Teachers’ professional development and instruction

Professional development is usually regarded as relevant for the improvement of teachers’ instructional practices. By developing and relating certain principles and interpretations through a variety of discourse markers, Howley and Howley (2005) regarded the concept of “professional development” as a way to improve teaching and acknowledged its importance in rural schools and districts (para.2).
According to Howley and Howley (2005), teaching and instructional practices, which are improved by professional development, could result in students’ successful learning. Therefore, students’ educational achievements depend on the quality of instruction and professional development of their teachers. This belief is supported not only by educators, but also by policymakers, those educational leaders who have the power to guide and determine the courses of actions to be taken at a national level.
Teachers’ professional development can be featured by some approaches which are founded on principles of organizational learning. One of these approaches is the “data-based improvement” which is based on effective strategies that teachers can implement in their classrooms since they aim at successful management of a class (Howley & Howley, 2005, Data-based improvement, para.1). Howley and Howley (2005) have noted that “some improvement strategies involve educators in the establishment of standards and benchmarks followed by an ongoing process of assessment and classroom-level reform” (Data-based improvement, para.1).
In order to create a logically constructed piece of work, Howley and Howley (2005) make use of a variety of discourse markers which can be classified according to their functions. Connectors such as “moreover”, “in addition” and “furthermore” are used to add information while “however” and “nevertheless” emphasize a contrast, and “despite” and “even though” make a concession. “For instance”, “such as” and “for example” are highly used to introduce examples in the article, whereas “as a result” and “therefore” are employed to express logical consequence.
In brief, Howley and Howley (2005) succeeded in writing an in-depth article which clearly states a closed relationship between educators’ professional development and their quality of instruction. In addition, they featured teachers’ professional development and also usefully explored the concept in the rural circumstance.


References

Howley, A., & Howley, C.B., (2005). High-quality teaching: Providing for rural teachers’ professional development. The Rural Educator. Retrieved October 2007, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4126/is_200501?ai_n13591361