Professional development (PD) programs in China prioritize content knowledge transfer from teachers to students and tend to lack emphasis on enhancing teacher-child interaction. A cluster RCT study by Huang and colleagues investigated whether an adapted western PD intervention will improve both domain-specific instruction quality and teacher-child interaction strategies in Chinese kindergartens.
The LfL program covers diverse content knowledge, intentional and relational instruction, and the use of responsive teacher–child interactions to meet students’ needs. The adapted program included three PD phases: a 1-day intensive training on quality teaching, followed by six 3.5-hour sessions focusing on domain-specific content knowledge in literacy, math, science, self-regulation, diversity, and assessment. The final phase consisted of biweekly onsite mentoring from March to May 2020 to help teachers apply their new skills. All training was conducted face-to-face.
Stratified random sampling was used to select 24 kindergartens in Shenzhen, a developed area in China, dividing them into 12 control and 12 intervention schools comprising 95 classrooms 202 teachers and 547 children aged 3 to 6 years (K1 and K2). Teachers in the intervention group received the adapted LfL training, while those in the control group continued their regular teaching practice. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Extension (ECERS-E) measured content-related instruction quality and the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Well-being (SSTEW) evaluated the interaction quality of supporting children’s socioemotional well-being and cognitive domain. Classroom observations were conducted once before (fall 2020) and once after the intervention (summer 2021). IDELA was used to assess children’s literacy, numeracy, socioemotional skills, and executive functions. Data collection was conducted by research assistants blind to participant status.
Multilevel analysis revealed that LfL-teachers outperformed control group in delivering knowledge (ECERS-E, ES = +0.81)) and interaction with students (SSTEW, ES = +0.72). Compared to the control group, children in intervention classrooms showed better performance in literacy (ES = +0.16) and executive function (ES = +0.27), but not in numeracy and socioemotional scores.
The authors suggest policymakers provide national PD programs based on an evidence-based approach for more effective resources’ allocation. An effective PD program could be cross-culturally and contextually adapted to strengthen education quality.
Source: Huang, R., Siraj, I., & Melhuish, E. (2024). Promoting effective teaching and learning through a professional development program: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000851