Implementing practitioner research as a teacher professional development strategy in an Asia-Pacific context

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on the experiences of nine secondary school teachers in Hong Kong who conducted practitioner research (PR) in their Liberal Studies classrooms. The purpose of the study is to 1) investigate the impact and effectiveness of PR as a teacher professional development strategy and 2) identify effective support from the university team addressing the challenges relevant to an Asia-Pacific context. The study employed a qualitative design. Data were drawn from teacher interviews, meetings between the research team and the teachers, school documents and field notes. Findings suggest that while contextual challenges exist, PR is an effective approach for teacher professional development. Teachers perceived the direct impact of PR as observing the improvement of pupil performance and engagement, and a readiness to adopt new teaching strategies. Teachers also reflected on the benefits of professional development as related to the use of evidence to support reflection on pupil learning and teaching, and redefining teachers’ roles. The findings provide insight into designing effective support and collaborative strategies for PR. With the support of the findings, a feasible approach to PR as a teacher professional development strategy relevant to an Asia-Pacific context is proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• Practitioner research
• Teacher professional development
• Secondary school teachers

Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper was fully supported by a grant from the General Research Fund sponsored by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. HKIEd 18608615).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.