Empowering chemistry teachers for context-based education. Towards a framework for design and evaluation of a teacher professional development programme in curriculum innovations

Abstract

Many countries experience a wave of context-based curriculum innovation aimed at meaningful student learning. During such innovations, teachers are encouraged to participate in the design of innovative context-based teaching materials. This thesis describes studies on the empowerment of Dutch chemistry teachers for a context-based curriculum innovation. Based on a professional development framework, a programme was designed and implemented. The findings showed that the programme resulted in empowerment of chemistry teachers for context-based education. Moreover, next to the design of the programme, teachers’ professional knowledge, the stage of the curriculum innovation and the role of the curriculum leader play an important role in teachers’ professional development during the programme. The study showed that this framework can be a useful tool in designing professional development programmes and evaluating teacher professional development during context-based curriculum innovations.