TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCE OF AUTONOMY THROUGH THEIR ENGAGEMENT WITH FROGASIA’S ADVOCATE PROGRAMME
Abstract
In 2016, FrogAsia set up the Advocate Programme to promote the usage of Frog VLE among teachers in the classroom across Malaysia. In an environment where most teacher professional development (PD) programmes are compulsory and linked to the government, the Advocate Programme somehow managed to gather teachers to maintain a learning community of teacher advocates without obvious enforcement by any authority figure. Grounded by the Self-Determination Theory, this study sought to explore the autonomy support the teachers’ experience in their engagement with the Advocate Programme. A case study was conducted, where one-on-one semi-structured interviews were carried out with six Gold Advocate teachers to explore their experience of choices within their activities. Twelve supports were identified from the responses of the Gold Advocates. Of those, seven were considered to satisfy their autonomy needs. These seven supports were inferred to be the important factors behind the Gold Advocates’ voluntary engagement with the programme. Teachers’ experiences of autonomy are important for their motivation to engage in PD. Environments that support such experiences should be considered in the development and implementation of PD programmesReferences
UNESCO (2016). ERI-Net Asia-Pacific Regional Policy Series 2014 Regional Study on Transversal Competencies in Education Policy and Practice (Phase II). School and Teaching Practices for Twenty-first Century Challenges: Lessons from the Asia-Pacific Region. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural. Organization, Paris 07 SP, France.
P21 (n. d.). Framework for 21st Century Learning. Retrieved from http://www. p21. org/our-work/p21-framework (Accessed on 25 December 2017).
Ministry of Education Malaysia (2013). Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025
FrogAsia Sdn. Bhd. (n. d. a). Retrieved from https://frogasia. com/hubs/guruadvokasi (Accessed on 22 November 2017)
OECD (2009). Creating effective teaching and learning environments first results from TALIS. Paris : OECD.
Jamil, H, Razak, N. A., Raju, R., and Mohamed, A. R. (2007). Teacher professional development in Malaysia: Issues and challenges. Africa-Asia University Dialogue for Educational Development Network, 85-102.
Petras, Y., Jamil, H., and Mohamed, A. R. (2012). How do teachers learn? A study on the policy and practice of teacher professional development in Malaysia.
KEDI Journal of Educational Policy, 9(1).
Deci, E. L. and Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic Motivation and Self- Determination in Human Behavior. Boston: Springer US.
Deci, E. L., and Ryan, R. M. (2000). The" what" and" why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227- 268.
Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78.
Ryan, R. M. (1995). Psychological needs and the facilitation of integrative processes. Journal of Personality, 63(3), 397-427.doi:10.1111/j. 1467-6494.1995.tb00501.x
Gagné, M., and Deci, E. L. (2005). Selfâ€determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331-362.
Sheldon, K. M., Ryan, R. M., Rawsthorne, L. J., and Ilardi, B. (1997). Trait self and true self: Cross-role variation in the Big-Five Personality Traits and its relations with psychological authenticity and subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(6), 1380-1393.doi:10.1037/0022-3514.73.6.1380
Smart, C. C. Teacher motivation and learning: Reflective participation in professional learning communities. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Portland; 2016
Aelterman, N., Vansteenkiste, M., Van Keer, H., and Haerens, L. (2016). Changing teachers' beliefs regarding autonomy support and structure: The role of experienced psychological need satisfaction in teacher training. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 23, 64-72
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research : design and methods / Robert K. Yin (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications.
Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods / Michael Quinn Patton (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, Calif. ; London: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research : planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research / John W. Creswell (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N. J. : Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.
FrogAsia Sdn. Bhd. (n. d. b). Retrieved from https://frogasia.com/en/training/ (Accessed on 22 November 2017)
Zuckerman, M., Porac, J., Lathin, D., and Deci, E. L. (1978). On the importance of self-determination for intrinsically-motivated behavior. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 4(3), 443-446.
White, A., Lim, C. S., Chiew, C. M. (2005, November/December). An examination of a Japanese model of teacher professional learning through Australian and Malaysian lenses. Paper presented at the Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education. Parramatta, N. S. W., Australia.
Rashid, R. A., Abdul Rahman, S. B., & Yunus, K. (2017). Reforms in the policy of English language teaching in Malaysia. Policy Futures in Education, 15(1), 100-112.
Ming, T. S., Murugaiah, P., Wah, L. K., Azman, H., Yean, T. L., and Sim, L. Y. (2010). Grappling with technology: A case of supporting Malaysian Smart School teachers' professional development. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(3), 400-416.
Garrison, D. R. (1997). Self-directed Learning: Toward a comprehensive model. Adult Education Quarterly, 48(1), 18-33. http://dx. doi. org/10. 1177/ 074171369704800103.
Thomson, M. M., and Turner, J. (2013). Teaching motivations, characteristics and professional growth: Results from the Great Expectations (GE) programme in the United States. Educational Psychology, 35(5), 578-597. http://dx.doi. org/10.1080/01443410.2013.849796.
Jansen in de Wal, J., den Brok, P. J., Hooijer, J. G. , Martens, R. L. , & van den Beemt, A. (2014). Teachers' engagement in professional learning: Exploring motivational profiles. Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 27-36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2014.08.001.
