The role of teacher professional development in financial literacy education: A systematic literature review

This paper examines the elements essential to effective teacher professional development (TPD) in financial literacy education by means of a systematic literature review. We provide a theoretical underpinning for the literature review by proposing a revised presentation of an existing general TPD model. Our results provide insight into the student learning goals in financial literacy education, the desirable teaching behaviour, the required teacher quality and the contextual factors that play a role. However, our findings also suggest a lack of studies that systematically investigate whether and how TPD initiatives enhance the effect of financial education on students' financial literacy. Furthermore, existing literature fails to provide insight in how the six key features of TPD should be implemented to optimize its effectiveness.     

Teacher noticing: A systematic literature review of conceptualizations,research designs,and findings on learning to notice

Teacher noticing has become a prominent construct in research on teacher education and professional development; however, the current state of research is quite diverse, with different theoretical foundations and a variety of research designs. The study described in this paper provides a systematic review of the literature on teacher noticing published over the past two decades. Based on a full-text analysis of 182 articles published in renowned databases and peer-reviewed Englishscholarly journals, the study reveals the dominance of a cognitive-psychological perspective of teacher noticing, especially in combination with qualitative studies. Although teacher noticing has been described as a holistic concept in many earlier articles, more recent studies from the last decade tend to differentiate teacher noticing into different facets. Overall, qualitative studies with small sample sizes are prevalent, which allows for fine-grained analysis but limits the generalizability of findings. This study highlights the limitations of the current discussion, such as the prevalence of teacher noticing mainly in the field of mathematics education and the low representation of work from parts of the world other than North America and Europe. In addition, the studies under consideration in this literature review are examined in depth in terms of their findings on improving teachers’ noticing through interventions and on comparisons between experts and novices, which allows for a discussion of the implications of learning to notice for teacher education and professional development.     

How the structure and focus of teachers' collaborative activities facilitate and constrain teacher learning

What kinds of teacher collaboration are most likely to improve what teachers—and, ultimately, students—learn during their time in school? This study looks within and across different collaborative activities that occurred among one teacher team. Observational data analyzed through a sociocultural theoretical framework suggest how the structure and intended focus of collaborative activity can influence (1) how often and how concretely teachers discuss their teaching with colleagues; (2) which aspects of schooling collaboration will address; and (3) what opportunities for teacher learning are afforded and constrained. Intentionally focusing and structuring teachers' collaborative activity can improve its impact on schooling.     

Teacher,team, and school change through reciprocal learning

This paper documents the first year of a qualitative case study investigating the experiences of reciprocal learning teams of teachers within a small, rural secondary school. The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers experienced collaborative professional development (PD) and how their experiences contributed to developing the culture and structure of their school. Collected data were analyzed using an iterative process of coding, categorizing, and abstracting data. Three themes emerged: (a) self- and co-regulated learning in teams invigorated collegial relationships and contributed to a sense of agency toward change at the school level; (b) differentiating support for collaborative inquiry among teachers and within teams is critical; and (c) creating structures to support collaborative inquiry among teachers engages teachers in their ongoing professional learning. This case study of a rural secondary school demonstrates how deep and substantial school change can happen when teachers co-construct and co-regulate their PD.     

Critical features of professional development programs: Comparing content focus and impact of two large-scale programs

By comparing two large-scale professional development programs' content and impact on student achievement, we contribute to research on critical features of high quality professional development, especially content focus. Even though the programs are conducted in the same context and are highly similar if characterized according to established research frameworks, our results suggest that they differ in their impact on student achievement. We therefore develop an analytical framework that allow us to characterize the programs’ content and delivery in detail. Through this approach, we identify important differences between the programs that provide explanatory value in discussing reasons for their differing impacts.     

Supporting pupils in school with social,emotional and mental health needs: a scoping review of the literature

This article reports on a scoping review of the academic and related literature published between 2000 and 2015 that addressed the education provision for secondary aged pupils with social, emotional and/or mental health difficulties (SEMH) conducted over a six week period in 2015. A total of 168 documents met the inclusion criteria for the review, including 110 peer reviewed journal articles. The authors found an emerging evidence base to support more effective provision for pupils with SEMH, but there remains, particularly at the group and individual level a dearth of literature. Underpinning all the successful programmes in this review was a positive approach adopted by teachers and school leaders to pupils with SEMH. There was an overlap in practice between approaches used at universal, group and individual level but the majority of effective approaches were common to mainstream and specialist settings.     

School-level determinants of teacher collegial interaction: Evidence from lower secondary schools in England,Finland, South Korea,and the USA

This study investigated the influence of between-school differences in participative school climate, time and money as learning supports, frequency of teacher appraisal, school SES, and number of teachers on individual teacher's collegial interaction. Nationally representative data for 8869 teachers in 551 lower secondary schools in England, Finland, South Korea, and the USA were analyzed. In all four countries, a participative school climate was positively associated with teacher collegial interaction, while support in the form of extra compensation did not have a significant effect on teacher collegial interaction. The influence of other school-level features was not consistent across countries.     

Australian school practices and the education experiences of students with a refugee background: a review of the literature

Schools have the potential for significant impact on the lives of Australian students with a refugee background. Many of these young people speak at least one language other than English, have previous histories of interrupted schooling or have experienced trauma during times of displacement and forced migration. Combined with the further challenges of settling within an unfamiliar cultural frame, these students experience a range of circumstances which are not present for many of their Australian-born peers. Australian students with a refugee background have diverse skill and abilities, with many showing independence and resilience. Opportunities for academic learning and development of social capital within the school context can be enhanced with relevant pedagogy and policy which draws upon and highlights the positive individual qualities that these students exhibit. Australian school practices are shaped by both state and federal education policies, which are interpreted and applied by individual schools within their own frameworks. This review considers recent literature on the experiences of Australian students with a refugee background as they participate in schooling, with a focus on the ways in which schools provide either opportunities or barriers to engagement.     

Teacher job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession: Relations with school context, feeling of belonging, and emotional exhaustion

This study examines the relations between school context variables and teachers’ feeling of belonging, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, and motivation to leave the teaching profession. Six aspects of the school context were measured: value consonance, supervisory support, relations with colleagues, relations with parents, time pressure, and discipline problems. The participants were 2569 Norwegian teachers in elementary school and middle school. The data were analyzed by means of SEM analyses. All six school context variables were related to job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession. These relations were primarily indirect, mediated through feelings of belonging and emotional exhaustion.     

The role of feedback from the school leader during teacher evaluation for teacher and school improvement

Since the turn of the century, teacher evaluation has been introduced around the world with the intent to improve teaching. However, in the literature on teacher evaluation, often findings reveal critical accounts about the effectiveness of feedback in teacher evaluation for teacher and school improvement. This article presents a qualitative study in eight schools where teachers did indicate to find the feedback they discussed with school leaders during teacher evaluation processes useful. In this study, we investigate whether we can identify what teachers actually do with this feedback and which factors contribute to their response. Our findings demonstrate the importance of school organizational characteristics and an integrated leadership approach for the feedback response of teachers. Also, our findings reveal how teacher evaluation is used in these schools to further school improvement.     

How feedback can foster professional growth of teachers in the clinical workplace: A review of the literature

Student ratings of teaching have received much attention in both higher and medical education research. Paramount has been the attention to the robustness of the instruments used to capture these ratings as a source of feedback for teachers. However evidence is scarce with regard to what happens after ratings are fed back to the teachers. This paper will focus on feedback facilitation strategies needed for medical teachers in the workplace setting to improve their teaching. First, the attributes of clinical teaching will be introduced, followed by a disquisition on feedback uptake, and finally reflection as a tool to improve teaching. Second, several recently published strategies aimed at improving clinical teaching through the facilitation of feedback are discussed.     

Integrating the ontological,epistemological, and sociocultural aspects: a holistic view of teacher education

The three aspects of teacher change – ontological, epistemological, and sociocultural – are traditionally regarded as independent. Usually only the epistemological aspect is highlighted in formal teacher education. In this paper, I argue that a holistic and interdependent view of these aspects is needed. Thus, this paper aims to explore the process of teacher learning from a holistic perspective. Through deliberative discussions and selection, 13 ‘good’ teachers were interviewed in this study. The findings indicate that there may be a two-stage pattern (the II-VA model) that describes two different sorts of teachers. The first sort refers to those teachers who developed strong identities before beginning their teaching service and who tended to have a clearer educational vision which had a direct impact on their practices and professional development. As for the second sort, the teachers’ identities were vague in their first years of teaching, but their professional identities gradually developed within the referential community with affective and professional functions. These stages imply that we should replace ‘abstract theory’ with ‘subject reflection’ in the center of teacher education. Three kinds of reflection (theory-rationale, identity-integration and vision-accomplishment) are thus identified from a holistic view of teacher change.     

Power and perspective: the discourse of professional development school literature

This paper reports on the results of a study in which the discourse within 75 professional development school (PDS)-related publications was examined to determine where the power, influence, and representation lies in PDS partnerships, as indicated by how those partnerships are described in writing. The results found that while university faculty overwhelmingly wrote the articles, their perspectives and experiences were under-represented in the literature and, moreover, their influence within the partnerships appeared to be negligible. School and university administrators were similarly absent in PDS writing. Significantly, university authors and researchers represented themselves in a way that was highly deferential to practitioners and denigrated the role of theory and research in PDS work. In contrast to the traditional image of university dominance of partnerships, this research suggests that the real power and influence in PDS partnerships are the classroom teachers. The paper concludes with suggestions for creating a new, shared PDS discourse that tries to blur the artificial lines between theory and practice.     

Enhancing student engagement in pre-vocational and vocational education: a learning history

Interest in student engagement has increased over the past decade, which has resulted in increased knowledge about this concept and about the aspects that facilitate engagement. However, as yet, only a few studies have focused on engagement from the perspective of the teacher. In this study, we capture the experiences of teachers who were explicitly working with their teams on fostering student engagement. We used the learning history method to capture those experiences and at the same time to stimulate learning within the participating teams. A learning history includes the voices of the different participants involved in order to stimulate reflection and learning. Three teams of teachers participated in the writing of this learning history. Several teachers (n = 10), students (n = 10), and managers (n = 5) from or related to the teams were interviewed. The learning history shows that, on the one hand, teachers emphasized positive relationships and structure in relation to student engagement, yet, on the other hand, students continued to provide examples of negative relationships and mentioned a lack of structure, although they also mentioned improvements. Furthermore, the learning history showed that teachers in all teams reflected on their experiences and learned from the activities employed to foster student engagement, which included taking a more positive approach, conversations about a skills form, and being more consequent. These results taken together indicate that it is possible for teachers to do a better job of engaging their students and that their repertoire can be expanded to include more engagement-related actions. Finally, the learning history produced offers insight into the difficulties experienced by the teams. An important limitation mentioned by all teams was that teachers found it difficult to address each other’s behavior when someone did not act as agreed upon.     

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.     

Coherence and the positioning of teachers in professional development programs. A systematic review

Lately, scholars have argued that there is a consensus on a number of critical features of effective teacher professional development (PD). This study presents the results of a systematic review of one of these features: coherence. The analysis and synthesis of 95 papers show that coherence in PD is conceptualized in various ways, and thus that the aforementioned consensus can be questioned. For example, should PD (1) be coherent with external factors, such as standards and assessments; (2) be internally coherent, for example that activities within PD programs should be aligned; or (3) create coherence between goals that are either predetermined or negotiated together with teachers? The different conceptualizations of coherence all implicate how teachers are positioned in relation to PD programs and, in the light of our results, we argue that teachers are primarily seen as implementers expected to align their instruction with external and predetermined goals and practices.     

Peer‐mediated interventions with elementary and secondary school students with emotional and behavioural disorders: a literature review

Peer‐mediated interventions (PMIs) have been shown to be effective for increasing adaptive social and academic behaviours of children and youth. Although PMI efficacy is generally well supported, there have been relatively few published intervention studies that focus on elementary, middle and high school students with emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD). The present review examines selected empirical literature in order to identify characteristics and relative efficacy of PMI. Findings of 12 peer‐reviewed journal papers including research designs and outcomes were examined. Results provide support for the efficacy of PMI for improving behavioural and social skills of students with EBD. Recommendations include further research on PMI for high school students and longitudinal research of PMI.     

Inclusion in practice: a matter of school culture

The main aim of this study was to find out how reading and writing education can work successfully in practice without being exclusive. The teachers preferred heterogenous groups and emphasised the importance of various teaching methods and approaches so as to be able to deal with student diversity. They had a good theoretical foundation and the ability to link-up their theoretical knowledge with what they learned from experience to create action-oriented knowledge. The importance of each student being challenged in the next development zone was stressed. The teachers’ positive belief in their students’ ability and their commitment to the pedagogical process were other central factors. The successful results of the teachers’ work showed the importance of mentorship, co-operation with colleagues and continuous pedagogical discussions, led by a researching teacher, so as to promote the teachers’ own reflective ability. This created an inclusive school culture in which all the students felt they were competent, valued and never excluded.     

成人学习理论下教师教育与教师专业发展再思考

研究目的在于应用成人学习理论指导教师教育的实践,促进教师专业发展。首先,通过诺尔斯的成人教育学理论分析了成人学习理论对教师教育的适用性,探究各个成人学习论对教师教育的指导作用和对教师发展的促进作用,构建了较为完整的指导框架。然后,分别阐述了自我导向学习理论指导下教师教育生成内生动力,促进教师知识发展;转化学习理论对于教师教育提供新途径,促进教师伦理发展;熟练理论指导教师教育产生外部动力,帮助提升教师专业能力;情境学习理论指导下创设多元的教师教育环境,丰富教师实践经验。最后,成人学习理论于教师教育领域具有很强的适用性,应充分尊重教师成人身份和主体地位。