Boundary brokering for cross-cultural professional learning in international school contexts

Although much research has been done on the internalisation of education, issues related to intercultural professional learning, especially in the school education context, remain underexplored. This study examines the potential of boundary brokering in facilitating cross-cultural professional learning in an international school context. This article reports the qualitative findings from an interview study with seven non-ethnic Chinese language teachers who resided at the borders of Chinese and western communities of practice on their boundary brokering experience in bridging the different norms of being and practice in the Chinese teacher community and the western communities in international schools in Asia. Interview responses from the participants show that the participants’ cultural brokering generated critical and eclectic perspectives and practices, and reshaped the power landscape in the workplace. At the same time, their cultural brokering was shaped by the interactions among power relations within and across communities of practice, social suggestions on cultural brokering and the boundary brokers’ self-positioning. The findings suggest that cultural brokering could serve as a potential teacher professional development tool to foster reciprocal learning across culture borders. The complex network of influencing factors at play suggests that, in order to facilitate positive cultural brokering, it is necessary to adopt a systemic approach that underscores resetting valued skills and expertise within and across communities, creating a positive school culture that encourages reciprocal learning and managing individual teachers’ brokering mentalities and capacities.     

Creating foundations for collaboration in schools: Utilizing professional learning communities to support teacher candidate learning and visions of teaching

Despite widespread acknowledgment of the power of professional collaboration, the norm in most schools is teachers working in isolation. Our study examined the impact of multiple layers of professional collaboration intentionally integrated into a one-year preservice teacher education program working in two elementary schools. Analysis of 23 teacher candidates' written reflections, focus group interviews, and classroom observations indicated that supported by collaboration with colleagues, they developed the skills and commitment to teach each student for understanding. Based on our research, we propose a shift in teacher education toward collaborative inquiry about teaching and learning within school/university partnerships.     

Integrated initial and continuing training as a way of developing the professional agency of teachers and student teachers

In this paper, we discuss training aimed at supporting the professional agency of teachers and student teachers. Drawing on socio-cultural and post-structural theories, we conceptualize professional agency as achieved by participation in professional practices. We employ our conceptualization in an analysis of a Finnish pilot training that combined initial and continuous training for preschool and primary school teachers. We argue that the practices of reflection and collective enquiry inherent in the model offer a fruitful starting point for further efforts to understand how to support the development of the professional agency of teachers and student teachers simultaneously.     

Great expectations: Teacher learning in a national professional development programme

This paper reports findings from an evaluation of a national continuing professional development (CPD) programme for teachers in England. Data showed that the localised implementation, opportunities for interactive learning, and ‘collective participation’ were positive factors. Research participants reported difficulties, however, in ‘cascading’ knowledge to colleagues and in sustaining and developing their learning. It is argued that these limitations were rooted in an inconsistent theory of learning that underpinned the programme and a failure to conceptualise teachers as ‘lead learners’ in schools. Wider implications for the design of teachers’ professional development are considered.     

An evaluation of the collaborative mode of professional development for teachers in special schools in Hong Kong

This study, by Fuk‐chuen Ho of the Hong Kong Institute of Education and Michael Arthur‐Kelly of the University of Newcastle, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a professional development programme for in‐service teachers in Hong Kong special schools. The goal of the programme was to deliver a field‐based mode of training for teachers in special schools. A school cluster system was set up, with the goal of providing participants with a platform through which it is possible to conduct an interactive exchange of ideas, resources, services and expertise, mutually addressing the issues pertaining to children with special needs. Twelve school clusters were organised. Participants in this study included four educators from teacher training institutions, 31 expert teachers from supporting schools, and 101 trainees from participating schools. The most significant response came from trainees, because the participating schools had the opportunity to apply the learned skills in their own classrooms.     

Understanding legitimate teacher authority in a cross-cultural teaching context: pre-service Chinese language teachers undertaking teaching practicum in international schools in Hong Kong

Legitimate teacher authority is fundamental to effective teaching, but is often a thorny issue that teachers need to grapple with when teaching in cross-cultural teaching contexts. By interviewing 18 pre-service Chinese language teachers on their understanding of legitimate teacher authority throughout teaching practicum at international schools in Hong Kong, this study revealed that the teachers changed their perception about the essentiality and the nature of the pedagogical and interpersonal components of legitimate teacher authority. They developed a more nuanced and balanced understanding about legitimate teacher authority over time. However, their abilities in reaching the balance were constrained by their cultural knowledge and skills in achieving positive interpersonal dynamics when implementing student-centred pedagogies.     

Teacher agency and identity commitment in curricular reform

This study explores how teachers enact agency to facilitate their professional development during curricular reform at a Chinese university. An analysis of data derived from life history interviews with eight language teachers complemented with field notes reveals differential agentic choices and actions. The teachers' learning, teaching and research endeavours in relation to the new curriculum are directed by various identity commitments and enacted in highly individualised ways, as mediated by their prior experiences. By situating teachers' agency in their individual professional trajectories, this study conceptualises interaction of teacher agency and identity commitment to professional development during curricular reform.     

The role of teachers’ orientation to learning in professional development and change: A national study of teachers in England

This paper uses results from a national survey of teachers in England to test a hypothesised model of teacher orientation to learning (consisting of beliefs, practice and experiences about learning) and its relationship to teacher learning change. Results from a structural equation modeling process of 1126 teacher survey responses show that teachers bring an internal, external and collaborative orientation to their professional learning. The beliefs and practices associated with these orientations are also shown to have a moderate influence, via path analysis, on teacher learning change defined as a composite outcome of change in beliefs, practices and students.     

Blended learning in higher education: professional development in a Hong Kong university

ABSTRACT

Online learning has become a ubiquitous part of the educational landscape and how teachers are supported in developing approaches to teaching online is a fundamental aspect of the students’ learning experience. Based on the implementation of a professional development course on becoming an online teacher offered in a blended learning mode at one university in Hong Kong, this article proposes that offering this type of professional development in a blended mode is very effective in facilitating enhanced usage of the university’s learning management system. In a blended mode, teachers are actively engaged with blended learning and were found to make more extensive use of features/tools in Blackboard after they attended the professional development course. Results support that offering professional development in a blended mode provides teachers with an authentic student perspective, at the same time as they take guided steps in the teacher’s role in blended learning.     

Educational reforms and the practices of professional learning community in Hong Kong primary schools

Abstract

This study explored the characteristics of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Hong Kong primary schools. It investigated the profiles of the strengths of professional learning community in schools under study and particularly examined the practices in schools which were identified as strong PLCs. It extends research on PLCs in the Hong Kong context and formulates a quantitative perspective to compare and validate PLC variables across schools in Hong Kong. The Professional Learning Community Questionnaire (PLCQ) for Hong Kong schools was developed to assess the PLC practices in six different areas: leadership for teacher learning, collaborative learning capacity, student-focused orientation, a culture of sharing, mutual understanding and support, and continuous professional development. A composite construct, the Professional Learning Community Index (PLCI) expressed in quantitative terms was utilized to assess the strength of PLC in a school. The research findings show that within the schools which were identified as strong professional learning communities, both the school leaders and teachers had strong emphases on the six subscales of the PLC practices.     

Modelling the effects of principal leadership and school capacity on teacher professional learning in Hong Kong primary schools

Over the past 30 years, school principals have been exhorted to articulate a clear vision as a key tool for stimulating the improvement of teaching and learning in their schools. Over the past decade, as school systems have sought to distribute leadership more broadly within schools, the same imperative has applied to middle-level leaders. Indeed, a key assumption underlying the move towards sharing leadership responsibilities more broadly has been the belief that this would strengthen collective efforts and reduce the gap between goals and outcomes. Yet, to date, there have relatively few investigations of the extent to which middle-level leaders are contributing to school improvement efforts. This study sought to understand how shared vision within school management teams (SMTs) impacts teacher commitment and teacher support for students through school alignment and coherence. Dyad survey data were collected from 411 SMT members and 559 teachers at 32 primary schools in Hong Kong. Results indicated that shared vision in SMTs is positively related to teachers' perception of school alignment and coherence, teachers' commitment and teacher support to students. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.     

Teacher learning in a combined professional development intervention

The study examines geometry teachers' video club discussions in a two-year professional development intervention that combined lesson study, video clubs, and animation discussions to promote teacher noticing of students' prior knowledge. Most discussions pertained to student conceptions (78%), followed by pedagogy (19%). Discussion of students' prior knowledge surfaced only when talking about student conceptions or pedagogy. There was statistically significant evidence that teacher-initiated discussions of students' prior knowledge were more substantial than facilitator-initiated discussions. The findings suggest that the professional development model and the facilitators’ moves promoted and sustained teacher noticing of student thinking throughout the intervention.     

Teacher commitment trends: Cases of Hong Kong teachers from 1997 to 2007

This article examines the commitment of Hong Kong teachers in the decade after the political transition in 1997, when large-scale education reforms were launched. The life history method was employed to investigate teachers’ self-appraisal of their commitment levels in their career course and factors contributing to such trends. Findings not only affirm the previous view that teacher commitment involves the interplay of personal, workplace and education systemic factors but also illuminate how these factors interplay differently to effect sustained/increased or decreased commitment. ‘Love for students’ is argued to be a crucial personal factor which counteracts unfavorable external conditions to sustain teacher commitment.     

Placement schools as professional learning communities in teacher education

This article investigates how schoolteachers’, school leaders’ and college teachers’ involvement affects placement schools as professional learning communities. Norwegian teacher education is used as a case. The first part builds on a survey among schoolteachers and mentors at 111 placement schools in Norway. It documents great variety in the level of engagement. Interviews with mentors, school leaders and college teachers reveal how cooperation between colleges and placement schools, as well as the school leaders’ commitment, influences the quality of placement. The school leaders’ role proves to be important in developing the schools as professional learning communities, and they seem to have a significant impact on the work of the mentors. The data also show that there is a need for a more substantial cooperation between college teachers and mentors about the student teachers’ professional development as well as a need for a more systematic integration of learning in the two learning contexts.     

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。     

Teacher collaboration and professional development in the workplace: a study of Portuguese teachers

This article reports on findings from research aimed at investigating teacher collaboration and professional development in the workplace. It draws upon a broader study carried out in a school in Northern Portugal. Data were collected through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and written reflective accounts. In total, 80 teachers participated in phase 1, 11 key informants participated in phase 2 and 10 teachers participated in an intervention/training project (phase 3). Findings suggest that problems and limitations in relation to collaborative work are situated at the organisational level, such as time and working conditions. Lack of training in collaboration, and issues such as motivation and personal difficulties, also emerged from the data. Teachers tend to stress the importance of interpersonal relationships at school, but they also identified formal meetings when they described the contexts and opportunities to work collaboratively in the workplace, namely department meetings and projects driven by central government or school administration initiatives. Implications for teacher collaboration and professional development are discussed.     

Affordances of teacher professional learning in secondary schools

It is commonly understood that teachers in secondary school should develop throughout their career in order to stay as an essential factor in student learning. Schools can offer opportunities to link teachers’ professional learning to their school practice with a positive impact on teachers’ motivation to learn and the effectiveness of their learning. In this field study, teachers, school leaders, policy-makers, educational consultants and educational scholars were asked for their perceptions of conditions for teacher learning in school and of interventions in school to enhance teacher professional learning. These conditions and interventions were understood as affordances in schools that enable and support teacher professional learning. The main affordance in school these stakeholders mentioned was an open, but critical way in which teachers share their practices, collaborate and reflect upon their teaching practice. Collaborative practices seem to stimulate many interventions of teacher professional learning in school. Two implications of this finding are discussed. First, we suggest that the maximum teaching time should be reduced, team teaching should be more implemented or classes should be scheduled in such a way that teachers can meet. Second, distributed leadership approaches match with our findings about the role of school leaders in teacher professional learning.     

Understanding professional learning for Computing teachers from the perspective of situated learning

ABSTRACT

Situated learning theory maintains that there is a relationship between learning and the social situation in which it occurs; learning is embedded in activity, context and culture. In terms of professional learning for teachers, this implies that effective learning takes place within a community where experts and novices meet and where practice is modelled; such a community needs to be deeply relevant to everyday practice in the classroom. In this paper, we discuss Computing At School, a grass-roots organisation that has grown up over the last 10 years through teacher communities, and also with broad support of academia and industry. In a time of increased interest in the inclusion of computer science in school curricular, Computing At School is a community of practice of all teachers affected by curriculum change in Computing and models an innovative approach to professional learning that is based on community and support. We describe here how Computing At School draws on situated learning theory to contribute to the development of Computing in the curriculum, evidencing both the journey and lessons learned.     

The professional developmental needs of higher education-based teacher educators: an international comparative needs analysis

A universal lack of attention to the professional learning needs of teacher educators is the driver for this study, which considers the most effective ways to support the professional learning of higher education-based teacher educators. At a time when many industrialised countries are engaged in systemic educational reform, this study provides an international and comparative needs analysis through a survey of 1158 higher education-based teacher educators in the countries participating in the International Forum for Teacher Educator Development: Belgium, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. Our results suggest that while teacher educators are only moderately satisfied with their professional development experiences, a strong desire exists for further professional learning. This desire, influenced by their professional context, relates to their current beliefs concerning ‘best practice’ in teacher education, the academic skills required to further their professional careers and knowledge of the curriculum associated with their fields of expertise.