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Professional development aims to impact upon teacher knowledge, teacher practice and thus change student outcomes. Some of the most effective examples of professional development have focussed on active involvement of staff and administration in the process and have been extensive and progressive in nature. In this paper, we report on the implementation of a model of professional development in which school reculturing, collaboration between teaching professionals and opportunities for individual teacher learning are core themes. This study, undertaken at a disadvantaged primary school in Queensland, Australia, was a collaborative effort between the school and a university. The case study data were collected within the context of a larger research project. Analysis of the data, collected from focus group interviews with 11 teachers at the school and reflective notes taken from the second author’s research journal, revealed four major themes which focus on reflections of the process of professional development: individual focus areas chosen by the teachers; positives about the process; areas for improvement; and ideas for sustaining the professional collaboration. In conclusion, this study has shown that professional development undertaken in a climate of school reculturing and collaboration enhances a teacher’s sense of ownership and relevance of the in‐service.

In recent years, there has been considerable interest within education policy in collaborative professional enquiry/inquiry methodologies, both as an alternative to top-down implementation of change and for the purpose of fostering educational improvement. However, researchers have been critical of this approach, pointing to various concerns: these include the risk of reducing a developmental methodology to an instrumental means for delivering policy, as well as issues around sustainability of practices. The purpose of this paper is to describe a Scottish university/local authority partnership, which developed an approach entitled Critical Collaborative Professional Enquiry, designed to address some of these concerns. The paper also reports on empirical outcomes related to the partnership project.

This interpretivist study generated qualitative data from multiple sources, utilising a range of methods including semi-structured interviews with teachers and school leaders, evaluation surveys and analysis of artefacts developed during the inquiry phases of the project.

This programme exerted a powerful effect on the teachers who participated. The research suggests that teachers developed better understandings of the curriculum, and of curriculum development processes. There is evidence of innovation in pedagogy, some sustained and radical in nature, and further evidence of changes to the cultures of the participating schools, for example, a shift towards more democratic ways of working.

This paper reports upon an original approach to curriculum development, with considerable potential to transform the ways in which schools approach innovation.

The purpose of this study was to explore the conditions and challenges that facilitate teacher professional learning through the implementation of pedagogical mentoring (PM) within the Chilean school context.

This study employed a qualitative methods approach, utilizing an instrumental case study. As the primary data source, researchers conducted 14 individual, semistructured interviews. Participants included two comentors, six mentor teachers and six mentee teachers from two K-8 focal school sites. Data were examined using the content analysis method.

Results revealed five aspects that contributed to PM's execution: the voluntary participation model, the reflective emphasis, the focus on teaching and learning, the facilitating role of the principal and comentor support. At the same time, the findings indicated three factors that hindered PM's success: interruptions due to schedule conflicts, limited dissemination throughout the school community and assimilation of the values embedded in the Chilean teacher evaluation system.

PM holds great potential for collaborative professional development and continuous improvement of teachers' instructional practices, drawing on their experiences and resources and leading to the strengthening sense of professionalism in teaching and in teachers' social esteem.

This is the first research to address a formal PM project in Chile aimed specifically at in-service teachers. Previous projects in the country have focused on novice teachers. Unlike other initiatives in the region, this project does not focus on teacher induction but on capacity building within schools through collaborative work. This research also adopts an approach based on support for teachers' professional development, while in Chile the main policies currently focus on teacher evaluation.

Collaborative professional development for inclusive teaching is a limited area of research, although there is an extensive need for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teachers. Research findings of how teachers’ professional development can contribute to support the development of powerful learning situations for all students are presented in this special issue. The aim is to contribute to the knowledge of how the use of lesson study can develop teachers’ capabilities to offer high-quality education for students with SEND.

The guest editor presents each of the papers and introduces key themes and concepts.

The collection of papers is divided into two themes; the first has a focus on lesson study used by teacher educators during SEND in-service training. In this theme, the teachers are the students who are studying different fields of SEND, supported by teacher educators. The second theme studies different forms of lesson studies carried out by researchers and teachers in the collaboration focused aspects of content that are of importance for students in SEND.

The papers focus on areas of education with a limited research tradition, and as a result, the studies may be seen as starting points for further research. The results so far lack generalisability. Therefore, the researchers have to test the findings further under different conditions and with wider groups of teachers and students.

The results of the papers can be used to develop both SEND teacher education, and collaborative professional development for in-service SEND teachers. This issue will, therefore, be of interest to school and system leaders.

The papers contribute initial findings from an under-researched area and also combine lesson study with methods and designs not previously explored.

In this chapter, we describe how a rubric-style observation instrument for observing classroom writing instruction was used to focus and optimize collaborative video analysis sessions among teachers and researchers spread across six states. As part of a three-year Institute of Education Sciences (IES) development grant, we used videos of classroom instruction both as data for researchers studying the nature and impact of a specific instructional approach, Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI), and as a vehicle for collaborative teacher professional development – for both teachers and teacher leaders.

By tying video analysis to a shared observation instrument, we were able to target video clip selection for discussion and focus our analysis to support teachers across several states and school settings implementing a new approach to writing instruction. After a brief overview of the project for which videos were used, we describe the tools and protocols developed over time to ensure the efficient and powerful use of collaborative video analysis. We also share our experiences on the nature and outcomes of these collaborative sessions both in terms of teachers’ involvement and changes in practice over time.

We argue that the use of a common rubric to guide video clip selection, discussion, and analysis allowed teachers to strategically engage in “data reduction” – that is, not be overwhelmed by the amount of video data – and to use the videos as catalysts for conversations as well as evidence of what works well for individual students. As researchers, these sessions allowed us to ensure collaborative video analysis sessions were focused, efficient, and growth-oriented as well as sources of data for understanding trends in challenges and trajectories of growth for teachers implementing a new approach to instruction.

This work illustrates how researchers can use video for dual purposes – to conduct literacy investigations and to provide teachers with professional development involving video review and reflection.

The purpose of this paper is to explore educator collaborative inquiry in the shared workspace in professional learning communities (PLCs). Specifically, this investigation was part of an ongoing investigation of well-established PLC collaborative interactions and self-directed learning of educators as part of the shared workspace as a component of school improvement.

A qualitative design was used for this investigation. Participants were purposefully selected to provide qualitative data on existent, well-established PLCs and their practice as educators in the shared workspace. Qualitative data were collected about participant perception. Data were collected from each participant by conducting semi-structured interviews, observations, and the collection of document and artifacts.

Findings from this ongoing investigation point to positive collaborative physical interactions and intellectual discourse that lead to educator learning through the collaborative inquiry process.

Theories on PLCs and educator job-embedded professional learning are unique in this paper. The concepts of PLCs and the collaborative inquiry process have been well developed but not in the context of the shared workspace. Recent literature on effective collaborative inquiry educators undergo in PLCs as a continuing professional development model provides a foundation for the work done in this ongoing case study. Sustained collaboration and continued professional development of teaching innovations as a product of the collaborative inquiry process in the shared workspace are underdeveloped as yet but further developed in this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to touch upon the unaddressed points regarding the practice of lesson study (LS) in the field of language teacher development in a Turkish education context by considering the challenges faced and observed by the EFL teachers, their suggestions to design a process like LS practice and benefits that LS practice could provide them in terms of teaching and professional development.

The analysis is based on the data from five EFL teachers’ collaborative work in an arrangement of lesson and learning study and from the researcher’s observations during meetings and discussions throughout the process. The data consist of interviews with participant teachers (pre and post), video recordings of the teacher workshops, field notes of the researcher and video recordings of the research lessons. The analysis was carried out through content analysis beginning with listing the responses of participants, identifying the frequency of citations, collecting similar responses under a common category to determine the categories and at last placing codes into the related categories.

The results show that the teachers had some concerns about LS practice both before and after practicing the model in the study context. They stated their concerns mostly about time, increasing responsibility and effort, being a demanding process. However, the practice seemed to meet their expectations, lead to improvements in knowledge, teaching practices and perspectives, contribute to the personal and professional development of teachers and triggered enthusiasm and a desire for students to participate actively in learning process.

This paper serves as an explicit example of LS practice with its plus and minuses in a Turkish education context as teachers’ views and the researcher’s personal reflections in the current study can guide the process of change and provide evidence and practical suggestions on the feasibility of the program for the ones attempting to experience it. Besides, the teachers’ perceptions and suggestions regarding LS practice in the present study can enable other teachers, organizers of professional development programs and the researchers an opportunity to lead future practices.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on a partnership-based mentoring model and the learning experiences of participant mentees and mentors. As part of the project, newly qualified teachers (NQTs) were supported to develop and implement a practitioner enquiry (teacher/action research) in a learning community involving two local authorities and an initial teacher education institution.

Qualitative data were collected from five semi-structured focus group interviews with key participant groupings to uncover perceptions and experiences of the partnership and professional learning therein. Analysis using an inductive and iterative approach pinpointed a number of emerging themes used to frame key elements of the findings.

Findings suggested that the partnership-based model promoted the professional learning and development of NQTs and their mentors in various ways. The nature and shape of the partnership had an influence on the quality of mentoring and support experienced. The community effectively supported the implementation of meaningful enquiry projects, which had clear connections to the enhancement of professional practice and pupil learning. However, specific tensions and conflicts emerged as hindrances to successful partnership-based mentoring in the specific context.

New insights into the role of a partnership-based mentoring scheme supporting practitioner enquiry-based learning of NQTs emerged. The local, layered community defining the partnership, and operating within the frame of a national induction scheme, was analysed. Benefits for partners were identified and specific challenges and tensions highlighted, both providing new evidence with potential to impact policy and practice. Policy developments supporting teachers to be mentors and enquiring professionals need to recognise the structural and support tensions that exist in contextual practice.

Developed and discussed in this chapter is a model for university–school partnerships in the Goodlad tradition, a model referred to as the Professional Development Center (PDC). This model is a unique apprenticeship-based partnership inspired from Goodlad, the Holmes Group, NNER, and others, and, has been sustained for nearly 25 years at a rural midwestern university in the United States. Though different in form from the professional development school model, the PDC functions conceptually similarly in that it seeks to renew and revitalize teaching and teachers, and to do so in a professional learning context predicated on inquiry aiming toward the improvement of practice.

This chapter proceeds by introducing the PDC, discussing its policies and practices, curriculum, competencies, and commitments of those in the program, and concludes by discussing the growth, leadership, and renewal experienced through the program. Inclusive in this chapter are observations from mentors and novices who have gone through the PDC programming.

This paper aims to reveal the current status of China university teachers’ learning content focus (LCF) and collaborative learning (CL) and empirically examine the influential effects LCF and CL play on individual pursuit of lifelong learning (LLL) by investigating the mediating role of individual psychological empowerment (PE).

Descriptive analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM), including exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis, are conducted.

The results of this study indicate significant direct impacts of LCF, CL and PE on university teachers’ LLL. LCF shares significant positive relationship with PE, validating the mediating role of PE between LCF and LLL. University teachers show their consciousness of learning required in professionalism and willingness to keep learning. However, the four major discrepancies: Lifelong Learning Process (LLLP) vs Lifelong Learning Behavior (LLLB), focus of professional promotion system vs that in LCF, lower levels in Self-determination and Impact (in PE) and less external partnerships, indicate the gaps between learning supports provided by university and policy designing in promoting LLL.

This study emphasizes the LLL ideology in professional development. Emphasis on university teachers’ learning within specific professional development contexts would encourage researchers to pay more attention to context-relevant factors enhancing LLL. And the four major discrepancies identified in this study deserve further investigations.