Head teachers’ leadership for social justice and inclusion

This article is concerned with exploring the ways in which head teachers’ leadership for social justice is understood and enacted within the context of inclusion. Head teachers’ leadership praxis is influenced by individual understandings of social justice, as well as dominant institutional realities and policy priorities that indicate the extent to which there is commitment to the process of socially just change. This commitment is significantly manifested in the ways in which an educational system advances new forms of professionalism, effectiveness indicators and accountability regimes that are aligned with concerns about providing socially just and non-discriminatory learning communities for learner diversity.     

Roles,practices and contexts for acting as agents of social justice – student teachers’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

Student teachers are oftentimes encouraged to apply theoretical principles of social justice to their professional practice. However, this can be problematic when theoretical knowledge is contested or if it is inconsistent with the practices in their future workplaces. Studies in this area often examine student teachers’ beliefs and understanding of their roles without taking account of how concrete working contexts shape what they see as possible in their practice. This study explored how students in two teacher education programmes based at the University of Edinburgh perceived their roles, practices and contexts for acting as agents of social justice. Mixed methods were used for data generation and triangulation including a questionnaire survey (n = 299) and scenario-based interviews (n = 9) to explore how students think about social justice issues in context. Student teachers generally saw agency for social justice as part of their role. Their understanding of the ways of addressing context-embedded issues of social justice focused on classroom practices while they raised concerns about how their practice depends on others in the system. We discuss the implications of these findings for teacher education.     

Medical models for teachers’ learning: asking for a second opinion

Recently there has been renewed interest in basing teachers’ professional learning on medically derived models. This interest has included clinical practice models and evidence-based teaching as well as the use of various forms of ‘Rounds’ which claim to derive from medical rounds. However, many arguing for these approaches may well not have a detailed knowledge of the actuality of professional learning in medicine but may be basing their ideas on idealised models drawn from popular conceptions. In addition, the model used by some calling for medically derived teacher learning is biomedicine, an area in which parallels with Education are difficult. This paper argues that mental health and public health provide a better analogue for Education than biomedicine. It considers some of the lessons that can be drawn from research on evidence-based practice in these areas. The paper concludes that a way forward is neither uncritically to assume the superiority of medical models of professional learning nor to rely only on empirical evidence from Education, but rather to enter into dialogue with colleagues in mental and public health about shared concerns and experiences in professional learning.     

Fostering teachers’ autonomous motivation during professional learning: a self-determination theory perspective

Employing a self-determination theory lens, this qualitative case study analyzed the impact of a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics professional learning program on six elementary schoolteachers’ autonomous motivation. The outcomes revealed that the program was successful in accommodating the teachers’ needs to feel competent, related, and autonomous. The teachers reported that the program supported their volitional will to engage in self-directed learning by offering them choice, encouragement, and constructive feedback. The teachers were also provided with ample time and resources to enhance their instructional knowledge and showcase their new skills. Moreover, the teachers were able to strengthen existing relationships and expand their professional community. These relationships provided additional support for the teachers and contributed to their growth and development.     

Opportunities and limitations for learning within teachers’ collaboration in teams: perspectives from action learning

Researchers posit that teachers' teaching and learning are improved by teachers' collective efforts to examine and reflect on practice. Yet the questions of what and how teachers learn when collaborating with colleagues remain unanswered: What kinds of knowledge and skills do teachers acquire in conjunction with their collaboration? What brings about teachers' learning when they collaborate in teams? And how does their learning affect their practice? In this paper I will examine to what extent action learning can contribute to answering these questions from a Danish perspective.

I begin the paper by presenting action learning, which formed the framework for the teacher team collaboration that provides the empirical fundament of this paper, and by discussing my roles as consultant and researcher. Thereafter, first the possibilities, then the limitations of teachers' collaboration in teams for learning are discussed. Finally, several methodological dilemmas are considered and the paper's conclusions are presented.     

Cultivating sustained teachers’ professional learning within a centralised education system

This study investigates how sustained professional learning for teachers within a centralised system was cultivated. Specifically, the sustained professional learning was initiated by officers from the headquarters (HQ) and involved interested teachers across schools in Singapore. Qualitative instruments were used to collect and analyse the data in examining the partnerships perceived by the participants. The enablers responsible to bring about sustained professional learning are proposed. A contribution of this study is to clarify how resources in the HQ and its schools can be bridged. Deliberate bridging of resources is critical particularly at the initial stage of the partnerships. This bridging is made possible through dedicated appointed champions. The appointed champions are passionate about the educational innovations and are willing to invest their time to understand the teachers’ needs. This paper argues that the enablers can offer opportunities for lateral networks to be forged within a hierarchical system.     

Historicising teachers’ learning: a case study of productive professional practice

This paper reveals the significant historical traces which informed the learning practices of teachers at one particular school site in a rural and regional educational district in Australia. Drawing upon recent theorising into professional practice, the paper argues that teacher learning practices are intrinsically ‘ecologically’ related to teachers’ practices at specific sites. However, extending beyond this theorising, the research also reveals how teacher learning – in the case presented, in relation to classroom dialogue – is also significantly influenced by earlier learning experiences of the teachers involved. In this way, teachers’ practices are revealed as not only influenced by present-day, site-specific, whole-school teacher learning, but also by particular events encountered by teachers at an earlier phase of their careers. The research argues for a conception of teachers’ learning which is not only site-informed and ecologically arranged, but also deeply temporally embedded.     

Improving preservice teachers’ scientific argumentative writing through epistemic practices: a learning progression approach

Improving preservice teachers’ argumentative competence is a social and educational imperative. This study focuses on the contribution of a sequence of learning tasks, designed as epistemic practices and following a learning progression approach, to enhancing student teachers’ scientific argumentative writing. The participants were 47 preservice primary teachers who enrolled in a Developmental Psychology course, and one lecturer. Preservice teachers progressively acquired the vast majority of aspects involved in scientific argumentative writing. The most important difficulties experienced by the preservice teachers revolved around intertextuality and the creation of theses. Key conclusions on this teacher education experience are presented in the final section of the paper.     

The discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and practices: a study of kindergarten teachers in Hong Kong

This study examines the discrepancy between teachers’ beliefs and practices in Hong Kong kindergartens and the factors that influence this discrepancy. Three kindergartens, considered by the Hong Kong Education Bureau to be of varying quality, were chosen from different areas of Hong Kong. Questionnaires about teaching beliefs were administered to 35 teachers from these kindergartens. These quantitative data were supplemented with qualitative data gathered during individual interviews with five of the teachers and the three principals. In addition, a focus group of five early childhood education specialists commented on the videotaped observations of the classroom practices of the five interviewed teachers. The findings showed that all of the teachers endorsed the advocated teaching beliefs, but there was a discrepancy between their beliefs and practices. The most significant factors contributing to the discrepancy were teachers’ professional education and their attitudes towards personal teaching introspection. Teachers were also under pressure from parents’ curriculum requests, demands on the children’s academic abilities and expectations for a strong link to Primary One. Enhanced early childhood education training that helps teachers to be introspective about their own teaching practices and beliefs is recommended. Government support is also required to teach parents what constitutes a high-quality learning environment for young children.     

Student teachers’ and in-service teachers’ peer learning: a realist synthesis

The aim of this review in the form of a realist synthesis is to understand what makes peer (student) teacher learning activities effective. Three types of peer learning were explored: collaborative, coaching, and assessment activities. Hypotheses were developed and tested against a set of 63 studies. These hypotheses indicated what mechanisms (i.e., characteristics of the activities) would influence the effectiveness of the activities and which contexts (i.e., factors) influenced this process. Findings showed that activities wherein participants gain subject matter and pedagogical content knowledge and apply this into practice made such learning effective. Peer learning is also reinforced by facilitators, reflection, and feedback, and influenced by personal and interpersonal factors. The main contribution of this realist synthesis is the practical implications for developers of peer learning activities, for school leaders and teacher educators, and for (student) teachers.     

Striving for social sensitivity: the impact of a social justice project on student teachers’ understanding of pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds

This paper considers the concerning issue of social disadvantage in N. Ireland schools and suggests that the majority of those entering the teaching profession are ill-equipped to empathise with pupils in disadvantaged areas and thus less enabled to offer effective pastoral care. It argues that this lack of preparedness stems from backgrounds very different to that of these pupils and also from an initial teacher education which does not provide a systematic practical experience in schools in ‘challenging’ areas. The paper briefly outlines a small-scale ITE social justice project undertaken at Stranmillis University College, Belfast designed to provide such experience and, citing specific evidence from data gathered in a recent evaluation, offers it as a model of preparing student-teachers to better understand the realities of their pupils’ lives through extended pre-service contact.     

Modelling pre-service teachers’ perceived usefulness of an ICT-based student-centred learning (SCL) curriculum: a Singapore study

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence pre-service teachers’ perceived usefulness of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) course that was conducted using the student-centred learning (SCL) approach. In this study, perceived usefulness was used as the dependent variable and perceived competence, course delivery, facilitating conditions and learning environment as independent variables. The results of this study showed that perceived competence and course delivery have direct effects on pre-service teachers’ perceived usefulness of the course, while learning environment and facilitating conditions affect perceived usefulness indirectly. Overall, the results support the hypothesis that the four selected variables in this study affect perceived usefulness and that the resulting model is an adequate fit to the observed relationships among the factors that influenced pre-service teachers’ perceived usefulness of an ICT course.     

‘I was kind of teaching myself’: teachers’ conversations about social justice and teaching for change

This article shares teachers’ conversations within teacher inquiry groups and considers how this reflective approach has potential for transforming teachers’ practices. Conversations took place at the early stages of a longer teacher inquiry project and centred on the critical interrogation of social justice-oriented children’s literature. These conversations served as a forum to help teacher professional learning communities and to reconcile understandings about social justice, action and agency within larger political and cultural forums of teaching. The teacher inquiry sessions shared in this paper explore teachers’ beginning struggles with conceptualizations of social justice, and the teacher’s role in imparting values to students. Teacher participants imparted their experience and practice as they negotiated their own understanding and implementation of social justice education in their schools. The teacher inquiry groups provided a needed supportive space where classroom teachers’ struggles were shared alongside their beliefs and pedagogical approaches so that a social justice agenda could be achieved.     

Secondary science teachers’ implementation of CCSS and NGSS literacy practices: a survey study

Most middle and high school students struggle with reading and writing in science. This may be because science teachers are reluctant to teach literacy in science class. New standards now require a shift in the way science teachers develop students’ literacy in science. This survey study examined the extent to which science teachers report implementing science literacy practices from the Common Core Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects and the Next Generation Science Standards with their students. A survey detailing these practices was emailed to all secondary science teachers (N = 2519) in one northeastern state and 14% of them (n = 343) responded. Practices that aligned more closely with disciplinary literacy skills and strategies were implemented more often when compared to the practices aligned with intermediate literacy skills and strategies. Since the development and intermediate skills are important to support students’ literacy progression from foundational to disciplinary, secondary science teachers may not be providing enough support for their students to be competently literate in science, in a fundamental literacy sense. This, in turn, impacts students’ ability to use fundamental literacy skills toward knowledge-building in science, achieving a derived sense of science literacy.     

Metaphor as a methodological tool: identifying teachers’ social justice dispositions across diverse secondary school settings

This article investigates the social justice dispositions of teachers and principals in secondary schools as inferred from their metaphoric expressions. Drawing on a Bourdieuian account of disposition, our focus is the use of metaphor as a methodological tool to identify and reveal these otherwise latent forces within our data. Our analysis shows evidence of redistributive, recognitive and activist conceptions of social justice. We argue that these three social justice dispositions may be insufficient to meaningfully address persisting inequalities in the school system and that a capability-based social justice disposition – absent in our data – is needed. We conclude by highlighting that: social justice dispositions can change; a valid interpretation of metaphors requires ‘contextual stabilization’; and metaphors for social justice are differently constructed in different contexts, influenced by the different social, cultural and material conditions of schools.     

Integration of learning for refugee and migrant students: VET teachers’ practices through practice theory lens

The study reported here used a practice theory lens to understand vocational education and training (VET) teachers’ current practices in supporting integration of learning in educational institutions and workplaces – specifically for refugee and migrant students. A case study was conducted with 10 teachers delivering aged care programmes in South East Queensland, Australia and in a municipality in West Sweden. During in-depth interviews teachers explained the enabling and challenging aspects of their practice, and specific strategies they used to support students with integration of learning in the two main sites. Analyses of data concentrated on understanding three types of arrangements in the practice architectures at the two learning sites. Teachers extended their everyday pedagogical approaches to support integration of learning and meet the specific needs of refugee and migrant students. Their teaching comprised interdependent practices of VET and aged care in two settings, each with distinct ecologies of practice. Their narratives reflect contestations between practice traditions of aged care practices in Australia and Sweden, and students’ understandings and reflections of practices in their birth countries. We conclude that teacher training and adjustments to these arrangements can bridge contestations between the enacted and experienced curriculum in the two sites.