Research demonstrates those who fail to learn to read well face unfair and lifelong societal disadvantage (Allington, 2011; Castles et al., 2018; Frontier, College, 2018). The number of children who fail to learn to read proficiently remains unacceptable and persists even as research suggests practices to help struggling readers (Allington, 2011; Castles et al., 2018). Building upon dismal findings from literacy networks and evidence from empirical research this study addresses this problem by exploring how contextual factors influence teachers’ learning and practice and student early reading achievement through two research questions: 1) How do contextual variables at the school, board and provincial level influence the planning, delivery and uptake of early reading professional learning opportunities? 2) How do teachers perceive the relationships between (a) their professional learning experiences, (b) their classroom early reading practices, and (c) student reading outcomes? This complexivist multiple instrumental case study explores the role of context upon teachers’ (N = 6) perspectives in three diverse schools (rural, urban and suburban) in one school board with the voices of principals (N = 3) and board-level reading experts (N = 3) providing additional layers of context. Within-case findings demonstrate the importance of meeting local teacher and student needs. Contextual networks represent pathways leading to learning, teaching and student reading development. Cross-case findings reveal the universal needs of the participants for meeting students’ core social and academic needs. Finally, a conceptual framework depicts the interaction of contextual factors within the teaching, learning and student achievement process. Theoretical, empirical and practical implications anchor a discussion proposing a research agenda situating teacher early reading learning into a professional learning collective compassionate to the learning needs of teachers who in turn can be more responsive to the local and universal needs of their students.

This dissertation presents a phenomenographic case study of a senior physics professor during and beyond an extended collaboration with a science education professor from a College of Education. The context for the collaboration is the co-teaching of a physics course for graduate students in a Masters of Teaching program at a research university in the southeastern US. The course was focused on physics content and the pedagogy of teaching for conceptual change. The purpose of this study is to investigate from a physics professor’s perspective the progression of his conceptions and practices regarding teaching for conceptual change over the duration of the collaboration and beyond. Prior research indicates that such change is a difficult and complex process requiring a transformative, personal experience. Collaboration between science departments and Colleges of Education has been identified as a key opportunity for transformative experiences, but research on the resulting changes is limited. Questions addressed by this study include (a) what is the evidence of change in a physics professor’s conceptions of teaching for conceptual change, (b) what is the evidence of change in a physics professor’s practices of teaching for conceptual change, (c) what are the learning environment characteristics identified by the physics professor that either facilitated or hindered changes in his conceptions and/or practices in teaching for conceptual change. The primary data were interviews with the physics professor integrated with direct classroom observations. Emergent categories of how the physics professor conceived and practiced teaching for conceptual change showed a progression over time toward a more expert view on teaching for conceptual change. Key factors identified in the physics professor’s progression are: 1) his motivation to become a more effective teacher, 2) the expertise of the science education professor, and 3) the way the collaboration developed. Limiting factors identified include: 1) time pressure for content coverage, 2) difficulty in translating change to other contexts, and 3) unsupportive external environments.

A variety of policies originating from Ontario’s Ministry of Education make it clear that education reform requires that teachers reflect on their practice. Despite this, there is little evidence of a common understanding of just what reflection would look like in teacher practice.This means that Initial Teacher Education programs face ambiguous challenges both in producing teachers who can reflect on practice in order to participate in school reform and in matching program goals regarding reflection to admissions requirements. This study investigated the understanding and evaluation of reflection in an Initial Teacher Education program through interviews with 15 instructors and field partners who had evaluated applicants’ written evidence of reflection. Differences among participants were evident in the understanding of reflection;however, the overriding theme of conscious attention to and engagement with experience as a vehicle for change was consistent with current literature. Differences in the evaluation of profiles were based on perceptions of how well applicants met the criterion of specificity, which was emphasized in the rubric; what role their judgement should take in evaluation decisions and the knowledge base on which those decisions were made. Participants described an organizational context in their Initial Teacher Education Program in which reflection was encouraged but not formalized or defined in any consistent way, and described opportunities for reflection that resembled informal communities of practice. They articulated some significant dilemmas in the fair evaluation of reflection that were similar to the challenges of school administrators evaluating the reflection required of teachers. The results of the study have implications for admissions policies as well as for creating a culture of reflection and inquiry in an Initial Teacher Education Program or school.

This three-phase qualitative study examined the significance of personal learning in the lives of full-time elementary school teachers in Ontario, Canada. The research aimed to provide an awareness of the effects of engaged personal learning on teachers’ in-school practices and on student engagement in school. An online questionnaire was used as the initial exploratory tool. The questionnaire was completed by 87 Ontario elementary teachers, and results were stratified by age, gender, range of learning experiences, and career stage. The questionnaire was used to generate descriptive statistics, identify how elementary teachers pursue personal learning interests across different career stages, and gather open responses, in order to determine how teachers characterize their engagement in personal learning opportunities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven participants to characterize the teachers’ learning experiences, and to explore their views as to how their learning affected them personally and professionally. Classroom observations ensued with three of the interviewees. The data analysis indicated that the nature of personal learning varies across different career stages, and that such learning occurs most often in an informal setting. It also revealed the significance of learning opportunities that both challenge and extend knowledge in real-life contexts and/or that is social or collaborative in nature. Three themes—connections, self as learner, and vitality—emerged from the reported effects of teachers’ personal learning on their students and their classroom practice. The teachers’ passion for learning was evident in the many ways that they provide meaningful, collaborative, and challenging opportunities for their students in a very supportive and nurturing environment. Through the data collection and analysis, it became clear that some of the most profound learning experiences were not preplanned or intentional in nature, but arose as a result of life. In some cases, the participants did not consider these experiences to be learning—until they began to detail the effects that these experiences had on them, both as individuals and as educators. Suggestions for future research are offered to continue learning from teachers who take part in personal learning, and from the students that they teach. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-10-19 08:38:23.555

The purpose of this study is to understand the opportunities for professional learning teachers encounter over the span of their careers. I conduct two qualitative case studies of mid-career teachers from Ontario, Canada to obtain insights into their teacher development experiences over their first eight years in the teaching profession. The analysis of interviews conducted during this period led me to identify four learning opportunities that were significant for the participants: mentoring at the beginning of the career, learning from and with colleagues, mandated collaborative learning, and part-time graduate studies. The teachers highlight the limits and possibilities of these opportunities considering their professional needs and contexts. Drawing on these findings, some practical recommendations for the design and implementation of teacher development programs are suggested.

This study aimed to investigate what constituted the professional practical knowledge of EFL experienced teachers in the Egyptian context and what the sources of their knowledge were. It also aimed to examine the relationship between the teachers’ knowledge and the contextual factors intervening in action. By delineating its focus as such, the study responds to call for reconceptualising the core of the knowledge base of teaching to focus on teaching as a knowledge-based activity and an act of common sense and reasoning, the pedagogy by which teaching is done, and the context in which it is done. The study was carried out using multiple methods for collecting qualitative and quantitative data. This design was chosen to investigate the participants’ views of professional practical knowledge and to construct their different understandings and interpretations which they brought with them. Questionnaires completed by 236 EFL experienced teachers, semi-structured interviews conducted with 14 of them and stimulated recall classroom observation data with three of them were the data collected for the current study. Although it provided a parsimonious view, quantitative questionnaire data made an important contribution to the bricolage of information built up during the study. A more in-depth understanding was gained from qualitative data using responses to the open-ended section of the questionnaire, interviews and classroom observation. Based on quantitative and qualitative data analyses, six core areas of teacher knowledge were constructed from the participants’ responses and accounts. These were: subject matter, pedagogy, students, classroom learning environment, curriculum and self. The findings also revealed a variety of sources which shaped the teachers’ professional practical knowledge including: experience, teacher education, university study in the subject department, student and peer feedback, in-service training, expert advice, student output and postgraduate study. The findings also revealed that the relationship between teacher knowledge and practice was reflected in two ways. The first was that teacher knowledge represented an operative model which underpinned practice. The second was that it informed the classroom decisions. However, not all teacher knowledge found application in practice. A variety of intervening contextual challenges were revealed to deter the actualisation of teacher knowledge in action such as the EFL exam policy, lack of time, support and resources, mismatch between teacher purposes and students’ expectations and needs, and large class size. These findings were discussed in relation to existing research evidence and context. Implications for pre-service and in-service teacher learning were also drawn based on the findings of the study.

This case study examined learning components and outcomes of the UDL Virtual Classroom project, a web-based professional development program that was a collaboration between educators in the United States and Jamaica. The study applied the HPL lens (NRC, 2000) in order to understand the ways that Jamaican educator-participants perceived the integration of learner-centered learning, knowledge-centered learning, assessment-centered learning, and community-centered learning in the program itself, and also examined the impact of these components, despite numerous hurdles, on teachers’ mindsets and practices and the engagement and performance of students in their schools and classrooms. The researcher’s intent was to address the contextual nature of teacher learning, which must contend with the challenges of meeting the needs of individual teacher-learners, as well as obstacles and real-world situations impacting the implementation of theories and strategies. A multi-case study design was used to gather data through observations, interviews, group meetings, and surveys. Findings were analyzed using qualitative methods, focusing on the experiences of participants both as adult-learners in the professional development program and as educators themselves as they returned to their own educational contexts to implement what they had learned. This study provided insights about strengths and challenges of hybrid learning, international resource-sharing, and long-term impacts of teacher learning.

Abstract When Curriculum 2005 was introduced into South African schools in 1998, it was considered too cumbersome in design and its language too complex. In accordance with the recommendations of the Ministerial Review Committee (2000) it was revised into the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). The language was simplified; it was streamlined to critical, developmental and learning outcomes and assessment standards. Teachers were expected to produce these outcomes and provision was to be made for improved teacher orientation and training, learning support materials and provincial support to teachers in schools. The study looks at how the RNCS is being provided for in terms of the support structures and programmes available to teachers working in the Learning Area of English in Grade Seven within the Senior Phase (Grades 7-9). Firstly, by identifying the competences expected from teachers and secondly, by trying to establish the extent to which these structures and programmes are effectively assisting teachers to achieve the required competences and learning outcomes.

Finnish teachers continue to receive significant attention among educators, educational leaders, and policy makers in the United States and around the globe. In addition, teacher collaboration continues to receive support as a meaningful part of teacher work and practice. Teacher collaboration is frequently described in various ways within different contexts. This study aims to: (a) better understand the nature of Finnish teacher collaboration by examining three teacher collaboration behaviors (sharing information and knowledge, planning, and problem-solving); (b) explore the extent to which Finnish teacher collaboration is formal (or school-required) collaboration and informal (or voluntary) collaboration; and (c) investigate the extent to which Finnish teachers attribute teacher learning to teacher collaboration. Using both qualitative and social network methods, the sample included 19 teachers from two comprehensive Finnish schools (1st–9th grades) who completed an online survey of professional network and open-ended questions. Analyses highlights the following: (a) Finnish teachers at a comprehensive school engage in the three teacher collaboration behaviors (sharing information and knowledge, planning, and problem-solving); (b) Finnish teachers at a comprehensive school value and collaborate in both formal and informal network structures; and (c) Finnish teachers at a comprehensive school attribute a degree of teacher learning, in terms of teacher improvement, to teacher collaboration.

Book Summary: The education and care of children under the age of eight has become one of the major focuses of attention in recent education research and policy-making around the world, and it is now widely recognised that investment in provision at this stage can be both cost effective and beneficial to the social fabric of communities. Approaches to education in nurseries, kindergartens and preschools have traditionally been significantly different from those that inform the teaching of older children but, until recently, these approaches have had little impact on education beyond early years settings. This wide-ranging collection of papers provides a valuable resource for scholars who need to ground their own study in wider historical and global discourses concerning the education of children under eight. Including both important historical sources and contemporary analysis of current issues, this fascinating set represents a broad variety of countries, cultures and traditions.