Educational innovations and pedagogical beliefs: the case of a professional development program for Indonesian teachers

This study aimed to explore the impact of a professional development program on the teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices. More specifically, the program endeavoured to design a prototype for teacher professional development in Indonesia that was sustainable and scalable. This one-year program built upon the participating teachers’ existing practices, reinforced with the concept of reflection as a tool for ongoing inquiry of their own practices. The three major components of this program were: action research, peer-coaching and leadership support. By using a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative data collection, this study examined the changes in the participating teachers’ beliefs and practices, and how these changes may be related to the professional development program. The key findings in this paper have highlighted the importance of (1) the clarity of both the content and the outline of the program, (2) applicable and suitable professional learning methods, (3) modelling, and (4) collaboration among teachers. The findings have also identified teachers’ (limited) resources, such as time and access to facilities, to be taken into account when planning for professional development programs. The discussion focuses on the challenge to design professional development programs based on a belief-action relationship