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Professional development

About: Professional development is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 81108 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1316681 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article explored the usefulness of communities of practice theory for understanding how districts can create organizational environments that foster teachers' opportunities to learn the new ideas and practices required to carry out ambitious reforms.
Abstract: This article explores the usefulness of communities of practice theory for understanding how districts can create organizational environments that foster teachers’ opportunities to learn the new ideas and practices required to carry out ambitious reforms. It draws on data from a longitudinal study of the implementation of ambitious mathematics curricula in two urban districts. By analyzing the contrasting ways that teachers in two schools in each district were linked to each other and reform efforts at the district level, the article shows how the district reform effort in one district led to significant opportunities for teacher learning and alignment with reform goals while efforts in the other district coordinated action but failed to spur meaningful opportunities for teacher learning. The article closes with implications for policy and practice.

194 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an alternative form of professional development using Japanese lesson study is proposed and discussed as a possibility and a case study involving the Mpumalanga Secondary Science Initiative, where lesson study was used, is described and its efficacy reviewed.
Abstract: We consider the professional development of in-service teachers and review traditional development efforts that have been used in the past. An alternative form of professional development using Japanese lesson study is proposed and discussed as a possibility. A case study involving the Mpumalanga Secondary Science Initiative, where lesson study was used, is described and its efficacy reviewed. The project was aimed at improving mathematics and science learning of secondary school learners using lesson study for teacher development. The discussion concludes with a reflection on the outcomes and efforts of the project. Keywords : lesson study; professional development; teacher learning

194 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examine the ways two middle school teachers talk about their identity and teaching practices and coordinate these self-reports with their own observations of how they implement a new environmental science curriculum, comparing teachers' beliefs about learning, goals for the classroom community and for instruction, and their knowledge of science content, and pedagogy.
Abstract: Identity is a complex construct, yet extremely important if we wish to understand the practice of teaching as a profession. In this paper, we examine the ways two middle school teachers talk about their identity and teaching practices and coordinate these self-reports with our own observations of how they implement a new environmental science curriculum. More specifically, we compare the teachers' beliefs about learning, goals for the classroom community and for instruction, and their knowledge of science content, and pedagogy. Furthermore, we discuss teaching dilemmas, which arise for these teachers as their identities and practices intersect and at times conflict. We argue, however, that a focus on practice and outcomes is an important, but limited aspect of what we, as a field, need to consider when attempting to understand the complexities of teaching and learning. Therefore, we continue to expand our understanding of two science classrooms as we examine the teachers' multiple identities in relation to their implementation of a science curriculum. The identity portraits from this study provide a rich and complicated account of the implementation of a science curriculum and illuminate a number of potential obstacles and pitfalls, which may inform the way we as a field reflect on curriculum and professional development. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed90:68–93, 2006

194 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Leigh Hall and Leslie Burns as discussed by the authors use theories of identity to understand mentoring relationships between faculty members and doctoral students who are being prepared as educational researchers, and they argue that faculty mentors must learn about and consider identity formation in order to successfully socialize more diverse groups of researchers.
Abstract: In this essay, Leigh Hall and Leslie Burns use theories of identity to understand mentoring relationships between faculty members and doctoral students who are being prepared as educational researchers. They suggest that becoming a professional researcher requires students to negotiate new identities and reconceptualize themselves both as people and professionals in addition to learning specific skills; however, the success or marginalization that students experience may depend on the extent to which they attempt to enact identities that are valued by their mentors. For this reason, Hall and Burns argue that faculty mentors must learn about and consider identity formation in order to successfully socialize more diverse groups of researchers, and they believe that formal curriculum designs can be used more intentionally to help students and faculty understand the roles identity plays in professional development and to make doctoral education more equitable.

194 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the relationship between teacher learning and collaboration in innovative teams was explored and the results give cause to rethink the nature of interdependence in collaboration, and the nature relationship between collaboration and learning.
Abstract: CCJE_A_481256.sg m idenuniv.nl In this study the relationship between teacher learning and collaboration in innovative teams was explored. A comparative case study was conducted in five temporary teams in secondary schools. Several quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used to examine collaboration, teacher learning, and the context for learning and collaboration. In cross-site analysis two complementary patterns of teacher learning and collaboration were identified. Collaboration in all teams could be characterized as 'sharing'. However, sharing was further specified with regard to differences in the content and aims of sharing. Different types of sharing were related to teacher learning. The results give cause to rethink the nature of interdependence in collaboration, and the nature of the relationship between collaboration and learning. A practical result may be that collaboration in innovative, temporary, and voluntary teams could be a promising direction for teacher professional development.

194 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20231,529
20223,496
20213,449
20204,267
20194,150
20183,947