Showing papers in "Professional Development in Education in 2012"
TL;DR: The authors reviewed and drew conclusions across the research literature on professional development and teacher leadership to examine a conceptual connection: professional development leads to teacher leadership, which leads to further professional development for the teachers enacting leadership and their colleagues.
Abstract: Teacher leadership has gained attention in recent years as a plausible means by which educational reform and instructional improvement can be accomplished through ongoing, site-based professional development for teachers. This article reviews and draws conclusions across the research literature on professional development and teacher leadership to examine a conceptual connection: professional development leads to teacher leadership, which leads to further professional development for the teachers enacting leadership and their colleagues. The article draws heavily on recent work done in the United States, but also includes international perspectives. Insights on the literature and implications for professional development policy are also discussed.
179 citations
TL;DR: The International Teacher Leadership project (ITL) as discussed by the authors is an example of teacher leadership as a key dimension of the role of teachers regardless of special roles and responsibilities in the organisational structures of their schools.
Abstract: This article argues for a particular conceptualisation of teacher leadership; one that enables us to overcome the limitations of established approaches to continuing professional development as a strategy for school improvement by mobilising the massive untapped potential of teachers as leaders of innovation. In this article, teacher leadership is conceived as a key dimension of the role of teachers regardless of special roles and responsibilities in the organisational structures of their schools. Evidence to support this argument is drawn from the International Teacher Leadership project, which has partners in 15 countries as diverse as Kosovo and New Zealand. The International Teacher Leadership project builds on a model developed in the United Kingdom (The HertsCam Network) to develop support for teacher leadership as an educational reform strategy. The article explores the professional learning arising for the teachers and offers a theory of educational innovation within which it is located.
166 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored how teachers learn to exercise informal leadership in the schools and districts where they work and found that professional development alone does not provide adequate leadership preparation for teachers, yet many develop into established teacher leaders.
Abstract: Research shows that professional development alone does not provide adequate leadership preparation for teachers, yet many develop into established teacher leaders. The purpose of this study was to explore how teachers learn to exercise informal leadership in the schools and districts where they work. Eight elementary teachers who lived and worked in the Midwestern region of the United States participated in the study. Data collection included written self-reflections, questionnaire responses and a participant focus group. Teachers in the study learned to exercise leadership gradually, over time as they accumulated professional experience. Findings of the study revealed three factors that developed teacher leadership: exposure to research-based practices, increased teacher self-efficacy, and serving beyond the classroom. Professional development designed to improve teaching practice, paired with job-embedded collaboration, supported teachers’ progress toward leadership. Contrary to the findings of similar...
106 citations
TL;DR: This article found that teachers initiated their own professional learning efforts with the central goal of improving the conditions and outcomes of student learning, and that teachers were leading through their strong commitment to continued learning and by modeling a willingness to take risks, to collaborate and to question existing practices.
Abstract: This paper offers a conceptual model and rich narratives that describe the contexts in which teacher leadership emerges and the many ways that leadership is enacted. Drawing on qualitative case studies of seven Maine, USA schools, the authors found that teachers initiated their own professional learning efforts with the central goal of improving the conditions and outcomes of student learning. Teachers were leading through their strong commitment to continued learning, and by modeling a willingness to take risks, to collaborate and to question existing practices. Teachers often began with a focus on their own learning and classroom teaching and later moved into other leadership spheres where they collaborated with and influenced colleagues and other stakeholders on a wider scale. When they encountered conflict, teachers found they needed to build both interpersonal and intrapersonal awareness and skills. This study broadens conceptions of what constitutes teacher leadership and professional development. T...
104 citations
TL;DR: This paper aims to discuss the chief findings and issues that have hitherto been raised with respect to research on lesson study and to clarify current progress and limitations in the research in the United States and Japan.
Abstract: In recent research, it has been argued that effective professional learning would continue over the long term and is best suited for a school community that promotes learning. This requires an examination of the teachers on a daily basis. In order to develop such a community, it becomes increasingly important for teachers to mutually observe and jointly reflect on practices at the classroom level. Educators in the United States have begun paying close attention to the Japanese tradition of lesson study. This paper aims to discuss the chief findings and issues that have hitherto been raised with respect to research on lesson study and to clarify current progress and limitations in the research in the United States and Japan.
84 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a two-year study examines an emergent model for promoting classroom change amidst systemic professional development efforts, the hybrid teacher leader (HTL), utilizing ecological and teacher social network frameworks, explores the relative strengths and weaknesses of educators who both teach and lead teachers.
Abstract: This two-year study examines an emergent model for promoting classroom change amidst systemic professional development efforts – the hybrid teacher leader (HTL). Utilizing ecological and teacher social network frameworks, the relative strengths and weaknesses of educators who both teach and lead teachers are explored. In-depth qualitative data from six HTLs across four Washington state school districts are examined to look at the ways that HTLs navigate and shape the change-oriented professional development environment, as well as the conditions under which the ‘teacher’ and the ‘leader’ are synergetic. Findings include that HTLs have a significant capacity to serve as a bridge between multiple subgroups within the larger educational system, making them an essential human resource within their environments. At the same time, role confusion, mismanagement of time and tenuous relationships across the sites reduced the impact of HTLs on colleagues’ professional learning – necessitating sharp intentions and b...
69 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of 81 exemplary secondary school teachers across the United States provides a portrait of how these teachers have become leaders whose influence and partnerships extend well beyond their classrooms and schools, driven by a deep personal desire to learn and a commitment to help students learn.
Abstract: Data from a study of 81 exemplary secondary school teachers across the United States provide a portrait of how these teachers have become leaders whose influence and partnerships extend well beyond their classrooms and schools. Propelled by a deep personal desire to learn and a commitment to help students learn, the teachers are learners first, leaders second: their leadership occurs as a by-product of their learning. As teachers, they become pedagogical innovators in their quest to learn what helps students learn. They develop deep knowledge of students, curricula and pedagogy, in part by changing grade levels and schools, observing and learning from students, and consulting with parents. They seek specific professional development, internal and external colleagues and partnerships, professional organisations, and opportunities to team teach and observe peers. As they learn, they refine who they are as a person. Over time, the teachers find, accept or create ways to help colleagues by sharing innovations...
67 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a range of theoretical perspectives on the construction of new teachers' professional identity are drawn on a broad range of perspectives, focusing particularly on the impact of the development in many national education systems of a performative culture of the management and regulation of teachers' work.
Abstract: This paper draws on a range of theoretical perspectives on the construction of new teachers’ professional identity. It focuses particularly on the impact of the development in many national education systems of a performative culture of the management and regulation of teachers’ work. Whilst the role of interactions with professional colleagues and school managers in the performative school has been extensively researched, less attention has been paid to new teachers’ interactions with students. This paper highlights the need for further research focusing on the process of identity co-construction with students. A key theoretical concept employed is that of liminality, the space within which identities are in transition as teachers adjust to the culture of a new professional workplace, and the nature of the engagement of new teachers, or teachers who change schools, with students. The authors argue that an investigation into the processes of this co-construction of identity offers scope for new insights i...
63 citations
TL;DR: The significance of effective leadership and management for successful school and student outcomes is increasingly being recognised as mentioned in this paper. This has led to consideration of the nature of preparation and development required to promote good leadership.
Abstract: The significance of effective leadership and management for successful school and student outcomes is increasingly being recognised. This has led to consideration of the nature of preparation and development required to promote good leadership. There is now widespread acknowledgement of the need for specialised training for school principals. This paper examines the reasons for the growth of leadership development programmes, considers how and why provision varies across the globe, and examines many national examples of such programmes. The paper links leadership development to succession planning and contrasts centralised and decentralised approaches to both phenomena. It concludes by noting that the trend towards specific preparation is global but that approaches vary widely, in response to local contextual factors.
57 citations
TL;DR: A professional learning community approach was adopted by the New Zealand Ministry of Education to help schools implement the revised New Zealand Curriculum by facilitating the development of community members' capacities and expertise in school curriculum design.
Abstract: Increasingly school change processes are being facilitated through the formation and operation of groups of teachers working together for improved student outcomes. These groupings are variously referred to as networks, networked learning communities, communities of practice, professional learning communities, learning circles or clusters. The formation and support of these types of groups to build capacity has been a major feature in the professional support landscape for New Zealand schools for a number of years, with sustainability and longevity of these groups seen as success criteria. A professional learning community approach was adopted by the New Zealand Ministry of Education to help schools implement the revised New Zealand Curriculum by facilitating the development of community members’ capacities and expertise in school curriculum design. In this article I report on my experience as the facilitator of one professional learning community of nine schools that worked together over a two-year perio...
44 citations
TL;DR: Lesson observation has a longstanding tradition in the assessment and development of new and experienced teachers in England and has progressively emerged as an important tool for measuring and improving professional practice in schools and colleges as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Lesson observation has a longstanding tradition in the assessment and development of new and experienced teachers in England. Over the last two decades it has progressively emerged as an important tool for measuring and improving professional practice in schools and colleges. This article reviews literature across the three education sectors (i.e. schools, further education and higher education) in order to compare and contrast the role of observation. In doing so it discusses the key themes and issues surrounding its use in each sector and identifies common and contrasting patterns. It argues that in schools and further education, observation has become increasingly associated with performance management systems; a dominant yet contested model has emerged that relies on a simplified rating scale to grade professional competence and performance, although the recent introduction of ‘lesson study’ in schools appears to offer an alternative to such practice. In higher education, however, there is limited evi...
TL;DR: The authors examined the teacher leadership activities of beginning English-as-a-second-language teachers in a wide variety of settings in New York City public schools and identified several paths to teacher leadership, which ranged from well defined to ill-structured.
Abstract: While the scope of activities that constitute teacher leadership has become better defined, the professional development of emerging teacher leaders is just beginning to be discussed. In this study, the teacher leadership activities of beginning English-as-a-second-language teachers in a wide variety of settings in New York City public schools were examined in terms of the professional direction, support and development that these new teachers received that set them on the path to teacher leadership. Identified were several paths to teacher leadership, which ranged from well-defined to ill-structured. This paper sheds light on the generative processes involved, and contextualizes the role of novice teacher leaders against increased attention to teacher leadership in the United States.
TL;DR: This paper explored the potential for teacher unions to take the lead in supporting teachers to develop what has become known as teacher policy, an overarching term that encompasses policies on pedagogy, professional development, standards and evaluation, and on improving teacher involvement in research on classroom practice and school improvement.
Abstract: An analysis of the relationships between teacher unions and governments sheds light on teacher union leadership, what drives it and what ethos lies behind it, illuminating the connections between such initiatives and developing theory in the role of teacher unions. Teacher union leadership in turn enables and encourages teachers to exercise leadership in their own and others’ learning, in supporting learning and in influencing policy. This paper explores the potential for teacher unions to take the lead in supporting teachers to develop what has become known as teacher policy – an overarching term that encompasses policies on pedagogy, professional development, standards and evaluation, and on improving teacher involvement in research on classroom practice, and school improvement. Learning, in all its manifestations, lies at the heart of teacher policy. While its primary focus is on pupil learning, this is necessarily reliant on professional learning and on how that impacts on and shapes policy – at schoo...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the findings of a study carried out in Pakistan that explored English-language teachers' professional development in developing countries, and they show that these teachers were self-directed learners, they learned from various inservice experiences, from an enabling environment and opportunities in school and by getting support from home.
Abstract: This paper attempts to present the findings of a study carried out in Pakistan that explored English-language teachers’ professional development in developing countries. The main guiding question for the study was: How do English-language teachers at secondary schools learn to teach and develop professionally in Syria and Pakistan? Two cases were taken for the study; one from Syria and one from Pakistan. A blend of self-study research and case-study method was used to explore the professional development of the two teachers. Four major findings were drawn by doing a cross-case analysis. The findings show that these teachers were self-directed learners, they learned from various in-service experiences, from an enabling environment and opportunities in school and by getting support from home. These findings have two thought-provoking implications for school and for teacher education in developing countries where professional development is not well structured. First, that schools should think carefully of d...
TL;DR: A special issue of Leadership and Learning as discussed by the authors draws together articles that add to the growing body of knowledge about leadership and learning, separately and together, is an international and continuing phenomenon.
Abstract: Interest in and knowledge about leadership and learning, separately and together, is an international and continuing phenomenon. This special issue draws together articles that add to the growing b...
TL;DR: This paper explored the tensions and challenges experienced by new teacher educators in higher education in England, large numbers of whom are coming directly from posts as schoolteachers and found that the transition from schoolteacher to teacher educator is fraught with difficulty, and that the new professional identity is hard-won.
Abstract: This study explores the tensions and challenges experienced by new teacher educators in higher education in England, large numbers of whom are coming directly from posts as schoolteachers Although traditionally an under-researched group, recent studies have confirmed that this transition from schoolteacher to teacher educator is fraught with difficulty, and that the new professional identity is hard-won This has been variously linked to the differing demands and culture of the two workplace settings, as well as the shifts in role, some of which are subtle but fundamental in terms of impact Although, to an extent, the findings of this small-scale qualitative study of a group of recently appointed teacher educators do mirror those of previous studies, they also indicate that there may be an underlying key theme which has received less attention thus far; that is, the development of an understanding of the pedagogy of initial teacher education The study suggests that new teacher educators may inevitably
TL;DR: In this article, two groups of action research coaches share their experiences of coaching inquiry during the 2009/10 school year, and four challenges arose that spanned across the coaching of both groups, despite the level of experience: time, coaching wondering development, coaching data analysis and administration.
Abstract: Despite the profound impact of action research coaches on teachers’ experiences of the inquiry process, little research exists in the field regarding the coach’s role. In this exploratory study, two groups of action research coaches – one novice and one experienced – share their experiences of coaching inquiry during the 2009/10 school year. Out of the focus group interviews conducted with each group of coaches, four challenges arose that spanned across the coaching of both groups, despite the level of experience: time, coaching wondering development, coaching data analysis and administration. Implications and future research directions based on this work are discussed.
TL;DR: This article investigated 12 first-year New Zealand primary teachers' perceptions of their induction experiences in their first six months of teaching and found that despite New Zealand’s longstanding commitment to the induction of beginning teachers, the participants' experiences were diverse and variable.
Abstract: While the importance of induction for increasing beginning teacher retention and supporting professional development is widely recognised, less is known about the nature of support that novices encounter when they first start teaching. This study investigated 12 first-year New Zealand primary teachers’ perceptions of their induction experiences in their first six months of teaching. Semi-structured interviews (n = 24) were the primary sources of data for this qualitative study. The study showed that despite New Zealand’s longstanding commitment to the induction of beginning teachers, the participants’ experiences were diverse and variable. The findings point to the learning and development opportunities open to beginning teachers when they work in schools that both recognise novices’ particular needs and have a school-wide commitment to the ongoing professional learning of all teachers.
TL;DR: The authors report on an evaluation study of the work of union learning representatives in a major teaching union in England and suggest that their role offers a new and more fruitful way of considering teacher leadership.
Abstract: Teacher leadership has become an area of significant interest in research and policy terms in recent years. However, as a form of leadership it remains orthodox and conservative, rooted in largely traditional managerialist hierarchies, and disconnected from a critique of the wider policy imperatives that shape the contexts in which leadership is constructed. This article reports on an evaluation study of the work of Union Learning Representatives in a major teaching union in England and suggests that their role offers a new and more fruitful way of considering teacher leadership. Such leadership needs to be genuinely democratic and focused on cohering a professional voice amongst teachers. It is not a leadership concerned with providing ‘vision’, but one rooted in a dialogic and critical process, from which genuinely transformatory possibilities emerge.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the professional needs of Israeli mathematics teachers, as they perceived them, and find that teachers are mainly concerned with developing their mathematical knowledge and acquiring knowledge that relates to the way in which students comprehend various mathematical concepts.
Abstract: Recent reforms in mathematics education have increased the need for teachers to attend professional development programs. In order to motivate teachers to attend such programs and to maximize their effect on teachers’ development, we believe it is important to adapt the contents of such programs to teachers’ perceived needs. The current study was designed to explore the professional needs of Israeli mathematics teachers, as they perceived them. Our results show that teachers are mainly concerned with developing their mathematical knowledge and acquiring knowledge that relates to the way in which students comprehend various mathematical concepts. However, these concerns stem from different positions that can be attributed to their teaching experience: new teachers appear to be self-centered; therefore their concern with developing their knowledge might be a result of a need to gain self-confidence. More experienced teachers are able to consider the effect of their teaching on students’ learning, and it app...
TL;DR: Crowther as mentioned in this paper is a book aimed at those involved in school leadership and management, which addresses the challenges faced by school leaders and their management, and the challenges they face.
Abstract: by Frank Crowther, Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press, 2011, 211 pp., $34.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-41-298694-6 This book is aimed at those involved in school leadership and management. It addresses ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated primary school science teachers' perceptions of their school district professional development and its basis and impact on the teacher development process in a large district in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
Abstract: Perceptions play a significant role in an individual’s decision-making. This paper reports on a study that investigated primary school science teachers’ perceptions of their school district professional development and its basis and impact on the teacher development process in a large district in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. From the findings, teachers had negative perceptions that led to the belief that they were not receiving the support and tools they needed for professional development from their district. The impact of their perceptions was evident in the slow or non-implementation of the district’s newly launched curriculum reforms. Thus, the significance of identifying and addressing teachers’ perceptions is argued, for they play a critical role in how they learn and in how their perceptions inform the changes they make in their teaching practice. Failure to address teachers’ perceptions is likely to result in teachers not benefiting from their professional development programs.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effectiveness of a technology education professional development (TEPD) program and factors impeding the implementation of such a program within the context of the Republic of Benin (West Africa).
Abstract: This paper explores the effectiveness of a technology education professional development (TEPD) program and factors impeding the implementation of such a program within the context of the Republic of Benin (West Africa). Professional development (PD) programs do not always take into account the specific disciplinary content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge teachers should learn to be able to reach the PD goals. The goals of the study were to identify effective design elements of TEPD for developing nations and to enhance secondary technology education teaching in Benin, as well as in similar developing countries. Within the context of Benin technology education, four all-day sessions of the TEPD were carried out with 51 secondary school science teachers. Qualitative data, comprising teachers’ after-session journals, after-session evaluation sheets, class observations and interviews with teachers and students, were collected during the PD program. Results indicated that participants’ technology ...
TL;DR: It is concluded that effective interprofessional practice and positive outcomes for service users can only be assured by a commitment to ongoing IPE and service evaluation, followed by concerted, joint action to address barriers to implementation.
Abstract: Research repeatedly suggests that a lack of autism awareness, plus poor interprofessional working, is undermining the development of effective autism provision across Scottish services. In response, the University of Aberdeen developed an interprofessional education (IPE) programme in Autism and Learning designed to address these problems. This paper critically examines an evaluative research study of the effectiveness and impact of the programme. An adapted version of the Kirkpatrick–Barr et al. Framework of Outcomes is used as an analytical tool to explore the facilitating and inhibiting factors that influence the ‘implementation gap’; that is, translation of policy into effective interprofessional practice. Key barriers to implementation are explored in detail. It is concluded that effective interprofessional practice and positive outcomes for service users can only be assured by a commitment to ongoing IPE and service evaluation, followed by concerted, joint action to address barriers to implementation.
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative study of German and Swedish teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) in relation to student assessment is presented, which investigates the sources teachers use to improve their performance.
Abstract: This article presents a comparative study of German and Swedish teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) in relation to student assessment. It investigates the sources teachers use to im ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore mentoring from an identity (gender and race) perspective using similarity-attraction theory and suggest that higher levels of dissimilarity in a mentoring relationship may lead to disadvantage.
Abstract: In South Africa, until recently, mentoring has not been formalized as part of school leadership induction programmes or of leadership professional development. However, the South African government identified mentoring as a distinctive aspect of its pilot leadership development programme for school principals. This programme signalled a shift from ad hoc and informal mentoring to building mentorship into school leadership development programmes. However, there is still no clear understanding about what constitutes effective mentoring models and the significance of similarity and diversity in a mentoring relationship. In this paper I draw from two dissimilar datasets to explore mentoring from an identity (gender and race) perspective. Using similarity-attraction theory, the paper highlights the complexity of mentoring models and suggests that higher levels of dissimilarity in a mentoring relationship may lead to disadvantage.
TL;DR: The results of the comprehensive evaluation plan indicate, over time, increases in the implementation of building-level supports, rated performance of co-teaching partnerships and grades for students with disabilities in co-taught classrooms.
Abstract: The Arkansas Department of Education Co-teaching Project was designed to assist Arkansas schools in the implementation of more inclusive service delivery models for students with disabilities. The project began due to a need to increase the number of students being served in less restrictive environments, but evolved into a systematic statewide program that has impacted both service delivery as well as general and special education teacher practice. Support for the systemic change project was provided annually through a comprehensive professional development model including face-to-face and online professional development, technical assistance, informational resources, and ongoing evaluation. This article provides the details of the systemic change occurring over a five-year period through a comprehensive evaluation model. Participants in the project included five cohorts, 143 school districts, 208 schools, 789 teachers and 3920 students. The results of the comprehensive evaluation plan indicate, over tim...
TL;DR: This paper identified criteria for teacher leadership and teacher effectiveness in graduate programs and explored how they addressed teacher leadership versus teacher effectiveness using online resources and interviews, which revealed a spectrum of responses to the teacher effectiveness agenda as well as other market forces.
Abstract: Teacher leadership has been studied in the United States for 30 years, but less is known about American graduate programs that purport to prepare teacher leaders. Furthermore, the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 prompted a closer look at teacher effectiveness, which then shifted the definition of teacher leadership and caused some scholars to question the connection. This paper describes a conceptual/qualitative investigation that first identified criteria for teacher leadership and teacher effectiveness in graduate programs. Using online resources, we identified 21 graduate teacher leadership programs in America. Using website material and interviews, we explored how they addressed teacher leadership versus teacher effectiveness. The 21 programs were sorted into five categories, which revealed a spectrum of responses to the teacher effectiveness agenda as well as other market forces.
TL;DR: In this article, an analysis of a teacher development initiative in Iran, aimed at giving a group of experienced English-as-a-foreign-language writing teachers time to reflect on their practice, reveals some shaping influences that appear similar to influences observed in other developing contexts.
Abstract: This paper begins with a review of an emerging set of studies, combining a critical focus on reflective teacher development in developing educational contexts, and a greater level of authorial identification (as compared with previous studies) with the contexts being researched. Next, the paper adds to this emerging literature an analysis of a teacher development initiative in Iran, aimed at giving a group of experienced English-as-a-foreign-language writing teachers time to reflect on their practice. This analysis reveals some shaping influences that appear similar to influences observed in other developing contexts. At the same time, the analysis highlights particularities of this Iranian context. Consistent with findings in other contexts, the teachers’ reflections focused on their working conditions, but did not go very far beyond understanding the challenges these conditions constituted. The teachers also talked about their limited engagement with professional literature, and reflected on how this ma...
TL;DR: In this article, a professional development intervention organized for 16 engineering teachers divided among three teacher design teams (TDT) who planned and undertook industrial attachments to update their knowledge and skills in their subject areas.
Abstract: While teachers and administrators in polytechnics in Ghana have categorically expressed the growing need for the former’s knowledge and skills to be updated in the era of polytechnic transformation, little attention has been paid to the subject. This study reports a professional development intervention organised for 16 engineering teachers divided among three teacher design teams (TDT) who planned and undertook industrial attachments to update their knowledge and skills in their subject areas. With relevant knowledge acquired, they updated their courses and subsequently conducted teaching tryouts. Data collected during the study through interviews, questionnaires and a logbook sought teachers’ learning experiences in TDTs. The results indicated teachers’ acquisition of relevant knowledge and skills during the TDT activities. Furthermore, TDT enabled active learning, collaboration as well as dialogue on subject matter among teachers and was a useful means for the professional development process.