Demonstrating the impact of educational development: The case of a course design collaborative

While universities hold expectations that new colleagues demonstrate high levels of expertise, many recently graduated PhDs are under-prepared for their teaching roles. This case study assessed the impact of an institutionally sponsored, collaborative course design initiative on the professional learning of early-career academics in a research-intensive university in Canada. The initiative was framed as educational development: the integration of faculty, instructional, curriculum, and organizational development in a holistic approach to professional learning. The case documents the impact of a 5-day workshop on course design and teaching complemented with three cycles of classroom observation and feedback, and a monthly discussion group on teaching. Across 10 participants, three strong patterns of results emerged with respect to teaching beliefs, practices and confidence about teaching.     

Beacons of light,rays, or sun catchers? A case study of the positioning of literacy teachers and their knowledge in neoliberal times

This paper reports on a case study of a “lead literacy teacher” initiative in one Canadian province. This initiative is related to a “minority world” trend in teacher in-service that seeks to develop “experts” in a field with the intent that such experts can help other teachers to raise student achievement for the betterment of the economy. Using a post-colonial theoretical framework that advocates for professional development premised on teacher knowledge production, the study finds that the initiative instead forwards a “train-the-trainer” model of information transmission that negates teachers' prior knowledge, experience, and practices. The study argues that for teachers to become critically reflective in their practice, they need material supports (e.g., time) to share with one another and knowledge must be allowed to flow in all directions within the educational hierarchy.     

The Bring Your Own Technology Initiative: An Examination of Teachers’ Adoption

This case study explored teachers’ concerns, use, and actual practices in their adoption of the Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative. Participants were 12 secondary teachers in a private school setting. The Concerns-Based Adoption Model tools provided data: Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ), Levels of Use interview, and the Innovation Configuration Map. Twelve participants completed the SoCQ, and 6 of the 12 teachers participated in interviews and observations. After triangulating the data, we found that the majority of teachers indicated highest concerns related to self, placed at the mechanical Level of Use, and had non-ideal adoption practices on the Innovation Configuration Map.     

Development of personal initiative: impact of an intervention applied to the educational field / Desarrollo de la iniciativa personal: impacto de una intervención aplicada al ámbito educativo

Personal initiative refers to the behaviours that characterize people as being proactive, persistent and self-starting when tackling obstacles that arise as they try to achieve goals. Given the relevance of personal initiative to the educational field, the main aim of this study was to design, implement and evaluate a programme for developing personal initiative in this field. A further objective was to improve a set of variables closely linked to personal initiative. Participants included 160 students aged between 16 and 30 years and enrolled in six centres offering initial vocational training. Of the total sample, 119 students were assigned to the experimental condition and 41 to the control condition. The study’s design was quasi-experimental with a non-equivalent control group. The results indicated that the programme improved the self-starting component of personal initiative and raised the participants’ academic achievement and entrepreneurial attitude. It also had some effect on self-efficacy and on two dimensions of emotional intelligence, namely clarity and regulation.     

Testing the Feasibility of Fidelity Evaluation in a Multisite,Multiprogram Initiative

Monitoring fidelity of implementation is a critical task when initiating evidence-based programs. This pilot study sought to identify best practices in a fidelity monitoring process and determine the feasibility of continuing a fidelity monitoring process with a multisite, multiprogram initiative. A fidelity log was created for each of 11 curricula, and data were entered online directly by educators. Analysis included 173 fidelity logs representing five curricula; qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed. Overall fidelity scores were promising and results indicate that fidelity monitoring in such a large program is feasible and was generally well-received by participants.     

Greetings from the Editor 25 (4)

While it is clear that reading is critical to children's success throughout schooling and reading instruction research has dramatically increased over the past 2 decades, few early childhood providers have the necessary knowledge, skills and/or confidence to effectively implement evidence-based, emergent literacy strategies in their settings. This article explores the impact of the Early Learning Opportunities (ELO) initiative that provided funding to train early childhood providers to utilize the HeadsUp! Reading (HUR) curriculum in their settings. Noteworthy in this initiative was the inclusion of a coaching component designed to increase participants' ability to generalize HUR instructional practices into their classroom. Also important here was the opportunity to evaluate teaching outcomes. Results from this study indicate that all participants benefited from their involvement in the professional development activities, and that those who received coaching had an advantage with respect to growth in knowledge, skills, and confidence in implementing the new strategies into their classrooms. Implications for professional development activities suggest that coaching efforts to support implementation of newly acquired skills in the classroom may improve teacher performance.     

Changing inquiry practices and beliefs: The impact of an inquiry-based professional development programme on beginning and experienced secondary science teachers

This study explores how an inquiry-based demonstration classroom in-service programme impacted the beliefs and practices of 14 secondary science teachers. Both structured and semistructured interviews captured in-service programme participants' beliefs, while in-class observations of participants documented their instructional practices. An analysis of the data revealed that the in-service programme had an impact on the participants, but the impact varied among the six induction and eight experienced teachers: the induction teachers changed their beliefs more than their practices, whereas the experienced teachers demonstrated more change in their practices than their beliefs. Ultimately, the changing belief systems of beginning teachers may have resulted in the limited use of student-centred practices, whereas the established belief systems of experienced participants may have been conducive to studentcentred practices. On the basis of the findings of this study, implications for professional development programmes are discussed.     

The Academic Influence of Mentoring Upon African American Undergraduate Aspirants to the Professoriate

In this study, I examine academic influences of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation Summer Research Opportunity Program’s mentoring component. Interviews with African American undergraduate student participants of the faculty–student mentoring initiative suggest mentorship’s influence upon the academic experiences of participants and illustrate the importance of faculty-directed research in preparing racial minorities for graduate education.     

A Model for Doctoral Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Written Feedback for Academic Writing

The purpose of this study is to investigate social science doctoral students’ perceptions and attitudes toward written feedback about their academic writing and towards those who provide it. The study culminates in an explanatory model to describe the relationships between students’ perceptions and attitudes, their revision decisions, and other relevant factors in their written feedback practices. The investigation used a mixed methods approach involving 276 participants from two large mountain west public universities. The main purpose of the qualitative phase was to develop a background for a questionnaire and provisional model to be used in the quantitative phase. Structural Equation Modeling analysis during the quantitative phase provided an eight-factor model that shows the relationships of different factors regarding feedback practices as they relate to doctoral students.     

Learner‐centered leadership: a mentoring model for the professional development of school administrators

The Learner‐Centered Leadership program is a new initiative that provides professional development opportunities to school administrators through a mentoring model. The focus on learner‐centered leadership reflects renewed attention to the primary role of teaching and learning in the development of school leadership expertise. With a focus on learning, the need to create collaborative structures where trust, respect and communication are promoted among the participants has been critical. In its first year, the project goal has been to develop the capacity for mentoring across districts. To create this capacity, the project has focused on building relationships among participants using a threefold process: formal workshops that introduce the districts and participants; informal gatherings that break down barriers and establish opportunities for networking; and a series of problem‐solving initiatives called a team challenge that require participants work together, communicate and cooperate to solve the challenging activities.     

Who is taking MOOCs for teachers’ professional development on the use of ICT? A cross-sectional study from Spain

ABSTRACT

Research on the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for teacher professional development (TPD) and the characteristics of their participants is scarce. This article presents a case of a MOOC initiative supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education aiming at teachers’ professional development on the use of ICT for teaching and learning. The analysis is focused on (a) the sociodemographic and school characteristics of the teachers participating in MOOCs; (b) their experience and beliefs about lifelong learning; and (c) the relevance of MOOCs for their work. By contrasting the characteristics of the participants in this initiative with the characteristics of the whole population of teachers in Spain, and a sample of Spanish participants in MOOCs not aimed at TPD, the article sheds light on the specificities of the teachers who use this way of TPD. The results have implications for the design of programmes aimed to develop MOOCs for TPD.     

Conceptions and Expectations of Mentoring Relationships in a Teacher Education Reform Context

Researchers indicate that prior experience and beliefs about learning and teaching held by practicing and pre-service teachers contribute significantly in shaping their mentoring relationships and, more broadly, their career outlook and aspirations. While mentoring is commonly seen as a form of support for pre-service teachers, mentoring can be pivotal in the creation of enabling environments in which collaborative, professional dialogs are undertaken. Yet, there lies a tension between enculturation into the norms of schools and promoting self-belief, participation, and collaboration. Drawing on a qualitative methodology, in this study we focused on the conceptions and expectations of classroom mentoring within the context of a teacher reform initiative in Scotland. Findings indicated that participants in the study held a mixture of beliefs regarding mentoring practices. Implications for partnership arrangements in initial teacher education and teachers’ career development were discussed.     

A police-led community response to Child abuse and Youth Sexual Violence and Abuse in Indigenous communities in Far North Queensland: “Speak Up. Be strong. Be Heard.”

BackgroundChild abuse and Youth Sexual Violence and Abuse (YSVA) are persistent social issues across the globe. The development and implementation of effective prevention strategies are a common focus for those working at the coalface. The Cairns Child Protection Investigation Unit of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) developed and implemented the “Speak Up. Be Strong. Be Heard.” (SUBSBH) initiative. This police-led multi-component child abuse prevention initiative has been implemented in 26 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the Far North Queensland Police District since June 2016.ObjectiveThe aim of this research was to evaluate the success of the SUBSBH initiative.Participants and settingExisting data held by QPS were examined. These data include statistics on reporting of YSVA offences, internal program documents and reports, and evaluation feedback forms completed prior to this evaluation study. Information collected via these sources pertained to 26 Indigenous communities within the Far North Queensland Police District. The above-mentioned feedback forms were completed by 307 participants, of whom approximately 90% are Indigenous.MethodsThis study adopted desktop analysis and triangulation through a range of qualitative and quantitative data to ensure robust and rigorous evaluation of the SUBSBH initiative.ResultsThe study found that the initiative was successful in meeting basic accepted practice for child abuse and YSVA prevention programs, receiving positive participant feedback on the educational program, achieving the initiative’s objective to increase reporting of YSVA, and achieving cost-efficiency in meeting outcomes. Importantly, the increase in reporting of YSVA was statistically significant.ConclusionThis study contributes to current understanding regarding the implementation of multi-component child abuse prevention initiatives and provides an example of a cost-efficient police-led community response to child abuse and YSVA in Indigenous communities. The findings may guide responses in other communities which grapple with this critical social issue.     

A tool for capacity building: teacher professional learning about teaching writing

This paper reports on qualitative research from an Australian, K-6, faith-based school about teachers’ experience of a job-embedded professional learning initiative (the Whole-School Benchmarking of Writing, WSBoW) that was designed to improve teachers’ capacity to apply data-driven decision-making to achieve improvements in student learning. Teacher interviews provided the data about experiences and influences on teching practice. The findings demonstrated that the professional learning initiative provided teachers with a supportive pedagogical tool for focusing their teaching practices on improving student learning. A research based evaluative framework was used as a heuristic to analyse the change initiative. This study used the framework and employed a social constructivist and sociocultural epistemology that recognised the importance of leadership and school context in the development of a culture focused on collaborative communities of practice and data-driven teacher decision-making. The study has significance for leaders, schools and systems that engage teachers in professional capacity building.     

Transforming critical and participative teacher research into communicative action: a possible direction for teacher professional learning

ABSTRACT

This paper is an account of how a group of Japanese English language teachers, who questioned current teacher professional education and English language education reforms, learnt to challenge the dominant discourse and find ways of conducting more democratic teacher professional education. It describes how those teachers, including the author, generated a collective theory on communicative competence through the process of their inquiry. It explains how they came to appreciate the action research methodology used for this study, grounded in reflective practice, which in turn helped to develop the author’s understanding of second person action research. It also tells how the teachers learnt to take the initiative in communicating the thinking which informed their practices to others and began to engage in ‘communicative action’ As a result of these outcomes, the paper suggests a potential new form of teacher professional learning aimed towards more democratic relationships between participants. It is hoped that the implications of the research findings could contribute to broader discussions about policy pertaining to teacher professional development.     

Troubling “understanding mathematics in-depth”: Its role in the identity work of student-teachers in England

In this paper, we focus on an initiative in England devised to prepare non-mathematics graduates to train as secondary mathematics teachers through a 6-month Mathematics Enhancement Course (MEC) to boost their subject knowledge. The course documentation focuses on the need to develop “understanding mathematics in-depth” in students in order for them to become successful mathematics teachers. We take a poststructural approach, so we are not interested in asking what such an understanding is, about the value of this approach or about the effectiveness of the MECs in developing this understanding in their participants. Instead we explore what positions this discourse of “understanding mathematics in-depth” makes available to MEC students. We do this by looking in detail at the “identity work” of two students, analysing how they use and are used by this discourse to position themselves as future mathematics teachers. In doing so, we show how even benign-looking social practices such as “understanding mathematics in-depth” are implicated in practices of inclusion and exclusion. We show this through detailed readings of interviews with two participants, one of whom fits with the dominant discourses in the MEC and the other who, despite passing the MEC, experiences tensions between her national identity work and MEC discourses. We argue that it is vital to explore “identity work” within teacher education contexts to ensure that becoming a successful mathematics teacher is equally available to all.     

Understanding the Gaps Between Turkish Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices for Dealing With Preschoolers’ Peer Relationship Problems

Research Findings: This study explores the beliefs, self-reported practices, and observed practices of Turkish preschool teachers toward children’s peer relationship problems as well as the gap between their beliefs and practices. Five female teachers of 5-year-old children were selected as participants for this multiple case study. Approximately 79 hr of observation was conducted on the children’s daily routines and activities in a natural classroom environment, which specifically included the teachers’ problem-solving strategies while confronting peer relationship problems. The participants were also interviewed regarding their beliefs and strategies for solving peer relationship problems. The findings of this qualitative investigation indicated that the teachers’ beliefs and self-reported practices included both teacher- and child-related factors. However, the observed practices included several teacher-initiated strategies; child-initiated strategies appeared, albeit less than teacher-initiated ones. This affirms the teachers’ stress on children’s role in managing peer problems. Although some of the teacher practices and beliefs were consistent, certain inconsistencies may indicate the presence of external constraints. Practice or Policy: The results of this study highlight the importance of teacher education programs providing preservice and in-service teachers with the knowledge and skills required to understand children’s peer relationships, guide their interactions, and apply appropriate intervention strategies for various peer relationship problems.     

Collaborative teaching at the university level: Practicing what is preached

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe the development and implementation of a co‐teaching model at a small state university in the northeast. In addition, this article will share lessons learned from this experience by two professors, as well as describe the impact on the beliefs and teaching behaviors of their students. One of the professors is a member of the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation, and the second is from the Department of Professional and Secondary Education. The co‐teaching initiative began in 1996 and continues until the present, with a graduate course on inclusionary practices taught collaboratively each fall. The impetus for the initiative came from an identified need for general education and special education teachers to co‐teach in classrooms where students with disabilities are included. Given that co‐teaching is an expected teacher behavior, the practice must be taught with intent and modeled by professors to increase the likelihood that it will be implemented successfully in P‐12 classrooms.     

Virtues of Mentors and Mentees in the Finnish Model of Teachers’ Peer-group Mentoring

ABSTRACT

This study investigated participants’ conceptions of the ideal mentor and mentee in the Finnish model of peer-group mentoring (PGM). Existing mentoring research emphasises dyadic practices, yet there is a lack of investigation of participants’ roles in group mentoring. The main concepts of this inquiry were dispositions (habitus) and virtues drawing on the theory of practice architectures and Aristotelian virtue philosophy. Methodologically, the study can be identified as philosophical-empirical inquiry that utilises a narrative and hermeneutical approach to analyse qualitative data from 30 respondents. As its central finding, the study identified a set of core characteristics that describe the virtues and vices of a mentor and mentee based on the participants’ views. Overall, these characteristics reflected ideas of relatings (peerness, equality), proactive and reactive participation, and presence in the group. Characteristics focused on the social aspect of dispositions in peer-group mentoring.