Professional Learning Networks Research Articles

Early career teachers’ expansion of professional learning networks with social media

ABSTRACT Early career teachers (ECTs) face numerous challenges during their transition from preparation programmes into professional employment contexts. Social media platforms have created many new opportunities for teachers’ ongoing professional learning by putting them in contact with other teachers from anywhere in the world. However, being connected to more people also means that ECTs must navigate an increased number of potentially conflicting messages about what and how to teach. Thus, entering the profession presents ECTs external conflicts as they adjust to new colleagues and internal conflicts as they encounter cognitive dissonance between old and new ideas. This study explores how and why ECTs expand professional learning networks (PLNs) – that is, the supports, people and spaces useful for improving teaching and learning – with social media in response to early career challenges. Interviews with nine ECTs demonstrate that they expand PLNs to navigate change, scarcity of resources and conflicting teaching beliefs. Interviewees use social media to look for supports for instructional practise and for connecting socially, but they also described how they maintain boundaries around their social media use. Implications are discussed for ECTs, administrators and education leaders – especially regarding how stakeholders can help alleviate early career pressures on ECTs.

Learnings Networks and Professional Development in Building Energy Management Systems Industry

The energy management systems industry in the built environment is currently an important topic. Buildings use about 40% of the total global energy worldwide. Therefore, the energy management system’s sector is one of the most influential sectors to realize changes and transformation of energy use. New data science technologies used in building energy management systems might not only bring many technical challenges, but also they raise significant educational challenges for professionals who work in the field of energy management systems. Learning and educational issues are mainly due to the transformation of professional practices and networks, emerging technologies, and a big shift in how people work, communicate, and share their knowledge across the professional and academic sectors. In this study, we have investigated three different companies active in the building services sector to identify the main motivation and barriers to knowledge adoption, transfer, and exchange between different professionals in the energy management sector and explore the technologies that have been used in this field using the boundary-crossing framework. The results of our study show the importance of understanding professional learning networks in the building services sector. Additionally, the role of learning culture, incentive structure, and technologies behind the educational system of each organization are explained. Boundary-crossing helps to analyze the barriers and challenges in the educational setting and how new educational technologies can be embedded. Based on our results, future studies with a bigger sample and deeper analysis of technologies are needed to have a better understanding of current educational problems.

Tweeting Your Way to Teaching Excellence

Social Media is a part of life these days, a majority of students use social media as a way to interact with each other, get information and keep up with current events. As teachers we can embrace this and help guide our students on how to use social media as digital citizens properly. This is how two professionals use twitter to engage themselves and their students in professional learning networks (PLNs).

Growing Innovation in Rural Sites of Learning

Resumen The implementation of a revised curriculum in British Columbia, Canada’s rural schools and school districts is providing rich opportunities to study and document processes that support and prompt system change, as well to generate knowledge that can be shared across the province and more widely. This project aimed to study closely the practices and structures within BC’s Growing Innovation in Rural Sites of Learning professional learning network (PLN), to examine how this partnership between a university, the Ministry of Education, and the BC Rural Education Advisory is spurring innovation through collaborative, inquiry-based professional learning. This study examined how a PLN can generate and mobilize knowledge related to innovative and effective practice, particularly across rural or remote communities, and the role of PLNs in provoking and sustaining educational innovation. Key findings revealed that innovation occurs when educators find openings and gaps that create space and necessity for change, and that collaboration and reflection are key factors in sustaining and spreading innovation. Key drivers of this change included the new curriculum in BC as well as student learning needs and the challenges of the various rural contexts. Key factors in sustainability included administrative and district support as well as the ability to share their learning, including within the network. Keywords educational change, collaborative inquiry, professional development, rural education, professional learning networks.

Measuring the perceived usefulness of social media professional learning networks to elevate agricultural development

Elevating agricultural development requires attention to aspects beyond production such as education and professional development. Individual demands for professional development have influenced the augmentation of recreational social media platforms as vicarious and functioning professional networks as well. The study’s purpose was to understand agricultural education teachers' perceived usefulness of professional social media use to better prepare themselves for positively impacting agricultural development. A random sample of secondary agriculture teachers responded to a self-administered survey instrument. New teachers perceived social media to be useful and also reported a greater number of minutes of use per week for professional purposes; this trend declined with increased years of teaching. Behaviors which teachers reported, in combination with their perceived usefulness and reported use, suggested professional social media use is supportive of andragogical assumptions. The elements of teachers’ professional learning network activitiesinstrument could serve as a valuable tool in explaining the variance in teachers’ professional social media use. Data can be used to inform the development of online professional learning experiences and in preparation of new professionals. Future research should explore the extent to which learning networks prepare agricultural preservice teachers and offer professional learning for practicing teachers to improve online and social media communications for all learners.

Complexity and criticality of long-term collaborative processes

There has been increasing recognition that social collectives, such as knowledge communities and professional learning networks, support teachers and enhance their practice. At the same time, there is little research on how such communities form, are sustained over time, create professional knowledge and practices, and transform the professional lives of their participants. We address these gaps in this paper by drawing on self-study methodology to structure a critical reflection of Luiz’s experiences of participating in an autonomous group of teacher-researchers that constituted their own knowledge community since 2005. Through critical friendship, a complexity thinking lens guided the shared reflection on Luiz’s experience in the knowledge community by considering the relational connections, affective forces, opportunities for action and agential capacities that are continually made and reconfigured within the collective nature of learning communities. In conclusion, we discuss both the facilitation and cultivation of long-term collaborative processes towards a complex, critical, and socially just perspective of PETE.

Building a virtual STEM professional learning network for rural teachers

This study explored the experiences of rural and suburban teachers as they engaged in virtual and hybrid STEM professional learning opportunities, analyzed through an ethnographic case study. Provided are two lenses through which to view the findings. First, from the rural teachers’ perspective, an exploration of the experiences while engaging in virtual and hybrid STEM professional learning, with findings indicating three major themes: 1) increased collaborations, 2) equitable access to resources and learning and 3) increased content and pedagogical content knowledge. The second perspective, from the project leadership, as collaborations across two IHE’s and with multiple district teachers and administrators, led to the design of a professional development model that was successful at initiating a network for rural teachers to engage in STEM learning through investigations, collaborations within and between districts, and coaching activities, aimed at increasing STEM content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.

Space that was safe to explore and learn: Stretching the affordances for networked professional learning in creativity for educators

What makes impactful online professional development for rural teachers learning creativity and arts integration? In this paper, we describe the results of a mixed method-study that tested a new hybrid online and in-person teacher training experience with K-12 teachers in the Northwestern region of the United States of America in 2019–2020. The study focused on the creative development of rural educators and their preparation to integrate creativity and the arts across the curriculum. Rural schools face challenges in providing ongoing professional learning opportunities to teachers, especially in complex areas, such as creativity and arts integration. However, professional learning opportunities in this area are either lacking or minimally available for many teachers due to a variety of barriers. The results reveal innovations about networked learning approaches to teaching complex topics and practices, such as creativity, which make online learning more experiential and connected for relevance and engagement. As others have found, networked learning can offer transformative experiences. In addition to detailed findings, this paper presents several expanded design principles and specific techniques to make online learning experiences creative and expansive. Implications for practice or policy: Networked learning for educators should be interactive, self-reflective and creative using diverse media and modalities. Professional development developers should focus on instructional routines to help teachers build confidence in their skill building. Professional development developers should consider the creative engagement framework as a guide for the design of teacher training. Teacher outcomes in online professional development should be cohort-based to build peer-to-peer connection and encourage creative risk-taking and collaboration.

Making spaces for collaborative action and learning: Reflections on teacher‐led decolonising initiatives from a professional learning network in England

AbstractThis article draws on the experiences of teachers and teacher educators within the “Bristol Decolonising Network”, an informal professional learning network based in South West England, to share examples of teacher‐led decolonising/antiracist initiatives. The seven vignettes presented cover a range of subject areas across the English Secondary school curriculum, with varying rationales, foci, forms and intended outcomes. For this Special Issue, we look across these cases to consider links between teacher‐led decolonising and antiracist initiatives and professional learning. We suggest that professional learning is both a condition for, and outcome of, teachers' engagement in such work; and that extending collaboration beyond hierarchical and institutional boundaries is a key enabler for progress on this agenda.

Twitter as a Professional Learning Network in Teacher Preparation

To explore and examine the role of social media as a tool for professional learning within teacher preparation, this qualitative case study examined 73 preservice teachers' observations of literacy teaching on Twitter. Findings indicate that visual posts enhanced teaching strategies and lesson ideas, posts influenced beliefs about teaching and connections to practice, and observations increased enthusiasm toward becoming a teacher. Attention was given to students learning in-action. Reflections emphasize what to teach using a specific strategy or idea. Findings imply that expanding professional learning networks to digital spaces can cultivate teacher knowledge, foster creative teaching practices, and enhance self-critique.

What Is It Like to Do Community-Engaged Research? Lessons Learned From University Researchers’ Perspectives

Community-engaged research calls on us to rethink ourselves as researchers and to address lopsided researcher-researched relationships. As a group of university researchers, we participated in a research-practice partnership that included a research-intensive university, an internationally recognized professional learning network, a ministry of education funder, and a school district in Alberta, Canada. Despite the long-standing, collaborative relationships between these organizations, a spin-off research partnership slid into traditional research practices that limited the project’s potential. To critically reflect on these events, we engaged in eight cogenerative dialogues and three semistructured interviews to examine key moments in the partnership more closely. Our findings highlight how limitations in our fields of view as well as significant changes at crucial points in the partnership affected our ability to engage in sustained community-engaged research. We discuss critical learnings about this partnership in particular and offer recommendations that will help future research-practice partnerships assess and sustain their collaborations in meaningful ways.

Working towards relational accountability in education change networks through local indigenous ways of knowing and being

Indigenous communities and students have been marginalized by colonial practices, disproportionally referred to special education programs, and encounter systematic prejudice and discrimination in education systems that lack respect for their ways of knowing and being. To disrupt hierarchical practices and structures that enact a hidden curriculum of privilege and racism, reconciliation and educational and system transformation need to work in tandem. Drawing on critical case study guided by Indigenous Storywork principles, we are researching how Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) can support educators and Indigenous community partners’ collaboration to decentre colonizing education practices. Analysis of preliminary data offers a window into the potential and complexity of engaging in decolonizing work that asks educators to unpack their role in reconciliation efforts and unlearn much of what they believed to be ethical practice. Findings include: participants awakening to structural inequities and racism; white/settler participants engaging with difficult knowledge; educators emphasizing their need for external resources to decolonize their practice; and a delicate balance between educators feeling challenged, feeling hopeful, and recognizing the distance yet to be travelled. This study demonstrates that collaboration with Indigenous community partners within education change networks (ECNs) holds potential to support pedagogical transformation and ultimately redefine student success.

Inclusive, collaborative and personalised professional development process for the post–emergency remote teaching era: The importance of virtual professional learning networks

Emergency remote teaching process was initiated as a solution to the crisis of Covid–9 pandemic in order to ensure the sustainability of education. While being expected to quickly adapt to the sudden changes brought by the pandemic, educational institutions, teachers, students and parents were observed to come across many challenges during this process. The review article aims to focus on the types of challenges teachers experience during the emergency remote teaching process and identify the characteristics of the professional development process they require in this period. Considering the pedagogical, psychological and student–related difficulties, it is suggested that the professional development support teachers need should be provided with a multidimensional and holistic approach. Specifically, this paper highlights how virtual professional learning networks can play an important role in meeting the professional development needs of teachers arising both during and in the post Covid–19 pandemic period.

How Energy Maintains Social Sustainability of Teachers’ Learning Communities: New Insights from a Blended Professional Learning Network

Social sustainability of teacher communities addresses the risk of teacher isolation and low teacher vitality. Blended professional learning networks (B-PLNs) providing online and face-to-face collegial learning are booming in the Web 2.0 era to support teachers in the face of various challenges. So far, what is lacking is a thorough investigation into the process where teachers break teacher isolation, regain their energy, and sustain the life of B-PLNs. The purpose of this case study was to investigate reoccurring topics shared in a sustainable B-PLN for EFL teachers in Taiwan. This B-PLN has attracted over 4600 members online and holds regular learning activities. Participants were interviewed to reflect on their experience in the target B-PLN. Applying content analysis, we generated a two-cycle coding scheme through the lens of self-determination and ego depletion theories. The results revealed that teachers initially joined the B-PLN with low energy, showing prominent need for competence. At the process stage, their energy rose with the need for relatedness noticeably satisfied. Finally, collective vitality of altruism, engagement, empowerment, and positive emotions uniquely emerged. Further, immediate keyword feedback complemented the findings. We argued that the transition from low individual energy to high collective energy demonstrates the social sustainability process of this influential B-PLN.

College student engagement in OER design projects: Impacts on attitudes, motivation, and learning

Open educational resources (OER), which are teaching, learning, and research materials that are openly licensed, are growing in popularity in higher education. Previous studies have focused on faculty and student perceptions and use of OER. In this study, we examined how actively engaging students as curators and designers of OERs through project-based learning as part of an open educational practice shaped students’ attitudes, motivation, and learning. This paper presents post-course survey data collected from 69 undergraduate and graduate students from six different courses that featured OER design projects, including: (1) A digital media online course; (2) Online tools for teaching and learning website; (3) History/social studies wiki pages; (4) Campus resources film project; (5) Professional learning networks for educators online course; and (6) Teaching with technology eBook. Findings indicate that shifting students’ roles from consumers to curators and creators of OERs increased motivation, improved attitudes about learning, aided the achievement of course learning objectives, and supported the development of valuable skills for 21st century success.

Professional interactions and networks of co-teaching music educators

ABSTRACT Research on professional learning and social networks among music educators points to the importance of closely-situated colleagues. However, the co-teaching dyad (i.e. a pair of music educators teaching elective instrumental music classes during the school day) has not been investigated in music settings. Research is needed on the co-teaching arrangement and how it interacts with advice-seeking. Therefore, the purpose of this case study was to investigate the co-teaching relationship among secondary (grades 6–12) instrumental music teachers and to understand the relationship of co-teaching with teachers’ professional networks. Research questions were: (a) How do the participants interact around instructional issues? (b) How do the participants interact around administrative issues (e.g. micro-politics, resources)? (c) How does the co-teaching arrangement impact the participants’ professional networks? Participants were two instrumental music educators who shared instructional responsibilities at a high school in the United States. Data sources included regular interviews and personal social networks created by the participants. Findings suggested that because the participants had a clear difference in experience, their co-teaching relationship functioned as a mentor/mentee dyad. However, the co-teaching arrangement combined with interpersonal trust to privilege novice teacher expertise in some situations. Instructional and administrative networks differed in meaningful ways between the participants.

Professional kinship using social media tools: Bridging and bonding to develop teacher expertise

The purpose of this collective case study research was to discover the impact school culture, internal factors, and the state of flow have upon motivating a teacher to develop teaching expertise. This research was designed to determine why and how individual teachers can nurture their existing internal factors to increase their motivation to seek expertise development and to explore how school culture, internal factors, and state of flow may encourage or limit the development of expertise. One major finding of this study concerned how experts choose their professional learning experiences and build professional learning networks based on their perceived weaknesses in content, pedagogy, or social-emotional attributes. They seek to improve their weaknesses to improve student learning through the key motivating factor of Teacher-Student Kinship representing an almost family-like relationship. Expert teachers bond with peers within their school, but also bridge with peers outside of their school. This bonding and bridging have become more accessible with the use of various social media technological tools from YouTube to professional learning networks on Twitter. The use of social media and other technology tools has allowed experts to develop Professional Kinship and enhance their practice regardless of location and proximity with peers within their professional learning community. These major findings hold implications for theory, practice, and future research particularly in the realm of teacher quality and the change of mindset towards the profession and the standards of education.

Professional Learning Networks

Professional learning networks (PLNs) are uniquely crafted and dynamic learning ecosystems, consisting of people, spaces, and tools that meet an educator’s professional needs, interests, and goals (Trust et al., 2016). They serve as a means through which people grow in aspects of their professions. The people within a PLN are individuals who provide career-based feedback, advice, ideas, emotional support, and/or mentoring (Krutka et al., 2017; Trust et al., 2016). The spaces within a PLN are physical, digital, and hybrid places that support or enable professional knowledge building with and from others, such as conferences, workshops, webinars, Twitter chats, unconferences, Reddit forums, and massive open online courses (Trust and Prestridge, 2021). The tools within a PLN are physical resources (e.g., books, curriculum materials) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet search databases, social bookmarking tools, blogs) that are used to access, curate, construct, and disseminate professional knowledge (Trust et al., 2018). Taken together, the people, spaces, and tools within a PLN can support ongoing professional learning and growth for individuals in any academic or organizational context.

Introduction

This volume of CJMMR is dedicated to the memory of Dr Vimala Kamalodeen, Past President of Mixed of Methods International Association – Caribbean Chapter, who passed away on July 5th, 2022. Dr Kamalodeen specialized in Math and Computer Science education at the School of Education, University of the West Indies in Trinidad, St. Augustine. Her doctoral thesis used an eclectic mixed methods design focusing on hybrid data from educational online social networking. Vimala is the founding President of IT Teachers Professional Network (ITTPN) Global, a professional learning network and was engaged in mixed methods research in Game-based learning. Dr Kamalodeen successfully hosted the 3rd regional mixed methods conference in the Caribbean and was very active in the CJMMR. Apart from publishing in the two previous volumes and this current volume, she was a member of the editorial board and a committed associate editor. She has left an indelible mark in the mixed methods research community in the Caribbean. Dr Kamalodeen was not only our colleague, she was our friend, a phenomenal woman and consummate professional.

Research: Connections Matter: Building Engagement in Online Learning Spaces

This article documents the yearlong inquiry of a high school English teacher in New York City who participated in a networked professional learning community (PLC) of English educators exploring the question, “How do we engage students in remote and hybrid learning situations in the current sociopolitical context?” Forced to teach remotely, the teacher focused on building connections among her students, using their feedback as a primary tool to design and improve responsive instruction. Through participation in the PLC and feedback from her students, the teacher learned important lessons from others, with others, on behalf of her students, and about her own processes of learning and thinking. This teacher’s journey offers several lessons for teacher education, grounded in the influences of ecology and affective interactions on student engagement.