https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2104/3001/MichellePettijohn.phd.pdf?sequence=4
Teachers and Professional Reading: A Study of Reading Experience and Administrative Support across Traditional, Paideia, and PDS Schools
Michelle Pettijohn Powell
Mentor: Eric L. Robinson, Ph.D
Introduction
This study was designed to provide a description of teachers’ perceptions of principal support in pursuing professional reading as part of teacher professional development. Three research questions were posed:
1. What are the teacher’s perceptions of the benefits of a professional reading program as part of staff development?
1a. What attitudes and beliefs do teachers have about their own ability to learn?
1b. What are teacher’s attitudes and beliefs about reading as part of a professional development program?
1c. What are the teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s support for professional reading as part of a professional development program?
2. What do teachers read professionally that impacts their practices in the classroom?
3. What, if any, are the differences in responses between Paideia, PDS, and nonPDS teachers in their perceived level of administrator support and views of the role of professional reading as part of their professional development?
The Teacher Survey of Professional Reading (TSPR) was administered in the spring of 2005 to 300 teachers working at non-PDS, PDS, and Paideia schools located in central Texas, southwestern North Carolina, and eastern Tennessee. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview and discussion of the findings of this study. This chapter is presented in three sections. The first section discusses and interprets the major findings of this study, while the second section will address its limitations. The final section of this chapter provides suggestions for future research. The first part of this discussion section describes the findings based upon the author’s perceived importance to the field of teacher professional development, as opposed to addressing each research question in numeric order. Further, it should be noted that all research questions will be addressed.
Overview of the Findings
In general, three primary findings were found in this study. Teachers’ responses to the TSPR illustrated that there are differences in perceived value of professional reading between the Paideia, PDS, and non-PDS campuses, that there are differences among perceived levels of administrator support for pursuing professional reading, and that there is an increased perception of availability of professional books, journals, and magazines for teachers. In addition to these primary findings, there are several more issues that need to be addressed.
One such issue is the preference of teachers for pragmatic journals and magazines over theoretical ones. In the current study, all the teachers surveyed prefer pragmatic journals and magazines over ones with theoretical foundations, with no statistically significant differences between school types. More teachers surveyed for this study reported a preference for articles or books that discuss activities they can use in their classroom than for articles or books that discuss emerging trends and theories. This finding is consistent with previous research (Cogan & Anderson, 1977; Hinrichs & Ruhl-Smith, 1998-1999; Hughes & Johnston-Doyle, 1978; Kersten & Drost, 1980; Koballa, 1987; Littman & Stodosky, 1998; Wood, Zalud, & Hoag, 1995) which found that educators preferred to read pragmatic articles that provided practical, hands-on materials or activities that could be quickly and easily implemented within the classroom. This finding could possibly be linked to teachers not having as much time as they would like to read professional materials.
A second issue that needs to be addressed concerns the reading materials selected by teachers for use in their classroom. This issue formed the basis for the second research question. In the current study, the professional magazines and journals most frequently selected by the teachers for use in their classroom are The Mailbox, Teacher Magazine, Instructor magazine, as well as Educational Leadership, NEA Today, The Reading Teacher, and the English Journal. The professional magazines and journals most frequently selected by the teachers in this study are the same as the periodicals selected by the teachers in previous studies (Cogan & Anderson, 1977; Hinrichs & Ruhl-Smith, 1998-1999; Hughes & Johnston-Doyle, 1978; Koballa, 1987; Littman & Stodosky, 1998; Wood, Zalud, & Hoag, 1995). Perhaps these professional materials are most frequently selected because they best meet the needs of the teachers in finding quality instructional activities to engage their students.
A third issue that warrants further consideration is an inquiry into why teachers engage in professional reading. This was discussed in the second part of the first research question and in research question #2. The top reasons cited as to why teachers engage in professional reading are to improve instructional practices within their classroom (39.4%) or to expand knowledge in a field (34.4%). These results are consistent with those found by Shearer, et al., (1997), which found that teachers read for four main purposes, namely to expand their knowledge, to understand or solve an instructional problem, to improve instruction, and to garner support for a current instructional practice. In addition to supporting the results found in Shearer, et al.’s study, the reasons teachers engage in professional reading correlate closely with several tenets of andragogy, a theory of adult learning. One of underlying principles of andragogy is that adults learn in the face of problems or obstacles they face in life (Knowles, 1975; Merriam, 2001; Merriam & Caffarella, 1999).
The teachers surveyed for this study seem to engage in reading to improve their instructional practices, to improve classroom management and student behavior, or as teacher enrichment, all stemming from problems or obstacles the teachers face in their professional life. In addition, over 80% of the teachers surveyed in this study perceive engaging in professional reading as helping them to grow in their profession. Teachers in this study were also more likely to report that they were self-motivated (30%) to read over being motivated by their peers (28%) or by their school administrators (26%) to pursue professional reading. This ties in closely with another underlying principle of andragogy, in which internal factors, rather than external factors, tend to drive adult learning (Knowles, 1975; Merriam, 2001). It is also important to note that the majority of all of the teachers surveyed (81.8%) report that professional reading materials are written in a manner that is easy for them to comprehend. The perceived high levels of reading comprehension may have to do with the fact that teachers, in general, have high levels of reading comprehension. On a survey of adult literacy, teachers performed similarly to those working in fields in which an advanced degree is required, such as lawyers, physicians, and counselors, with regard to measures of reading comprehension (Bruschi &Coley, 1999). Thus, many of the materials written in trade publications favored by teachers may be easy for them to comprehend. Although, it is possible that teachers’ perceived high levels of reading comprehension are actually due to the fact that the pragmatic journals and magazines they favor are written on a lower level than are theoretical journals. A final issue regarding teacher responses on the TSPR that merits further discussion is the fact that there were a surprising number of “not sure” responses to some questions on the survey. For example, concerning the statement, “The teachers I work closely with read professional books, journals, or magazines at least once a week,” there was a surprisingly high number (45.6%) of “not sure” responses. It appears that many of the teachers working on the PDS and non-PDS campuses may not be aware of what the other teachers on their campuses are reading, as illustrated in their responses in which the mode was “not sure. However, teachers on the Paideia campuses reported being aware of their peers reading books, journals, or magazines on a weekly basis as they responded with a mode of “agree.” This may be due to the fact that Paideia teachers, given their collaborative approach, appear to communicate more frequently with each other regarding the seminars they conduct and participate in, whereas the PDS and non-PDS teachers do not necessarily communicate with each other about what they are reading professionally .
The results of this study show that teachers do indeed view engaging in professional reading as helping them grow in their profession. Even though teachers do not feel they have as much time as they would like to pursue professional reading, they find the materials to be easily understood, accessible, and applicable to their teaching. Teachers mainly engage in professional reading to improve their instructional strategies or to expand their knowledge in a field. The majority of teachers surveyed had used ideas from professional reading in their classroom 1-5 times during the two months prior to the administration of the TSPR. Teachers primarily read from The Mailbox, Wong and Wong’s The First Days of School, and from Educational Leadership. Teachers working on Paideia campuses have strong beliefs regarding the use of professional reading as part of teacher professional development, as they were more likely to find professional reading helps them grow in their profession and find the material applicable, relevant, and worthwhile to what they teach as compared to the teachers working on the PDS and non-PDS campuses. The teachers working on the non-PDS campuses perceived lower levels of administrator support for professional reading in terms of individual communication with teachers, group meetings, and faculty-led discussions of professional reading.