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Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Fatemeh Abbaspour, Rezvan Hosseingholizadeh and Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş

Current school leadership research has primarily utilized quantitative methods to explore the relationship between leadership and teacher learning. However, there is a notable gap…

Abstract

Purpose

Current school leadership research has primarily utilized quantitative methods to explore the relationship between leadership and teacher learning. However, there is a notable gap in understanding how principals facilitate professional learning, especially in centralized educational settings. This study aims to address this gap by examining the role of school leadership in enhancing teacher professional learning within a highly centralized education system.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative case study delves into the lived experiences of 15 teachers and eight school leaders in eight primary schools in Mashhad, Iran. Through semistructured interviews, researchers employed open and axial coding to systematically explore and categorize qualitative data. The study focuses on understanding the role of principal leadership in facilitating teacher professional learning by connecting themes and sub-themes across transcripts.

Findings

Effective principals worked on the cultivation of a culture that champions perpetual personal growth and development, the nurturing of a collaborative learning community, and the provision of essential resources and support. Findings showed the pivotal role of principals in promoting teachers' self-development, facilitating idea exchange and acknowledging their efforts. Principals appeared as key to encouraging information sharing, fostering collective learning, promoting professional development, overseeing teaching practices and ensuring the availability of resources to cultivate a supportive climate in a centralized education context.

Originality/value

We concluded that in centralized education, leadership practices for promoting teacher learning share similarities and differences with decentralized settings. The findings offer guidance for principals in centralized systems, supporting them in facilitating teacher professional learning in their schools.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 February 2024

Aminath Adhala Rasheed, Ahmad Albattat and S. M. Ferdous Azam

Virtual professional learning communities provide digital platforms for teachers across the globe to join learning networks and engage in continuous and unrestricted learning…

Abstract

Purpose

Virtual professional learning communities provide digital platforms for teachers across the globe to join learning networks and engage in continuous and unrestricted learning. This study aimed to explore the impact of contextual factors on establishing virtual professional learning communities in Maldivian schools.

Design/methodology/approach

This quantitative study used a sample of 420 Maldivian in-service teachers chosen using two-stage cluster sampling and a stratified random sampling method.

Findings

The findings revealed that all three contextual factors – micro-, meso- and macro-contextual – positively and significantly influenced the virtual professional learning communities.

Practical implications

These findings recommend an integrated framework with micro-, meso- and macro-contextual factors as valuable instruments for educational leaders striving to establish virtual Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).

Originality/value

This study is among the first to examine the association of contextual factors of schools with the establishment of virtual PLCs in a country such as the Maldives, with geographically dispersed islands and limited resources.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 38 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2023

Rachel Shanks

The focus in professional learning is often on formal activities such as workshops, conferences and courses. There is also a tendency to focus on formal programmes of coaching and…

Abstract

Purpose

The focus in professional learning is often on formal activities such as workshops, conferences and courses. There is also a tendency to focus on formal programmes of coaching and mentoring in teacher education. Emphasising the formal activities means that everyday informal learning in educational settings is overlooked. Informal coaching and mentoring could be utilised to support teachers' career-long professional learning.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper which draws on the author's research and seeks to expand what is considered as professional learning within teacher education – namely, informal coaching and mentoring. To understand how to support this professional learning, the lens of social practice is used with an emphasis on learning environments and learning practices.

Findings

Coaching and mentoring can be identified in informal encounters in the staffroom, school corridors and many places and situations. Findings are presented in relation to the importance of informal learning from and with colleagues and the role of headteachers.

Originality/value

More attention has been paid to informal learning, but there is still a need for what could be termed an “informal turn”. Understanding that informal coaching and mentoring afford professional learning opportunities to the teachers who both provide and receive coaching and mentoring can help to support their learning. Recommendations are provided on how educational settings can facilitate and support these professional learning opportunities while preserving their informality.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 June 2023

Rachelle Curcio, Rebecca Smith Hill and Kate Ascetta

The paper aims to examine how a professional development school-district (PDS-D) partnership, enacting an improvement science stance, collectively explored social-emotional…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to examine how a professional development school-district (PDS-D) partnership, enacting an improvement science stance, collectively explored social-emotional learning (SEL) during collaboratively designed professional learning experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study, guided by an improvement science orientation, enacted an iterative research design. Data sources consisted of anecdotal field notes and artifacts from 12 professional learning sessions. Using a constant comparative method, the authors applied an inductive thematic analysis to identify salient themes across data related to teacher wonderings and identified goals.

Findings

The paper illuminates teachers' voices while highlighting information gleaned from participant wonderings, their identified goals and how this information informed the iterative development of future professional learning experiences within a district-university partnership.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the chosen research approaches and limited number of participants, the research results may lack generalizability.

Originality/value

This paper provides original insight into collaborative development of recursive professional learning experiences within partnership spaces.

Details

School-University Partnerships, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-7125

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 October 2023

Zuliana Mohd Zabidi, Zuraidah Abdullah and Bambang Sumintono

The purpose of this study is to explore mathematics teachers' collaboration within their professional learning communities (PLCs), and to gain insight into how the teachers…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore mathematics teachers' collaboration within their professional learning communities (PLCs), and to gain insight into how the teachers developed their collective efficacy through it to focus on improving student learning.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a qualitative approach, data were collected from three high-performing secondary schools, mainly through semi-structured in-depth interviews with the Heads of Mathematics Unit. For explication and triangulation purposes, focus group interviews with the mathematics teachers and students and document analysis were also conducted.

Findings

The findings indicate that PLCs were the vessel through which a culture of disciplined teacher collaboration was fostered. More importantly, this culture encouraged teachers to participate in reflective dialogues that became a driver for their learning, and eventually led to their changed professional practice for improved student learning. The collaborative setting within the PLCs allowed teachers to pool their resources, knowledge and individual expertise to identify their student learning focus, and administer and measure their student intervention strategies. This collaborative professional learning reduced professional isolation, and as a result, improved teachers' collective pursuit of professional growth to impact student outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The aim of this qualitative study was to provide a detailed description of the teachers' collaboration within their PLCs based on the researchers' interpretation of how the participants make sense of their PLC practices and experiences. Hence, findings are indicative, and not definitive. In addition, the Heads of the Mathematics Unit, and the mathematics teacher participants in this study illustrated salient aspects of subject subcultures, where their beliefs, norms and practices were non-generic, or specific only to their subject context. Therefore, the implications to practice were built from commonalities shared only among the mathematics units.

Originality/value

This is a study in a Malaysian context that provides empirical evidences that are concerned primarily with the process of teachers developing their collective efficacy through disciplined collaboration within their PLCs.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Redefining Educational Leadership in Central Asia
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-391-0

Book part
Publication date: 9 June 2023

Daniela Roxana Andron and Stefania Kifor

Isolated within the communist Eastern Block until 1989, Romania has been experiencing numerous educational reforms, initiated by the National Ministry of Education and generally…

Abstract

Isolated within the communist Eastern Block until 1989, Romania has been experiencing numerous educational reforms, initiated by the National Ministry of Education and generally aligned with the European Union goals through the Bologna Treaty. The socioeconomic macrosystem is an important source of influence and we are looking at its main directions. Scholarship on the topic of teaching and learning in Romania is emergent but Computer-Assisted-Teaching (CAT) education in Romania remains insufficiently explored, despite the ever-growing need. This chapter analyzes the state of CAT formative programs for the preservice and the in-service teachers at Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu, Romania. We are now using the lessons learned from the Covid-19 crisis to reflect on new needs for digital competencies, Professional Development (PD), and proposed systemic changes. Such professional training is offered first during the university years, during the BA and MA studies. At the university level, the teacher training curriculum includes CAT, while for the in-service teachers, the PD continues through a combination of self-pursued and mandatory teacher training sessions offered by the regional school districts, universities, and professional organizations. CAT PD is not usually the focus of teacher preparation degree programs; the computer-assisted teaching course during teachers' training program offers a general, introductory perspective on using technology in teaching. For in-service teachers, most specialized PD happens independently and/or through self-teaching. The Covid-19 crisis created not only the urgent need to learn how to teach online but also the awareness that computer-assisted teaching PD needs certain changes.

Details

Teacher Education in the Wake of Covid-19
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-462-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 August 2023

Caroline Daly, Polly Glegg, Beth Stiasny, Mark Hardman, Becky Taylor, Claire Pillinger and Haira Gandolfi

The paper provides analysis of the use of instructional coaching (IC) as a prevalent trend supporting new teachers in the English system and aims to inform ongoing policy…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper provides analysis of the use of instructional coaching (IC) as a prevalent trend supporting new teachers in the English system and aims to inform ongoing policy development and implementation. The qualitative study examines mentors' conceptualisations and enactment of the role of instructional coach and the readiness of mentors to assume mentors' key stakeholder roles in the professional education of early career teachers (ECTs).

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews with 37 mentors explored mentors' understandings and experiences of becoming instructional coaches as part of a pilot support initiative to support ECTs in England. Two rounds of interviews were conducted to generate data related to the first six months of mentoring on the programmes. Thematic analysis identified seven semantic themes which describe manifest content found within the data and identify mentors' perceptions of their role and practice as instructional coaches. Three latent themes were developed from mentors' accounts which indicate challenges in becoming an instructional coach in this context.

Findings

Concern to apply IC “correctly” according to the programme models was a strong feature amongst both novice and experienced mentors. A key finding is the lack of explicit knowledge of professional learning pedagogies amongst mentors and insecure understanding of how new teachers learn. Assuming the role of instructional coach presented both benefits of having a “model” to follow and disadvantages in fostering limited and over-prescribed concepts and practices related to the learning of new teachers.

Research limitations/implications

The study investigated mentors during the first six months of a pilot programme and the paper reports on analysis of one type of data. The research results may lack generalisability, and a longitudinal study is necessary to further explore the validity of the findings.

Practical implications

Sustained, high-quality professional learning for mentors is crucial to mentors' role as instructional coaches to enable mentors to develop deep, critical understanding of how IC might support new teachers and how to exercise professional judgement in working with “models”. Judicious use of time and resource is needed to enable mentors to fulfil the potential of national mentoring programmes.

Originality/value

The study is timely in its examination of mentors that assume the role of instructional coach as one response to national policy development that makes support for ECTs mandatory. Such strategies have wide international relevance where the retention of new teachers is a policy priority.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 August 2023

Frances Rust and Diane Yendol-Hoppey

This chapter examines the professional background, trajectories, and learning of a broad group of teacher educators involved in initial teacher education. The work specifically…

Abstract

This chapter examines the professional background, trajectories, and learning of a broad group of teacher educators involved in initial teacher education. The work specifically identifies those who shape the practice of teaching. The authors who are members of the International Forum on Teacher Educator Development (InFo-TED) were key to the creation of InFo-TED, NA (North America), which has used Zoom technology to launch and spread its efforts. Its central purpose is to spur teacher educators and policymakers to embrace new ways to educate all children.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 August 2023

Eva Garin and Diane Yendol-Hoppey

This study provides an analysis of professional development school (PDS) dissertation research that focuses on learning in PDSs. These 103 dissertations written between 1990 and…

Abstract

Purpose

This study provides an analysis of professional development school (PDS) dissertation research that focuses on learning in PDSs. These 103 dissertations written between 1990 and 2020 address an aspect of learning in PDS work, including inquiry as a pedagogical learning tool, student learning PK-12, intern/teacher candidate learning, university teacher educator learning, and inservice teacher learning. From the current exploration of PDS dissertations, most especially from the comparison studies, the authors have learned that there is still no clear path to presenting PDS as having a positive impact when compared with non-PDS experiences..

Design/methodology/approach

Within each of these categories, the authors examine the dissertations by methodology and explore common themes among dissertation findings. As the PDS movement enters its third decade of inquiry and builds its efficacy on models of learning, the findings provide insight into the degree to which PDS scholars are building on the past to determine future PDS research agendas around learning.

Findings

The authors examine the dissertations by methodology and explore common themes among dissertation findings. The themes included: intern learning does happen in PDS sites; PDSs provide structures for intern learning; teacher educators can learn from their PDS work; dissertations in the area of student learning overwhelmingly had inconclusive findings, except for research that focused on targeted interventions, which demonstrated student gains.

Research limitations/implications

With fewer PDS-focused dissertations being written in more recent years, the authors wonder if the complexity of PDS may be a deterrent to the growth and sustainability of this model?

Practical implications

From the current exploration of PDS dissertations, most especially from the comparison studies, the authors have learned that the authors still do not have a clear path to presenting PDS as having a positive impact when compared with non-PDS experiences. However, the authors are beginning to understand the types of studies that are needed to move this agenda forward and hope the work will help inform the PDS community of some.

Originality/value

This is the first known study of PDS dissertations across time.

Details

School-University Partnerships, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-7125

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 4000