Internships are an increasingly popular activity for university students wishing to learn about the world of work, and the term can encompass many types of opportunities for learning about industries, occupations, or simply the experience of a professional workplace. The present study examines students following full-time degree courses across a range of subjects, in internships that are not integrated into course requirements. Internships of this kind are often located within the ‘employability agenda’ for higher education, developing students’ transferable skills to enable them to make smooth transitions to knowledge work outside the university. University careers advisors therefore encourage these internships as a form of experiential learning, and the notion of student employability is implicitly accepted by policymakers and universities. Yet, little is known about how or what students learn in internships. This study, which took place over three summers, examines how six students from one university made sense of their ten-week summer internships in an investment bank. The students were interviewed prior to their internships, three times during the banking internship, and again on return to the university. Using conceptual tools from sociocultural theory, the study starts from an understanding of movement between university and workplace as a matter of transition, rather than transfer and application, of knowledge and skills from university to the workplace. Adopting the idea of the ‘figured world’ (Holland et al., 1998) permits examination of how the students engaged with the cultural world of the workplace setting, interpreting and engaging with the practices there, and experiencing identity struggles that were of significance to them. The findings reveal the lack of support for the students’ engagement both before and during their placements, and have implications for the careers advising given to students undertaking internships. The study therefore concludes with a presentation of the principles that underpin student experience of internships. Universities can assist this by providing more resources for guidance to students undertaking internships, by assisting them with developing an awareness of the motives that are inherent in the workplace, as well as their own motives and those of employers providing internships.

Effective teacher development is significant for any educational system to remain competitive in the global arena (Bayar, 2014). However, science teachers’ professional development activities have often been found to be ineffective (Opfer & Pedder, 2011). Science teachers also minimally participate in such activities due to their ineffective experiences (Chval, Abell, Pareja, Musikul & Ritzka, 2007). Understanding how science teachers’ experiences are constructed is also crucial to create programs to meet their needs (Schneider & Plasman, 2011). It is essential in the construction of professional development experiences to recognize who is being served in professional development (Saka, 2013). But rigorous methods are required to understand the outcomes of professional development (Koomen, Blair, Young-Isebrand & Oberhauser, 2014). The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to study how secondary school science teachers describe their lived experiences of professional development in Punjab (Pakistan). How do these teachers understand, make sense, and use of those intended goals of professional development opportunities and change their practices through the implementation of learned knowledge of professional development? This study used purposive sampling to collect the qualitative data from fifteen secondary school science teachers of Punjab (Pakistan). The data collection was done through conducting semi-structured in-depth phenomenological interviews with these science teachers (Seidman, 2013). The data were analyzed using three-stage coding methods, and thematic analysis. Three main themes emerged from the analysis of data. The first theme of sense making is about their understanding and description of intended meaning of professional development activities. The second theme of meaningful experiences captured the participants perceived benefits from the PD activities. The third theme of contextual and cultural factors is focused on the understanding the impact of these factors in imparting of professional development experiences. The findings of the study communicate the significance of science teachers’ role in professional development activities. Science teachers’ voices, needs and active involvement must be taken into consideration in the designing and implementation of such activities.

The 1980s saw an increase in learning support assistants (LSAs’) in colleges for further education to support post-sixteen learners with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD). LSAs’ were appointed on an ad hoc basis with little or no experience, or relevant qualifications to deliver support in ‘inclusive’ vocational classrooms. The Workforce Development Plan in 2004 acknowledged this phenomenon and advocated that occupational standards be developed. Two years later, in October 2006, the first National Occupational Standards (NOS) for college LSAs was launched but it did not include an official training framework for their professional learning and although there are some training structures in place, this still remains the case today. Learners with LDD are, therefore, still supported by untrained LSAs’ who are not professionally equipped to deal with the particular challenges they present. Educators like myself who work alongside LSAs’ in colleges, must seek to naturalistically explore professional learning opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. Such professional learning opportunities should reflect the creative and dynamic contribution college LSAs’ bring to inclusive classrooms and, thereby, not only improve the quality of the support LSAs’ give but the overall integrative, ethical and non-discriminative ethos of a college. With this knowledge, I developed and implemented an Enhanced Learning Support Assistant Programme (ELSAP) for the professional learning of volunteer LSA participants with the aim of improving their knowledge and skills to deliver a more meaningful education for postsixteen learners with LDD. For the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, professional learning for LSAs’ needs to occur systemically over time and be integrated within the multilayered context of a college to allow dynamic and reciprocal influences to make transformative connections. Critically, my action research study strengthens the connection between socio-political theory and practice within the sociology of disability education on moral, ethical and human rights grounds.

This non-experimental, census survey included the elementary, middle, and high school principals at the comprehensive schools within a large, suburban school division in Virginia. The focus of this study was the factors that influence building administrators in using data to make instructional decisions. The purpose was to discover if there is a difference in the perceptions of elementary, middle, and high school principals of data use to make instructional decisions within their buildings. McLeod’s (2006) Statewide Data-Driven Readiness Study: Principal Survey was used to assess the principals’ beliefs about the data-driven readiness of their individual schools. Each principal indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with statements about acting upon data, data support systems, and the data school culture. Twenty-two items aligned with four constructs identified by White (2008) in her study of elementary school principals in Florida. These four constructs or factors were used to determine if there was a significant difference in principal beliefs concerning teacher use of data to improve student achievement, principal beliefs regarding a data-driven culture within their building, the existence of systems for supporting data-driven decision-making, and collaboration among teachers to make data-driven decisions. For each of the survey items a majority of the responses (≥62%) were in agreement with the statements, indicating the principals agreed slightly, agreed moderately, or agreed strongly that data-driven decision-making by teachers to improve student achievement was occurring within the building, a data-driven culture and data supporting systems exists, and teachers are collaborating and using data to make decisions. Multiple analyses of variance showed significant differences in the means. Some of these differences in means were based on the principals’ assignment levels. While both groups responded positively to the statement that collaboration among teachers to make data-driven decisions, the elementary principals agreed more strongly than the high school principals. When mediating variables were examined, significance was found in principals’ beliefs concerning teacher use of data to improve student achievement depending on the years of experience as a principal. Principals with six or more years of experience had a mean response for Construct 1 of 4.84 while those with five or less years of experience had a mean of 4.38, suggesting that on average those principals with more experience had a stronger belief that teachers are using data to improve student achievement. There is significance between the means of principals with three or fewer years versus those with more than three years in their current assignment on two of the constructs – a data-driven culture and collaboration among teachers. Principals with less time in their current position report a slightly higher agreement than their less experienced colleagues with statements about the data-driven culture within their school. Significant difference was also found between principals’ beliefs about teacher collaboration to improve student achievement and their beliefs regarding collaboration among teachers using data-driven decision-making and the school’s AYP status for 2008-2009. Principals assigned to schools that had made AYP for 2008-2009 moderately agreed that teachers were collaborating to make data-driven decisions. In comparison, principals assigned to schools that had not made AYP only slightly agreed that this level of collaboration was occurring in their schools.

This thesis offers a rethinking of the role for education as critical workplace pedagogy in complex problems of health care. Taking the case of paediatric diabetes, the study explored how health-care professionals learn the work of supporting children, and their parents, to self-manage the condition. By reconceptualising work problems as sociomaterial learning struggles, this research contributes new understandings of informal professional learning in everyday health-care provision. Data were generated through fieldwork in an outpatient clinic. Particular challenges of supporting self-management in this case were the difficulties of balancing policy aspirations for empowerment with biomedical knowledge about risks to immediate and long-term health. Tracing the materialisation of learning as it unfolded in moments of health-care practice showed professionals handling multiple and contradictory flows of information. Particular challenges were posed by insulin-pump technologies, which have specific implications for professional roles and responsibilities, and introduce new risks. A key insight is that professionals were concerned primarily with the highly complicated perpetual discernment of safe parameters within which children and their parents might reasonably be allowed to contribute to self-management. Such discernment does not readily correspond to the notion of empowerment circulating in the policies and guidelines intended to enable professionals to accomplish this work. As a result, this thesis argues that the work of discernment is obscured. Learning strategies evolve, but could be supported and extended by explicit recognition of the important work of learning as it unfolds in everyday practices of supporting self-management in paediatric diabetes. Most importantly, workplace pedagogies could be developed in ways that attune to the profound challenges and uncertainties that are at stake in these practices.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Trudy A. Salsberry / Increasing student achievement is at the forefront of the school reform movement. Today’s educators are called upon to raise academic standards to the highest level in history with common core standards that align with international benchmarks. One of the most rapidly-growing improvement efforts in today’s schools is the development of professional learning communities (PLCs). Research shows a link between PLCs and increased student achievement. Additional information is needed about how school leaders have successfully supported sustainable PLCs within their schools. The purpose of this multi-site case study was to understand the types of principal behaviors as perceived by both teachers and principals that are most meaningful in the support of PLCs. The study also examined the intersection of the dimensions of learning-centered leadership and the critical attributes of PLCs. This study concluded that in professional learning communities, principals and teachers share a vision for learning and address the needs of all learners. The following leadership dimensions are perceived to be important in the support of professional learning communities: the principal’s knowledge and involvement in curriculum and instruction, the principal’s knowledge and involvement in the assessment program, and the principal’s influence on organizational culture. The study also revealed that when learning-centered leadership and professional learning communities intersect, shared leadership and collective learning are perceived to occur. Commonalities among the five cases in this study were affirmed, but each school site also had unique characteristics. In particular, one site emerged as an exemplar for strong teacher leadership.

This mixed methods case study investigated mathematics teachers‘ perspectives of the effects of the Lesson Study Process on their content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and the potential for students‘ achievement. The population was 55 teachers from elementary, middle, and secondary schools in a metropolitan area. The three research questions guiding this study were: (1) What are the perspectives of teachers on the impact of the Lesson Study Process on their mathematical content knowledge? (2) What are the perspectives of teachers on the impact of the Lesson Study Process on their pedagogical knowledge? (3) What are the perspectives of teachers on the potential impact of the Lesson Study Process on their students‘ achievement? Literature pertaining to constructivism, teacher professional development, and Lesson Study was reviewed. Data from surveys, questionnaires, and focus group sessions were examined both quantitatively and qualitatively to determine common categories, themes, and connections to each of the research questions. The teachers believed that their mathematics content knowledge was positively affected in the areas of deeper understanding which led to an increase in self-confidence. The teachers also believed that their pedagogical knowledge was enhanced in the areas of planning and attention to student thinking. Finally, the teachers mentioned five areas for potential improvement in students‘ achievement. They included: students‘ increased conceptual understanding of the topics taught during the research lessons, planning lessons more thoroughly by making them relevant to the students‘ daily lives and planning it within the context of the state‘s curriculum, shifting the focus of an in-class observation from the teacher‘s performance to student thinking, and a similar shifting of the manner in which students are assessed—from right/wrong answers to seeking thought processes whereby the student may correct misunderstanding.

Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / Thesis advisor: Diana C. Pullin / This study explored the role of professional learning communities for district leadership implementing large-scale technology initiatives such as 1:1 implementations (one computing device for every student). The existing literature regarding technology leadership is limited, as is literature on how districts use existing collaborative structures such as professional learning communities (PLCs) to implement technology initiatives. This study examined how superintendents and their leadership teams expect educator collaboration and whether and how they connect these expectations to large-scale technology implementation. Specifically, the concept of professional learning communities (PLCs) and their constructs were studied as collaborative mechanisms designed to support educators implementing large-scale technology initiatives. This qualitative study employs a multiple case study method to explore how the use of collaborative structures supported large-scale technology implementation in five school districts. These respondents and their stories detail a unique moment in educational leadership as increasing numbers of districts seek to implement such large-scale initiatives in school systems. Study results highlight how superintendents use leadership planning and implementation teams to serve as PLCs at the district level. This study confirms that the collaborative constructs of the PLC do serve to assist in the implementation of large-scale technology implementations in school systems, but largely at the central office strategic planning level. Superintendents utilize these collaborative structures for personal learning as they design implementation but do not scale up such structures for use by all educators across the implementation or system. Recommendations are made for use of collaborative structures to create technology educator learning ecologies across school systems. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Elizabeth A. Twomey / Thesis advisor: James Marini / This qualitative case study focused on a Response to Intervention (RTI) literacy initiative in a suburban elementary school near an urban area in New England. The initiative incorporated professional development about RTI and implementation of components of an RTI model. The participant-researcher analyzed teachers' feedback regarding the professional development and the RTI model, as the initiative developed, with a specific focus on the teachers' perceptions about the impact of the initiative on the school's capacity to effectively instruct urban students of color who are participants in a voluntary desegregation program. The professional development about RTI incorporated three features which are recommended for professional learning communities: content which is research-based, process which includes reflection and dialogue, and context which is job-embedded. The RTI model utilized the "problem-solving" approach, and incorporated progress-monitoring and interventions. The findings from the study indicated that the combination of three elements (sustained professional development about RTI, implementation of RTI in the school setting, and conversations and questions about addressing the needs of urban students of color) resulted in increased teacher confidence in their ability to provide effective instruction to this population of students. Further, the interaction of these three elements resulted in identification of next steps which the teachers believe will specifically address these students' needs. However, several teachers questioned whether RTI was adequate to address the complex issues of students of color in a voluntary desegregation program. They recognized that they needed more information about effective instructional strategies to match the learning profiles of this population of students. Combining the results of this case study with the recommendations of the professional literature about culturally responsive teaching, it appears that Response to Intervention has the potential to address the learning needs of urban students of color, but only if practitioners incorporate some basic principles of culturally responsive teaching. Integrating the results of this study with the professional literature about Response to Intervention, culturally responsive teaching, and effective professional development, the participant-researcher recommends that policymakers and educators should consider incorporating culturally responsive teaching into their RTI models in order to truly make RTI effective for addressing the achievement gap. Further, the researcher recommends that schools should provide sustained professional development (with content based upon research, process which includes reflection and dialogue, and context which is job-embedded) to increase teachers' understanding about Response to Intervention and about culturally responsive teaching. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration.

Thesis advisor: Lauri Johnson / District leadership has been found to have a measurable effect on student achievement by creating conditions within which teachers and administrators frame their daily work with children. The superintendent is uniquely poised to build the needed infrastructure of support and assure its alignment with the philosophy and mission of the district and, in turn, with the work of the school. By attending to the habits and conditions that allow a staff to work as a unit, superintendents are able to contribute to the development of a community of professional learners within and among district schools. This qualitative case study analyzed district leadership practices that support ongoing teacher growth in a Massachusetts school district by examining the work of the superintendent and the impact of his leadership on the ongoing development of a community of professional learners at the district and school level. Data included interviews with teachers and administrators, artifact analyses, and observations of district meetings. Findings reveal the superintendent's use of a PLC process to model and provide support to school-level leaders by encouraging broad-based participation in the skillful work of leadership; establishing a clear vision which resulted in program coherence; fostering a system of inquiry-based accountability that informed decision making and practice; and nurturing organizational relationships that involved high district engagement and low bureaucratization which supported school-based collaborative teacher growth. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.