Collaborativeness as the core of professional learning communities beyond culture and context: evidence from Canada,Finland, and Israel

Professional learning communities (PLC) have been widely accepted as effective with respect to good atmosphere, adequate leadership practices, and functional working practices. However, the outcomes for school improvement depend on case-specific issues. To identify less culturally and contextually bound issues in 3 PLC settings in Canada, Finland, and Israel, we examined our cases through the notion of “collaborativeness”. It refers to a systematic and shared process consisting of efforts, ideas, and activities that aim at achieving synergy. By combining the 3 data sets and applying a special model, we were able to distinguish, through qualitative content analysis, ingredients of collaborativeness beyond culture and context that we consider particularly essential. The crucial factor proved to be a dynamic relationship between mutual and deep learning, realized through 5 different ways. We further believe that our results could serve other organizations striving for school improvement in other kinds of cultural and contextual settings.     

Collaborative teacher professional development in schools in England (UK) and Shanghai (China): cultures,contexts and tensions

ABSTRACT

This mixed method research explores the contexts, purposes, forms, practices, and effects of school provided collaborative professional development (PD) as experienced by teachers working in primary and secondary schools in England and Shanghai. The research is part of a larger partnership pilot study by the University of Nottingham and Shanghai Normal University, which focused on opportunities for and experiences of participation in formally organized professional development, using as a point of departure the findings of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 report of teachers’ perceptions of their professional development. Given the differences between the two jurisdictions in their PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) rankings, and between national cultures, teacher expectations and conditions of work, professional development purposes, forms and practices in schools might be expected to differ. The research found that there was a similar emphasis in both jurisdictions upon ‘functional’ rather than ‘attitudinal’ oriented professional development, but that teachers in Shanghai schools experienced more of the latter than those in the English schools studied. Such differences in the relative emphasis between the two jurisdictions upon the ‘attitudinal’, challenge the benefits of focusing collaborative professional development primarily upon the ‘functional’ in English schools.     

Teacher collaborative inquiry in the context of literacy education: examining the effects on teacher self-efficacy,instructional and assessment practices

This case study research reports on elementary (grade 8) and secondary school (grade 9) teachers’ participation in job-embedded, professional learning and engagement in collaborative inquiry. Teachers constructed an inquiry-oriented media literacy unit following the collaborative inquiry model. The current study sought to investigate how collaborative inquiry influenced their self-efficacy in literacy instruction, instructional and assessment practices. Qualitative data sources included researchers’ anecdotal notes, teacher interviews, and professional learning blog conversations. Inductive analyses of the data generated six major themes comprising enhancements to teachers’ literacy instructional and assessment practices, which were evident in their adoption of the backward-design model, use of success criteria, and greater emphasis on diagnostic and formative assessment. With respect to teachers’ self-efficacy, data analyses also revealed increased levels of intrinsic motivation, professional satisfaction, and reflective practice. This study provides evidence for the transformative potential and characteristics of school-based teacher collaborative inquiry and the resultant impacts on teacher learning.     

The role of the Support and Attention to Diversity Teacher (SADT) from a community-based perspective: Promoting educational success and educational inclusion for all

This article addresses the transformation of the role of the Support and Attention to Diversity Teacher (SADT), traditionally called special education faculty. The results are from a qualitative study in three inclusive preschool and elementary schools in Catalonia, Spain. The results demonstrate a transformation in the role of the SADT that mobilizes teachers, specialists and diverse agents in the community to join the work of educational support. The transformation of the SADT role fosters an improvement in the attention and learning of children in the classroom, and existing resources are optimized in collaboration with the entire educative community.     

The Irish Church Disestablishment Act (1869) and the general synod of the Church of Ireland (1871): the art and structure of educational reform

Historians have observed that the period 1860–1890 was educationally progressive. This paper identifies the renaissance with the creation of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland in the aftermath of Church Disestablishment. Disestablishment legislation facilitated the inclusion of the laity in Synod. The paper argues that the lay-clerical dynamic generated educational reform at all levels of provision. Post-Reformation denominational divisions qualify the discussion. The structure of Synod – General Synod, Diocesan Synods, Boards of Education and Education Committees – was the outcome of an intense debate as the post-Disestablishment Church of Ireland sought to reinvent itself. The ‘art’ of the title refers to Synod’s adroit use of this structure in promoting educational reform that mitigated tensions surrounding the religious-secular conflict which characterised Irish post-Famine modernisation. Synod’s role as agent of educational reform constitutes the theme. The paper aims to contribute to what, regretfully, remains an undeveloped historiography.     

The urban and the natural in education reform: the development of Hamburg Schullandheime (rural school hostels) in the 1920s

ABSTRACT

The desire to be close to nature and live in tune with it grew as industrialisation, urbanisation and the impact of technology became increasingly ubiquitous at the turn of the twentieth century. Throughout Europe, model schools were established in rural environments. These private reform schools could not solve the problems of public urban schools. Founded on the initiative of teachers and parents, the Schullandheim (rural school hostel) emerged as a new form bringing urban education and schooling close to nature after the First World War in Germany. Even if related pedagogic activities developed at that time in other countries there is no evidence for comparable institutions. Besides tracing the development of Schullandheime, the article shows how the school hostel idea was embedded in the contemporary educational discussion about the influence large cities had on youth and explores the educational and cultural differences within the school hostel movement through the use of visual material.     

论民国时期“政府主导、服务型”乡村改造模式——以民国江西农村服务为中心

1934年国民党在江西开展了农村服务运动。当时的民国江西农村工作者,从管教养卫四个方面开展农村服务工作,探索出了一套以政府主导、服务农村为特点的传统乡村社会改造模式,力图从多方面推动江西农村社会的现代化。尽管这种模式有其难以解开的死结,但仍是值得今天借鉴的农村改造模式之一。     

Dimensions of Time in the Jewish Educational Thought of Joseph Lukinsky: Reflections on Maybe the Lies We Tell Are Really True edited by Barry Holtz and David Kahn (JTS,New York 2016)

ABSTRACT

This article represents a first attempt to analyze and synthesize the theological, hermeneutic, and educational insights of Joseph Sander Lukinsky, who was one of the foremost Jewish educational thinkers and master practitioners of recent times. Particular attention is paid to Lukinsky’s theology of revelation, to his educational theory, his hermeneutic orientation, and his practical pedagogy. The conclusion represents an effort to integrate the major insights gathered from these areas into a coherent web of thought.