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.

Mandates have been issued for educators to collaborate and improve student achievement, requiring a change in instructional practices through teacher talk. Teachers have struggled to make the transitional conversion from team planning to observed changes in instructional practices with evidence of improvement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how teachers collaborated while following the Ohio Improvement Process. The purpose was then to make data-driven changes regarding instructional practices in the continuous improvement cycle. The conceptual framework was constructed from the teachers' dialogic stances towards talk of instruction, along with the intellectual and emotional attitudes teachers have about making changes. The guiding research question examined the ways teachers have been influenced by each other to make changes in instructional practices. The case study design observed a sample of 10 teachers from two teacher-based teams, with five of those teachers being interviewed. Observational data were examined for dialogic stance toward talk of instructional practices, whereas interview data were analyzed looking for evidence of the cognitive restructuring. Statements were categorized as motivations and influences. The analysis revealed that the teachers are changing their thinking through motivations and influences from collaboration. Literature has supported the findings that teachers could benefit from a gradual implementation process leading to the continuous improvement cycle. By developing a policy recommendation paper with a focus on teacher learning, positive social change may include preparing and empowering teachers for the changes that occur through collaboration.

The purpose of this multi-case study was to describe and explain teacher learning within school contexts by exploring the nature of teachers' experiences in learning communities. This study explored the ways in which teachers participated in professional development sessions using the project approach as a framework for facilitating and engaging in professional learning communities by answering: What is the nature of teachers' experiences in inquiry-based professional learning communities? In what ways and under what conditions does documentation play a role in teacher learning? For data collection I used semi-structured interviews, audio recordings of professional development sessions, teacher documentation, teacher daily sheets, and my researcher journal. I applied a constructivist approach using a social lens for the data analysis to make sense of teachers' learning experiences (Vygotsky, 1935; Rogoff, 1995). The findings indicated that group dynamics play a pivotal role in how teachers' experience professional learning communities. Teacher's struggled to foster inquiry into their own practice. The findings also indicate documenting children's learning is essential in developing a deeper understanding of children. Despite the positive role of documentation within the professional learning community, teacher's needed favorable conditions to continue using documentation for teacher learning.

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore the roles, responsibilities, and perceptions of writing coaches, a form of embedded professional development, which had the opportunity to assist teachers in deepening their pedagogical knowledge of writing instruction. Furthermore, this inquiry sought to describe middle school teachers' (N = 235) perceptions of how writing coaches may have impacted their beliefs and pedagogy with regard to writing instruction. At the time I conducted this case study, no extant literature existed to describe the roles, responsibilities, or perceptions of writing coaches, and this inquiry sought to fill that void. In an intrinsic case study, the researcher's own interests guide the inquiry. Qualitative data from interviews, observations, and archival data informed the inquiry. Furthermore, a non-experimental quantitative survey complemented the qualitative data. I analyzed qualitative data as I collected it through constant-comparative analysis beginning with open coding of individual cases, proceeding to axial coding across site cases, and finishing with selective coding across site cases, at which point I integrated relevant empirical research. I reported descriptive statistics for the non-experimental quantitative survey data. The findings of this inquiry do not generalize to other populations, but the results of data analysis may inform future study and practice. I uncovered teachers regarded the writing coaches in this inquiry positively, but did not explicitly communicate any change in beliefs or practice with regard to writing instruction. Furthermore, I discovered although writing coaches are deemed "coaches," they spend more of their time performing responsibilities which categorize them as teachers and administrators. A posteriori data trends revealed writing coaches faced many challenges: high-stakes testing, unclear roles and responsibilities, balance of their many roles and responsibilities, micromanagement, and inability to impact teacher practice. Lastly, I outline a model, which requires future testing under experimental conditions, to explain how the challenges writing coaches face may serve to lower their loci of control, perceptions of effectiveness, and job satisfaction. The themes I discovered through data analysis led me to make recommendations with regard to future research and practice. This inquiry described three writing coaches' roles, responsibilities, and perceptions, but future study, both qualitative and quantitative, is needed to more fully describe and explore the phenomenon. The model I developed through qualitative data collect and analysis would require testing in inquiries with an experimental design. I recommend future research in the causal cascade to discover how the efforts of writing coaches and other academic coaches may impact teacher pedagogy and practice and eventually student learning. Furthermore, I endorse future studies into academic coaches' loci of control and challenges. Although this study sought to explore the roles, perceptions, and perceived impact of writing coaches, it truly became a study of the challenges perceived by writing coaches and the factors which may contribute to job dissatisfaction and perceived ineffectiveness. For this reason, I make specific recommendations to support writing coaches in their attempts to perform their jobs excellently.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the first two years of beginning teachers' professional development and learning. The study sought to document and understand the conditions and discursive practices of seven purposely selected schools that were implementing robust beginning teacher induction programmes. The focus was on induction, located in a comprehensive national system, to reveal the practices and tensions experienced by beginning teachers as they advanced their learning and development. It is anticipated that the seven case studies, along with the working theory of sound induction will add to the body of knowledge in the field of teacher learning and professional development and contribute to the debate about teachers' work and quality teaching. Few studies have investigated beginning teacher (BT) induction in comprehensively resourced systems. Much of the research investigates fragmented parts of BT experiences. The literature shows that when a holistic examination of induction is carried out it tends to be predominantly in the secondary school context. In-depth research into year one and year two teacher learning and professional development in sound primary school induction programmes was not found. The study provides a working theory of beginning teacher learning and, as Renwick (2001, p. 33) suggested, exemplars to maximise the effectiveness of schools to employ and support beginning teachers . Sound induction has the potential to positively influence teacher practice as research evidence indicates early career experiences affect future practice. The research is a multi-site collective case study that takes an interpretative, qualitative stance drawing on constructionism to inform the interplay between sociological and psychological theoretical disciplines, which make the information visible in different ways. The case studies scrutinise in depth, individual school contexts and are instrumental in providing better understanding and theorising about the collective case of beginning teacher induction. The primary sources of data were individual and focus group interview transcriptions. In addition, there were the accompanying notes and related school documentation. i Data analysis was an iterative process of inductive and deductive reasoning to make meaning that moved beyond description to identify categories and themes that emerged both within schools and across schools. Evidence of sound BT induction was found although variation in induction practices between schools was noted. Beginning teacher induction went beyond advice and guidance to incorporate educative mentoring in collaborative, collegial schools where high expectations prevailed. The findings suggest that teacher learning should be informed but not constrained by lock-step models of learning and development. Aspects of development as a professional were advanced and, in other respects, marginalised by the education policy focus on children's achievement. Feedback and children's learning and achievement underpin beginning teachers' judgements about their development as teachers. The socio-economic school contexts were less important than the quality of leadership, school cultures, expectations and the confidence of individual novice teachers. The study raises questions about the nature of teachers' work and teacher, government and societal expectations. It is anticipated that these findings will increase understanding of, and provoke debate about beginning teacher learning and their development as professionals.

This study explored how a video club could be used to help develop teacher’s professional vision by investigating how teachers’ professional vision changed over time. In addition, the role of the facilitator was studied to determine how it contributed to the development of professional vision. The facilitation techniques appear to be the reason why the expected growth in professional vision did not occur. While video clubs are a valuable way of embedding professional development with artifacts from the classroom, care must be taken with the facilitation techniques employed.

This study explored how a video club could be used to help develop teacher’s professional vision by investigating how teachers’ professional vision changed over time. In addition, the role of the facilitator was studied to determine how it contributed to the development of professional vision. The facilitation techniques appear to be the reason why the expected growth in professional vision did not occur. While video clubs are a valuable way of embedding professional development with artifacts from the classroom, care must be taken with the facilitation techniques employed.

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) and the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), the inclusion of students with disabilities (SWDs) in general education classrooms has become more prevalent within our public schools (DuFour & Eaker, 1998; Mcleskey et al., 2010). Current research on inclusion focuses on student outcomes and procedural changes and not the contexts and capabilities of education leaders who are implementing it. Empirical research that examines how schools have built the capacity for sustaining these models, especially through the perspectives of those who implement it, is limited to date. The purpose of the current study was to examine in depth one school's capacity development during their own inclusive education reform. Specifically, this study (1) explored how school leaders perceived their own capacity in initiating and implementing inclusion reform; (2) explored how leaders perceived the school's capacity to implement inclusion and (3) explored how their capacity to implement inclusion aligned with the school capacity literature. Case study methodology was used to make meaning of the participants' individual perspectives and weave them into an integral whole. This case study sought to uncover the perspectives that school leaders (teacher leaders and administrative leaders) placed on their capacities to initiate and sustain an effective inclusive education model.

This is a case study of the challenges and complexities of initiating a professional learning community of teachers. Situated in a school in the British West Indies, this study draws on the experiences of seven teachers initiating a professional learning community (PLC) over a 12-week term in 2007. Individual interviews, group meetings, journal entries, and exit comments were analyzed to construct five main themes: Initiating a PLC, Features of a PLC, Challenges of a PLC, Benefits of a PLC, and the Future of the PLC. These teachers recognized the need for this community because of challenges and problems they faced. Many features reported in the literature on PLCs were present in this nascent PLC of teachers. The teachers created their own shared vision and provided evidence of collective learning in the weekly meetings. Participants developed trust and shared many personal practices and experiences of teaching. Challenges to initiating a professional learning community included finding time to meet, a weak school culture, and barriers associated with immigration status. Despite the challenges, there were many perceived benefits, including saving time through subject integration, personalizing professional development, and increasing socialization to reduce teachers' sense of professional isolation. The teachers also displayed changes in attitudes towards teaching and how they approached teaching their classes. Classes became more student-centred as teachers tried to meet the diverse needs of their students. The promise of increased collaboration and membership at the conclusion of data collection failed to materialize when a new leader did not come forward. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2008-04-23 13:41:46.823

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