PhD student Zainab Kizilbash’s research interests include teacher professional development, teacher education and internationalization. Her recent dissertation How teachers experience learning and change: A phenomenographic study of internationalized teacher professional development, investigates the experiences of teachers who have undergone internationalized teacher professional development programs and focuses on how teachers learn and change.

The study aims to advance an understanding of internationalized teacher professional development and its impact on in-service teachers. “I explore the types of personal and professional transformations teachers report as a result of internationalized teacher professional development; how teachers learn and change as a result of internationalized teacher professional development; the conditions that support and promote this learning and change; and what can be said about the importance of internationalized teacher professional development for teacher learning and change,” said Zainab. “Spoiler! My study concludes that internationalized teacher professional development is a highly effective, transformational form of teacher professional development in need of further research.”

From the findings of the study, Zainab hopes that institutions and organizations that administer or are looking to create and implement internationalized teacher professional development programs can have insight into the ways in which teachers may learn and change from this type of professional development. Further, forays into understanding what makes professional development effective, and the bridge between professional development and implementing this professional development into classroom practice will also be of benefit to students and their experiences in the classroom.

“As I prepare to graduate this Thursday and reflect on my time in the Graduate Program in Education, one of the things that I appreciated was the opportunity to teach an undergraduate course in the Faculty on my own,” said Zainab. “I enjoyed being a TA for years at York, but getting to be the professor was one of the most fulfilling and stimulating experiences I had during the program that really helped me to fully understand what goes into successfully teaching a course in the Faculty.”

Zainab says that her future career aspirations are varied and include teaching in a Faculty of Education and working with governmental or non-profit organizations in the field of teacher learning. “The Graduate Program in Education has prepared me well to pursue any of these paths through the skills I’ve learned, the people I’ve learned from, and the inspiration to follow my intellectual curiosity."