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Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Lisette Uiterwijk-Luijk, Meta Krüger, Bonne Zijlstra and Monique Volman

The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of psychological factors that influence inquiry-based leadership. This study investigates how affective attitude…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of psychological factors that influence inquiry-based leadership. This study investigates how affective attitude, experienced social pressure, and self-efficacy relate to aspects of inquiry-based school leadership. A school leader’s inquiry habit of mind, data literacy, and the extent to which he or she creates a culture of inquiry in the school are each identified as aspects of inquiry-based leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from questionnaires completed by a sample of 79 school leaders.

Findings

A significant relationship was found between self-efficacy regarding inquiry-based leadership and all aspects of inquiry-based leadership. Affective attitude toward inquiry-based leadership was significantly related to creating a culture of inquiry. There was no unique relationship between experienced social pressure and inquiry-based leadership.

Practical implications

Administrators and educators of school leaders who aim to stimulate inquiry-based school leadership should not only focus on increasing the capacity of school leaders to lead their school in an inquiry-based way, but they should also focus on leaders’ self-efficacy and on fostering leaders’ positive attitude toward inquiry-based school leadership. Administrators and educators can, for example, give positive feedback, emphasize the added value of inquiry-based leadership, encourage working with critical friends, and stimulate collaboration with other leaders.

Originality/value

This study addresses two gaps in the existing research, by focusing on inquiry-based leadership instead of data use and on psychological factors instead of knowledge and skills that are related to this type of leadership.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 55 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 February 2018

Kurt Thumlert, Ron Owston and Taru Malhotra

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of a commissioned research study that analyzed a schooling initiative with the ambitious goal of transforming learning…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of a commissioned research study that analyzed a schooling initiative with the ambitious goal of transforming learning environments across the district by advancing innovative, inquiry-driven pedagogical practices combined with 1:1 iPad distribution. The paper explores impacts of the initiative on pedagogical innovation, twenty-first century learning, and related impacts on professional learning, collaboration, and culture change in the pilot schools analyzed in the study.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-dimensional case study approach was used to analyze how the initiative was implemented, and to what extent teaching, learning, and professional cultures were transformed, based on action plan inputs and “change drivers”. Research methods included structured, open-ended interviews conducted with randomly selected teachers and key informants in leadership roles, focus groups held with students, as well as analysis of policy documents, student work samples, and other data sources.

Findings

The authors found evidence of a synergistic relationship between innovations in inquiry-driven pedagogy and professional learning cultures, with evidence of increased collaboration, deepened engagement and persistence, and a climate of collegiality and risk-taking at both classroom and organizational levels. Based on initiative inputs, the authors found that innovations in collaborative technology/pedagogy practices in classrooms paralleled similar innovations and transformations in professional learning cultures and capacity-building networks.

Practical implications

This initiative analyzed in this paper provides a case study in large-scale system change, offering a compelling model for transformative policies and initiatives where interwoven innovations in pedagogy and technology mobilization are supported by multiple drivers for formal and informal professional learning/development and networked collaboration. Challenges and recommendations are highlighted in the concluding discussion.

Originality/value

The transformative initiative analyzed in this paper provides a very timely case-model for innovations in twenty-first century learning and, specifically, for enacting and sustaining large-scale system change where inquiry-driven learning and technology tools are being mobilized to support “deep learning”, “new learning partnerships”, and multilevel transformations in professional learning (Fullan and Donnelly, 2013). This research advances scholarly work in the areas of twenty-first century learning, identifying relationships between technology/pedagogy innovation and professional capital building (Hargreaves and Fullan, 2012).

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 October 2019

Philippa Smales

International development and humanitarian work, including research and evaluation practice, relies upon the development of strong and trusting relationships between…

Abstract

International development and humanitarian work, including research and evaluation practice, relies upon the development of strong and trusting relationships between practitioners, researchers, local partners and communities. Due to these relationships, research conducted in developing countries and particularly in relation to development practice raises distinct ethical issues and dilemmas. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the importance of the consideration of ethics in international development and humanitarian research and how organisations can incorporate a culture of ethical inquiry into research and evaluation practice. It will highlight that good intentions and policy documents are alone not enough for when practitioners are working in development. It will also examine how principles and guidelines drafted expressly for and by the Australian international development sector is being used as a facilitator of ethical inquiry and good practice.

Details

Ethics in a Crowded World: Globalisation, Human Movement and Professional Ethics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-008-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 July 2012

Candace Schlein and Elaine Chan

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore and deliberate over ways in which culture may contribute to the interpretation of field texts while also intersecting the…

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore and deliberate over ways in which culture may contribute to the interpretation of field texts while also intersecting the dimensions of time, space, and sociality in accordance with Clandinin and Connelly's (2000) notion of the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space.

Approach – This chapter highlights research interactions within a long-term, school-based narrative inquiry dealing with lived curriculum experiences.

Findings – The researchers gained insight into some of the nuances of interpreting field texts. In particular, this study highlighted the potential influence of the cultural, racial, religious, ethnic, or linguistic backgrounds of researchers and their participants in shaping the interpretation of field texts.

Research implications – The field texts that were presented and examined in this chapter shed light on key curricular experiences, spaces, and silences that might occur in relational and interpretive research stemming from cross-cultural experiences and vantages. This uncovered strand of inquiry interpretation has wide implications for qualitative work.

Value – Narrative inquirers and researchers employing other interpretive forms of qualitative investigations might be influenced to attend to the themes of culture in their work in novel ways. New understandings of researcher bias and the subsequent interpretation of results can be seen from a cross-cultural experiential paradigm.

Details

Narrative Inquirers in the Midst of Meaning-making: Interpretive Acts of Teacher Educators
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-925-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2015

Ian Cummins

The failings of “community care” in the late 1980s and early 1990s led to a number of inquiries. The purpose of this paper is to examine one of these key issues that is rarely if…

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Abstract

Purpose

The failings of “community care” in the late 1980s and early 1990s led to a number of inquiries. The purpose of this paper is to examine one of these key issues that is rarely if ever at the forefront of the inquiry process – the experiences of young black men of African-Caribbean origin within mental health services and the Criminal Justice System (CJS).

Design/methodology/approach

It sets out to do this by exploring the way in which two inquiries, both from the early 1990s, approached the issues of race, racism and psychiatry. The two inquiries are the Ritchie Inquiry (1994) into the Care and Treatment of Christopher Clunis and Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the death of Orville Blackwood and a Review of the Deaths of Two Other African-Caribbean Patients (Prins, 1994). The Ritchie Inquiry was established following the murder of Jonathan Zito by Christopher Clunis. The Prins Inquiry examined the circumstances of the death of Orville Blackwood at Broadmoor Special Hospital.

Findings

These two inquiries are used as contrasting case studies as a means of examining the approaches to the questions of race and racism. However, the attitudes and approaches that the inquiries took to the issue of race are startlingly different. The Prins Inquiry takes a very clear position that racism was a feature of service provision whilst the Ritchie Inquiry is much more equivocal.

Originality/value

These issues remain relevant for current practice across mental health and CJS systems where young black men are still over-represented. The deaths of black men in mental health and CJS systems continue to scar these institutions and family continue to struggle for answers and justice.

Details

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2016

Valerie Drew, Mark Priestley and Maureen K. Michael

In recent years, there has been considerable interest within education policy in collaborative professional enquiry/inquiry methodologies, both as an alternative to top-down…

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Abstract

Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Originality/value

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

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 September 2015

Jarmo Ritalahti

Inquiry learning points is based on questions and requires students to work independently to solve problems. Instructors are facilitators of learning, not people who give right…

Abstract

Inquiry learning points is based on questions and requires students to work independently to solve problems. Instructors are facilitators of learning, not people who give right answers and instructions to learners. Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences Porvoo campus in Finland is a new concept for learning. The lecturers have changed from traditional ones to coaches aiming at new competences with new tools to enhance learning. Their own implementation of inquiry learning has been assessed by themselves with an ongoing self-assessment process as a part of the normal tasks of instructional teams. Self-assessment is a part of action research that aims to develop an organization and the work in it.

Details

Tourism Education: Global Issues and Trends
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-997-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 November 2016

Sarah M. Fleming

This chapter presents a description of a pilot course for 12th-grade students in research methods and writing, using Guided Inquiry Design to develop students’ critical literacy…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter presents a description of a pilot course for 12th-grade students in research methods and writing, using Guided Inquiry Design to develop students’ critical literacy and information literacy skills.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a practitioner inquiry methodology, this teacher research study makes use of qualitative data to examine student perspectives and experiences, teaching artifacts and student work samples. The research seeks to identify ways students practice critical literacies when engaged with inquiry learning, as well as the characteristics of a classroom learning community designed to support students’ experiences in inquiry learning.

Findings

Teachers of research-based writing are encouraged to adopt a guided inquiry approach to their instruction in which they flip the script on the thesis statement, allow for an almost uncomfortable amount of exploratory reading, put the focus on the process instead of the product, and form a guided inquiry team with the school librarian.

Practical implications

This chapter serves as a resource for practicing teachers, teacher researchers, and teacher educators assisting new teachers in embedding critical inquiry skill development in student writing.

Details

Writing Instruction to Support Literacy Success
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-525-6

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 November 2010

Meta L. Krüger

The growing knowledge society has caused a change in the meaning of knowledge and learning. In Dutch schools, this creates a demand for evidence-based innovation and school…

Abstract

The growing knowledge society has caused a change in the meaning of knowledge and learning. In Dutch schools, this creates a demand for evidence-based innovation and school development and a need for working with data. This chapter focuses on leadership in changing schools including the difference between management (organizing, structuring, and budgeting things that already work); leadership (adapting things that do not run smoothly, stimulating, motivating and empowering people, and communicating vision); and relationship with interactional and transformational leadership. Consequently, inquiry-based leadership is becoming the center of interest internationally (Geijsel, Krüger, & Sleegers, 2010; Luo, 2008). The author presents a conceptual framework for deeper understanding of school leadership in the 21st century – that to be effective in their roles, they must learn how to create inquiry-based cultures in their schools and to continuously learn from data. Finally, the author identifies some challenges for school leaders in coming years and proposes ways that help strengthen their leadership including the professionalization for all leaders oriented to instructional leadership, inquiry-based leadership, higher order thinking and distributed leadership.

Details

Global Perspectives on Educational Leadership Reform: The Development and Preparation of Leaders of Learning and Learners of Leadership
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-445-1

Article
Publication date: 9 February 2015

Melinda Waters, Linda Simon, Michele Simons, Jennifer Davids and Bobby Harreveld

As neoliberal reforms take hold in the vocational education and training (VET) sector in Australia, there is renewed interest in the quality of teaching practice. However, despite…

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Abstract

Purpose

As neoliberal reforms take hold in the vocational education and training (VET) sector in Australia, there is renewed interest in the quality of teaching practice. However, despite the value of practitioner inquiry to the quality of teaching in schools, scholarly practice in higher education, and established links between the quality of teaching and outcomes for learners and between practice-based inquiry and pedagogic innovation in VET, the practices has received little attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of a college-wide culture of scholarly activity to learners, enterprises, VET institutions, educators and the national productivity agenda.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the education literature, empirical examples of scholarly activity drawn from the authors’ experiences of working with VET practitioners, this paper asks what constitutes research and inquiry in VET, why should these practices be integral to educative practice and what value do they bring to the sector? In addressing the questions, the authors explore how research and inquiry is defined in the literature and draw on three empirical examples of scholarly activities to provide a national, institutional and individual view. A discussion about the value of scholarly activities to VET stakeholders and how the practices might be fostered and sustained concludes the paper.

Findings

The paper concludes that practice-based scholarly activities in VET cultivate rich potential for renewed and innovative pedagogies that improve outcomes for learners, respond to industry demands for innovative skills, build “pedagogic capital” for VET institutions, enrich the knowledge base of policy makers and build resilience and professionalism. The authors conclude by positioning VET educators as scholars in their own right along a continuum of scholarly activity and posing the proposition that when valued, scholarly activities are practices for new times that will build a strong and vibrant profession for the future.

Research limitations/implications

This paper brings together the authors’ experiences of working with VET practitioners as the authors engage in scholarly activities. While each vignette was drawn from a formal research project in each case, the paper itself was not structured around a formal research activity, although a small survey was undertaken for vignette 1. This poses limitations to the findings of the study. However, the purpose of the paper is not to be conclusive but to forward an argument for more scholarly activity in VET in order to promote further research and debate.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the current debate in Australia about the quality of teaching in VET and the sectors’ capability to produce “work-ready” graduates. It brings to the fore the value of scholarly activity for educators, learners, industry and communities, VET institutions and the broader national innovation agenda. As such, it has relevance to all VET stakeholders, most particularly policy makers, leaders and practitioners in VET.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

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