EXAMINING PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PEDAGOGICAL EXPERTISE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IN MACAO: A MIXED-METHODS INVESTIGATION

ABSTRACT

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PAPER IS TO INVESTIGATE THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE CURRENT SITUATION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' PARTICIPATION IN ‘PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES’ AND THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES IN THE LAW IN THE LIGHT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CURRENT PRIVATE FRAMEWORK LAW AND THE OPERATION OF THE CULTURA N.º 88/2018, AND TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CULTURA N.º 88/2018. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS RESEARCH OBJECTIVE, THIS STUDY ADOPTED QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS WITH TWO SCHOOL MANAGERS, SIX PRIMARY SCHOOL GENERAL TEACHERS, AND ONE LEGISLATOR, AND THEN SUMMARISED THE FINDINGS USING THEMATIC ANALYSIS. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE RESPONDENTS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT THE NUMBER OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING COURSES OFFERED BY DESJ HAD INCREASED AFTER THE SECRETARY'S DIRECTIVE WAS ISSUED, WHICH WAS HELPFUL TO SCHOOL-BASED TRAINING AND TO TEACHERS IN CATCHING UP WITH THE NUMBER OF HOURS OF TRAINING, AND THAT THE PRACTICALITY OF THE TRAINING COURSES HAD INCREASED TO A CERTAIN EXTENT BASED ON THE DIFFERENT POSITIONS OF THE WORKPLACE. ON THE OTHER HAND, DUE TO THE DIFFERENT JOB POSITIONS, THERE WERE DIFFERENT VIEWS AND OPINIONS ON THE PRACTICALITY AND COVERAGE OF THE TRAINING PROGRAMMES. IT WAS ALSO FOUND THAT THE GENERAL CONCERN OF THE RESPONDENTS ON ‘QUADRO GERAL DO PESSOAL DOCENTE DAS ESCOLAS PARTICULARES DO ENSINO NÃO SUPERIOR’  AND  ‘DESPACHO DO SECRETÁRIO PARA OS ASSUNTOS SOCIAIS E CULTURA N.º 88/2018’ WAS MORE INCLINED TO THE SITUATION OF THE HOURLY ALLOWANCES AND ACTIVITY ENROLMENT IN THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROVISIONS, AND THEY WERE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT THE RELEVANT LAWS AND REGULATIONS THAT SUPPORT THE PURPOSE OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. MEANWHILE, THE STUDY FOUND THAT THE MAJORITY OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS ARE STILL AT THE STAGE OF SOLVING TEACHING CHALLENGES IN THEIR ‘PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS’. THE STUDY FOUND THAT THE TOP-DOWN MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING MODEL IS NOT ONLY THE KEY TO HINDERING THE ‘PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS’, BUT ALSO THE CYCLICAL FACTOR THAT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO IMPROVE THE CURRENT SITUATION AND THE DIFFICULTIES OF TEACHERS IN TEACHING, SO THIS PAPER TRIES TO SUMMARISE THE FINDINGS AND MAKE SUGGESTIONS ON THE WAY FORWARD FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND WAYS. THEREFORE, THIS PAPER ALSO TRIES TO SUMMARISE AND SUGGEST A PATHWAY FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND APPROACHES. THIS PAPER CONSISTS OF SIX CHAPTERS, WHICH ARE DIVIDED INTO FOUR PARTS, NAMELY, BACKGROUND, LITERATURE, INTERVIEWS AND ANALYSIS, AND CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS. IT WILL BE RESEARCHED AND INVESTIGATED AT BOTH MACRO AND MICRO LEVELS, AND FINALLY, THROUGH THE COMBINATION OF MACRO AND MICRO PERSPECTIVES, IT WILL BE SUMMARIZED TO GIVE FEASIBLE AND OPERATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS. IN THE FIRST PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN MACAU FROM A MORE MACROSCOPIC VIEWPOINT IN THE INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY, AND THE LAW OF MACAU EDUCATION INTRODUCTION. 1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN MACAO)POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES  (COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PROFESSIONS POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS) 2. INDUSTRY VIEWS AND REACTIONS (NEWSPAPER) 3. REALITY SITUATION (‘QUADRO GERAL DO PESSOAL DOCENTE DAS ESCOLAS PARTICULARES DO ENSINO NÃO SUPERIOR’ AND ‘DESPACHO DO SECRETÁRIO PARA OS ASSUNTOS SOCIAIS E CULTURA N.º 88/2018’) 4. LEGAL PERSPECTIVES  (RESTRICTIONS AND IMPACTS ON EDUCATION UNDER THE CURRENT LEGAL SYSTEM) THE SECOND PART EXPLORES THE DEFINITION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EDUCATION WITH DIFFERENT LITERATURES, INCLUDING THE COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENCES OF THE PROFESSION IN DIFFERENT POLITICAL ENVIRONMENTS, AS WELL AS THE MACAO SITUATION IN COMPARISON WITH IT, THE DEFINITION AND THE DEVELOPMENT PATH. IT ANALYSES THE LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND OF THE ‘QUADRO GERAL DO PESSOAL DOCENTE DAS ESCOLAS PARTICULARES DO ENSINO NÃO SUPERIOR’ AND ‘DESPACHO DO SECRETÁRIO PARA OS ASSUNTOS SOCIAIS E CULTURA N.º 88/2018’, AND THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MEANING OF THE ‘ORDER OF THE SECRETARY FOR SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND CULTURE NO. 88/2018’. THE THIRD PART OF THE INTERVIEWS AND ANALYSES EXAMINES THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN MACAO AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ‘QUADRO GERAL DO PESSOAL DOCENTE DAS ESCOLAS PARTICULARES DO ENSINO NÃO SUPERIOR’. ‘DESPACHO DO SECRETÁRIO PARA OS ASSUNTOS SOCIAIS E CULTURA N.º 88/2018’ AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CURRENT SITUATION AND CHALLENGES TO THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF FRONTLINE STAKEHOLDERS, AND EVEN TO THE ACTUAL TEACHING OR MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS. A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY WAS ADOPTED AND SUBDIVIDED INTO THREE SECTIONS: 1. IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED WITH A TOTAL OF EIGHT STAKEHOLDERS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS, INCLUDING SIX SERVING SENIOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS AND TWO SCHOOL MANAGERS. ALSO A CURRENT MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 2. COLLECTED AND EXCERPTED A TOTAL OF NINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER DISSERTATION STUDIES FROM ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY. 3. SUMMARIZE AND ANALYZE THE INTERVIEWS AND EXCERPTS, PRESENTING IN AN OBJECTIVE AND MICROCOSMIC MANNER AND ACTUAL SITUATIONS FACED BY TEACHERS UNDER THE MACAO'S POLITICAL SYSTEM RELEVANT LAWS AND REGULATIONS, AND TO RESPOND TO AND SUBSTANTIATE THE POINTS MADE IN PART I OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW. THE FOURTH PART, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, FINALLY COMBINES THE LITERATURE REVIEW, INTERVIEWS AND ANALYSIS, AND INTEGRATES BOTH MACRO AND MICRO PERSPECTIVES, AS WELL AS BORROWING AND CITING EXISTING LEGAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES, TO COMPILE LEGAL, FEASIBLE AND PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS ON PATHWAYS THAT MAY BE ABLE TO BREAK THROUGH THE CHALLENGES, IMPROVE THE SITUATION OF TEACHERS, AND HELP TO PROMOTE THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS. "本研究旨在探究不同背景的小學教師囿於現行《私框》法律的實施，以及《88/2018司長批示》運作下參與「專業發展活動」的現況與法律中的專業發展目標之差異情形，以及檢視《88/2018司長批示》成效。為達此研究目的，本研究採用質性訪談2位學校管理層、6位小學普通教師、1位立法者，再以主題分析法歸納研究結果，發現受訪者中普遍認為司長批示出台之後，教青局的專業培訓課程數量有所增加，這對於校本培訓以及教師追趕培訓時數上有一定幫助，另一方面，基於工作崗位不同的關係，對培訓課程的實用性、涵蓋範圍等各有不同見解和意見，並發現受訪者中普遍對《私框》和批示的關注點，較為傾向於對專業發展條文中的時數津貼與活動報名的情況，且對於輔助專業發展目的的相關法律法規並不關心。同時透過研究發現，現時大部分小學普通教師在「專業發展進程」中仍停留在解決教學挑戰階段，研究發現由上而下的管理決定模式，既是當前教師認為妨礙「專業發展進程」的重要關鍵，也是難以改善現況，造成教師教學困難的循環因素，故本文亦嘗試以不同之角度和方式給予總結和路徑建議。 本文共六章，主要分為四個部分，分別為背景探討、文獻探討、訪談及分析以及總結和建議。並將會分別透過宏觀和微觀兩個層面去作研究和探討，並最終以宏觀與微觀兩個角度結合，透過總結歸納，給出可行和具操作性的路徑建議。 本文首先會採取以下四種角度，分別在緒論、研究背景、前題導讀中，以較為宏觀視角去剖析本澳教育發展的輪廓： 1. 大致歷史脈落（本澳教育發展歷史背景簡述） 2. 業界意見及反應（新聞報章） 3. 現實狀況 （《基力》、《課框》的影響） 4. 法律觀點（現行法律制度下對教育的限制和影響） 而第二部分則以不同文獻探討教育專業發展之定義，包括不同政治環境下專業的差異對比，以及與之對比澳門狀況，定義和發展路徑。分析《非高等教育私立學校教學人員制度框架》簡稱《私框》的立法背景、《第88/ 2018號社會文化司司長批示》簡稱《88/ 2018司長批示》的內涵對比分析。 第三部分訪談及分析，研究澳門小學教師年度專業發展培訓在《非高等教育私立學校教學人員制度框架》簡稱《私框》實施後的現況，《第88/ 2018號社會文化司司長批示》簡稱《88/ 2018司長批示》出台後對前線持份者的專業發展、乃至實際教學或管理操作的現況和挑戰。則採用質性研究法，並細分為三個環節： 1. 分別對六名現職資深小學教師、兩名學校管理層等共八名不同位階的持份者，以及現任立法會議員作深度訪談。 2. 收集及節錄共九份聖若大學小學教師論文研究。 3. 對訪談及節錄作總結和分析，以客觀和微觀方式呈現教師在澳門的政治體制和相關法律法規下所面臨的實際狀況，對應和證實第一部分文獻探討中所得出的觀點。 第四部分總結和建議，最終結合文獻探討、訪談及分析，結合宏觀與微觀兩個角度，並借用和引用現行法律、哲學等角度，整理出有可能可以突破挑戰、改善教師處境、有助推動教師專業發展的合法、可行和具操作性的路徑建議。"