Abstract: This text positions the learning community as a vehicle for professional learning and school development. The learning community develops in response to building capacity in three domains: personal, interpersonal and organizational. In the personal domain, educators deconstruct and reconstruct their professional narratives to enhance student learning and professional practice.In the interpersonal domain, educators generate norms and values that foster experimentation and critical analysis of educational practice and that promote collective and individual learning. In the organizational domain, visible and invisible structures are constructed that enable community members to enact educational practices in support of profound improvement in teaching and learning. The book focuses on the life of educators as it relates to professional learning and growth. It is concerned with human growth and development, human cognition and affect and human interactions and actions in the context of a school community. It places at the centre of the discourse some of the less controlable aspects of professional development - the undercurrents of professional presuppositions and beliefs as well as the surface waves of professional knowledge and learning. From this perspective, building a learning community is a dynamic process that engages the individual, the group and the organization in embedded interdependencies and mutual influences.

Abstract: Editorials by du Boulay and Asbjorn Holm Continuing professional development is the process by which health professionals keep updated to meet the needs of patients, the health service, and their own professional development. It includes the continuous acquisition of new knowledge, skills, and attitudes to enable competent practice. There is no sharp division between continuing medical education and continuing professional development, as during the past decade continuing medical education has come to include managerial, social, and personal skills, topics beyond the traditional clinical medical subjects. The term continuing professional development acknowledges not only the wide ranging competences needed to practise high quality medicine but also the multidisciplinary context of patient care. #### Summary points Internationally there is a move from continuing medical education (or clinical update) to continuing professional development, including medical, managerial, social, and personal skills Continuing professional development is a process of lifelong learning in practice Although the international systems vary in detail, there are many common features of content and process that allow international mutual recognition of activities in professional development Most systems are based on an hours related credit system Where revalidation or recertification of practitioners is required, demonstration of continuing professional development is an important integral part of the process We obtained information from an assessment of the relevant policies, and interviews with directors of continuing professional development of the UK medical royal colleges, the UK Joint Centre for Education in Medicine, the European Union of Medical Specialties, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American Medical Association and other American specialty societies, and the US Accreditation Committee for Continuing Medical Education. We also assessed research by the Australian and New Zealand Committee for the Maintenance of Professional Standards. Although there are wide variations across systems for professional development in different countries and healthcare systems, …

Abstract: School principals exercise significant influence on teacher professional development. We identify four areas where principals have the opportunity to have a substantial impact on teacher learning. These include: 1. the principal as an instructional leader and learner; 2. the creation of a learning environment; 3. direct involvement in the design, delivery and content of professional development; and 4. the assessment of professional development outcomes.

Abstract: The authors contend that, to be effective, professional development should address three dimensions of school capacity ' teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions; the strength of the schoolwide professional community; and the coherence of the school program. REFORMERS HAVE implemented tighter accountability, curriculum standards, organizational restructuring, school choice, professional development, and a variety of other strategies to improve schooling. Since teachers have the most direct, sustained contact with students and considerable control over what is taught and the climate for learning, improving teachers' knowledge, skills, and dispositions through professional development is a critical step in improving student achievement. According to critics, however, professional development has not substantially improved teaching, because conventional professional development violates a number of key conditions for teacher learning. ' Teacher learning is most likely to occur when teachers can concentrate on instruction and student outcomes in the specific contexts in which they teach. Yet because professional development often presents information that teachers see as irrelevant to student learning in their specific school settings, teachers often don't learn and apply what professional development programs offer. ' Teacher learning is most likely when teachers have sustained opportunities to study, to experiment with, and to receive helpful feedback on specific innovations. Yet most professional development activities entail brief workshops, conferences, or courses that make no provision for follow-up and long-term feedback. =95 Teacher learning is most likely when teachers collaborate with professional peers, both within and outside of their schools, and when they gain further expertise through access to external researchers and program developers. Yet traditional professional development relies almost exclusively on outside experts and materials, without integrating these resources into existing systems of peer collaboration. ' Teacher learning is most likely when teachers have influence over the substance and process of professional development. Influence over the course of professional development increases teachers' opportunity to connect it to specific conditions of their schools and facilitates a sense of ownership. Yet conventional professional development is often dictated by school, district, or state authorities without significant input from teachers. Researchers, practitioners, and policy makers express substantial agreement that professional development should change in these ways, but the actual conduct of professional development has been slow to respond.1 We agree that learning by individual teachers would be enhanced if professional development were more consistent with these principles, but an approach to professional development that focuses only on the learning of individual teachers would still be insufficient to advance student achievement across a substantial proportion of schools. Teacher success in boosting student achievement depends on the teacher's ability to implement knowledge and skills within a particular school. But each school contains a unique mix of teachers and students with varying competencies and attitudes and a unique set of social, cultural, and political conditions ' all of which influence what teachers do with students.2 While individual teacher learning is the foundation of improved classroom practice, teachers must also learn to exercise their individual knowledge, skills, and dispositions to advance the collective work of the school under a set of unique conditions. To the extent that professional development focuses only on the individual learning of teachers, we should not expect substantial achievement gains in the student body as a whole. Moreover, since student outcomes and how teachers teach are profoundly influenced by the schools in which the students and teachers work, the design of professional development itself should be grounded not only in a conception of how individual teachers learn, but also in a conception of how schools as organizations affect teachers' learning, teachers' practice, and student achievement. …

Abstract: This report describes a number of aspects of the professional engagement of American teachers. It also examines relationships between professional engagement and teaching practice, including instruction involving computer use. We defined professional engagement as a teacher taking effort to affect the teaching that occurs in classrooms other than his or her own. We measured professional engagement by (1) the frequency that a teacher had informal substantive communications with other teachers at their school, (2) the frequency and breadth of professional interactions with teachers at other schools, and (3) the breadth of involvement in specific peer leadership activities– mentoring, workshop and conference presentations, and teaching courses and writing in publications for educators. Using these measures of professional interactions and activities, we divided teachers into four groups from the mostto the least-professionally engaged using the following categories: Teacher Leaders (2%), Teacher Professionals (10%), Interactive Teachers (29%), and Private Practice Teachers (58%). We tested the hypothesis that teachers who regularly participate in professional interactions and activities beyond their classroom teach in different ways than teachers who have minimal contact with their peers or profession. In particular, we examined whether the professional engagement of teachers correlated with a specific philosophy, with types of instructional practices linked to philosophies, and with frequency and type of computer use. We also showed how professionally engaged teachers distribute by subject area, school and community characteristics (e.g., student SES and ethnicity), and in their own educational and teaching background. We found that the more extensively involved teachers were in professional activities, the more likely they were to (1) have teaching philosophies compatible with constructivist learning theory, (2) teach in ways consistent with a constructivist philosophy, and (3) use computers more and in exemplary ways. We found that professionally engaged teachers were somewhat more experienced than others and had made more investments in their own education but that they taught a representative group of students–they were not less likely present in schools serving disadvantaged students nor were they more likely to be assigned to classes of higher ability students. Finally, we found that although professionally engaged teachers who taught in more privileged situations did use computers more than professionally engaged teachers in high-poverty schools, those differences were largely explained by differential access to technology–at school, at students' homes, and at teachers' homes. Given sufficient access to computers, professionally active teachers will use them in exemplary ways, and given their greater involvement in leadership activities and informal collaborations with peers, teacher leaders are in a position, with sufficient authority and time, to help other teachers move towards being more accomplished users of computer technology. Teacher Professional Engagement Teachers' Personal Definition of Their Role Teachers vary in how they conceptualize their role—their duties and responsibilities as teachers. Some teachers view their work as taking place solely within their classrooms in what is essentially a private, individual practice. They are content to let educational decisions about curriculum, policies or standards be made by outside experts, and they accept that different teachers choose to teach in ways that they themselves believe are ineffective or wrong. Instead, they focus on trying to be the best teacher they can be with the students in their own classroom. Others view their responsibilities as extending beyond classroom teaching to include participation in the larger community of educators and administrators. They see their role as trying to help other teachers be more successful and to influence how teaching occurs in other places. Although few teachers see teaching exclusively in one way or the other, it may be useful to think of this contrast as a continuum from private to professional practice. How teachers define their role will determine how they spend their limited time both in and beyond the classroom.

Abstract: The professions have never been more important to the well-being of society. Professional knowledge and expertise are at the core of contemporary society. How such professional expertise is developed, how it is deployed, by whom it is deployed and for what ends are among the most pressing issues

Abstract: An evaluation of process and outcomes from learning through reflective practice groups on a post-registration nursing course Small groups were set up purposefully on a part-time post-registration Diploma in Professional Studies in Nursing programme to enable students to reflect on and learn from experience. The use of these groups was qualitatively evaluated by the use of in-depth interviews. Although there were many barriers to such learning, some students made significant developments in their critical thinking ability and underwent perspective transformations that led to changes in attitudes and behaviour. These are identified as an increased professionalism, greater autonomy in decision making, more self-confidence to challenge the status quo and make their own judgements, and a less rule-bound approach to their practice. The processes by which these changes occurred are identified as support and challenge within the groups offered by both the facilitators and other group members.

Abstract: Foreword - Linda Lambert Preface About the Authors 1 Introduction: Essential Questions About Professional Development 2 Focusing Professional Development in a Standards-Based System 3 Creating the Culture for a Learning Community 4 Addressing Teacher Work Concerns Through Professional Development 5 Promoting Individual Growth Through Professional Learning 6 Challenging Districts to Sustain Professional Growth 7 Designing Your Own Model 8 Tools for Implementing a Professional Development Design 9 Evaluating Professional Development 10 Revisiting Past Perspective to Underscore the Need for Change 11 Facing the Emerging Issues and Challenges of Professional Learning References Bibliography Index

Abstract: This chapter explores how professionals construct knowledge in the context of their practice by connecting concepts from their experiences and continuing professional education activities.

Abstract: The key to successful professionalization of any practice is to convince clients and the public that a professional, as a result of education and practical experience, possesses unique knowledge and skills that can be employed to solve the particular problems of practice and thus serve client needs. Research and knowledge-based standards can convey the professional qualifications of teachers by creating a shared and public language of practice that not only describes how knowledge is used in practice but also becomes a vehicle for testing and elaborating the components of professional activity. Standards, when used in this manner by a developing profession, thus become a means to development and empowerment, not merely a means of external control.

Abstract: Release of the technological literacy standards will require the community to engage in professional development. Why? Because the release of technological literacy standards is only the first step in the journey of educational reform. If the standards are to be realized in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, then the communities directly involved in these activities will have to assume responsibility for seeing that changes are implemented. The most direct route in this portion of the journey is professional development.

Abstract: The idea of knowledge work has been around for some time. Mintzberg spoke about “knowledge intensive firms” outlining differences between knowledge intensive organizations and professional bureaucracies. A professional bureaucracy, for instance, typically relies on standardized knowledge, skills and routines, relying on typical professional features: codification, strong and clearly defined professional associations and codes of ethics. In the past professional identities have been shaped by (at least) symbolic association with such features. With sweeping changes to professional life and organization, many “knowledge workers” no longer belong to any of the traditional disciplinary professions. Cross‐disciplinary approaches are often now in favour and the symbolism that might have once reinforced professional identity has all‐but been replaced by the new competencies required in the high‐tech era: extensive communication, problem‐solving and coordination skills. The labour market is not stable and, as Mintzberg aptly put it, “knowledge intensity” has become a premium product.

Abstract: A recognized engineering profession must have an established body of knowledge and skill that its practitioners understand and use consistently. After 30 years, there is still a wide gap between the best and the typical software engineering practices. To close this gap, we need a deeper partnership among industry, academia, and professional societies. We have spent some time considering the reasons for SE's immaturity. All of us are heavily involved in both industry and academia and have been active in professional societies that aim to promote SE as a profession. Promotion efforts are by no means limited to the US, but because our experience is primarily with US activities, that is our focus in this article. Our main goal is to explore, from a multifaceted perspective, why we are where we are now and how we can move forward.

Abstract: A cooperative model of staff development in relation to professional education is outlined which considers staff development within both further and higher education. Examines general principles of human resource development, continuing professional development as well as quality and benchmarking issues. A case study of the development of course tutors who have academic responsibility for managing professional courses approved by the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) within further education colleges and universities in the North East of England is presented. Considers the cooperative approach to staff development between competing educational institutions and the collective relationship between the educational institutions and a professional body. The need for cooperation is examined within the context of the professional institute and the challenges facing the Education Group at its inception are briefly outlined. Benefits for staff, students and ultimately the professional body are detailed and, finally, the model is summarised and its application to other institutions is briefly considered.

Abstract: Various aspects of being a professional are discussed in this paper. These include personal qualities, lifetime professional development, professional responsibilities, job responsibilities, service, and a balanced life style.

Abstract: The ever-changing, dynamic practice environment coupled with increased consumer needs and awareness create an atmosphere that requires optimal professionalism from occupational therapists. Professionalism requires specific knowledge, attitudes, and values--all manifested by professional behaviours. The authors assume that professional behaviours mature through a natural developmental process; a process that requires careful nurturing on the part of educators and clinical supervisors. Based on this assumption, the authors propose this conceptual model based on Erikson's life cycle stages. The model implies that occupational therapy professional behaviours develop sequentially through stages that begin during the educational process of occupational therapists, and progress throughout their career. The purpose of this model is to provide a framework for educators and supervisors to nurture professional behaviours in students and novice clinicians, and to continue their own professional growth.

Abstract: Increasingly, teacher professional development is being used as a policy tool to effect change in educational practices and their outcomes. The article argues for reconceptualising teacher learning as legitimate professional work. Teacher learning during the school day, when students are in attendance or when they are gone is ‘time on’, not ‘time off’. Secondly, the article presents a framework for examining the design, delivery, content, context and outcomes of professional development in schools. Thirdly, using the example of school-to-work programmes, the article suggests that views of teacher learning at work need to be expanded beyond the walls of traditional schools to other sectors in the community. New technologies have, for example, dramatically changed what it means to be ‘at work’. Finally, the article uses findings from the Schools and Staffing Survey to describe teachers' experiences and impact of various professional development activities on their professional work.

Abstract: The Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS) is implementing a professional development program for science teachers to enact science curricula in a systemic reform initiative. This paper proposes a design approach for professional development in science education as a valuable way to re-conceptualize the process of fostering teacher learning. The paper presents an argument that professional development in science education, as a whole, has not been grounded in empirical research, and there is therefore a lack of sound design principles upon which to base professional development programs. One possible design model for professional development is posed in the context of the LeTUS systemic reform work, and evidence is given that illustrates the initial success of the model.

Abstract: . The purposes of this study were (1) to describe the evolution of the professional culture and ethos of physical therapy in the United States, (2)to develop a conceptual framework for understanding how a professional ethos evolves, and (3) to explore the impact of the evolution of a professional ethos on the education of physical therapists. Three sources of data (ie, individual interviews with three Fellows of the American Physical Therapy Association; a focus group interview with 11 members of the Prime Timers; and historical documents, including Mary McMillan Lectures and Presidential Addresses) were used to triangulate the findings of this qualitative study. A qualitative data analysis was carried out using the constant-comparative and grounded theory methods. Results indicated that the professional ethos of physical therapy is composed of a set of core values, norms, and beliefs that are the basis for enduring traits that do not change over time, as well as a dynamic portion that responds to changes from both within and outside of the profession. These changes, as well as the entrance of newcomers into the field, contribute to the evolution of the professional ethos of physical therapy. A conceptual framework for understanding the evolution of a professional ethos is described, and implications for educators in physical therapy programs are discussed. Key Words: Physical therapy education, Professional ethos, Professional socialization. INTRODUCTION One of the goals of professional education is to assist students in becoming part of a professional community. Tammivaara and Yarborough1 have referred to this process of enculturation into a profession as attaining a professional ethos. Ethos is defined as "the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution."2(p247) The ethos of a profession, then, is composed of the distinguishing characteristics, sentiments, and beliefs of that profession that guide the behavior of practitioners. This professional ethos is most often reflected in Codes of Ethics and Standards of Practice founded in the norms and mores of the profession, which, in turn, can be viewed as a reflection of the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the profession.3 As part of the educational process, students in professional education programs must make a transition from the world of college life to a professional world. The cultural values of "student" must be transformed into the "professional ethos." The individual must stop being merely a competent student and must become a competent professional. This occurs as the student begins the process of "internalizing the values, traditions, and obligations of the profession... [it] occurs when the student develops a clear and accurate perception of the role of the profession and of the self as part of that profession."4(p27) Learning about the professional world thus involves not only mastering the skills needed to perform the work of the professional competently, but also internalizing the values and beliefs shared by others in the profession so that collectively held professional values and ideals come to characterize the very identity of the novice practitioner. Like educators in other professional programs, academic and clinical faculty in physical therapy programs want their students to emerge from academia as competent professionals. They want students who have internalized the ethos of the profession and have developed a true sense of what it means to be a physical therapist. According to Tammivaara and Yarborough: To do this, educational programs must develop a cultural orientation toward professional behavior, a professional ethos. This is not something to be offered as a course, or even a series of courses; this is an attitude, a set of values, which must be conveyed and practiced by the clinical and academic faculty. It must be manifest for students in expectations of their behavior, in the conduct and content of all courses, in the procedures of faculty/student interaction, in the evaluation of the students in the use of space, in clinical education, in the designation of professional heroes and valuing of the field's history, and most of all in the faculty's and clinical faculty's commitments to patient care, the primary task of physical therapy. …

Abstract: This paper is an exploration of two core elements of an institution-wide professional doctorate at Middlesex University, UK. The evolution of this programme is discussed, both in relation to broad doctoral developments and in relation to the Work Based Learning Studies programme from which it evolved. The two core elements are reflection and planning, and it is argued that these are inherent to high-level professional practice. An evaluation of how these elements have worked in practice within the programme is given.

Abstract: See pages 535±544 A crucial issue raised by Maudsley and Strivens in this issue of Medical Education is how to build bridges between the scienti®c knowledge base for medicine and the professional knowledge which clinicians utilise in practice. The differences between these two ways of knowing have been stressed in many previous studies. For example, Patel et al. argue that whilst medical science is analytic and general, professional knowledge is holistic and particular. These differences have led some medical educators to question the traditional emphasis placed on medical science in the undergraduate curriculum. Maudsley and Strivens advocate problem-based learning (PBL) as a way of integrating academic and professional knowledge, in line with the General Medical Council's call for new approaches to the undergraduate curriculum. However, it is possible to suggest a further dimension to their discussion of professional knowledge and its acquisition. A major assumption in the adult education literature, which Maudsley and Strivens reproduce in their paper, is that work-related knowledge is possessed by individuals. This assumption is now being challenged by researchers in the ®eld of organizational epistemology, many of whom propose the alternative view that (some) such knowledge is collective ± possessed by work groups, not by the individuals who belong to them. The basic concept for representing collective activity is the network. The nodes are actors and the connections between the nodes are the various ways in which they interact. Different nodes contribute different kinds of knowledge and the network develops an awareness which guides collaborative activity. One of the studies which ushered in this new perspective was an investigation of the work of ̄ight deck crew on aircraft carriers. An important part of the crew's knowledge was embedded in the patterns of heedful interrelating which characterized their collective activity. In a very strong sense, this knowledge ceased to exist as soon as the crew dispersed. Similar research was carried out into the teams of ®re®ghters which are assembled to deal with forest ®res in the south of France. It was found that they possessed a shared model of tactical reasoning, which enabled them to anticipate each others' actions and interpret each others' messages. This collective knowledge was crucial for integrating the specialist knowledge which each team member contributed. In a society which stresses individualism rather than collective activity, it might seem strange to attribute knowledge to a group rather than to individuals. Nonetheless, many UK industrialists have found it bene®cial to adopt Japanese work methods (such as quality circles), which assume that knowledge is collective and public, not individual and private. Whilst much medical work is carried out independently, doctors also work in multidisciplinary teams and construct their professional practice out of relationships with patients and members of other professions. The question thus arises whether an important part of the professional knowledge base should be regarded as collective. Several educational issues follow from the recognition that knowledge can be possessed by groups as well as by individuals. When a doctor is working independently, he or she will typically make a decision, and only then tackle the challenge of communicating it to others. However, when a doctor is working collectively, what needs to be communicated is not a decision, but predecisional perceptions arising from the doctor's own specialist knowledge. These are pooled with the perceptions of colleagues, and only then developed collectively into a decision by the whole group. As most medical roles will involve the practitioner in both independent and collective forms of activity, training in communication skills should develop the ̄exibility needed to switch from one pattern of communication to the other. An example of the need for ̄exibility of this kind can be found in a recent study of critical incidents in a sample of hospital Accident and Emergency departments. Risky situations (such as delays in beginning treatment) were attributable, not to lack of individual knowledge or skill, but to lack of a collective understanding of how the individuals needed to interact with each other. When professional activity is collective, the amount of knowledge available in a clinical unit cannot be measured by the sum total of the knowledge possessed by its individual members. A more appropriate measure would be the knowledge generated by the richness of the connections between the individuals. A network of relatively impoverished nodes can be strengthened by Correspondence: Professor N.C. Boreham, Faculty of Education, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK Commentaries

Abstract: TAPPED INTM is an online community that supports teachers’ professional growth through both formal education and professional development programs provided by a coalition of partner organizations and informal activities that occur year-round. The authors of this paper are members of both the community and a research team investigating whether and how the design of our online environment can help foster a culture of learning within a large and diverse community of education professionals. The community is now three years old, and we believe it is time to examine its impact more closely. In this paper, we review data collected from a survey that was recently sent to the educators in the community. Specifically, we examine how experiences in TAPPED IN affect teaching and teachers. Overview of TAPPED IN The concept of community of practice has become a major theme of teacher professional development (TPD). Advocates claim that communities of practice can be powerful catalysts for enabling teachers to improve their practice (Lieberman, 1996; Hawkins, 1999) and for innovative TPD efforts to achieve sustainability and scalability (Schlager & Schank, 1997; Schlager, Fusco, & Schank, in press). Currently, professional development in the teaching profession differs from that in most other professions in that the process is heavily skewed toward pockets of formal, highly structured activities outside the context of their actual work (Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles, 1998). Similarly, most teacher education programs provide students with little access to the larger community of education professionals outside the university, at best providing internships at a local school. To understand the profession and become contributing members of the teaching community of practice, preservice teachers need access to that community on a sustained basis. Although we cannot change school policies or find more time for professional development, TAPPED IN, as an education community of practice, can help provide opportunities and mechanisms for teachers of all levels to overcome their isolation and make more effective use of time spent on professional growth. Our view is that professional development is a lifelong process in which teachers’ needs change from year to year. Our goal is to begin supporting teachers during their preservice education and continue to serve them as they become leaders in their professional community. We envision a year-round TPD process that balances formal TPD efforts and informal professional activities that are characteristic of other professional communities of practice. Our approach is to invite organizations representing divergent perspectives to be tenants in the TAPPED IN environment and use it to help accomplish their own TPD agendas. In this way, online tools and practices become part of their institutional culture rather than tangential add-ons. If one tenant organization leaves, another can take its place, and the community continues evolving over time as individual groups form and disband and projects begin and end. Each organization leaves behind a bit of its expertise in the form of members who continue to participate in the community, thus enabling the community to become an ever-widening source of expertise. We currently support a growing community of 15 organizations and over 6,000 members. On any given day in TAPPED IN, one can observe teachers, administrators, district coordinators, state staff, staff developers, university faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, researchers, and the occasional curious guest being resources for one another. Members can be central or peripheral participants in the community. This ability to participate peripherally (Lave & Wenger, 1991) in the activities of others (both as a resource and as a seeker of assistance) is a hallmark of a community of practice and one that we believe is essential to establishing and sustaining professional relationships. By sharing space in TAPPED IN (as opposed to locking teachers into their own proprietary environments), the organizations enable their teachers to have rich interactions with a wide variety of other educators. Our technology is a platform-independent, Web-based, real-time environment designed to meet the needs of a large and diverse community of education professionals (see Schlager & Schank, 1997, for a more complete description: http://www.tappedin.org/info/cscl97.html). Activities occur in virtual rooms that provide a basic yet powerful set of communication mechanisms (directing speech to specific people, whispering, paging, emoting) and support tools (whiteboards, notes, tape recorders, and Web viewers). The structure of the TAPPED IN community and its environment allow great flexibility in designing opportunities for preand inservice teachers to interact with one another and share information, both within and across institutional boundaries. As technology proliferates in schools, the issue of how best to prepare teachers to use it effectively to support their learning and that of their students has come into the fore. For educators to embrace technology and integrate it into their classrooms, they must explore, experiment, and collaborate as a community. We have designed TAPPED IN to be a place that encourages ongoing experimentation and collaboration, and that offers immediate support to teachers as they learn the ropes of both the technology and the community. The TAPPED IN community has been growing for over three years. Since we began conducting community-wide activities, an average of 15% (with a range between 10% and 20%) of members log in at least once each month. In this paper we will present a summary of who our members are, what kinds of activities they engage in online, and how they use technology in their classrooms. In addition, we examine the relationship between how often a member logs in and their perceptions of the benefits they gain from their TAPPED IN experiences. Though a time investment is required before most users become comfortable with the environment, we believe (and many of our experienced members tell us) that the return is well worth the effort. We hypothesize that those who rate themselves as more frequent users of TAPPED IN will report lower levels of professional isolation and positive effects on their knowledge of subject area and teaching techniques. Survey Collection and Data Our survey was developed to help us learn who our members are and how their experiences in TAPPED IN have affected their professional lives. We invited every member of the community to fill out a 133-question survey. We are collecting data on (a) standard demographics and professional development activities, (b) technology use, and skill rating, and (c) TAPPED IN use, affordances, and barriers. We began collecting data on August 30, 1999, online through Web-based forms (available to members at their convenience). We made available a .pdf file for members to download and mail or fax back to us. We also offered to Email, fax, or mail a hard copy of the survey to any member who requested it. Two announcements were Emailed to all the members of the community; reminders were also included in the monthly e-mailings and on the log-in page. The data being examined in this paper were collected through October 28, 1999. Data collection is still ongoing; the reader should consider this paper as a preliminary look at the survey results. The demographics of the survey sample closely match the overall membership. The data set includes 851 survey responses from 282 males (34%) and 550 females (66%); 19 respondents did not specify gender. The gender breakdown of all members (as of 11/29/99) is 4188 females (64.9%) and 2262 males (35.0%). Average age of the respondents was 43.72 (SD = 9.74), with a range of 21-67. Table 1 shows that the sample’s breakdown is comparable to that of the entire community, and that the sample represents the different occupation categories in TAPPED IN. Although the majority of members are teachers, we believe that it is important to have a diverse community of education professionals. Having administrators, librarians, subject area experts, professional development organizations, and others online allows for informal conversations where ideas can be exchanged. In addition, we have a wide range of experience among the teachers. The respondents who listed teaching as their primary occupation have taught from as little as half a year fulltime to 39 years full time with 25% having taught 5 years or less, 50% having taught 13 years or less, and 75% having taught 21 years or less. Table 2 shows that the different subject areas taught by the teachers in TAPPED IN represents a cross-section of the teaching profession. In terms of technology skills, 2.2% of respondents rated themselves as having minimal Internet skills, 21.5% as having moderate, 48.5% as having strong, and 27.8% as having expert Internet skills. Table 3 presents information about reported online technology use by our respondents, and Table 4 presents information about the use of computers by teachers in relationship to their classroom. Occupation n Percent of respondents Population as of 9/99 K-4 5-6 7-8 9-12 K-12 Teacher (total) 98 64 58 125 (345) 11.8 7.7 7.0 15.1 (41.7) 18.9

Abstract: What is a professional? A professional commands a special body of knowledge and skills. A professional also is given specific rights not generally provided to the public, and has specific responsibilities or duties not generally expected of the public. What distinguishes a professional from an expert, then, is the contract negotiated between a specific group of experts and society.[1] In trade for specific rights--physicians, for example, have the right to ask private and personal questions, to prescribe narcotics, and to perform operations--professionals must accept responsibilities or duties not expected of society in general. These include confidentiality, compassion, integrity, interprofessional respect, public service, responsibility, and self-policing.[2] These are values that society expects its physicians to uphold as professionals, and values we intend to teach, promote, or at least not destroy in the course of medical education.[3] But there is good evidence that we in fact inhibit or impair the development of positive professional values in medical education. While the formal curriculum of medical school espouses professional values, the informal curriculum may teach something quite different. How Professional Values Are Taught The formal curriculum of values is taught in medical school through both texts, including the medical school's statement of goals, and experiences. The goals statement of the medical school at the University of Michigan, for example, reads: [The medical school's] goals will be attained when students have acquired ... [i]nterpersonal skills that facilitate effective and empathetic relationships with patients and effective collaborations with other health care professionals; the professional attributes of compassion, honesty and integrity; and social and professional responsibility in the context of a diverse and changing society ...[4] Formal curricular experiences include courses variably titled "Introduction to the Patient," "The Patient-Physician Relationship," or "Doctoring," in which the principles of the doctor's behavior and relationship with patients are explored.[5] Other formal curricular experiences in medical school are similarly designed to instill some of the professional characteristics expected of doctors. The Arnold P. Gold Foundation for example, has supported an exercise in North American medical schools in the last few years in which entering medical students are provided with a white coat and a lapel pin, signifying their preliminary initiation into the profession.[6] During this exercise, students are advised that the wearing of a white coat signifies the acceptance of a code of professional conduct, and that the public has very specific expectations of the wearer's behavior. Although many of these entering students will not have significant patient contact for at least two years, they are explicitly appraised of the standards to which they will be held. Although some institutions continue a few formal lectures and seminars into the third and fourth medical school years, professional values are heavily influenced by the socialization process that occurs during the clinical portion of medical education. While the values taught in the formal curriculum of the first and second years are highly consistent with the values outlined by the school and the profession, the values learned in the informal curriculum of the clinical years are highly variable.[7] Some values are enhanced, some are ignored, and some are overtly inhibited through demonstration or explanation, through parables, and through the negotiation of values conflicts. When asked how values are taught in clinical medical education, many individuals respond with "role-modeling." As Melvin Konner noted in his first-hand account of medical school: The physician's attitudes, mindset, moral stance, and the hour-by-hour decisions about how to use one's time--all these and many other matters, even including how and what and how much to feel, are observed by the student and imitated assiduously. …

Abstract: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate outcomes of the Virginia Community College System's (VCCSs) Professional Development Initiative, specically to determine the extent to which docu...

Abstract: The starting point for this article is the authors' ongoing collaborative enquiry into professional practice, which primarily aims to improve and develop our roles in Staff and Educational Development in Higher Education (HE). Part of this action research cycle includes an empirical study carried out in the authors' institution to find out how academic colleagues view their work practices. They identify the major difficulties faced in supporting the professional development of these staff and argue that to be effective within a culture that encourages individualism, and that is driven by a disciplinary-research agenda, those who have responsibility for academic professional development should promote the idea of teachers as researchers. They argue that a research approach to development, centred on individual practice and learning, should be considered by those who engage in professional learning. Beyond these issues, the study also provides a snapshot of academic values in a research-led Higher ...

Abstract: In a Master of Social Work study, looking at Continuing Professional Education (CPE) for social workers, it was found that the profession's status and image are linked to the status of continuing professional education. Other major findings were that the schools of social work have not inculcated the concept of CPE into undergraduates as a norm, and that until the recent establishment of the National Continuing Professional Education and Practice Standards Project, the profession itself had not accorded CPE a high status. Such long-term neglect has impacted on the position of social work in organisations and on the professional identity of workers. The study was undertaken from a qualitative perspective, with the data arising from the field. Interviews were held in focus groups which consisted of social workers in teaching hospitals at various levels: new graduates of less than two years experience, experienced workers of more than five years experience and co-ordinators of CPE programs. The interviews we...