledge and presence of mentors for being in teaching along with perception that Almighty chose this profession for them and they evolved as teacher over the years. Teachers also showed their concern that teaching is technology driven now which faces dishonesty in terms of time and knowledge and also features egalitarianism with reciprocal role of students. While reflective process, they also highlighted that now students look for short cuts as they focus more on quantity rather quality of knowledge as technology is facilitating and damaging the teaching system at the same time. Teachers also reflected on their professional change as they switched from books to discussion in classes, started factual teaching, became patient, and are open to change. Gaining students attention, motivating them, respect for diversity in classroom, professionalism and humor were key features of successful teaching in present scenario. When asked about sources of professional development in university teaching they pointed out paper publication and presentation, workshops, seminars, trainings, reflection on teaching, higher education and curiosity for knowledge as most prominent ones. According to participants, the major weaknesses of Pakistani teaching system were focus on rote learning, lack of indigenous literature, excessive teaching and non-teaching tasks as well as lack of curiosity in students and teachers. Professors believed that reflection leads teachers to progression, learning from ones mistakes, life-long learning and make them more flexible in ones approach. The participants of the study believed that knowledge sharing, mentorship, personal growth of students, personal and professional growth of faculty was their major contributions. The present work has great theoretical contribution in the Pakistani higher education system as here actual sources and issues of university teaching are targeted and discussed for further progression of educational system. The present dissertation have few limitations as its results can only be applicable on university teaching as well as the scale being generated in the present study is specifically for university teachers. In future, researches can be conducted on college teaching and the results can be merged to talk about overall teaching system in Pakistan at collegiate and university level" xml:lang="en_US
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ڈاکٹر محمد طاہر

ڈاکٹر محمد طاہر
یکم جنوری کو ۸ بجے شب دارالمصنفین کے ایک بڑے ہمدرد اور ہر وقت کے حاضر باش ڈاکٹر محمد طاہر صدر شعبۂ اردو شبلی نیشنل پوسٹ گریجویٹ کالج انتقال کرگئے، ابھی ان کی عمر ۵۰ برس ہی کی رہی ہوگی لیکن انہوں نے اپنی صلاحیت و ذہانت کے جو نمونے چھوڑے وہ برابر یاد کئے جائیں گے، انہیں تحریر وتقریر دونوں کا ملکہ تھا، پہلی مرتبہ علامہ شبلی کی تاریخِ ولادت کا تعین اپنے ایک مضمون میں کیا جو ’’نیا دور‘‘ لکھنؤ میں شائع ہوا، مگر ان کی زیادہ توجہ انتظامی امور کی طرف ہو گئی تھی جس کا انہیں بہت اچھا سلیقہ تھا، اب ان کی سر گرمیوں کا خاص میدان سرسید انٹر کالج صبرحد تھا جس کو پہلے ہائی اسکول اور پھر انٹر کالج بنوایا، اسے ڈگری کالج بنانے کے لئے جان توڑ کوشش کررہے تھے کہ وقتِ موعود آگیا، دارالمصنفین کے ہر کام میں آگے آگے رہتے تھے، اسلام اور مستشرقین کے موضوع پر یہاں ہونے والے بین الاقوامی سیمینار کے شرکاء کے طعام کی ذمہ داری جس حسن و خوبی سے انجام دی اس کا اعتراف جناب سید صباح الدین عبدالرحمن مرحوم برابر کرتے تھے، ان سے اور شاہ معین الدین احمد ندوی مرحوم کے علاوہ اس خاکسار سے بڑا مخلصانہ تعلق رکھتے تھے، اﷲتعالیٰ ان کی بشری لغزشوں کو معاف کرے اور ان کی مغفرت فرمائے اور ان کے اعزہ خصوصاً بیوہ اور دونوں کم سن بچوں کو صبرِ جمیل عطا فرمائے۔ آمین! (ضیاء الدین اصلاحی، جنوری ۱۹۹۶ء)

 

Obesity and Healthy Eating Habits

Obesity is a growing problem, most prevalent in the developed countries, especially US. Children and adolescents are gaining weight at a fast pace as compared to their parents. Although, it is very complicated to exactly know the cause of obesity, its risk factors, its prevention in different populations, yet, it has been observed that changes in life style and particularly in eating habits has contributed to an increased obesity incidence globally. These habits include eating junk food, synthetic and bakery products, increased hoteling, increased consumption of meat and unstaturated fats. If we compare the urban and rural regions at a global scale, we may come to know that Obesity and gastrointestinal problems are more prevalent in urban areas. It also indicates that these disorders are mostly attributed to bad eating habits and wrong choices of food which lack nutritional value but cause various disorders. Atleast 2 decades ago, when there was less digitalization and technological advancements, if people consumed high cholesterol diet or meat, they could digest it as they were physically very active. But in these days, there is less physical activity and our digestive systems cannot digest such food. Moreover, junk food may contribute to obesity. No doubt genetics may also has some role which cannot be denied but the modifiable risk factors can be controlled, monitored and may prevent such disorders. However, global investigations in this regard are direly needed to know the dietary habits and patterns worldwide, their effects in different populations, so that policies may be devised and implemented. Parents are also not aware of a proper healthy pattern that meets the requirements of their children. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Surveys and then awareness campaigns may play a positive role in this regard. Teaching healthy dietary patterns for different age groups at school level may also serve the purpose.

اردو ناول میں سماجی شعور

The present research is an analysis of 'Social Consciousness in Urdu Novels'. An attempt has been made to review how social changes emerging in different periods provided food for through to novelists. The period included for this research extends from the beginning of Urdu Novel to the end of 19th Century. The focus of the research is those social changes that took place after the War of Independence of 1857 in the Indian society, under the influence of the West. This was a transitory period when old and new traditions, both, co- existed; and which were equally reflected in Urdu Novel. Since the very beginning of 20th Century, defensive attitude changed into a more aggressive sentiment, and newer visions of nationhood. This evolution of thought and attitude strongly influenced Indian culture. The researcher has tried to trace this 'consciousness' and the resultant social changes from the beginning of 20th Century till the creation of Pakistan (1947). The new social set up of post-partition days was dominated by class conflicts and influenced by Islamic thought. As such, the 'social consciousness' of the society that emerged after Pakistan's independence was different from that of its predecessors. The researcher has discussed this 'Social Consciousness' in the perspective of novels written during that period. The research is a journey through the social changes that occurred and influenced Urdu Novel from its beginning to the 20th Century and a critical analysis of their conscious and unconscious expression in Urdu Novel.