ri it

A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS ASSESSf>IENTOF PRIVATE POST - SECONDARY BUSINESSCAR £ERINSTRUCTORS

by

SallyAc kerman

A thesissub mi tted tothe Schoo l of Graduate Studies inparcial fulf i l men t of the

z-equ Lr-e-tent.a for the deg r eeof Maste r of Educat ion

Fac ultyof Educ atio n Me morialUniver sityofNewf o u nd l a nd

1996

St. John's Newfo u ndl and

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ISBN 0-612-13875-5

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ABSTRACT

In th isstud y. the Delphi techn iquewas usedto ident ify and prioritize the profession al deve lopment needs of instructorsresponsiblbfor the deli very of user-pay busine s s ca r e e r progr1l.lnS in th e prov ince ' s pr ivate post-secondary schoolind us t r y. The studysoughtto describe (a) the ways in which theprofessionaldevelopmentneeds ofthe se instructo rs ma y be :,iet . {b l th e types of professional dev elopment activities inwhich pri v a te post- s e c o nda r y busi n es s ce r e er ins tr u c t o rs part i ci pate . (c) the professiona l devel o p me nt activi t i esjudged by inst ru cto r sas beingmostbeneficial and meaningf ul. and (d) the roleof theadministrat ionofprivate post-s econdary schools in helping instructors achieve professionalgrowth.

The Delphiprocessutiliz edinth isqualitativeresearch involved two roun d s of data collection . Th e first round questionna ire....as explorato ryinnature.consisting ofop en - endedqu e s t i o n s . Ro und Two items,....hich were fedback to the Delphi pane l for assessmen t andre a ctio n . were de rive d from thein f orma t i o n obtained fromthe fi r s t. round questionnaire. Round One resu lted in a response rateof 68.75%: a response rat e of 62 . 5%wa s obtai n ed for Rou nd Two.

Result s of the study indi c a t e d that private post- second a r y bu si n e s s car e e r instru c t ors required professi on a l

I i

development activities that sa: i sfy general rol '? - re l <lt cd, role -specific , interper sona l, an d pe caonc I gr;)wt h needs.

The general rcj. e -cr e Lsted ne e ds ident ifi ed we're th~

acquisi ti on of additional teaching method s and :ltrat e t,Ji e:,.

ac a d emi ccr e de nt ials , andcu rren t res ou r c e materi als . Ke ep ing ab r e a s t of changes in industry and computertr a ining \...e re th e principal role-specific needs that

Interpe rsonal development needs included mo t i vat i on a l and student management skills. In th e area of per s onal professiona l development, te a c h ing skil lscompatible wi th th e requirementsof otherpr ov i n c e s wer-e id e n t ifi e d .

iii

ACKNO~lLEDGEMENTS

Forgi',' inggenerous lyof histi me , advice, guidance, and aup p ort; th r o u g ho u t this project. I am sincerely grateful to Dr. GeorgeHache, my thesis supervisor. Gratitude is also ext ended to Dr. Dennis Sharpe for his helpful counsel.

I would like to acknowledge the help end encoura.gement of f e r e d or gi v e n by frie nds and colleagues at Lawrence College;in this regard, specialthanks go to ChristineDoody and parne La Phillips .

To those participants whose r v e d as members of t.he Delphi panel, I againthank you for your involvement and dedica tion to this stud y.

For supplying information and offering recommendations whenever requested, I wish to acknowledge the assistance providedby Linda Mendoza,

I am indebted tomy husband,Peter Morris,for the moral support, tolerance, and understandingthat he provided during the time that I wasagraduatestude nt. iiithouthis helpand support, thisproject wouldnot havebeen completed.

iv

TABLEOf CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LISTOF TABLES

CHhPTER

BACKGROUND ANDORI ENTAT I ONTOTHE STUDY rnr.r od u c rio n

Bac kg r o u nd of the Study ... . . ..•. Defi nitionofTerms ....

Stateme n t ofth e Problem .

Resea r chQu e s t i on s r.imi tat ions of the Study

Delimita t ionsoftheStudy . Organizati ona l Overviewof the Study LITERATURE REVIEW

u

L....

viii

11 In tro d u c t i o n ... ..• .•.. ..•. 11

The Mean ingof Professional Development 12

PersonnelDevelopmentModels 11

Pr ofe s sionalpevelcprnen cand the Adult Learner 20 Prof essiona l Development in FurtherEd uca tio n 2')

Needs Assessmentin Education 36

The Delphi Te c h n i q u e "1

Sununary •..•.. 43

METHODOLOGY

Int r od u c tion .

Sampling Procedures Samp leSelec tio n ... Selectionof Panel Size Rou nd Zero ... . . . .•.. . .. .. Data Col lect io n Pro c ed u r es ...

Ro u n d One RoundTwo Dat a Analysi s Procedures

Rou ndOne .

Roun d Two .

Summary

"

46 47

""

"

50 . . . ... 51 52 52 55 55

RES ULTS AN!:' DISCUSSION Introduct ion

Results of Round One .

Resu l tsof RoundTwo Discussion ..

SUlll1ARY, CONCLUSIONSAND RECOMJ:·!F.NDATIONS Summar-y of Findings

Conclusions .

Reconunendations

Recommendations for Further Study RelatedResearch ... .. . ... . . . .. . • ... Recommendations Relatedto using the

Delphi Strategy Conclusion

REFERENCES APPENDICES

57 57 57 70 81 86 86 97 10 ' 106 107 108 108 110

AppendixA:

Appendix B:

AppendixC:

Appendix 0:

App endixE: Ap pe ndix F:

AppendixG:

App e n di x H:

Le t ter to Principals Se e ki n g Formal Consen t to Allow Instructors to Participatein the Study .. 124 Follow-up to Appendix A Letter ..•. 12 8 Let t er toPr i n c i p a l s Requesti ng Names ofLe v e l I Business CareerTr a i n i n g Instructors

in Their Employ 131

Round OneDe l p h i Questionnaire 133 Initia l Letter to Delphi Panel 146 Round On e Follow-upReminde rLet ter

to DelphiPanel 151

Round TwoDel p hi Questionnaire 15 3 Round Two CoveringLetterSent to Round One Re s p onde n t s .. ... 174

vi

Appendix I:

Appendix J:

Round T1."oCoveringLetterSent to Round Cne Non-respondents ClosureLetter to Participants

vii

177 180

'reote 1:

Table2:

Table 3:

Table4:

Table5:

LI STOF TABLES Seminars and I'lorkshops in Itlhich InstructorsHave Participated CoursesIdentified as Professionally Beneficial to Instructors .... .

Other Meaningful Formal and Informal Professional peve IcpnencActivities DevelopmentExperiencesId e n t i f i e d as EspeciallyUs e f u l for Professional Growth . ProfessionalDevelopment Needs ...

58

60

61

62 65 Table 6: ItlaysUsed by Instructors to Enhance

Professional Development 67

Table7:

Table8:

Table9:

Table10:

Ta b l e11:

Table12:

Table 13:

Participants' Perceptions of HowTh e i r Professional Development Needs

Could Be Met .

Provisions Made by Schools to Assist Instructors in Meeting Their Professional Development Needs ... Seminarsand Workshops Ranked Most Importantfor Professional Development

Courses Ranked as Most professionally

Beneficial .

Other Formal and Informal Activities Ranked Most Meaningful to ProfessionalDevelopment Development Experiences Ranked EspeciallyUseful to Professiona l

Gr~wth .

Professional Development Priorities

viii

68

69

71

73

74

75 16

Tabl~14 :

Table15:

Table16 :

How Participantswere Trying ToNeet;Their Prof essiona l Development Needs 7R Participants' Perceptions of theNost;

Impor\:ant Ways Their Professional Development NeedsCo c Ld Be Met 79 Mos t Impor t cLnt Professi ona l De velopme nt

ContributionsMade by Schoo ls 80

ix

CHAPTER 1

BACKGROUNDANDORI ENTATIONTO THE STUDY

Int r od uction

The purpo s e for undertaki ngth i spr o ject.wast.oascerta in theprofess io nal development nee ds of instructors engaged in thedeliveryof use r- pa y care e r tr aining programs inprivate post-second ary schools in the Pro v i nce of Newfoundlan d and Labr ado r. The find i ng s generated by this rese arch are consid e redbeneficial to the administrationof these schools and to the Newf oundlan d and Labrador Associationof Career L.,)ll e ges in identifyingspecific developmentneeds that can poten t i a lly con t r i bute to the professi on a l growth of the i r busin e s s caree rinst r uc tor s. Thi s study mayalsobe utilize d byor gan i zationalde cis ion makers asamodel for futureneeds asse s smen t.s in order toassist the mwi thplann ingme an ingful professiona l developme n t act ivities for the ir teachi ng pe r s onnel .

The literature on adult educ at i o n and pr o ':e s sl onal devel opment stres sed the necess ity for active participant involvement in determining ne e d s and planning relevant professional development learninq experiences. This st udy includeda litera turerev i ew re l a t i v eto adult learni ng,needs assess me n t,pers on ne l dev elopmen tmodels,andpr ofessi o nal and st a f f development. For the purposes of this study, professional development was used as an umbr e l l a concept.

Page- 2 - encompassing all formal and in form a l Ind f.vLdu a I and group activities in which instructors engage to contribu te to orga nizationa l goals or to meet persona l p rcfe.s sional deveLcp me n t;ne e d s.

The Delphi techniquewas empl oyedas the reaee rcndes i gn for th i s study. Thistechn i qu e hasbeenfound tobe effe c t ive for a3ce rtaininggroup needs and forsettingpr i orities . It is conducive to research in which Ldca s , opinions, and judgements are solicited from participants to derive a consensus on needs. The Delphi tech nique has been used to establish a base of knowledgeforthe fie ld, particula rlywhen little research ha s been done. In this study, th e Del ph i methodology was ad jus tedand us e d to so lic i t par t i cipan t s ' viewpoints as a means of determining the professional de v e l op me n t needs of private post-::econdaryschoolins t r ucto rs engagedin thedelivery of businesscareertraining prognuRS.

Backgroundofthe Study

Wi th the growth of the private school indu s tr y, the establishedprivatepost-secondaryschool s inthe St. John 's area were instrumental in forming th e Newfoundland and La b rad o r Associationof CareerColleges (NLACC) . An informal conversation with an executive member of this associat ion revealed that its ini t ialpurpose was toserve as an interest group "eeking access to the decision-makingprocess affecting

Page-]-

thepriva t e school industry. The NLACCis now recognizedas the voice of the indus t r y and has al s o evolved as an organi zation off ering profess i o na l se rvi ce s to its growing me mbershi p .

Nineteen schools.colleges. centers .andins ti t u t e s ....ere membersof the NLACC when this studywas proposed. Of these 19 members, 10 were conducting business career training progr a ms for user-pay stude n t s. Anadditional four cen t e r s [caupu.ses of existing scho ol s) we r e alsoconduct i ng Le v el I busine sstrainingbut werenotye t members oftheassociation ; howe ver . in these cases. the par e n t schools were standing members. It was init i a lly proposed to include instructo rs fromthe four non-memberschools as we:las those":r"mthe 10 of fi c i a l membersc hoo l s in th e sample popula t i o n of this study.

Due to chang i ng program offeri ngsand enrolment tr ends.

on l y 11 members and no n-membe r s of the 14 schools were actual lyengagedin user-pay bu s i ne s s trainingwhen data was co ll e cted for the st ud y. Co n sent fromadministration was soug'1t to allow instruc to rs from the s e 11 sc hoo l s to pa r t i c i pate inthis re s ea r c hproject.

Decisi onmak er swoul dhavei:ineeds assessme n t pro f ileof busi ne ssca ree r instructo r s whic hthey may useasa bas i sfo r designing and implementing fu ture profe s s i o na l dev e lopment

Page - 4 - activities. It is intended that the findings derived from th i s res earchbeused for professionaldevelopme nt planning purpos es, ei ther independently by th e samp l e schoo l s or collectivelyin collaboratio nwith theNLACC.

Privatetr ainingschool shavenow become an in tegral part of the Newf ou ndland and Labrad o r tra ini ng syste m; some of their pr o g r amoffer i n g sprov id estude n ts wi thnu merouscare er cho i ce s which may not be availa b l e through the province ' l.

pu b li c commun i ty colleges . When this st udy was initia lly con c eiv ed, the re were 62suc h sch o ols an dcen tersre g istered wi t h the Departme nt of Educ at ion. Of these, 41 offer ed us er - paypro grams . categorized as Leve l I registra tio n, Two other ca t egori es of regi st r a t i on also applied to the co u r s e offering s of private car eer institu tions. Fina ncially sponsor e d training programs we re registered with the Departme n t of Educationas Lev el I Ll Thes e took the fo r mof contra c t tra i n i ngandwer e often not a par t of a school's regular, ongo i n g prog ram of f e ri ng s; these sp ecifi c tra i n ing pro grams were exte r na lly funded and offered to selected in di vi du a lsor gr oupstoassist them in the ac qu i s i t io n ofnew

Le vel II prog r ams have since been categori zed and in clu d edasLe v el I reg i s trat ion.

skills.

Page - 5- Some private school s also offered Adult Bas i c Ed uc at i o n, categ o r izedas Level rrr-regist ration.

Of th e 41 regi s t ered sch o ol s (refe r r e d to above) of f eringuser-pay pro grams,one was based intheUni t e d Sta tes and seven we resitua tedinotherpartsof Canada. 'rn e c e ei ght ou t-o f-provi nc e institutions were re g i s t e r e d to offer correspondence courses toNewf o u n d l and andLa b r a d o r residents;

the remainingschools and ce nte r s weredi s p e r s e d region<illy throughout the island of Newfoundland. Based on available in forma tio n provided by the Departmentof Education, at th at time there were 14 resident scho olsinvolved in deHv e z Inq a total of 67 Le v el I business training programs, with 12 0 instructor's employed to teach these courses to a total en r olmentofL93 0students.

Th enu mbe r ofprogramsof f e r e d and the numberof programs deliveredby the private post-secondaryschool industry are not necessa rily th e same. Although private sc ho o l s may be registered to offer Lev e l :::business career courses, the number of programsactuallyta u g h t at any given time is based on the demandsof themarketplace . For example,acol l e g e may offe r secretarial training, but because of limited student

Adul t Basic Education programs are now categorize d as Le v e l III registration .

Pa ge - 6~

in teres t , it is not financ i a l ly viable for that schoo l to conduc t th e program .

Defini tionof Terms

Termsrelated toprivate post- s ec o nd ary sch ool s havebe e n used above and their corresponding meanings wil l have bee n in f e rr ed . However. to facilitate comp re h e nsionandto he l p avo idanymisu nde r s t a nd ing, someof the termi nologyrelative tothis settingis listed below and definedwit hintheco nte xt of this study.

Business car e er instruct ors. sr Lvate post- secondary school in s t r u c t ors enga g ed in the deli veryof business career tr a i ni ng programs.

Business (career) tr ai n in g programs. Course s of study lea d i n g to a di p loma or cer tifica t e and qualifying the graduate for employment in <1

recognized bus iness-re lated ca r e e r field.

Level I Registration. The classificat i on usedby the Department of Educationto designateuser-pay trainingprograms.

Privatepost-secondaryschools and colleges/Private tr ain i n g schools/Private career institutions or schools or colleges/Private tr a i ni ng centers and institutes . Privately owned and operated for- profit post-secondary schools delivering ca r e e r training courses an dlo r Adul t Basic Educati on programs.

Newfoundland and Labr ador Association of Caree r Collegea. An organization representing th e needs andin t e r e s t s of theprivateschoolin dustr y. Private (p o s t - s e co nda r y) school industry.

Terminology used to describe the business of education and traini ng .

Page - 7

Priv ate post-secondar y school instructors.

Indiv iduals employ e das teachers in private post- secondarysc hoo lsandcol l eg es .

User-pay programs. Career tra i ni ng programs for

which stud e nts are fina n c i a lly responsibl e for tuition costs incurred. Th i s term is used to diffe r e ntiate these courses fro m trai ning and academic upgradingprograms in whichthe costs for studentsare fundedbyHuman Resou rcesDeve l op me nt Canada orot her exte rnalfunding agencies.

St atement of th e Probl em

The r e is littl e informat ion availabl e regarding the patterns associated with th e professional development of private post-secondary school ins truc tors. Man y of the individu a lsemployedas instructo rs inpriva t e po s t-s e c on d a r y schoolshave enteredtheprofession as contentexpe r ts,not as educators; othershave been tr a i ned as teachersbut do not havepracticalworkexp e riencerel ativeto theca r ee rprogr ams taught. As a result, there is a need for professiona l dev elopme nt. in ordertomee t. t.heinst.ructional,te c h n ologic al, orga n izat. i ona l, orot h er deman ds of the pro f ession. Although the priva t epost-seconda r yschool ind ust ry has grownsteadily in th i s provinc e, the re has been a paucity of research conduc ted inthisar e a. This st u dy wa sdesigned toexpl o r e and identif ythe var i o u s nee d sandpra c tic e s relative toth e pr o f e s s i ona l de y -pment of pr i vate post-seco nd a r y business career instuctor s.

Pag e -8- Re s earchQues ti ons

Thefoll owi ng research ques t ionsformedthe bas Ls of this needsas s es sment study:

1. In what kinds of professional de velopment acti v i tie s do business career pr-Ivate post>

se co nd a r y in s t ru c to r spa r ticip at e?

2. How are th ese exp e riences de s cribed by the instr uctors ?

3. Whatar e thepro f e ss ionaldeve lo pme ntneedsof pri vate post - s econ d a r yinst ructo r s en ga ge d in th e deliv e ry of Level I business cer-eer- tra i ning pro g r ams ?

4. Acco r ding to the ins tructors, what types of act ivi ti es, prog r ams ,or lea r ni ng expe ri en ce s wo ul d assis t them in meeting th e i r pro fessi onal de v elopme nt nee ds ?

5. m.a t ro l e doe s the admini s t r a t i o nof private schools pl a y in suppor tin g the prof e s s i onal developmen t of th ei rbusiness career training instruc tors ?

6. Are there additional ro l e s that th e admi ni s t ra t ors of privata schools might play in meeti ng the de v elopmen t nee ds of th e s e instr uc to rs?

Li mita tio n s of the Study

Thi s study has limi tations in two areas. Based on scho ols ' an d in s t ru ctor s' t,o;i lling n e s s to participate, the sa mp l e for th isstu dyinclud e d respon de nts fromthebusiness educat ionin s tructorpopu la t ionof se v e n memberschool s of th e NLACC. Th e se findings may be ge n e r a li z edon l y to th e target popu l a tion of Level I business career instruc t orsempl oy e d in

Page -9 -

p r Lve t;e post-secondary schools whi ch are membe rs of this as s o c ia t i on.

This study is limited to the participants' perceptions and their abilit i e s to assess thei r own needs. External influe nces, suchas discuss io nof the study wi th colle a guesor superiors , may have affect ed the informat ion prov ided by respond ent s.

Delimi t a tions of the Study

Fo r the purpos es of this stud y, th e followi n g delimita tionswere inplace:

Sample . The sample was restric t ed tobusiness career instr u c to r s employed in resident private post -secondar y schoo ls loc a tedon the island por ti onof Newf oundland.

Le ng t h of Time forData Collectionand Analysis. Data col lec t ion and analy s e s were conduct edbetweenDecembe r 19 9 4 andJune 1995.

Re s earch Me t h od o logy. Thestud ywa s underta kenusinga De lphi tec h n iqu e , modifi e~for ne ed s as s es sme n t.

Organiza tio n a lOverv i e wof the Stu dy

Chap t er 2 cont a ins a revi e wof th e li teratu re on the top ic of professi ona l and staff develop ment. Pers onnel dev e lopmen tmode l sar epr esen t e d, andprofess ion a ldeve lopment isexami ned with i n the contextof researc h onad ul t le ar ning.

Page - 10-

<:,p ec i f i c practices andde v elopme nt activi t ies in theare a of furthereducation are alsoaddressed. The chapter con cludes with a discussion ofthe kinds of needs asse s smentsused for professional development: purposes in educati on and <In examinationof theDelphi te chn ique .

In Chapter 3, the procedures empl oyedfo r ob t ai n i ngth e study's earapLe as well as thoseimp l eme n t e d forthecoll ection andanalysis ofth e data are outlined.

The results of the informationgathered inbo t h roundsof theDe l p h i process are systematically presented inCha p t e r 4.

The presentation of these results is followed by a discussion of the findings re l a ti v e to the study 's ori gi n a l research questions,

The final cha p t e r , Chapter 5, draws conclusions and recommendations from th e study'S findings and off e r s recommendationsfor furtherstud y .

CHAPTER2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

In h e r e n t in teacher or instructor development is the concept of change. If in s t r u c t i on a l personnel change and improve through their development efforts, then the organizationshould change and develop as wellre u r k e . 1990).

Employees who are able to meet their own needs for change and growth will be effective in contributing to organizational change (Ru s k , 19 90 ). Therefore, professional development activities must be designed to meet the needs of instructors as well as those of the school. I tis by meeting individual and group needs that organizational goals are ach i e v ed . According to Doll (1 9 B3 ) , "Th e best reasons for changing are need-related. The learning teachers feel they really need, they are motivated to get" (p , 114).

Planned educational change is achieved through professional and staff development efforts. Robertson(1 9 BB) acknowledged that professional development has always been used as a means for effecting change in education; and Guskey (1986) noted that change is a learningprocess for teachers.

Fullan 11991) further added that professional development is one of the most promising and powerful routes to facilitate change and promote growth on the job.

Page- 1:::

The Meaningof Professional Development Variousand similar definitionsof professional and staff development were found in the literature. Most ofthesources reviewed used the terms professional development and staff development interchangeably. Orlich (19 8 9 ) stated that the te r ms professional development, in-service training, professional growth, staff development, and in-s er v ice education were usedwit h the same frequency in the literature and that the one chosen was more a mett.ei-of authorpreference than any significantdifference in meaning. The definition offered by Billings was referred tobyBell (1991) and Muller (1988) respectively as professional development and staff development. Dean (199l)explainedthat these terms te nd to be used interchangeably to describe the processes of ind i v i dual development and organizational growth.

Heideman (1 9 9 0) described staff development as a growth pr o c es s designed to influence professional educators'

"kn o wl edge , att i tudesor skillsthus enabling them tocr e at e educational concepts and design in s t r ucti o na l programs to imp r o v e student learning"{p.4). Corda (19 8 3 ) defined staff development as -ehcee programs and experiences developed to enhance the competence and personal development of staff members" (p. 51): and Castetter (1986), as "t h e process of

Page -13 - staff improvemen t thr ou gh appr oaches th a t emphasize self- re ali za tio n , self-grow th .andself-devel opme nt {p.2921 .

Accordi ng toReilly 119 901. professional de ve lo p men t is a term used to"denot e thosecompetencie swhichwillhelpthe teacher convey more effectively hi s / her sub j ect matter " (p . 11). Profess iona ldevelopmentwasde scri b e d by Fullan (19911 as «the sum to ta l of formaland informal learning exp e ri en c e s th r o ughoutone' scar e e r fro m presevice[sic]te a c he r educatio n to retirement" (p.]26).

Wi thin th e speci fiecontext of higher education, staff development wa s defined by Sto n e (19 90 ) as "a n ac tivity designed to fac i li t a t e th e learning of how to facilitate le ar n in g" (p.191)and by Dale (ci t ed in Schul tzandTor rie , 19 8] )as"t.he totalityof educationaland persona l experiences th a t con t r ibu t e towa rd an individual's co mpete n c e an d sat is fi c a t i on in anassigned professional role" (p. 1).

Hoerner,Clowes andImp a r a(19 91) describedprofes s ional developmentin highereducation as "s y s t e ma t i c and intentional efforts delivered at the departmental, division, or college level concerning such areas as general professional responsibilities, teaching and advising, discipline competency, and in s t i tu t i o na l development related to oc c u p a tio n a l programs " {p.]52) ;andHa r d i n g , Kaewsonthi,Roe and Stevens (c i t e d in Main, 198 5 ) noted that ercr'ess icnat

Page - 1,1-

devel opmentfor post- s e condaryeduc ators-ma ybeviewed either as an outcome- -thegrowth of the ind i v idua l--o ras a pr o ces s- - th e conditions off ered or imposedby aninst i tuti o n toeffec t th atgrowth" (p. 12) .

Rogus (19 B)}viewedstaffdevel opmentasbeinglimit e dto acti vities ca r r i ed outby the school sy st emor school itself;

Tindil l andCop lin (198 9 ) agreed that staff development isi\

process involving an en ti re staff and cont e n de d that professionaldevelopment is whatte a c h e r s do independent ly to achievepersonal or profes s i ona l growth . According toAcebo and Watkins (1988 ) , "Pe r s o n a l developm ent ,staf f develop ment, organizational development , and program devel o pment are overlapping processes, Chan g e s in one affect the others ; hence, all should be viewed as parts of an interac tive lear ningsystem" (p . 59) .

Personne l Dev ':.!..!.££me n t Models

The formal personne l deve lopmentprocess inc l u d es several stages . Varioushumanresource and staff developmentmode ls were discussedin the literatureasa systemat i cprocedurefor achievingbothor g a n i za tion a l goals and personalprof e ssional growth.

Ryan (1987) desc rIbed his or gan izat iona l staff development model ascomp r eh ens i ve, yet simpleenough to be practical. It consisted of eight stages , beginningwith the

Page - 15- formu l a tio nof policyandschool mission st atementsrespecti n g staffdevelopment. The secondphase, foundations, consisted of arevi ew of relevantre search and literatureasa means of providingguida nc e anddirectio n . Th eth i r dphas e, impetu s and initia tive , advocate d a proacti v e app r o ach to the awarenessof nee d, toini tialpurpo ses andgoal s, and to th e probl em -solving pr o c e ss. The next st a g e invo lv ed th e c ommftmen t;of material and human resou r ces to the ov er all ef f or t. Afte r the preceding ha d been established , an identi f i cat ionandana l ys is of ne eds , deeme d tobeof crucial impo r tan c e, wasth e nund ertake n. Theneedsasses sm ent pr oce s s wasfollowe d byprog r am developme ntand progr am de l ivery . The flnal stage, evalu a t ion, as ses sed each of th e phas e s for possibl e re vi sion andreass essment, inc luding the evalua t i on process itself .

Th e operational procedures for th e staf f develo pmen t proc e s s givenby Webb, Mo nt e l lo andNorton (1994) include d fiv e steps. The adoption of a guidi ng phi lo sophy; th e development of goals and obje c ti ves relative to iden tified needs; the planning of programs, activiti es, and delivery syst ems and the determination of responsib i l i tie s; the schedUling and del iverin g of plans and programs; and the eval uation of the pro c e s s were the op e r a t i o na l procedure s through whichthis modelprogre s s ed .

Page - 16 . Dean (1991)outlined a model tha t may be used for E0l:m a l informal programplanning which adhered to the fo ll owi ng framework: state aims , create policy, as s e s s needs. state objectives,plan program,and eval ua te.

Th e key el eme n t s of the personnel deve l o p me nt. pro c oss ident ifiedby Castetter (19 8 6) were th e diagnost ic, dea Lqn, operations, and evaluation phases, with the diagnosis of development needs determinedby an analysis of ind ividual.

group, and system require ments. Corda's (19 83 ) staff development model included needs assessment, program dev-e Iopment, program implementation,and evaluation.

A systematicapproach to staff development. advocat edhy Verma(19 84) emphasi zedthe threeinterdependen tcomponents of planning, imp l e men t a t i on, and evaluationthatca n be achieved throu gh fe edb a c k . In the plan ningcomponent,empba ssia was on needsassessmentand the str ategies required to meet tho se needs. Asimilarapproach was providedby DeRoche (1987 ) . who identified ne e ds assessment, program planning ancl imple me ntatio n . and program evaluation and fe e d b a c k as the three major aspectsof staffdevelopmentprograms.

Doelker and Ly n e t t. (19 8 3) suggested that staff developmen t be addressedfrom an ecological vi ewpoin t , with prepla n ni ng, planni ng, training and foLl.ow-cup , and renegotiationphases. The primarytaskof th e planningphase

was to ide ntify specific traini ng ne ed s .

Page-17 - During the renegotiati onstageof thiscircu lar .ecologicalparadigm, th e imp a c t of trainingwas evaluated and also us e d asa process of cont Inuous need assessment.

Koll and Hetland {1 9B]}, in their treatment and discussion ofan andragogical approach to professionalgrowth.

id e nt i f i e dthe assessmentof needs,programplanning ,program delivery, evaluation , and follow-up as th e components necessary for effective sta f f developmentprograms.

The elements of th e human resource mod el for staff development espoused by Parker (1990) included needs assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, and participant empowerment. In th i s model, the elements of assessmentand planning wereespeciallyintertwinedbecause th e emphasis was on comprehensive pr og rarMling tome e t the needsofin d i v i d u a l teachers.

According to Ro gu s (19 8 ]), th e first ingredient of an effective staff development program wa s commi.tment;, whi ch takesthe form of bo t h a policysta tementand theprovision of This was followed by a needs assessment and diagnosis. Once needs assessment data wer e collected and analyzed,programobject iveswere set and ensuing activities planned and implemented. Ev a luat i o n involved continuous

Page- 18 - examinationof resources . planningprocedures. andle a r n i n g

A staff develop me ntmo d e l found tobe effect ivefor Ln- servicetrainingin a supportive school context was provided by Wood. Thompson and Russell (1981). In the initial readiness stage, a school climate supportive of change in pro fessional behaviour was developed. This element of re a d i ne s s has been identified by Urick,Pendergast andHillman (1981), along with awareness and commitment, as one of th e three pre-conditions for curriculum change or st elff development. According to Wood et aL (1981). "once a schoo l has established a climate conducive to growth, developed common expectationsfor improv e men t , and ma d e a ccmmi tmen t;to professional development. it isread y to move on to Stage II"

(p. 68). I twas in Stage II. the plann ing stage of this model, when ane e d s assessment would be conducted. This was followed by training, imp leme ntation, and maintenance. Th e maint enancephase wa s designed to evaluate learning outcomes and completed the mcdef ' s cycle by generating new data and needs that could be used to pl a n additional development activ i ti es .

Blair and Lange (1990) also described a model on which distr ic t staff development may be based. The key ph a s e s of this design in v o l v e d creating aware ness and readiness,

Page- 19 - conductinga needs assessment, and planning, implementing, and evaluating the program.

Hipps (1982) discussed a procedure for faculty development in higher education as a means of realizing institut. ional change . The first step in this procedure was the formulation and agreement on th e mission, goals, and objectives of the organizat.ion. After organizational goals and objectives had been established, the ne xt step in the process was the assessment of needs. Supported bythe nee ds analysis,there s u l t i n g goa lsandobj ec ti v e s for a developmen t progr am we r e thenide n tifi ed. Thenext st a g e wasplan ningand des igning the actua l program bas ed on the corrunit.ment of resources. The fina l step inthisprocess was evaluation.

A series of guidelinesfor organizing staffdevelopment programsat the collegelevel was provided by O'8anion(1982).

Theseincluded thefol lowing : an assessmentofadmini s t.r a t i v e views and support; institutional and pro fessiona l/persona l ne ed s , and inter nal and ext e r na l resources; a statement of philoso ph y to focus the prog ram; the co-ordination of organi zationand staf f ingapp ropriate tothe resour c esof the inst i tut ion; a wi d evar i e t y ofact i v iti esdesigned to meetthe va r i ousnee dsof par t.i c ipants ; incent ive sandrewar d s , suchas release time, ins t i tu t i onal rec o g n i t i on , and sti pends, or

Page ~ 20 -

in t r insi cpe r s onal and professionalgl'owt h ; ad e q u a t e fun ding ; andprog r a m evaluation,

As illustrated byth e abovedis cussio n,variouspersonnel development mo d e l s may be ut i l i z e d as a basis for pre- pla nning, planning, imp l eme n t i ng , and evaluating for ma l pro fessional development programs, All of the mode ls presented above sharedma n y or some of the same componentsand characteristics, Integral to ea c h of the professional development strategies reviewed was the importance of as s e s s i n g participants' needs and designing learning experiences in t e n d e d to meet these needs.

Professional Developmentan d the AdultLearne r The conceptof andragogy, or how adults learn,is based 011 certainassumptions about thecha r a c t e risti csofthe adul t le a rne r (Ellis and Eernhardt, 1989; Dal e11ew and Martinez , 1988; Knowles,1970) , FOUl:of th e s e assumptionsdeemedto be critical by Knowles (1970) are:

(a) adult learne rsareself-d i re c ted:

(h) adultspossess ara n ge of exper-Ienc esthat may be used as resourcesforle a rni ng : (e) edul.ts ar e motivated to learn for specific

purpos es: and

(d) adult learning is problem-or iented and require s immediacyof app lication.

Page- 21 - Those res po n siblefor planningstaff developmentreq u i r e an understand ingof theprinciplesof adultle ar n i ng as the y make decisions about the design and delivery of staff developmen t andin- s ervi c e pr o gra ms (Da1ellewand Mar t i n e z , 1988; Moo r e , 1988; Pal mer, 1989; Wieck, 1979 ; Wood and Thompson, 1980). Knowledge of th e characteristics of andr a go g y must be applied to planningand imp l ementa t i on asa me a ns of providing teachers with mea n i ngf u l and relevant learning experiences (Guglielmi no , 1993; Marshall and caldwel l , 1984; Richardsonand Pricket t,1994; Wieck, 1979). Sta ffdeveloperscanhelpeducecora developan inte rnallocus of control, man ag ech a nge and enhanceself-esteembyapplyi ng andragog ica l principles to the delivery of distr ic t and individualprofe s sionaldevelopmen tprograms (Krupp , 1991).

MacKayand Hi x s on (1977) noted th a t ea c h adult pers on

"has lead a unique life, has deve lo p e d a unique body of knowledg e and set of skillsand a uniqueset of habits and atti tudes· (p. 148). Adults who enter into a lea r ning situation are hi ghly dif fer e nti a ted and, therefore, have dive rseneeds (Dettmer,1986; Levine, 1993; Roth,19 89 ; Shipp, 1978). Det t me r (1986) furth er added th at numerous fac tors influen c e participant need s fo r adul t le a r n ing exper iences suc has in-s e rvic e andsta f f de v elopme n t, Acc ordingto Aquil a an d cefc v t c (1988), the se variable s mu s t be tak en into

Page- 22 - conside rat ion inord er toin d ivi d u<'\li ze learnin gandchange effo rts in order to me e t theprof e ssio n a l needs ofadu l ts ,

Adults are motivatedto learn only what th e y perce ivees be i n g necessary and relevant to the ir pe rsona l sit u atio n s (El l i s and Bernha rdt , 1989; Pine andHorne , 196 9 : weed and Thompson, 1980: Zemke and Zemke . 1981), Krupp (1991) maintainedth a t inde sign i n g programs intended to meet the personal and professional ne e d s of participan t s, it was important that staff developers seek In f e rmat.Ion about participantsas a fir s t step inprogram planning. Ma rs ha l l and Caldwell (19 84), Wood and Tho mp s o n (1980), and Ty ler (19 9 0) fu rther su g g e s t e d that in-service prog r ams be mo re individualizedby relati ng to lea r n e r inte rests and needs,

Adultle a r n e r s seeth e ms elv e s as in d e p e n d e n t and se l£- di r e cte d (Gu g l l e l mi no , 1993; Knowles, 1970 ; Moo r e , 19 88 ; Wi l dman and Niles , 1987; Zemke and Zemke, 19 8 1 ), Brundage (c i t e d in Taylor, 1986) described self-directed learningas

"learningwhat'simp o r t a n t for you to learn, inthe context of your life, your work, and your situation , and using th e resources that are availabletoyou , part i cularlyyour peers" (p,5). Adults have a wide varietyof experiencesand knowledge from which to draw up on ; the shari ng of this expertise with colleagues may be used as a re s o u r c e for school-based in-s e r v i c e s (Bl a ir and Lange, 1990; Dunaway ,

Page- 23- Mechenbier, Parsons and Wright,1987 : Fessler,1990: Koll and Hetland, 1984; Reilly, 1990; Stallings, 1987; Steffin and Sleep, 1988).

In addition to involving teachers in planning and carryingou t learning <::.ctivit ies,Dalellew and Martinez(1988) and Koll and Hetland(19 84) re c ogn ize d the valueof enabling pa r t i c i pa nt s to share their experi enceswhile attemptingto incorporate new learning into th e i r persona l frames of reference. Withinthe context of self-directedlearningas a means ofrea li zingprofessionalgrowth,Moore(19 88 ) discussed how individualscan constructtheir own learn ingenvironments and stated, ·Staff developers can makeconcerted effortsto use materialsthatencourage self-di rectedLee rninq " {p, 3).

Additionally, she contendedthat "faculty workshops can also in cludeopportunities for independent study, andth e overall staff dev e lopment effort can include re c o gni t i on for independen t s t.udy " (p. 3). Geller (1982) pur po r t edthat the mos t comp e llin g professional deve l o p me n t wasthat which was self-initiated.

Adults are generally internall y mot ivated (Di ck inson, 1973; Doll, 1983; Her z o g and Ko ll , 1990 ; zemke and Zemke, 1981). The ir pa rt i c i p at i on in activitiesdesignedtofo ster growthand fac ilitate cha ng e must be vol unt ary, not imposed (Allen, 1979; Pine andHorn e , 1969; Robe rts o n, 1988); the

imposit ion ofle a r n ing is ineffective and unl i ke ly to result.

in the desired outcome (Daresh, 1987: Dawson, 1978 : Ryo r, Shanker and Sandefur, 1979).

According to Palmer (1989) ,adult learnersaremotivat ed to participatein learning activitiesto acquire newskiLl.sor- informationfor whichthey havean immediate, practi cal uce. This assessmentwas reiterated by Dalellew and Mar tinez{198 8 } andZe mke and Zemke (1981), whofur therad d e d that edutts seek specific le a r ni ng experiences for which theyha v e a need for the knowledge or skill being sought. This implies that plan nedprofess ionaldevelopme ntactivitiesmust be designed to help partic ipantscultivate the skillsorknowled ge which they perceive as being practical and rele v a n t to the ir specificsituat ions.

It is necessa ry that professional development efforts ad d r e s s th e pra c t i c a l concernsof part icipants and provide the m wit h concre te, pr o b lem- o r i en t e d or hand s-o n le a rni ng exp er iences (Dale l lewand Mar tinez ,19 8 8 ; Dett mer, 1986: Koll and Hetland, 19 84 ; Moo re , 1988; Pal me r , 19 8 9 ; Ryoret aL., 197 9 ; Thompson andCool e y, 1986; Tyler, 1990; \'lieck, 1979). Rogus (1983) notedthat"learni ngbydo I nq"has been foundto be veryeff ective in work i ng with adults . Brownand Scribner addi tio n ally (1982l rep o r t e d that in -s e rv iceactivitieswhich offered vo c ati on al educators active pa rticipation and

Page - 25- imme di a t e opportunitiesfor successware found tobethe more successfulofin-serviceformats .

Zemke and Ze!"ke (1981 ) pointed out th at the needs , interests, and valuesof adults continua l lygrowand change and that learning exper iences need to be designed to accommodate people in different lifestages. Teachers' needs ch a ng e asth e y progress thro ugh th e diff e r e n t developmental stagesof th ei r adult livesand professional careers (Bu r d en and Wallace, 1983; Bu r ke , 1990 ; Duncan and McCombs, 19 82:

Evans,19 89;Krupp ,198 3 : Levine ,1993: Parker ,1990;Specto r , 19 89; Stalli ngs, 1987; Steffy , 1987). Moore (l988l stated that an understandingof the stages, roles , and changesof adulthood is an asset to the adult educator and, moreover, shouldbe considered a factor in teacherdevelopment. DeHart (1 9 82 l notedthatprofessionaldevelopmentprograms"shc u Ldbe de sig n ed toaddress adulthood theoryand career dev e lop men t t.h e or-y" (p. 15): and Jones (19 9 0l poin t e d out thattr a i ni ng needs to be appropriate to the different stages at which ind i v i du a l teachers findth e ms e l v e s in their careers. Duncan and McCombs (1982), in their pres:mt.ation of the characteristics of adult life phases as a basis for staff development planning, insisted that knowledge about these phases can be applied in planning a comprehensive professional

PagE'! - 26 - development program appropriate to the needs of community collegefacultyat different life stages,

Central to the concept of andragogy {and embeddedin the above discussion)is theund e r l y i n g assumption that adults are motivated to learn, throughactive participation. what they consider to berelevantto theirown needs, Ma s s ey (c i t ed in El l isand Bernha rd t, 19 89 ) statedthat adults must be allowed to selecttheir own learni ngexp eriencesbased on their self- perceivedneeds and interests, According to Woodand Thompson (1980), "adultswil l le a r n .reta i n and use what theyperceive is relevant to their personal and profess ional needs" tp.

376), This vi ew issu p port e d by Byr ne (1983) and Sergiovann i andStarrat t (1988).wh o ackno wledgedthatthe pe rcei vedneeds of te a ch ers must be take ninto considerat ion for meani ngful professionalgrowt hto occur ,

Th e nec essi ty of conduc t ing ne ed s assessments as a prerequ is iteto succ essful pro gramimplementa tio n was strongly supported in the literatur e (Allen. 197 9 ; Bennett and Mit c h ell , 1983; Bradley . 19 8] : Browne and Ritch ie, ',991; Castetter, 1986: Daresh , 19 87: Fairchild, 19 8 7 ; Halvorson , Thibode au an d McKen na, 1987: He i de ma n , 1990; Locke, 1985;

Main, 19 8 5 ; The Na tio n a l Cente r for Res ea rch inVocational Edu cat ion, 19 85 ; O'Banion. 1982: Orlich, 1989; Th ompson and Cooley, 1986), Thi s id ea was furthe r support ed by one of

Page - 27 -

Dawson's (1978 ) concl u si on s reg ar d in g in-service education whenhe stated that :

If some group external to the peopl e for wh om the in- serv i c e training is designed decides a prior i '....hat teachers need, with ou t taking account of the teache rs' own viewof wha t is relevan t to th em, thenthe chances areextre melygood th a t te a ch e r s;

will ignore the in- s e r v i c eac t i v i ty. (p. 49 ) By imp li cat i on , the inclusionof teachi ng person nel in the ne e ds as ses s ment planni ng phase of th e profession al developme ntdec ision -makingprocesscontributedto mo r eac t i ve participat ionand commitmentto theprog ramef fort (Marshall and Caldwell, 1984; Koll and Hetland, 19 84 ; Locke, 19 85;

Dawson, 19 78). Harty (19 8 0)noted th ateducato rs wan t to be more directly invo lved in the des i gn and decision-making process with resp ect to th e i r own career planning and pro f essional deve lop men t.

Acc ord i ng to La dwi g (1983), involving emplo yees in planni n g and decisionmakin gresulted in incr ease d motiva t i on and commitmentto org ani z ationalgoals. Carbone (1990) and Maero ff (l9 88 ) stated th a t access to decision making was es s en tial fo r teac h er empowermen t. Pa l mer (1 98 9) furt her added that pa rt icipatorydecisionmaki ng was fu n da me n t a l to successfulgr owt h and le arning , with empowe rme n t th e lik e l y outcome. Garmsto n and Pahre (1988) and Roberts (19901 desc ri bed empowered teach ers as mot i v ated an d committed to se l f-imp rov e me n t. assumingresponsibilityfor, and·owne rsh ip "

Page - 29 - of, their ownlear ni n g, util i zi n gthe co nt inuou slydeve l op ing re s ources within th ems e l v e s as wellas th o s eexte r nal to th em.

Andragogy stre s ses the imp ort a n c e and util it y of in vo l v i ng par t i c.ipan ts in the different phases of the decis ion-maki ngpr ocessaffec t ing their le a r n ingexperience s . Le v ine (19 93) stated that the id e a of valuing participation ca nno t be underest imated in relat i on to the co nc e p t of emp owe r me n t. "Wi t h parti c ipa tion comes own e rs hi p; wit h owne r s h i p comes in v e s t me n t" (p . 225). Researchsu gg e ste d tha t parti c ipantinpu t through needs assessments and part icipa tory planning was fun d amenta l indevelopinga sense ofown e r s hi p and acceptanceof a change effort(Lo c ke, 19 9 5);and a growth planactivitywasviewed moresu ccessful with commi t ment and in c r e a s e d own e r s h i p on the part of tho se inv o lved (Da r es h, 1987 ; Geller, 19 82; Rogus, 199 3) . De a n , Dean and Guma n (1992) , in discussing a needs assessmentthat they condu c t ed at a mid-sized communitycollegefurther emphasized tha t tho s e fromwhomthe datawere derived had greater own ers hi p of the subsequent results .

By using the Delpi technique in this stu d y, privatepost- secondary school instructors involved in the determination of their own profess ional development needs. Th i s was one way of helpingto contributetoth e empowerment of th e i r professional growth.

Page- 29 Professional Dev e lopment in Further Ed u c at i o n It is recognized th a t educators at the scsc-secondacv levelbc.v e oftenentered the profession prepared as content specialists, notastr a i n e d teachers (Acebo and Watkins,198 8 ; Alfano, 1993: Askins and Galloy, 1993; Puce1, 1989; Stone, 19 9 0 ) . Itis alsoacknowledgedth a t these con te ntspecialists must acquire the teaching skills nece s s ary to effectively share th eir knowledgewi t h students (Alfano, 1993;As k i n s and Galloy, 1993; Stone, 1990). Furthe r re c og n i ze d is that all instructors, in c l Ud i n g those who entered t.he teaching profession as trained educators, must develop new teaching skillsand strategiesin ordertome etthedema n d s ofchanging technology and to Lmpr'ov e teachereffecti veness(Alfano, 19 9 3 ; Bennett and Mi t ch e ll, 1983; Robe rts, 1990). Hoerne r et al.

(1991)reportedthatthemajo rityofre s p onde n t sina re s ea r c h study that examined pro f e s sio n a l developmen t programs in community and te chnicalcollegeside nt i fied teac h i n g methods and improvementof instructionasthe primary topics. Leach (1986) also reported thatpres e ntat ion skills and classroom instruction, alongwi th kn owl ed ge of adu ltlearning. were the items re c eivi ng the highe s t me an ra n k i n gs in an assessmen t study of th e perceiv e d imp orta n ce of selected comp e tenc i e s required for train i ng and developmen t professionals .

Page -30 - In addition to acquir ing inst ruct ionalskillsandkeeping up todatewith changesin tea chin g me t ho d s,tho s e respons ibl e fer the tr a i n ing and edu c a t i on ofot h e rs ne e d to keepupto datewi th ch a ng e sinind u s tr y and busines s as we l las intheir sp ecia lizedareas ofkno wl e dg e{Askins and Gallo y, 1993 ;Barr , 1982; Bradley, 1983 ) . Imp a ra, Ho ern e r, Clowes an d Allkino (199l)notedthatth e rate of cha n g e and technica ldevel opmen t requ ired that all faculty, especiallytho se in oc cu p a tiona l and technical fields, be current in th e ir ar e a of specializ ati on as we ll as inmethods ofte a c h i n g. Rothand Tesol owski (1984)add e d that voca t i onal te ac h e r s wererequired to con t e n d with the applications of new in st ru c t i ona l technolog iesand equip studentswiththesk i ll s required for a continually changing workplace . Cap, Breckman , Hink and Ostermann(19 8 1) andVa n Ast(19 8 2) asserted th at a su cc e s s f ul professionaldevelopmentpro gram of technicalupdat i ng would enable vo c a t i o n a l instructors to su p ply techno logically current employees to bus i n e s s and industry.

The literature descri b ed professi o na l development programsins t i tu t e d by some commun i ty and te c hn i c al colleges whe-r-eby instructors returned to industry inor d e r to maLnt. ain skill currencyan d developnew skills and knowledge (Alfano , 19 9 3; Anglin, 1981; Askins and Galley , 199 3; Be nd e r and Lukenbill , 1984; Bennett and Mitchell, 1983: Piera tt and

Page- 3 1 -

wi Iscn. 1982; Rinehart and Schaller, 1983; Roberts, 1990}.

This was achieved th r o ug h formal occupational exchange programs(Ang li n, 1981;Pieratt andWi l s on ,1982;Rinehart and Schal ler, 1983), sabbaticals or leaves of absence (Ri n e h a r t and Schaller, 19B3), internships (As k ins and Galloy, 1993;

Bennett and Mitchell, 1983; Roberts, 19 9 0 ), and summer projectsat industry sites (Al f ano, 1993l. Increased exposure to business and industry was also accessible through participation on various types of committees, active memberships in professional associations (Ri n e h a r t and Schaller, 1983), specializedindustry workshopsand seminars (Be n n e t t and Mitchell, 19 8 3; Askins and Galloy, 19 9 3>, industrial visitation, vacation experience, student co- ordination visits {Be n n e t t and Mitt:hell, 1983), and teacher partic ipation on advisory councils (Roberts , 1990>. Within the Canadian expe r Ierce , examples of vocational updating practices at the provincial and territoriallevel,as well as the nature and extent of possible updating programs, were addressed by Cap et al. (1981).

The industry-basedapproach to facultydevelopment was sup p o r t e d by Conrad and Hammond (1 9 8 2 ) , who advocated co- operative agreements with business and industryas well as paired arrangements between faculty members both internal and external to the organization. The kind of external

Page- 32- arr a n ge me n t advance d by Conrad and Hammon d propo sed that in s t ruc tors from th esamedisc ipline be pai r ed fora semester of share d prof e s s i on al developm en t wi th thei r cou nt e rpa r ts from neigh b ouring cotreces. For the internal pair e d ar r a ngeme n t s, it was propos e d that excer reoced full-time facul ty share their teach i ng expertise with pa r t - t ime in s t r u c to r s .

The sh ar i n g of skills and know ledge between and among col l e a gu e s has been fo und to be an effective for m of pr ofe ssi ona ldevelopment ,especiallydur ing the impl ementa t i on of aninn ovation (Fullan, 1991;Gu skey ,19~6 ;Jacobson. 1987 ; Little .19 8 2). Co ll egiallearninghasalso ta ken th eformof fo r mal ment oring programs (Gould and t.et ve n , 1987). As induct ion pr og r a ms, mentoring int r o duc e u new teachers to organiza t i onal str ucture and to polic i es and proced ures;

men t o r s also as sisted with cl a s s r o o m management and in s t r u c t i o n al techniques (Fe s sle r, 1990 ) . However, the benefits of mentoring were notonl y de ri v e d by thebeginn ing teacher (Go u l d andLe t .ve n , 1987) . According toparker(19901 . me n t o ri n g provideda profe ss ionaldevel opment op p o r t un i t y for both nov ic e and experienced teachers, "e s p e ci al ly mid-career teachers,with mentorsci t in g benefits suc h asrevit a liz at i on of their ownte a c hi ng and re-evalua t ionof the i r own teaching te c h n i qu e s and beHef s" (p. 103 ).

Page- J3 -

trenc o r s have been considered one of the most helpfu l resources for pro fessionaldevelopmentin vo c at i o n a l education (Ro b e r t s , 1990). Successfulmentoringprograms have notbe en restricte d to the pairing of instructors within the same organization. l"u lle r (1987) descri be d a mentor programin which a pa rtici patinguniversity provided voc at i o na l teacher education at. area vocat ional -technica l ed uc a tion centers.

Initiallydesignedas a teach ing induc t i o n programfor trade and industrial educationemployees, itwa s al s o tailored to meet the pro fess ional development needs of teachers inother vocatio na l programar easand to serve adul t s wh o wishedto begin pre paring forempl oyme n t in vocationaleducat ion.

Smolin(1991)discussed asuccessfu l mentor pr ogra m th at ut i l i ze d t.h eexperien c esof recog n i z ed expert teache rs in a vocational program area. Thes e me nt o r s helpe d pa r t i c i p a t i n g teachers implement a mode l cur ri cu lum through the useofnew teaching me tho d s and instructiona l materials and lo c a l community re sou rces.

Loyd and Redick (1991) described a men t ori ng project, basedon a par tn e rsh i pbetween aloc al un ive rs ityanda cou nty ca re e r ce nt e r, which grew out of thei r research on the pr ofe s s i o nal deve lopme nt percep t ions of voc a tio n al teac he r s. Th e role of the visitin g, school- b a s ed mentorwas toassi s t ind i vidua l teac he rswi t h the i r spec ificinter est s and ne ed s,

Page - 34- using small group activities only when teacher s Indiceced similar interests. Loy d and Redick (19 9 1) cr e di t ed the accomplishmentB of th e programtoa number of keycomponents but primarilyattributedits success to teacher initia tiveand id e a s .

Le t v en and Klobuchar (19 90 ) ma i n tain e d tha t educ a r.ors nee d ed colleg ial supp ort and recognition .i.f they were to rema in ch a llen g e d and enthusiasticand addedthat thiswas one of the premises on which teacher professional development centers was based. Gould and Letven (19871 noted th a t teaching centers reflected the belief tha t collegia l interactio nbetweenandamong peers facilitatedprofess ional growth. We b b , Gree r, Mo n te ll o and Norton (19 87 ) alsostated thatinthi s setting, teacherswere provided theopportunLt.y to communi ca t e withot h e r edu cators and exchange id ea s and exper iences concern i ng cur ricu lum and th e instructional process. Within the conte xtof higher educatio n, Halvorson et at . (1987) di s c us s e d the evol u t i on of a center for staff develo p me nt for universi t yfacult ybased on the need to foster a suppor tiveclimate for individualgrowth amongprof essional staff. The au t h ors as s erted thatone of the reasonsthatthe cen t erhasbeen successful was becauseprogra msandac t i vi t i e s met participants' fel t ne eds.

Page - 35- According to Garmston and Pa hre(19 8 8 ), edu c a t i o n a l goals accomplished mainly th r ough teachers; further more. the mos t valuable res o urce tha t any educational institu t ion possesses is its teaching fa cu l t y (DeHa rt, 1982 ;Hoerner et a1. , 1991 ; Impara et al., 1991;Muller, 1988). Muller (19S S) added that from both an educational and a resource perspective, the dev elopment of appropriat e strateg ies for furthering professiona l growth wa s a sound investment for instit ut ions of further and higher education. Acebo and Watkins (19 88 ) reported th at a long-term view of faculty development, as pa rt of the process of dev el opi ng an orga n i z at i o nal learni ng fr a mework,encouraged the continuous upgrad ing of the skills and abi l i ties of faculty members.

Halvorso n et al. (1987) noted tha t the more that an or g aniza t i o n encouraged and assisted individuals in these end e a v ou r s , the better able it was to maintain the vitality and produc tivity of its professional staff. Du n c an and McCombs (1 9 82 ) statedthat"wh e n a college has an inve s t me nt in the growth of facult y ... be nefi ts will accrue to the organi zationaswe llas the individuals" (p . 26).

The ideal partnership between staff development and organizat ional development, adv o c a te d byHammons (1983), is on e in whichpr o fe s s i o na l dev elopment pro g r a msar e related to

Page - 36 • both institutional goals and the needs of individual staff members.

Ne e d s Assessment in Education

An assessment of needs may develop through a desire for information concerning either a performance problem or the introductionof ane w system, task or technology. According to Rossett (19901, in both cases the starting point is a desire to effect change. A needs assessment is a method of determining the difference between wh a t -Ls - and what"ought"

to take place in a school setting (Orlich, 1989). Needs assessments ordinarily assume the following for ms :

1. Persons in supervisory positions determine ne eds from thei rassessment of thequalityof work being performed by those re p o r t i ng to them.

2. Indi v i d ua l s are as ked to state their own perceivednee d s or to respond to a checklist or simila r instrument.

3. Groups of individuals (teams, departments, schoo ls) respond to various in t e r n a l or ext e rnalpressu r es by plann ingco1laborati vely to bri n g about specific changes (Oi11o n - Peterson, 1981,p . 4).

Whatpeople saythey need,documenta tionwhich identifies ne eds, andobserv a t io n of ne e d s shou Ldal l pl a y a partin the needs assessmen t program, Informat ion from thesesourcesmay be obtained thr o u g h individual discussions and inte r views, observa t ions, ques t i on n a i res , personn el appraisa ls, jo b

Page - 37- de s c r ipt ions , sta f f conferenc es (Dean, 1991) , peer re view (Ca i n , 1982;J, andcase stud ies (Ve r ma,1984 } . Other sources of in fo r mation which may be used in the needs asse s smen t proce s s inc ludestudents,re s e a rch andcur re nttr e nds, program evaluations, dvcumentaryevidence ,student assessment/testing prog r a ms, andlo ng-ra n g e stra t egic pl ans (Bla i r and La nge , 1990 ) .

Similar techn i ques for de t er mi ni ng training needs were of f e r e d by Gre e n e (1971). These included personnel sta t ist ics , schoo l and opinion surveys, performance appraisals, requestsby administ rat ive pe r s o nne l, examination of pers onnelchanges ,and individua l andgroupco n f ere n c es.

Tra in i n g and educational needs assessmentdatacan al so be ob ta ined thr o ug h other methods, such as discrepanc y analyses (Or lich, 198 91, co mp e t e n c y-ba s e d systems (Clay , Blakeslee , Ho lt and Silverman. 198 5; TheNati ona l Cent e r for Research in vocationa l EducatiO n, 1985 :Ro th and Tesolowski , 1984 ), the nominal group process (B l a i r and Lange , 19901 Par k e r, 199 0 ), the Delphi te c h ni qu e (Orlich, 1989 1 Parker.

1990 ) , cli n i c al supervisionprocedures (Har ris , 1980; Lovell and Wiles,19 83; Sergiovanniand Starratt , 1988; Smyth, 1980 1 Webb et al . , 19 8 71 , an d th e Johari Window teacher se l£ - as s e s s ment process (I wa n i cki and McEachern. 1984 ) .

Page - 38 - Studies und e rt ake n to de termine th e professional deve lopme nt ne e d s oftea ching personne l haveuseda numbe r of the techniques listed ab o v e inthe coll e c tio nofin for mat i on for needs assessment purposes. Forexamp le, a compe tency- based que st ion na i r e was use d by Le ach (l9 86) to de t e r mi ne potential professi on a l develop ment needs of in di vid uals wo r k ing in th e training and development fiel d and by Summerlin, Blackbourn and Hare (1986) to ass e s!' sta f f development skill areas.

In order totarget in-service pr ovision.Cununi ng, Kidd, McIver andwight (19 8 5 )co nduct e don e - co -one in te r v iews wi th teachers and senior management to iden tif y respec t i ve indi v idu a l and school ne e d s. Informa l int e rvi e wing and a formal que s t i o n n a i r e were themethods employ e dby Marshall and Caldwe l l (19 8 4) to determinethecons i ste nc y of info r ma t i o n gathered in bothformal an d informal assessmen t procedures.

Hu 1ing-Austin and O'Bryan-Gar1and (19 8 8) also employed a combination of personal interviews and questionnaires to ident i f y problemsof mutualconcernto be usedas a focus for collaborative projects between area public schools and th e un i v e r s i t y.

A variety of needs assessment instruments ha v e been admini steredinpo s t- s e c o n dary education research. Hoerneret a1. {1991 }utilized a survey co n ta i n i ng a varietyofit e ms to

Page- 39 - address the need for professio naldevelopmen t of occupationa l- technical faculty in two-year colleges . A needs assessment inve nto r y survey was used by Hal vorson et al. (1987 ) to measure car e er expectat ions and interest in professional development among facul t y lind professional staff. Using a formal questLo nnaLr e , Brownand Scribner (1 9 8 2) conducted a study to determine vocational educators' preferences with regardto key aspectsofthe del iveryof spec ialneeds-related in - s e r v i ce activities.

The nomina l group technique wa s the methodology implemented to identify pe rf orma nc e solutionsat community colleges (Dean etal., 1992) and to determine priorities for vocation a l education res e a r ch (Lyn c h, Schmidt and Asche, 1988). Thestaffde velopmentneedsof co-operativeexte nsion facultywere id e ntif i ed byWat ers and Haskel l Cl.33Sl Ils i o g a modified Borich needs assessment model, whi ch ga t hered Ln formatIon from re spo nde nt s reg arding th e ircur r entknowl edge of a topic and their abil i t y toapply that knowle d ge,

Pro f essi onal de vel opment needs may be grouped or classifi ed in to differen t categories or framewor ks. For exampl e, thene e ds identifiedbyDean et al. (1992) thro ugh th e nomi na l groupte ch ni que were or ganized accor di ng to the type of solu ti on thatwould meet the need: info r ma tion, re s our c e s, incen ti ves,andknowledge / ski ll s (tra ining ) .

Page- 40 - Bishop (ci t e d in Ryan, 1987) identifiedse v en compreh~!1sive categ o ri es of educa tional needs , which he ref e r r ed to as informati onal , con t e nt/ s ki ll s , competencies , re s o urc e s and util iz at i on , or ga n izati o n, attitudes, and pr oces s . In a sample professional development tra ining needs survey furn ished by Wr i g h t (1 98 4), sk il ls were class i fi e d as teaching , program-related professional, counselling, management , le ade r s h ip, compu ter ,and stress management.

Bradley(198 3) recognizedinductionandini tialtraining , post-experience training and development , curr iculum development, and further education management as the areas applicable to staff development in further educati on. By synthesizing comp o n e n t s fromthe worksof Ga f f, Bergquis tand Phill ips ,and Nelson, college facultydevelopment acti vit ies based an needsan alyses were organizedby Hipps (1982) int a five categories. These consisted of in s truc t i ona l development , cu r r iculu m development , or g a n i zat i o na l development, personaldevelopment,and professiona l renewal.

The generalneeds assessment framework identified byThe NationalCenterfor Research inVoc a t i ona l Education (1 985 ) includedrecognition of the followi ng: general role-related needs, role-speci fic ne ed s, organization-related needs.

in t erp erson al needs, and personal needs. This model was adopted to assist with the data an a l ys i s process of th i s

Page- 41 - project and will be di scu ssed as part of the analysi s pro cedure.

The Delphi Te c h n i que

TheDelphi..technique, th e method ch o s e n as th e re s e a r ch designfor thi s stud y , ha s been found to be effective for ascertaininggroup ne e d s and for settingprioritie s (Brooks, 1979;McKillip , 1987 ; a-rlich , 1989 ; Tersineand Rigg s , 1976).

It is cond u c i v e to research in which id e a s, opinions, and judgements are to be elicited from group partic ipants in arrivingat a ne e d s co n s e n s u s (La u ff e r, 1982; Martorella , 19 91 ) . The Delphi te chn i qu e has been us e d to "enga g e responden tsin ananonymous,mod e r a t e l y in te ract ivedebate, to arrive at a con s e ns u s on is s ues " (Ba rne tte , Danielson and Algoz zine , 1978, p , 68). As means of achieving agreement, features of this inte r a c t i v e decision-making process have incl udedparticipant anonymity, it e r ati o n s of responses,and controlledgroup feedback (Hea t h, Neimeyer and Pedersen,1988;

Mo r g a nand Griffin, 1981; Race and P1anek, 1992; Spinelli , 1983).

Since its inception and initial application to technologicalforecastingby Olaf Helmerandcol leaguesatth e Rand Corporation in the ear ly19505 , Delphi methodology has been used in a number of dd.ve ru e fields, Uhl (l983) listed business,government, industry ,medicine, regional planning,

Page - 42 • and education as e x.ample e , 11ithin che field of education, this research design has been applied to variousareas and to differenttypes of issues. Frazer, Kush and Richardson (1984) used the Delphi technique to identify the most pressing researchquestions in health education; Kurth-schai (1988),to study children'sperceptions of the future; Adams, Piercey, Jurich and Lewis (1992),to specify important components of n model adolescentAIDS/drugprevention program; and Vincentand Brooks (1982), to identify the implications of declining enrollment for different areas of educational leadership.

The Delphiapproach has beenutilized as the research dasign for .;!xplori ngis s ues at the post-secondaryeducational level. This was the strategy chosen by Long (1990) to identify trends,topics, results,approaches, and funding in continuing higher education. Chambers (1992) employed this methodology to develop criteria to evaluate col l e g e student leadership programs; Holdenand Mitchell (1993) used the technique to project the future of comput.er-mediated communication in higher education; andGriggs (19 9 0 ) applied t.he Delphi procedu re to ident.ify and gain consensus among vocationaleducatorsregarding their perceptions ofth e most criticalresearch goals andthemo s t critical research problem areas in vocational education personnel development..

Page - 43- The Delphi techniquehas been advocatedby Somers, Baker andIsbell11984}and by Weaver (19B8) as an effective medium fortr a i n ing programs needs analyses. This method was found to be an effective research device by Morgan and Griffin (198 l) in formulating a consensus of perceived need s in reading programs. A study cond u c t ed in the Netherlands (Van Tulder, Veenman and Sieben, 198B)revea led the successfu l use of Delphi in the identifica t ion of salient features of effective in-service activi tie s atth e primaryschool level.

Accor di n gtoFr a zeret; al. (l9B4):

The Delphi pr oc e s s is especially usefu l in s1tua t i o n s where the ta sk orproblemdoesnot lend itself to prec ise analy sis but where a collective, subjectivejudgment canprovide a contributionto the professionaldeve l opmentwithinan industrial set ting oran educational fi el d . (p , 188)

The Delphi technique is generally support ed in the Ii terat ur e as be ing an ef f e c tive , viable, and valid educational re s earch tool for soliciting ideas dnd opinions and for det e z;min i ng needs . It was fo und to be useful for research in whichthe views of participants we r eobta i n e d in a no n-co n f r on t at i on al and no n-t h r eat en i ngenvironme n t .

Summary

Th e conce p t of pro f e ssional development wasdis c uss e d by surveyinga number ofdef in i tionsof professiona l and staff deve l opment fo und in the l iteratu r e . The pro ce s s of