Exploring Teacher Professional Development through Conducting Differentiated Instruction: A Case Study in a Junior High School in Taipei City

• Main Authors: Lai, Szu-Yu, 賴思妤
• Other Authors: Hsu, Yueh-Kuei
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/q53hzp

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 英語學系 === 107 === Recently, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has encouraged teachers to develop teaching profession to maintain teaching quality and improve student learning. To improve student learning performance in English, many schools have carried out differentiated instruction in English class recently. The purpose of this study attempted to explore how the implementation of differentiated instruction stimulated teacher professional development. The study addressed two research questions: (1) How does the implementation of differentiated instruction facilitate teacher professional development in a junior high school? (2) How does the implementation of differentiated instruction influence teacher efficacy in a junior high school? The teacher-researcher employed a qualitative method to analyze the process of teacher professional development through teachers’ reflections on classroom practices. The results of the study showed that differentiated instruction facilitated teacher professional development in terms of high awareness of each student’s learning needs, preparing lessons more actively, and designing alternative teaching activities. The results also revealed that differentiated instruction raised teacher efficacy in enhancing student engagement, providing alternative instructional strategies, and establishing efficient classroom management. Lastly, from this study, the teachers appreciated that the implementation of differentiated instruction has increased students’ engagement in learning English and improved English proficiency, especially for the lower achievers. This study also urged the MOE and school leaders to emphasize teacher collaboration as a promising activity for teacher professional development.