Gender Differences in Motivation and Learning Preferences of Pharmacists in Lifelong Learning

Objectives： To analyse motivation and preferences of pharmacists who participate in CE （continuing education） to develop suitable lifelong learning programmes for pharmacists. Methods： An online questionnaire, which explored the motivation and preferences of the pharmacists to lifelong learning, was sent to all members of the Royal Dutch Pharmaceutical Society （4321） in the Netherlands. The data were analysed using a non-hierarchical clustering technique. Key findings： Two clusters of pharmacists were discovered. Cluster A pharmacists （n = 474） were more motivated by credit points （63.5% vs. 47.2%）, personal interest （84.1% vs. 56.3%）, updating knowledge （73.8% vs. 56.8%） and topicality of CE courses （47.7% vs. 26.1%）. Cluster B pharmacists （n = 199） were predominantly motivated by the aspect ＂duty as a care-giver＂ （97.0% vs. 0 % in cluster A）. Pharmacists who belonged to cluster A tended to be women （60.5%）, often worked part-time （29.3%） and mostly preferred lectures （71.1%）. Cluster B pharmacists consisted of statistically significantly more male pharmacists （52.8%, p = 0.001）, worked more full time （77.4%, p = 0.009） and mostly preferred blended learning （62.3%, p = 0.047）. Conclusions： These results suggest the use of different education formats for different kinds of pharmacists to participate in CE activities.

A Case Study of an Iranian EFL Student Teacher＇s Professional Preparation and Development from the Perspective of Social Constructivist Approach

Language teacher professional development has recently shifted away from transmissionist approaches based on cascading or transfer of external knowledge toward social constructivist paradigm with a focus on the situationality of learning and teaching as social processes of sharing and （re）constructing personal meanings, understandings, and skills. The social constructivist view of teacher education values teachers＇ agency in constructing and shaping personalized knowledge as a socially constructed experiential process in context. So, the researcher as an EFL educator in an Iranian teacher education university investi- gates the professional development of an EFL teacher during a three-year-time span both as a student and then as a teacher. Teacher journals, observation, and interview as three appropriate data gathering tools were used to obtain triangulated data. Student teacher professional change during the time span, multidimensionality of professional development, and discursively shaped personal beliefs and knowledge and their influence on teaching actions and practices were the emerged themes of data analysis based on Strauss （Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998） constant comparative method, including three steps of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The findings of this research challenge the transmission nature of teacher education which assumes student teachers as the conduits, requiring to be filled with skills, input, and knowledge lectured by educators as authority figures.