Signs of Change:

Through educational research we know
professional development is pivotal to implementing
changes we need in schools and yet, mandated or pre-
packaged professional development often meets with
resistance; little or no change occurs. How can
professional development be implemented
effectively? What does change look like and who
leads the way? In this study, symbolic
interactionism provides insight into two schools
attempting to implement professional development for
science education reform and identifies some of the
roadblocks to change, both inside and outside the
schools. At one school,subtle changes in school
culture appear via teacher leadership that emerges
from a leadership team where the administrator
demonstrates servant leadership. Anyone
interested in implementation of effective
professional development in schools, i.e.,
curriculum specialists, teachers and administrators
may find this analysis of change useful in
rethinking implementation of professional
development in their own schools. This work is
especially timely given President Obama''s emphasis
on professional development as a means to improving
science education.

Autorentext
A. Janelle Gohn earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership with a major in curriculum at Miami University, Oxford, OH under co-advisors Jane Butler Kahle and Nelda Cambron McCabe. She is the Chair of the Clinical Laboratory Technician Program at Cincinnati State College, where she learned the value of teacher leadership.

Klappentext
Through educational research we know professional development is pivotal to implementing changes we need in schools and yet, mandated or pre- packaged professional development often meets with resistance; little or no change occurs. How can professional development be implemented effectively? What does change look like and who leads the way? In this study, symbolic interactionism provides insight into two schools attempting to implement professional development for science education reform and identifies some of the roadblocks to change, both inside and outside the schools. At one school,subtle changes in school culture appear via teacher leadership that emerges from a leadership team where the administrator demonstrates servant leadership. Anyone interested in implementation of effective professional development in schools, i.e., curriculum specialists, teachers and administrators may find this analysis of change useful in rethinking implementation of professional development in their own schools. This work is especially timely given President Obama's emphasis on professional development as a means to improving science education.