| Teaching has increasingly become a field of accountability and concrete evidentiary progress. While this leads to a focus on those teaching skills that are readily accessible for evaluation, such as student retention, classroom performance, and proven classroom practices, it leaves little room for the more abstract aspects of teaching. A professional development program or system of evaluation that allows the teacher the ability to develop those areas which she or he feels most important gives the teacher the autonomy to self monitor. This study examined the relationship between an independent form of professional development and a teacher's spiritual development and self-efficacy. This study was a case study of teachers who work at a school with formative and autonomous evaluation and professional development. Participants were observed, interviewed, and evaluated as to their level of spiritual development. These observations were analyzed to determine the relationship between the teacher's professional goals, their spirituality, and their self-efficacy. Based on this analysis, the study discussed the possible values of formative evaluation and autonomous professional development as they relate to the spiritual growth and self-efficacy of teachers. |
