A study of instructional development knowledge and competency among secondary teachers in the Roman Catholic School Board Humber-St. Barbe and the Deer Lake-St. Barbe South Integrated School District

Abstract

The intent of this study was to determine if secondary teachers possess general knowledge of instructional development from a conceptual perspective, and knowledge of the basic instructional development process which forms the foundation of all instructional development activities. Secondary teachers' knowledge and competency were determined through the use of a written survey which questioned teachers on five specific instructional development competency areas, as summarized and developed from five classroom instructional development models reviewed by Gustafson (1981), and on general definitions and conceptualizations of instructional development. -- Two hundred and thirteen teachers from the secondary levels in the Roman Catholic School Board, Humber-St. Barbe and the Deer Lake-St. Barbe South Integrated School District took part in the study, with 42% returning the survey instrument. A follow-up semi-structured open response interview was conducted with two subjects who failed to return the survey to determine (a) their reasons for non-completion, (b) their knowledge of instructional development, and (c) their preferred approach to instructional planning. -- Data were analyzed qualitatively and reported in terms of both frequencies and percentages, and descriptively. -- It was determined that secondary teachers employed by these two school boards had little knowledge of or competency in instructional development, and their planning routines did not incorporate specific components of instructional development.