Wednesday Research Seminar Series - Improving Early Year Teachers Content Knowledge and Self-efficacy through Peer-coaching and Reflection: A Professional Development Model

We are pleased to invite you to our Wednesday Research Seminar. It will be held online on 6th November via Microsoft Teams platform. Wednesday Research Seminar Series was launched in 2008 and has featured more than 350 presentations to date. The seminars provide a forum for researchers to share their work. Presenters include faculty from Middlesex University Dubai and other universities in the United Arab Emirates, as well as researchers from other global institutions. Dr. Hiea Mizyed will deliver seminar on:

“Improving Early Year Teachers Content Knowledge and Self-efficacy through Peer-coaching and Reflection: A Professional Development Model”

Dr. Hiea Mizyed

Abstract

This paper presents a multi-faceted professional development program in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aimed at supporting early year in-service teachers in their implementation of a brain-targeted teaching (BTT) pedagogy. We drew from the socio-cultural theory to investigate how four early year teacher educators working within a collegial peer coaching environment grounded in reflection were able to adopt and apply a contemporary professional development model. The context of the 13-week convergent mixed methods study was at a public kindergarten school in Abu Dhabi that served approximately 300 students. Data was collected through teachers’ sense of efficacy scale (TSES), semi-structured interviews, weekly reports, and reflection sheets. Findings revealed (a) an increased teacher score change in teacher self-efficacy for instructional strategies after the professional development, (b) the BTT pedagogy provided participants with perceptions of change in child-centered instruction as needed for problem-solving skills development, (c) positive perceptions of collaboration, which led to, clarification in understanding, development of new ideas, and influenced teacher self-efficacy, and (d) through reflection, a shift in understanding towards child-centered instruction, salient decision making, and positive feelings towards teacher self-efficacy. The way in which each component of the model was integrated has implications for both theory and practice. Specifically, our findings highlight the need for policy-wide coherence in teacher professional development programs and for further analysis examining how collegial peer coaching contributes to knowledge acceptance and application of learning.

Presenter Bios

Dr. Hiea Mizyed is an internationally recognized, award-winning early-stage researcher, educational consultant, and published author with a doctorate in Mind, Brain, and Teaching from Johns Hopkins University, USA. Her work focuses on enhancing pre-service teachers' pedagogical practices, aligning with the UAE's vision of becoming a knowledge-based economy. Dr. Mizyed regularly presents at international conferences and has won the prestigious Curriculum Innovation Award for her contributions to education. The impact of her published work and vignette can be found in the latest edition of the book, The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st Century Schools by Mariale Hardiman. A passionate advocate for bridging cognitive research with educational policy and practice, she is an active member of the International Honor Society in Education (Kappa Delta Pi) and the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society (IMBES).