Few studies have a focus on progression in teaching and learning mathematics. An assumption for this study was that progression in teaching between school stages was important. The approach of the study was based on action research. Four teachers from preschool to 9th grade (age 1-16) were invited to a temporary team, a community of practice. The overall aim of the study was to develop knowledge about teaching fractions when teachers used students’ understandings as a point of departure for their action plans. A second aim was to illuminate what influences progression in their teaching. The team of teachers used the four phases of action research: plan, act, observe and reflect, during their learning processes. The teachers’ learning sessions were videotaped and transcribed and this provided the main data that formed the basis of the results. Wenger’s dimensions of social learning were used as an analytical tool: joint enterprise, mutual engagement and shared repertoire. Four themes that described teachers’ negotiation of qualities in mathematics instruction were identified: interpreting students’ understandings, basing instruction on students’ understandings, visualizing fractions and ensuring students’ understanding. When teachers, regardless of what stage was involved, reified similar instructions, it did not benefit students’ learning opportunities. In order to improve progression in teaching fractions, it was important that teachers succeeded in identifying students’ understandings and that the team negotiated different qualities in their community of practice. The shared repertoire (the pre-tests and the video recordings) formed the core of negotiating progression based on students’ understandings. The team showed a mutual engagement, with students’ learning as their joint enterprise. An implication of the study is that teachers from different educational stages can negotiate progression and improve it.

The study investigates the rise of online platforms that support teacher-to-teacher knowledge mobilisation. The adoption of the interpretative approach focuses the investigation on how the online platforms, their resources and the learning opportunities they provide are conceptualised by teachers in relation to their broader teaching practice, workplace culture and professional learning. The study is framed by two overarching research questions. (1) What is the nature of the knowledge being shared and reconstructed by teachers in Internet-mediated knowledge mobilisation? (2) What is the nature of the learning arising from teacher-to-teacher Internet-mediated knowledge mobilisation? The study employs a multiple case-study design to investigate two United States based online platforms, which facilitate teacher-to-teacher knowledge sharing. Twenty teachers from across the two cases were selected to participate in the study. A qualitative methodology was utilised. Teachers participated in an individual, face-to-face interview. In the two months following the initial interview teachers completed a weekly journal log detailing their engagement with the platform. Upon the completion of their journal logs, teachers participated in a follow-up interview via Skype. To help to contextualise the individual teachers within the broader case and to enrich their personal stories, observations of the platforms occurred throughout the data collection period. The study proposes a new theoretical model for how to conceptualise Internet-mediated knowledge mobilisation, the knowledge that is produced and the learning that occurs through the reconstruction process. It emphasises the connection between offline and online contexts and the role the platforms play in breaking down the boundaries between teachers' school-based practice and online resources and learning opportunities. The framework encapsulates the combining of the individual and their contexts of action, together with the platform and the information and knowledge it contains, to determine and shape the operation of the knowledge reconstruction process and the learning that transpires. Internet-mediated knowledge mobilisation facilitates the development of teachers' personal, practical knowledge by providing insight into the instructional practice of teachers and exposing teachers to new ideas and perspectives, which support the expansion of their propositional structures and episodic knowledge. Access to relevant, teacher-created materials increases the efficiency and effectiveness with which teachers can undertake elements of their practice, while also promoting learning through participation in work-based tasks. Individualism emerges as the dominant mode of engagement and learning in the study, with individual teachers regulating not only how and when they engage but also determining the outcomes they construct from their actions. The Internet, as a knowledge mediator, opens up new possibilities that are not available in teachers' offline contexts. It not only breaks down boundaries between teachers, but it also collapses boundaries between the various settings of teachers' professional practice and learning, effectively merging the offline and online contexts of teachers' work. The dual contexts of the platforms offer specific affordances that help to shape teachers' engagement, while also acting to promote new learning processes that do not exist in offline knowledge mobilisation.

Sammanfattning Studien syftar till att undersöka om det finns något samband mellan lärares upplevda självtillit, skattad skolkultur i ämneslaget och graden av kollegialt lärande i ämneslag. 23 matematiklärare på fyra olika gymnasieskolor i Västsverige har besvarat enkäten som mäter respondenternas upplevelse av skolkultur i ämneslag, upplevd självtillit i professionen och graden av kollegialt lärande i ämneslaget. Metoden för uppsatsen är en enkätundersökning med relativistisk ansats då graden av samband mellan skolkultur i ämneslag, självtillit och kollegialt lärande undersöks. Resultatet på enkäten grundar sig i lärarnas upplevda erfarenheter av skolkultur i sina ämneslag, kollegialt lärande och självtillit. Efter analys av resultat från multivariat linjär regressionsanalys och korrelationstest är resultatet att det finns ett samband mellan lärares självtillit i skolsituationer och vilken skolkultur som råder i ämneslaget. Det finns också ett samband mellan skolkultur, självtillit och graden av användandet av kollegialt lärande. Undersökningen påvisar inte orsaksambandet mellan skolkultur, grad av självtillit och graden av kollegialt lärande. Detta är ett utvecklingsområde för vidare undersökningar. Studien kan vara en grund för skolledare vid planering för utvecklingsarbete och kollegialt lärande då skolkulturen påverkar i vilken grad det kollegiala lärandet kan utvecklas samtidigt som skolkulturen har en påverkan på lärares självtillit i professionen. Nyckelord: Skolkultur, självtillit, self efficacy, kollegialt lärande / Abstract This study aims to investigate a possible correlation between  teachers experienced self efficacy, estimated school culture within their subject and the extent of professional learning within their subject.  23 mathematics teachers at four different upper secondary schools (/high schools) in the west of Sweden have answered a questionnaire which measures the respondents’ experiences of school culture within their subject, the experienced self efficacy within their profession and the degree of professional learning/peer learning within their subject.  The method used for this essay is a survey with a relativistic approach as to investigate the connection between school culture within the subject, self efficacy and professional learning. The result of the questionnaire is based on the teachers’ own experiences of school culture within their subject, professional learning and self efficacy. An analysis of the result from a multivariate linear regression analysis and correlation test shows that there is a connection between teachers’ self efficacy in school situations and the school culture within the subject. Also, there is a connection between school culture, self efficacy and the extent of professional learning. The survey does not prove the causation between school culture, degree of self efficacy and the extent of professional learning. This is a possible field for further studies.   This study could serve as a basis for school leaders when planning for improvements and peer learning as school culture affects to what extent professional learning can be developed amongst teachers, and, as it affects teachers’ self efficacy within their profession.     Key Words: School culture, self efficacy,professional learning

Although there has been a substantial amount of research on the topic of teacher professional development, few studies adequately captured the types and frequency of formal and informal professional learning teachers undertake to improve as educators. The purpose of this study was to examine the types of activities middle and high school mathematics teachers engaged in to improve their abilities as educators, analyzed by the participants’ school setting, years of teaching experience, level of education, degree major, certificate type, and their school’s Title I status. Teachers from two large school districts in Florida participated. The Teachers’ Opportunity to Learn (TOTL) survey was used to collect the data. The TOTL measured the professional learning activities of teachers based on seven learning categories: (a) workshops, (b) teacher collaboration, (c) university courses, (d) conferences, (e) mentoring/coaching, (f) informal communication, and (g) individual learning activities. Teachers were solicited to participate two times; which generated 245 responses for analysis. The results of this study indicated that teachers devoted an extensive amount of time on professional development, with the majority of time spent on informal learning activities. Every participant in the study engaged in at least one professional development activity; most engaged in four or more activities. The activity with the highest amount of participation (99.2%) and greatest amount of time spent (36.62 hours per month) was individual learning activities. Other notable areas of participation were professional development programming, teacher collaboration, and informal communication. When the activities were analyzed by demographic variable, 16 comparisons were found to be statistically significant. Mentoring/coaching activities produced more significant results than any other activity in the study. Analyses also confirmed that the professional learning practices of new teachers were significantly different from their more experienced peers. The findings from this study could serve as the impetus for programmatic changes and policy reform within the education community. School districts could benefit by creating professional development programs that support teacher collaboration, informal communication, and self-directed learning. State education departments could encourage these endeavors by redirecting funding and redesigning certification systems to recognize these non-traditional individualized activities.

Higher Education lecturers in Mozambique are witnessing a chain of transformations within this sub-system including expansion of institutions, diversity of offered courses, huge admission of students resulting in more diverse student populations and the need to introduce new methods of facilitating learning and research as response. These changes, along with the rapid increase of the body of knowledge, challenge lecturers to improve themselves as academics. Contemporaneous models of professional development view this process as a constructive and situated endeavour, which should be practice-, problem-, value- and evidence-based and have reflection as its essential element. Having considered these aspects, I formulated the following research question: How can we promote critical reflection on innovative practice contributing to professional development of academic staff in Mozambican Higher Education Institutions? In order to address this research question, I adopted action research complemented by a mixed-methods approach. Therefore I carried out a baseline study entailing the administration of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires on innovative practices of lecturers. This baseline study aimed at mapping the field concerning practices to promote professional development, employment of Learning Style Flexibility (LSF) and the adoption of tools for reflection by lecturers. LSF is an approach to facilitating learning drawn from the whole-brain model of Ned Herrmann. It calls for adopting strategies of facilitating learning associated with the entire brain, not relying solely on the promotion of left brain learning. I adopted action research to monitor my practice of facilitating learningshops as an experimental professional development intervention and animated mentoring sessions to support and assist lecturers’ professional learning. Such professional learning consisted of lecturers implementing LSF within their practice of facilitating learning and monitoring this process by means of their small-scale action research. In this way I was putting into practice a synchronous model. As data collection techniques I employed the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), photography and audio- and video-recording of learningshops and mentoring sessions. Audio-recording the sessions I could collect the lecturers’ reflections. Later on, I analysed such reflections as nested within the lecturers brain profiles, pursuing a model of Learning Style Flexible Reflection (LSFR). Findings of the baseline study show the need to have a more organised and functional model of professional development in Mozambique, the need to explore the potential for scientific research through the adoption of a number of measures, as well as the need to promote lecturers’ reflection, deepening the use of tools already being employed in the context. Apart from this, this baseline information showed that the principles of LSF are not employed in a balanced and consistent manner since most lecturers indicated to facilitate student learning through strategies linked to the left brain. The action research findings show that the learninghops that I promoted with my hybrid group appeared to be effective in promoting lecturers’ critical reflection. In involving lecturers in this experimental professional development programme I promoted the possibility for them to account for what they were doing in their lecturing practice in a scholarly way. Therefore action research appeared to be the appropriate process to follow within the context of my mentorship. Moreover, action research proved to be the self-reflective inquiry lecturers can employ in pursuit of explanations for their transformative lecturing practices in the pursuit of ways to show that they are successfully working according to their values, and that their efforts are useful to improve their situations and institutions, since they are grounded within the idea of promoting reflection on one’s practice. All these aspects were evident from the lecturers’ case studies reported in this study. One of the main findings of the study is that the analysis of lecturers’ reflections, as nested within their brain profiles, and informed by the literature review, showed the emergence of LSFR, where lecturers could present different patterns of reflection associated with the different brain quadrants / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Humanities Education / unrestricted

This qualitative naturalistic descriptive case study provides an understanding of the characteristics of a community of practice within a National Writing Project Invitational Summer Institute. This study utilized naturalistic, descriptive case study methodology to answer the research question: What characteristics of a community of practice are revealed by the perceptions and experiences of the fellows of a National Writing Project Invitational Summer Institute? Data were gathered in the form of interviews, focus group, observations, field notes, and participant reflective pieces. Peer debriefing, triangulation, thick rich description, as well as member checking served to establish credibility and trustworthiness in the study. Bracketing, a phenomenological process of reflecting on one's own experiences of the phenomenon under investigation was utilized as well. The findings of this study point to five analytic themes. These themes, ownership and autonomy, asset-based environment, relationships, socially constructed knowledge and practices, and experiential learning, intertwine to illuminate the three essential components which must be present for a community of practice to exist: joint enterprise, mutual engagement, and shared repertoire. Participants' portraits provide a description of their unique experiences as they moved fluidly between the periphery and core of the community of practice.

The purpose of this research was to understand the role of district leadership better in the implementation and development of professional learning communities. This investigation was a mixed-methods analysis of the perceptions of a school district's support in the implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) at the school level. Additionally, in this study, I examined how the PLC framework supports systemic school improvement, using Hord's definition of the five dimensions of a professional learning community. A PLC literature review informed the study. A school district of approximately 14,000 students, and a high school of 2,219 students was selected as the population sample. One hundred high school staff members and 20 central office administrators completed the PLCA-DS of Professional Learning Community Assessment-District Support, developed by Olivier, Huffman and Cowan, to measure both school and district level personnel's perspectives regarding the district's role in the implementation of PLCs at the school level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with district personnel as well as school leadership and professional campus based staff, which played integral roles in the development of professional learning communities. These roles include the school principal, assistant principal, liaison and other staff who are working collaboratively at the school and district levels to support PLC implementation. The investigation results indicated the importance of leadership and culture throughout this change process and critical to school improvement as evidenced by the study of District A and High School A1.

Mentoring, coaching, and teacher induction programs continue to gain traction in school jurisdictions across Canada and internationally in an effort to address teacher attrition, support professional growth, and improve teaching and learning. Conceptualized as a patchwork quilt, this thesis by article reports on a qualitative case study that examined the Teacher Induction Program (TIP) implemented in 2009 in the Western Québec School Board (WQSB). Each manuscript or fabric block highlights a different component of the TIP that when stitched together reveals an emerging pattern of how professional learning and development, mentoring and coaching, and teacher evaluation is understood in the school district. Anchored within a social learning theoretical framework, this study asked two guiding questions: 1) What is the influence of the mentor–coach role on experienced teachers’ professional learning, practice, and well-being? And 2) How do the WQSB stakeholders perceive the impact of the TIP? Using a single case study design, data were collected from a variety of sources and stakeholder perspectives, including documents, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. Using the Framework Method, data were abductively analyzed with and against the study’s theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The study’s findings indicate that the mentor–coach role has powerful potential to not only support experienced teachers’ practice-based professional learning, but also to cultivate their sense of well-being and flourishing in schools. However, tensions emerged around how different stakeholders perceived the TIP’s impact in the school district. In particular, further attention is required to clarify the purpose and process of mentoring and coaching as well as the role of teacher evaluation within teacher induction. Ultimately, this study highlights the important role an effective mentoring and coaching fellowship can play in supporting veteran teacher professional learning, practice and well-being, which then has the potential to cultivate positive transformational change in a school district.

The study was to determine the impact of a Professional Learning Community on student achievement as measured by the state's criterion referenced reading and mathematics achievement tests. Data for this study were extracted from the school district's student database. Two cohorts of 90 students each were randomly selected from a population of approximately 600 students in 3 schools that participated in a Professional Learning Community (treatment) and 3 schools that did not (control). Professional Learning Communities known as PLCs, can serve as a major theoretical framework to promote the improvement of classroom teachers' instructional practice, teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Reading and mathemtics mean scale scores were extracted at three time points (year 1, year 2, and year 3) across three grades (grade 3, grade 4 and grade 5). Test for equality of variance found that no statistically significant difference existed between the mean scale scores of the two cohorts at the beginning of the study. The findings revealed that both cohorts trend toward increased academic achievement from year to year individually; however, when compared to each other, no statistically significant difference existed. Further research is indicated to examine each PLC for implementation, support and leadership as they relate to the PLC and a focus on instruction and learning.

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