The school leader’s role in school-based development

ABSTRACT

Background: While the school leader’s role is undoubtedly instrumental in school effectiveness, the specific influence of formal leadership on pupil learning is indirect and can be difficult to determine. Research findings suggest that school leaders can influence school organisation and pupil learning by acting catalytically, thus unlocking their schools’ existing potential. In school-based development, school leaders and their staff undergo a workplace development process, using school resources to contribute to it.

Purpose: This article explores the concept of leadership in school-based development, focusing on leading teacher learning processes in relation to pupil learning. The research problem is formulated in the following question: How is the school leader’s role enacted and experienced when enhancing teachers’ learning in school-based development? The intent of the study was to further the understanding of leadership in school-based development.

Sources of information and method: A qualitative interview study was conducted with teachers and leaders from three lower secondary schools, roughly 2 years after the schools participated in a formal school-based development project which was initiated by the Norwegian education authority. To present the findings based on the collected data, narrative texts were constructed.

Findings: The findings draw attention to the importance of leaders’ participation in the teacher learning processes of school-based development. The study highlights the importance of leaders building trust in their schools: development processes must be collegium-rooted with common goals for the whole school. The interplay of culture, structure and content is found to be necessary for successful school-based development. Furthermore, school leaders need to balance internal and external accountability, moving school practices towards local goals, which are constructed within national overall aims.

Conclusions: The study suggests that leaders require an overview of developmental processes to manage to support and progress development; leadership needs to be distributed. Further research on leaders’ learning in relation to school-based development can generate knowledge that serves as a thinking tool, thereby informing leaders’ actions in support of school-based development.     

Providing school-based learning in elementary school mathematics: the case of a professional development school partnership

Abstract

School–university partnerships also known as professional development school (PDS) partnerships provide potential for universities and schools to establish partnerships that can benefit university faculty, school teachers, university students, and school students. This study examines the impact of a PDS partnership in which the author served as a school-based mathematics coach for two years in a high-need elementary school. Data sources included interviews, surveys, and field notes from classroom observations. Inductive qualitative analyses which were situated in a multi-level framework for researching professional development found that teachers posed more cognitively demanding mathematical tasks and high-level questions in year two compared to year one of this project. Further, student achievement was noted on both state-wide and district-created assessments. Also teachers reported that the school-based approach to professional development led to some teachers taking on more informal leadership roles to support their colleagues’ mathematics instruction. Implications for school-based learning opportunities across the world include the need to establish specific university–school partnerships, and carefully designing research studies to examine the impact of these learning opportunities.     

Tensions and challenges in China’s education policy borrowing

Abstract

Background: This article critically discusses the key tensions and challenges arising from the educational policy borrowing in China, through its current education reform. Focussing on the new curriculum reform (NCR), the paper highlights the interactions and conflicts between foreign and local ideologies and practices.

Sources of evidence: The main sources of evidence that form the basis of the analysis for this article were research data from an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews conducted with 166 school principals, vice-principals and teachers from China between 2013 and 2015.

Main argument: It is argued that the NCR has borrowed selective ideas and practices from elsewhere, such as a school-based curriculum, student-centred pedagogy and formative assessment. It is further suggested that the borrowed policies are mediated and moderated by the ideological attitude of the Chinese educational stakeholders, stemming from the notion of ‘theory-ladenness’ within an exam-oriented paradigm.

Conclusions: The example of China illustrates the effects of an ideological attitude on educational policy borrowing that challenges the notion of universally appropriate ways of teaching, learning and reforming an educational system.     

Teacher collaboration in curriculum design teams: effects,mechanisms, and conditions

ABSTRACT

Collaborative design positively affects both professional development and the implementation of curriculum change, because teachers develop competencies and practice and develop ownership of the change. The current study was aimed to explore what empirical evidence is available about processes that take place when teachers co-design and how these contribute to professional development and curriculum change. Evidence from 14 PhD studies was collected to study their impact on teacher learning and curriculum change, by analysing effects, mechanisms, and conditions. Results showed that effects of curriculum design teams, in terms of learning outcomes for teachers in areas such as (pedagogical) content knowledge and design knowledge and skills, became manifest in the outcomes of the curriculum design process, and in the appreciation by the stakeholders. We concluded that professional development, through collaborative design in teams, which is specific and linked to the curriculum, influences teachers’ knowledge and practice and impacts implementation of curriculum change.     

Manipulating and diversifying the levels of difficulty and task‐sophistication of one and the same laboratory exercise

Summaries

English.

The major national curriculum development projects in the UK were produced between 1963 and 1973. Although funded by two differentnational organizations, there has been considerable co‐operation and overlap of project staff and ideas resulting in a continuousrefinement of the centre‐periphery model used. By the end of the 10‐year period the model's defects had become clear and the continuing national projects considered it essential to request additional funds for further dissemination and after‐care. Subsequent projects have mostly been based on a local curriculum development model involving practising teachers to a much greater extent both in the curriculum development process and in the preparation of materials.

It has become apparent that there is no single measure on which a project can be called successful or on which it can be determined that a project has ‘taken root’. Projects can fulfil their proposers’ wildest hopes and yet achieve little uptake; or, they can take root in the sense of having a considerable impact on science education in general whilst being substantially used by only a minority of the target group of teachers. The thesis of this article is that whilst dissemination and after‐care are essential, they are not sufficient to ensure uptake. Of prime importance isthe general attitude to curriculum development; the relevance of theprojects materials and ideas to the problems teachers face in schools; the extent to which they offer teachers fulfilment without requiring a complete re‐evaluation of their perspective to education and the cost in terms of equipment, materials and manpower.     

Fostering Connections to Nature — Strategies for Community College Early Childhood Teachers

ABSTRACT

How can early childhood teacher educators at the community college level create opportunities for their students to explore and relate to the natural world? This article discusses three learning opportunities in an early childhood associate-degree program that foster connections between preservice and inservice early childhood teachers and nature education — the Goldsworthy project, a local habitat course, and an animal study project in a curriculum course. Each learning opportunity helped teachers develop effective teaching strategies for engaging children with nature education and also a personal and professional disposition toward valuing nature education as future teachers.     

Teachers’ learning in school-based development

Background and purpose: Many researchers agree that teachers’ learning processes are social and that teachers need to be brought together to learn from each other. Researchers have also stated that intellectual and pedagogical change requires professional development activities that take place over a period of time in school. The purpose of the study presented in the article was to develop knowledge about the teachers’ learning when taking part in a school-based development project. Main argument: The study shows that it takes some time before the teachers identify with the work in school-based development. Even though the national authorities decided what to focus on during the development work, the participating teachers felt that they had autonomy in the work. The study presented in the article shows that it is important for the teachers’ learning culture that they are listened to and taken into consideration and that the leaders have competence in leading school-based development to support the teachers’ learning. Sources of evidence and method: The article is based on a study connected with school-based development in three lower secondary schools. Qualitative interviews were used as the data-collection strategy to capture the teachers’ and school leaders’ experiences and reflections. Conclusion: The article presents new knowledge connected with teachers’ learning in school-based development. The study presented in the article shows that schools’ learning culture can make a difference for the teachers’ learning and their job satisfaction and wellbeing.     

Use of national parks for outdoor environmental education: An Australian case study

Abstract

The need for environmental education through outdoor education experiences is becoming increasingly evident in outdoor education theory and practice. In Australia, this environmental focus is reflected in recent outdoor education curriculum documents, particularly in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). For many outdoor education teachers who do not have expertise in environmental education, this curriculum development presents a challenge. Outdoor education teachers frequently use National Parks to help them address this challenge.

The study examined the educational objectives and roles of teachers and park staff involved in environmental education through outdoor education in National Parks in Victoria, Australia. This paper discusses findings related to the teachers' educational objectives and roles while those of the park staff are examined in a separate paper. The findings indicate that the teachers often lack the environmental knowledge and skills needed to teach some aspects of the curriculum thus making the role of the park ranger or education officer particularly significant in educating teachers as well as students. Issues are raised about the training of outdoor education teachers and of park rangers to meet the environmental education needs of outdoor education students. Questions are also raised about the appropriateness of using National Parks for outdoor education purposes.     

The teacher educator’s role as enacted and experienced in school-based development

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on teacher educators’ role and how it was enacted and experienced by teachers and leaders in a school-based development project. The arena for the teachers’ professional development was the school, and teacher educators at one teacher-education institution and three schools took part in the research. Teacher educators, teachers and school leaders were interviewed two years and two months after they formally took part in the project, for one year in a pilot program and afterward for three semesters. The findings show that the teacher educators enacted their roles differently, and that they realise that they should have collaborated more and coordinated their experiences from collaborations with teachers and leaders to learn from their experiences in school. The leaders and teachers were satisfied with the teacher educators’ lectures, but the teachers wanted more dialogue with teacher educators and felt that teacher educators should have helped them transform their knowledge into teaching actions in practice. Teacher educators taking part as supporters in teachers’ practice truly could infiltrate instruction and learning. The study demonstrates that culture, structure and content need to be coordinated to enhance school-based development.     

Needed: Citizen Conservationists

Abstract

The author reports the results of a seminar with Russian secondary school teachers that explored the integration of English as a foreign language (EFL) competencies with environmental studies. Texts were selected for a comparative American and Russian environmental literature curriculum for advanced students of English, which inspired the Antaeus Project, an international collaboration between schools that offers a cross-cultural curriculum grounded in local environments.     

The Effect of the Sunship Earth Program on Knowledge and Attitude Development

ABSTRACT:

The influence of the earth education program, Sunship Earth, on ecological knowledge and environmental attitudes was examined. It was found that students who attended the Sunship Earth program increased their ecological knowledge significantly. Participation in the Sunship Earth program did not result in more positive environmental attitudes. Part of the success of the Sunship Earth program is attributed to the setting in which it occurs and the techniques used to develop ecological concepts. The need for more opportunities for teachers to develop skills in environmental education and to participate in environmental education curriculum development that would link extension education more firmly to the school curriculum is discussed.     

Team teaching implementation in engineering education: teacher perceptions and experiences

ABSTRACT

In 2014, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences implemented a fundamental change in its curriculum from small single topic 3–5 credits courses into 15 credits multidisciplinary courses implemented by teacher teams. This paper focuses on how teachers of Information Technology programs experienced the reform. Research data include teacher feedback and opinions that were collected during training sessions and interviews. Team teaching is a substantial change for teachers that raises concerns about time management, getting enough compensation for the work and possible loss of teacher autonomy. However, teacher teams that managed to overcome these challenges saw a variety of benefits in the new approach. Not only was team teaching seen as a means for providing students with the skills they need, but it also was discovered as a way to enhance the teacher’s own professional development.     

Working locally as a true professional : case studies in the development of local curriculum

Abstract

This article investigates the dynamic overall picture concerning the development of local curriculum in Thailand through action research conducted by 27 Thai elementary school teachers in three private schools in Fang District, Chiang Mai Province. This was the teachers' first experience with action research. The article examines the following questions: ‘How do teachers develop local curriculum through action research?’ and ‘What is the impact of action research on the professional learning of teachers?’ The field research methodology was primarily based on participant observation and informal interviews. The findings illustrate the various factors impacting on the development of local curriculum in Thailand through the action research of the teachers. They also shed light on the main role of the researcher in monitoring the progress of the project and acting as facilitator. The article also discusses the positive impact of the action research process on the professional learning of the teachers and reveals the unique cycle form of the action research process of Thai teachers.     

The Impact of a Professional Development Program on Teachers' Understandings about Watersheds,Water Quality,and Stream Monitoring

Abstract

Professional development programs should provide teachers with experiences that develop their knowledge and skills to integrate environmental field studies into their school curriculum. This article reports on a professional development model that engaged teachers in designing and conducting local environmental science research projects. An overview of the professional development model is provided and evaluation data are reported, detailing the impact of the professional development model on teachers' understandings about watersheds, water quality, and stream monitoring.     

Science and environmental education at the primary level in Malta: separate interests,different roles

Abstract

This paper traces the main stages in the path towards the recognition in 1988 of the place of science and environmental education in the Maltese curriculum for the primary level. A brief review is given of the development of the science curriculum while a more detailed account is given of the development of a project on environmental education. The project involved the adoption of a model of the child's view of the environment, the drawing up of an ensemble of attainment targets, and the exploration of ways of infusing environmental education activities into the curriculum. A draft teacher's manual was circulated and evaluated at a national seminar. Major points arising during the seminar are discussed and plans for the dissemination of the work are outlined. Comparing the roles that teachers are asked to play in these developments, it is found that environmental education offers them more opportunity for professional growth.     

HELIOS Education Gold Award Winner

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a collaborative project between the staff of twelve mainstream schools and Suffolk Local Education Authority staff which has aimed to develop differentiated teaching strategies. The project has developed teaching and assessment techniques for pupils with literacy difficulties and approaches to delivering aspects of the whole curriculum to pupils with special educational needs. The project recognizes the central importance of mainstream teachers if integration for pupils with special educational needs is to be a truly meaningful educational experience.     

Environmental Knowledge and Attitudes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess perceived environmental education (EE) curriculum needs in the United States (K-16). The Environmental Education Curriculum Needs Assessment Questionnaire (EECNAQ) was developed, validated, and direct-mailed to 169 randomly selected professional environmental educators (58.6% return rate). The EECNAQ elicited perceptions about the desired status and the current state of EE curricula, the need for curriculum development, the anticipated use of curricula teachers, and the need for inservice teacher education. These five major questions were posed relative to fifteen goals which reflected the Tbilisi objectives and four levels of environmental literacy. The findings reveal a consensus among the professional participants that the EE goals are important ones, that they are not being met to a large extent in existing curricula, that extensive needs exist for both goal-oriented curricula and teacher education, and that the goaloriented curricula would be used by teachers.