Book of abstracts. ATEE Winter Conference. Teacher professional development in times of global and glocal transformations: International perspectives and challanges

Abstract

Catalonia introduced an educational reform in 2022 based on six critical educational principles: competency-based learning, quality of language education, curriculum universality, co-education, special attention to student emotional well-being, and promoting democratic, critical and committed citizenship with global awareness. Schools were granted three academic years to update their didactic programs under the reform. This study explores teachers' perceptions regarding the changes and professional development required in their pedagogical practices to implement the educational reform by mapping a first action to conduct for each critical educational principle. Previous research revealed the importance of teachers' perceptions in shaping the acceptance and implementation of reforms, playing a fundamental role in their success. Moreover, each teacher possesses unique conceptions of how educational change should be undertaken, resulting in diverse responses highlighting individual priorities. This study used a written survey to gather data, which were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis and quantitative procedures. Primary and secondary education teachers (N=118) were asked about their socio-professional background, the significance assigned to each critical educational principle of the reform, and a concrete idea of a first action that could be taken in their respective schools to prioritise these principles. Preliminary findings revealed three main aspects teachers prioritise when implementing this educational reform, which repeatedly emerged across various critical educational principles. Two aspects are found exclusively at the classroom level and one at the school and classroom level. We labelled these context/situations/classroom interaction, methodology/teaching strategies and focused on curriculum deployment. To conclude, findings suggest that the nature of the content of each critical educational principle influences teachers¿ perceptions of the changes and learning required to implement the reform effectively. Findings also inform about future professional development which teachers could undertake to ensure a successful implementation of the educational reform.