Understanding the link between professional learning communities and teacher collective efficacy

Research suggests effective professional learning communities (PLCs) enhance teacher collaboration and student achievement. Some studies indicate that these communities also predict greater collective efficacy, while others suggest teacher efficacy is predictive of teachers working together. Although studies have identified effective, research-based PLC practices, how these specific practices effect collective efficacy has not been thoroughly studied. This study, using structural equation modeling (SEM), investigated the relationship between PLCs and teachers’ collective efficacy drawing on 310 surveys from 16 schools in 1 district that had systematically implemented PLCs. Our findings showed that higher functioning PLCs predict higher levels of teacher collective efficacy (TCE). This suggests that engaging and supporting teachers in PLC work, as this district did, can lead to enhanced collective efficacy, which in turn can contribute to improved student achievement.     

教师学习:本质、影响因素与路径特征——基于近十年研究的阐释

教师学习是教师专业发展的核心路径.对教师学习的本质、影响因素与路径特征等三个根本性问题的探究,是实现高质量教师专业发展与教师队伍建设的逻辑起点.采用文献分析法,对最近十年的93篇相关文献进行编码分析后发现,教师学习是"系统中的"和"交互下的",其本质是个体与系统多重互动中教师整体变化的过程,它受到教师所在整个系统的复杂影响,呈现出"三个面向"与"三重取向"的路径特征:面向复杂教育教学实践,实践取向的教师学习成为趋势;面向差异化教师,个性化教师学习正在发育;面向多变环境,线上线下混合式学习或将成为教师学习新常态.复杂性、整体性、系统性、交互性、实践性、差异性等是当前理解教师学习的关键词,日常化、校本化、团队化、高科技化等成为教师学习实践的发展趋势.     

实习教师专业发展深层次问题探析——兼论教师教育课程改革措施

实习教师是学习"做教师"的特殊群体,其专业发展中存在一些深层次问题。导致这些问题的原因有:实习学校教师专业精神的消极影响、实习教师的基础性素养不高、实习期间的有效工作量不足、"经验-模仿"的实习指导模式、实习教师实践时对理论的疏离。为此,需要全面改革职前教师教育课程,以促进实习教师的专业发展。     

Communicative-based curriculum innovations between theory and practice: implications for EFL curriculum development and student cognitive and affective change

This qualitative study examines the influence of teacher conceptualisations of communicative language teaching on their actual classroom practice and student cognitive and affective change. The qualitative paradigm underpinned this research at the levels of ontology (multiple teacher realities), epistemology (interaction with, rather than detachment from, the respondents), and methodology through using an idiographic strategy (qualitative case study), instruments (qualitative interviews, participant observation and questionnaires), and data analysis technique (explanation-building). The results indicated that teachers who understood CLT and managed to materialise its principles into action significantly improved student language learning (cognitive change) and motivation (affective change). Moreover, traditional, structural and didactic teaching as well as communicative knowledge that was not translated into practice had almost a typical negative impact on student learning and motivation. Recommendations for curriculum development, teacher development, teacher training and future research are made.     

Developing effective teacher beliefs about learners: the role of sensitizing teachers to individual learning differences

Effective teacher beliefs about students are an integral part of effective teaching. Teachers with interventionist beliefs about students (‘I can intervene to help a learner with difficulties’) show more effective practice than teachers with pathognomonic beliefs (‘I blame the learner for his difficulties’). A professional development (PD) course sensitized teachers (N = 234) to individual learning differences (ILDs), using five learning/cognitive styles tools. Teachers’ responses to a pre‐/post‐test question concerning their beliefs about ‘weak students’ were analyzed and correlated with their ILD scores. Before the PD, teachers with strong ILD preferences matched to traditional learning contexts were significantly more ‘at risk’ (i.e., had fewer interventionist beliefs) than the other teachers; the former teachers were significantly overrepresented in the sample. After the PD, teachers’ interventionist beliefs significantly increased, regardless of their ILD preferences. Neither the length of the PD (28 hrs. vs. 56 hrs.) nor the amount of teaching experience affected the teachers’ interventionist beliefs about students. A mediated, constructivist and collaborative PD, which sensitizes teachers to individual learning differences, can increase effective teacher beliefs about students. We conclude that developing more effective teacher beliefs about learners should become a component of teacher professional development.     

职前英语教师专业成长的另类途径——一项基于重构职前英语教师信念的行动研究

信念的研究是判断教师教育成效的一项重要指标,是当前教师教育中最有价值的一部分。职前教师信念由于受到先前经验和信念本身特质等因素的影响,不易改变,教师教育应该对职前英语教师的信念进行检视与再建构。在自我反思教学模式下发展起来的教育行动研究是近年来国外教育界探究和实践的一种教学理论,是一种非常适合没有接受过教育研究训练的职前教师的研究方法。开展行动研究有助于职前教师将理论学习与教学实践相结合,在教学实践过程中,充分利用有限的直接经验进行教学反思,不断检视、并重构教师信念,提升教学行为。     

Changing literacies,changing formations: the role of elicitation in teacher action research with new technologies

As new technologies promise to be an enduring feature of the landscape of teachers’ work, we consider how teachers implicitly bring stories forward into their classroom explorations with new media as a part of their ‘informal learning’. By ‘stories’ is meant specific classroom texts as well as preferred teacher practices with those texts. The article represents a reflection on the methodological role that ‘elicitation’ can play in drawing out teacher thinking during a time of professional change, thinking that would otherwise likely remain embedded, particularly when teachers’ attention is focused forward on innovation in practice. The methodological use of ‘elicitation’ emerged in the first year of an ongoing teacher action research study, in which seven teachers have been involved in a professional development initiative that actively engages teachers in examining changing literacy formations, beginning with the teachers’ own literacy formations. The methodological practice of elicitation borrows from phenomenology, ethnomethodology, narrative research, reader response theories, curriculum theory and psychoanalysis, and emerged as a way to acknowledge the life histories that teachers were bringing to their professional development with new media. We suggest that elicitation can potentially draw out deep and sustaining sources of a teacher’s commitment, as well as resistance, to change. It can help disclose the tensions between commitment and resistance that even teachers who voluntarily undertake to incorporate new technologies into their practice may experience. Within a teacher action research framework, elicitation can also serve to remind teachers (and others) of the value of what they know and are learning, thus contributing to teachers developing a ‘scholarship of practice’ in response to any actual or perceived ‘intensification’ of their work.     

教师作为学习者的专业化发展理念及路径

传统学习观基于现在与未来、学校与社会、手段与目的等对立的二元认识论,窒息个体及其职业的生命发展;时代的进步和人性的觉醒则赋予学习是人之存在和发展的生命属性,学习不仅丰富了人的生命内涵和人生意义,而且彰显着人类向善的美德。因此,教师作为学习者,既是教师之为人的生命写照,也是教师职业专业化的特色所在,其学习者角色是学生学习的内在诉求,也是教学相长的机理所在,更是教师职业伦理的美德。践行学习者专业化发展理念,教师学习的路径包括学习的时空内生于教育实践,学习的老师即"不教之师"--学生,学习的机理则是自我教育。     

Teacher learning through participation in a negotiated assessment procedure

This article focuses on the impact of a specific formative assessment procedure, negotiated assessment, on teacher professional learning. Negotiations between the assessor and the teacher as assessee seem to be especially promising for this teacher learning. However, there is no empirical evidence yet that has confirmed this. We explored teachers’ opinions about the usefulness of the different elements in a negotiated assessment procedure for their professional learning and the learning benefits they reported as a result of being engaged in this procedure. Our findings show that teachers found the negotiated assessment procedure useful for their learning and reported different types of learning benefits in terms of change: change in their knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, change in their teaching practice and change in their students’ learning outcomes.     

教师改变的理论研究:回顾与思考

教育改革的政策要求教师的教育教学观念和教学实践需做出重大调整与改变,由过去关注教学技能转向更为根本地从学生的状态和需要出发来调整教育教学的态度与行为。在探讨教师改变的内涵、教师改变与课程改革的关系、教师改变的路径等已有研究成果基础上,指出了目前研究成果中的不足之处,并提出了个人思考。     

Effective professional learning communities? The possibilities for teachers as agents of change in schools

The concept of the professional learning community (PLC) has been embraced widely in schools as a means for teachers to engage in professional development leading to enhanced pupil learning. However, the term has become so ubiquitous it is in danger of losing all meaning, or worse, of reifying ‘teacher learning’ within a narrowly defined ambit which loses sight of the essentially contestable concepts which underpin it. The primary aim of this paper is therefore to (re‐)examine the assumptions underpinning the PLC as a vehicle for teacher led change in schools in order to confront and unsettle a complacent and potentially damaging empirical consensus around teacher learning. This paper examines the characteristics and attributes of the ‘effective’ professional learning community as identified in the literature, drawing out the tensions and contradictions embodied in the terms professional, learning and community. The paper considers the implications of this analysis for practice, and concludes by offering some insights into the nature of ‘school improvement’, and the role of PLCs in realizing this.     

Two secondary teachers’ understanding and classroom practice of dialogic teaching: a case study

Dialogic Teaching (DT) is effective in fostering student learning; yet, it is hard to implement. Little research focused on secondary teachers’ learning of DT and on the link between teachers’ understanding and practices, although these two are usually strongly intertwined. Using a wide range of evidence, this case study systematically investigated and compared two secondary teachers’ understanding and practice of DT during their participation in a continuing professional development programme (CPDP). The CPDP appeared effective to some extent. The History teacher’s understanding of DT, i.e. being a co-learner, appeared highly effective in implementing DT, whereas the Mathematics teacher’s understanding of DT, i.e. creating a democratic learning environment, seemed only effective to some extent. Focusing on both teachers’ understanding and practice when developing DT seemed fruitful in explaining differences in practice. Future research could further explore to what extent understanding DT as being a co-learner facilitates professional development.     

中学英语教师高效教学行为归因研究——教育信念的分析视角

强调实践性英语教学,主张促进学生自主学习与主动发展,坚持教师专业发展的教育信念,是中学英语教师专业素质的综合体现,它蕴含了基础教育改革所要求的现代教育理念,成为优秀英语教师高效教学行为的动力源泉和有力支撑。     

From LSA to teacher: the value of classroom experience in shaping a ‘teacher’ identity

Routes into teacher training have expanded in recent years, accompanied by a growing interest in schools ‘growing their own’ teachers from amongst support staff. However, little attention has been paid to their transition to the role of teacher. This article investigates influences on identity development and the extent to which personal values are reconciled with professional demands and socially constructed facets of educational practice. Participants were nine staff in one secondary school for pupils with moderate learning difficulties who had undertaken the transition from LSA (learning support assistant) to teacher. Qualitative data were obtained through an online survey and focus group discussion. Findings show that extensive opportunities to experiment with provisional and possible selves, immersion in educational discourse, classroom agency and staff collaboration engender a ‘teacher’ self-concept and positive motivations for LSA career development, and that self-esteem and self-efficacy are strengthened by how an individual’s values align with those of the setting in which they work. Findings may inform school leaders as to the value of training teachers ‘in-house’ and support career development decisions of LSAs, a pathway of potential significance given the current pressures on teacher recruitment and retention.     

Curriculum-based teacher professional development in middle school science: A comparison of training focused on cognitive science principles versus content knowledge

This study investigates, through a cluster-randomized trial, the effectiveness of two approaches to increasing middle school students’ science learning using a traditional science curriculum. Ninety schools were randomly assigned into one of three arms: (a) a treatment arm in which the textbook curriculum was modified based on four principles of cognitive science coupled with teacher professional development (PD), (b) a second treatment arm in which teachers received PD designed to improve their knowledge of the science content, and (c) a business-as-usual control group. The PD was able to change teacher practice but barely improved teacher knowledge. No significant boost in student achievement was observed, except in a few instances, where there were some promising findings. Exploratory analyses were conducted to examine what makes the interventions more effective. Implications for future research were discussed.     

中国数学教师信念研究二十年

以1998-2018年中国知网收录的数学教师信念研究的论文为基础,从相关论文发表时间、论文作者、关键词、研究主题和研究方法 5个维度进行统计分析。研究发现:数学教师信念最近十年来才引起研究者较高重视,已形成两个研究群体,取得系列研究成果,但在后续研究中仍需注意接轨国际研究、夯实理论基础、创新研究方法、拓展研究主题等。数学教师信念的特征、数学教师信念各要素间的互动机制、数学教师信念与实践的关系、数学教师信念与其他心理变量的关系、发展数学教师信念的方式等是值得关注的主题。     

The impact of science content and professional learning communities on science teaching efficacy and standards‐based instruction

This study examines the impact of standards‐based professional development on teacher efficacy and instructional practice of elementary and middle school science teachers. Professional development activities were conducted over a period of 3 years and included content courses as well as teacher involvement in professional learning communities. Teacher efficacy was assessed at five time points using the Science Teacher Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI), and instructional practice was evaluated at four time points with classroom observations using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Results indicate that there was significant growth in teacher self‐efficacy but not in outcome expectancy. There was also significant growth in the extent to which teachers implemented inquiry‐based instruction in the classroom. Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between changes in self‐efficacy and changes in the use of inquiry‐based instructional practice. These results are discussed in terms of a model of teacher learning wherein changes in teacher beliefs and changes in classroom practice mutually influence each other, and also in terms of the impact of collaboration on teacher efficacy and practice. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 534–551, 2011     

Teacher adaptation to personalized learning spaces

Personalized learning spaces are emerging in schools as a critical reaction to ‘industrial-era’ school models. As the form and function of schools and pedagogy change, this places pressure on teachers to adapt their conventional practice. This paper addresses the question of how teachers can adapt their classroom practice to create personalized learning spaces. Personalized learning spaces draw conceptually from several decades of attempts to personalize learning and open up classrooms, both physically and virtually. They are characterized by deliberate and active interactions between the context, teacher and students. Two case studies are presented of teachers in Australian regional schools reacting to new open plan school buildings by adapting their practice. Key findings discussed are the influence of context on teacher reasoning, and teacher agency when establishing alternative learning environments.     

Pre-service teachers’ use of tools to systematically analyze teaching and learning

Learning to systematically analyze the relationship between teaching and student learning is an important but difficult skill to engender in teachers. In this study, we examine how pre-service teachers who were introduced to a framework for analyzing teaching in a video-based teacher education course drew on this tool to analyze their own practice after the conclusion of the course. We conceptualize the framework as a conceptual tool that scaffolds pre-service teachers to learn to attend to particular dimensions of teaching and learning and to analyze how their teaching influences student learning. Using the Portfolio Assessment for California Teachers-Teaching Event of 14 English language arts pre-service teachers, we conducted a qualitative analysis to examine the extent to which they applied this framework to analyze their own practice after the conclusion of the course, as well as different strategies they adopted as they analyzed their teaching practice. Findings suggest that pre-service teachers made progress in using the framework to study their teaching, but development of sub-skills for all four facets are needed to develop more productive analyses of teaching and student learning. This study has important implications for the design of teacher education that intends to support pre-service teachers in developing tools for learning to learn from their teaching practice.