Teacher Professional Communities Research Articles

(Re)constructing and (re)negotiating identities: A case study of postsecondary language teachers and social justice education

AbstractThis study explores the identity formation of two postsecondary language teachers and course coordinators—one in German and one in French—as they created intermediate‐level, content‐based social justice curricular units for a multiyear project. Using a multiple‐case‐study methodology and cultural–historical activity theory, this qualitative investigation answers the following research question: How do experienced postsecondary language teachers (re)construct and (re)negotiate their identities while developing social justice teaching materials? Findings, based on multicycle descriptive coding, reveal that participants’ past experiences, personal values, feelings of self‐doubt, and positionality as content‐based language teachers influenced their language teacher identity, as did tensions within and across three activity systems: the curriculum development project, classroom teaching, and the coordination of multisection courses. These findings have important implications for teacher professional development and community building related to social justice in language education.

A roadmap for virtual professional learning: Bringing inquiry science practices to life through teacher professional community

AbstractAccording to the Next Generation Science Standards, three‐dimensional teaching challenges educators to adopt an inquiry approach through science and engineering practices aligned with disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts. Few teachers today feel confident in their ability to orchestrate such lessons. Teaching inquiry science takes time and hard work. It also requires collaborative professional learning communities that support teachers in overcoming typical classroom challenges. This article describes an effective approach for facilitating professional learning that supports inquiry science teaching. Since the COVID pandemic, more teachers are familiar with videoconferencing and may even have initiated or expanded their use of asynchronous text based discussion. A hybrid combination of these platforms provides an effective, two‐fold strategy for facilitating a teacher professional learning community (PLC) that engages teachers in deepened reflection and sustained collaboration with colleagues. To illustrate how this approach can be successfully adopted, I draw from a recent example of the InquirySpace PLC that unfolded during the final year of a National Science Foundation‐funded educational research project. Key to the success of this PLC was a combination of responsiveness to teachers’ support requests, a warm and encouraging tone, orchestrating interactive engagement, and the showcasing of PLC member voices.

Principals' Transformational Leadership Style in Public Senior Secondary Schools in Oyo State: Challenges and Prospects

The learning environment is greatly impacted by the leadership styles of principals, largely because of the fast-growing population and rising demand for high-quality education. Principals who choose transformational leadership can promote significant change and establish their schools as centres of excellence for learning and personal development as the global education landscape changes. The paper examines the opportunities and difficulties related to the transformational leadership approach used by principals in public senior secondary schools in Oyo State. The current state of transformational leadership practices among principals in public senior secondary schools in Oyo State was examined alongside the challenges they face and potential solutions. A comprehensive literature research was carried out to shed light on the advantages and challenges associated with the transformational leadership style of principals in Oyo State's public senior secondary schools. Based on the paper, principals encounter challenges such as resistance to change, resource constraints, teacher professional development, parent and community expectations and administrative obstacles while the prospects are cultural shift towards collaboration, creative resource management, empowered teacher leadership, community engagement and support and advocacy for educational reform. The Position Paper provides a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the challenges relating to transforming leadership in different learning environments, as well as an insight which can benefit education policymakers, administrators and researchers. In conclusion, this paper calls for collective efforts from all stakeholders in the education sector to promote and support transformational leadership in public senior secondary schools in Oyo State.

地方高校大学生国际化能力现状及培养路径研究

In light of the evolving global landscape and international economic dynamics, it is imperative for China’s education system to embrace a trend of internationalization. The cultivation of internationalized talent, a pivotal factor influencing a nation’s overall capabilities and global competitiveness, warrants increased emphasis. Local colleges and universities play a significant role in advancing higher education, making it essential to focus on nurturing international talents. This paper begins by defining the essence of international talents and evaluating the current state of international competency among local college students. It then delves into key aspects, including establishing objectives for international talent development, enhancing international curricula, creating platforms for international teaching practices, and forming an ‘international teacher professional community’. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of fostering an international cultural environment on campuses and shaping the values and ideologies of students pursuing international competencies. This paper charts a path towards developing the internationalization competence of college students.

Determining the Roles of School Management Teams in Fostering Entrepreneurship among Learners

This study explored the roles of School Management Teams (SMTs) in fostering entrepreneurship education among learners. Entrepreneurship is recognised as a vital driver of economic growth, innovation, and job creation, making it increasingly necessary to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set in learners. SMTs, comprising school administrators, teachers, parents and community representatives, are pivotal in shaping and developing the entrepreneurial potential of students. However, little research has focused specifically on the roles of SMTs in this domain. The study applied a Systematic Literature Review, where 2518 papers were reviewed from academic databases and other research sources, including SAGE, Wiley, Elsevier, and Inderscience, to find pertinent studies published in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and reports. Two main themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Current roles of SMTs in fostering entrepreneurship among learners, including curriculum development, resource allocation, teacher professional development, community engagement, learner support and guidance, evaluation and assessment, and policy development; and (2) Advising roles of SMTs to foster entrepreneurship in learners, encompassing individual student guidance, group mentoring, career counselling, connecting students with resources, monitoring progress, and celebrating success. Recommendations include strengthening collaboration and networking, providing continuous professional development for SMT members, integrating entrepreneurship education into the curriculum, establishing school support structures, implementing effective evaluation and assessment mechanisms, and engaging in policy advocacy. By implementing these recommendations, SMTs could enhance their roles in fostering entrepreneurship among learners, creating a supportive and conducive ecosystem that nurtures and develops entrepreneurial attitudes and competencies.

Designing and implementing maker curriculum for promoting 7th graders’ maker competence

“Competence” is a very important concept in education and has been valued by several countries and international organizations in recent years, sparking a wave of curriculum reforms worldwide. The STEAM education is considered a feasible way to equip all students with problem-solving skills in various real-world situations and complicated challenges, as well as nurturing them 21st century skills and competencies. Moreover, a recent maker movement that focuses more on hands-on creation, design, and innovation is considered an innovative way to redefine the learning process through which students’ maker competence can be nurtured. Based on this trend, new national curriculum guidelines were established by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education in 2014. Particularly for the technology domain in the junior high school level (grade 7–9), “Life Technology” and “Information Technology” become requirements, where an interdisciplinary and competence-based maker curriculum needs to be developed. Based on this curriculum reform wave, we emphasize for the implementation of a targeted maker curriculum as a way to increase 7th-grade students’ maker competence. A post-test quasi-experimental design was employed to gather the data, and corresponding statistics were applied for quantitative comparison. A total of 230 7th-graders from eight classes in the targeted junior high schools participated in this study. Students in the experimental group received an interdisciplinary and competence-based maker curriculum as the intervention, which was designed and implemented with the support of the teacher professional development community and briefly presented in this paper. The quantitative findings revealed that the 7th-graders who received the experimental intervention possessed significantly superior marker competence compared to those who received regular technology courses. Based on these findings, maker competence (i.e., knowledge, attitude, and skills), which can be fully established within interdisciplinary and competence-based maker classrooms, was significantly favorable for helping targeted adolescents survive in this ever-changing and fast-paced era. Consequently, as teacher educators and teachers, we must endeavor to redefine the way of learning and construct a learning environment that is full of the maker spirit and STEAM integration.

Development of Bilingual Education –A case study of a junior high school with a bilingual curriculum in Taipei City of Taiwan

<p>本研究旨在探討臺灣雙語教育政策的影響之下，雙語實驗學校如何透過雙語教師專業發展社群以及雙語教師增能來發展並培育雙語教學團隊。本研究以質性個案研究作為研究架構，以深入了解個案學校具體如何推行雙語教育，並以「沃土」雙語模式為分析架構探討影響國中階段推行雙語教育的因素，以及雙語教師專業發展社群與雙語教師增能如何影響校內推動雙語教育。研究結果發現，雙語教師增能幫助教師提升自我效能感並精進教師的雙語教學技巧，而在內容與管道上必須多元化並賦予更多彈性空間。此外，雙語教師專業發展社群協助雙語教師精進雙語教學，其組成需為本國籍英語教師搭配學科教師。最後，透過個案學校的經驗提出對於臺灣國中階段實施雙語教育之省思與建議，並作為臺灣推動雙語教育時之參考。</p> <p> </p><p>The purpose of this study is to explore how a bilingual teaching team is formed and cultivated through a professional bilingual teacher learning community and teacher professional growth. This study chose qualitative case study as its research framework to deeply understand how to implement bilingual education in junior high schools. It selected a bilingual experimental curriculum school in Taipei and analyzed the background and development of its bilingual education. This study used the “fertile” bilingual model as the analysis framework to explore those factors that could affect the implementation of bilingual education in junior high schools. The findings are as follows. First, bilingual teachers could benefit from attending teacher training programs, workshops, and related activities in the aspect of their self-efficacy and to increase their teaching strategies. Second, the contexts and accesses of bilingual teacher training should be verified, diversified and given more flexibility. Third, a bilingual teacher professional community provides a platform for maintaining bilingual teachers’ instruction strategies and cooperation between administrators and teachers. Fourth, the composition of the community should be local English teacher and bilingual subject teachers. Lastly, this study put forward some reflections and suggestions on the implementation of bilingual education in junior high schools in Taiwan and serves as a reference for Taiwan to promote bilingual education nationwide.</p> <p> </p>

Leading teacher instructional practices in Türkiye: do inner school conditions matter?

PurposeThis study tested a moderated mediation model of school leadership effects on teacher instructional practices. Specifically, the authors focused on the mediating effect of teacher professional communities and the moderating effect of instructional climate on the relationship between school leadership and teacher instructional practices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data from 958 teachers working in 72 middle and high schools in Türkiye and employed multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) with Bayesian estimation to predict structural links between the study variables.FindingsResults affirmed a full mediation model where school leadership practices exerted indirect effects on teacher instructional practices through promoting teacher professional communities. The authors also found significant moderating role of instructional climate in the effect of school leadership on teacher professional communities and instructional practices.Originality/valueThis study illuminates the contextualized nature of school leadership by concluding that the effect of school leadership on teacher professional communities and instructional practices is closely tied to the extent to which a high-quality instructional climate is established in schools.

Assessment of the Effectiveness of Teacher Mentoring Development in Organizing the Activities of the Pedagogical Alliance of the Pedagogical University and the School

The article substantiates that the pedagogical alliance of a pedagogical university and a school, including regional professional communities of teachers, makes it possible to effectively implement the technology of teacher mentoring, the leading characteristic of which is the achievement of cooperative interaction in the process of continuous professional development of teachers. The authors come to the conclusion that mentoring, organized on the basis of a pedagogical alliance between the pedagogical university and the school, contributes to the professional development of teachers and their consolidation in the profession.

Monsieur L’Abbé: A Citizen of the Russian Empire

This article contains a previously unpublished biography of Gabriel (Gavriil/Gavrila) L’Abbé Deslondes (1773–1830), a well-known teacher of French and Latin who served in various educational institutions of St Petersburg. The information found in the Russian State Historical Archive and the Central State Historical Archive makes it possible to clarify the facts of life and the motives behind the actions of a French teacher. L’Abbé Deslondes lived in the Russian Empire of the early nineteenth century; the material helps discover some details of professional competition in this field, mechanisms of promotion, and vicissitudes of relations within the professional community of teachers and French expatriates. These reasons make the published documents a valuable historical source that helps put forward the hypothesis that Gabriel L’Abbé Deslondes, whose life was intertwined with the lives of many St Petersburg aristocrats, was Pushkin’s inspiration for Monsieur l’Abbé, “француз убогой” (a starving Gaul (Spalding), a threadbare Frenchman (Mitchell), a poor wretch of a Frenchman (Nabokov)) that has traditionally been considered a purely fictional character of Eugene Onegin. An account of L’Abbé Deslondes’s life gives reasons to disprove the school’s interpretation of the Russian epithet “убогий” interpreted as “заурядный” (mediocre).

A COMPLEX OF SCIENTIFIC, METHODOLOGICAL AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE GROWTH OF UNIVERSITIES’ INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL

The article analyzes the results of the implementation of a major social project "Golden Names of Universities" for the period from 2017 to 2022. An urgent problem raised by the authors in the article is to increase the social status of the profession of "university professor" through the implementation of a large-scale social project. The scientific goal is to study the results of the implementation of a social project as a complex of developments. The authors put forward a hypothesis about the possibility of improving the quality of higher education through the formation and development of a professional community of university teachers and scientists. The project and system approaches are used. As the results of the work, the article shows the effectiveness of the project on the formation and development of a professional community of teachers of educational institutions of higher education. The authors, being the project managers, conclude about the success of the main directions of its implementation: identification of talents and motivation to improve the quality of work of the teaching staff of universities, research work, development of educational programs and textbooks for novice teachers, advanced training of teachers, educational work, public and expert work, exchange of experience and organization of interuniversity interactions. The main discussion platforms where the results of the project are presented are: the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Presidential Grants Fund, the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, the Committee on Science and Higher Education.

Structural-Integrated 3D Model of a Teacher-Organizer Professional Identity in Conditions of Recreation Institution

The article briefly outlines the scientific basis for the study of professional identity in historical and modern contexts and presents one aspect of the study of teachers - organizers professional identity in a recreational institution, namely the study of psychological characteristics of teachers - organizers professional identity at recreational institutions. The aim of the article is to clarify the structural features of the theoretical structural - holistic 3D model of a teacher - organizer professional identity at recreational institution, represented by integral - qualitative categories (reference professional image of a teacher - organizer, individual psychosemantic matrix, differential - psychological differential) and hierarchical levels: cognitive, associative, autonomous and integral. The empirical study was performed on the basis of the All-Ukrainian Children's Center "Young Guard" in the period from 2016 to 2021. A total of 214 people aged 19 to 35 took part. The subjects reflect the specifics of the professional community of teachers - organizers at a recreational institution. Certain structural elements of the model have a unique content and qualitative and quantitative indicators that reproduce the psychological features of the phenomenon of professional identity of a teacher-organizer at a recreation center. A unique feature of the model "spiral development" determines the development of a teacher - organizer professional identity in spiral and means that the processes and criteria embedded in the proposed model of professional identity develop in time and space simultaneously on several levels and with different quality.

Learning–centred leadership and student achievement: Understanding the mediating effect of the teacher professional community and parental involvement

This paper examines the links between learning–centred leadership and student achievement through the mediating effect of teacher professional community and parental involvement. Using teacher and student survey data collected from 79 lower secondary Turkish schools in 12 provinces across the country in 2019, this study employs multilevel structural equation modelling. The findings of the current study add to the growing knowledge base in the non-western societies, revealing the impact of principals’ leadership on school processes and outcomes in Turkey. The study suggests that principals have a crucial role in improving student achievement by enhancing situations in which teachers work, namely, organisational and family paths. It suggests that principals’ leadership practices still matter for teacher professional community and parental involvement in non-western countries. Implications for policy, practice and further research are discussed.

СОЦИОКУЛЬТУРНЫЙ ТИП УЧИТЕЛЯ МАЛОГО ГОРОДА КРАСНОЯРСКОГО КРАЯ (ОСОЗНАВАЕМЫЙ УРОВЕНЬ ЯЗЫКОВОГО СОЗНАНИЯ)

The article presents the results of a sociolinguistic survey aimed at identifying the socio-cultural type of a teacher as an ideal type that meets the requirements of the professional community of teachers working in a small town in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. We have enumerated the most frequent words-qualities that make up the “portrait” of the professional group “teacher”: love for children, kindness, patience, responsibility, fairness, professionalism, communication skills, etc. Age-wise analysis of the results showed that the older the teacher, the more important are qualities associated with professional skills for him or her, while the young generation of teachers prioritizes warm relationships with students.

Experimental Program For School Integration Of Re-Migrant Middle School Students With Learning Difficulties In Romanian Language And Literature

In contemporary society, the phenomena of territorial mobility / geographical mobility - migration (internal or external) and return migration / remigration (determined or forced), phenomena determined by various social and economic factors, are significantly accentuated. These complex and sensitive phenomena are increasingly attracting the interest of researchers and are often investigated in a multi- and interdisciplinary manner, with various implications: demographic, sociological, psychological, educational, axiological etc. From an educational perspective, external migration and return migration / family migration can have a major impact on children and various influences, which can be analyzed in formal, non-formal and informal contexts. The study approaches in formal educational contexts, a topic less explored in the literature, although it comes from the current educational reality. The analyzed issue was inspired by the didactic experience, as well as by the common interest of the professional community of teachers and of the scientific community for identifying and removing the difficulties encountered by remigrant students in the Romanian educational system.

Lesson study and the long-term impact on teacher professional community development

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-term impact of participating in school-based lesson study on mathematics teachers' professional community.Design/methodology/approachA study was conducted with six mathematics teachers, from two post-primary schools in the Republic of Ireland, following up on their participation in school-based lesson study over the academic year 2012/13 (see Ni Shuilleabhain, 2016). Qualitative data were generated through one-to-one, semi-structured interviews with the participating teachers and analysed using an empirical framework for teacher community formation (Grossman et al., 2001).FindingsAnalysis of the interview responses suggests that the mathematics teachers in both schools, Doone and Crannog, had developed a mature professional community during their participation in lesson study in 2012/13. Furthermore, the research finds that, in the absence of any other professional development intervention, both teacher communities have been sustained at this level six years later. These findings suggest that a lesson study may serve as a potential structure to foster the development of sustainable professional communities within subject-based teacher groups.Originality/valueWhile a lesson study has been shown to support the development of teacher professional communities, previous research has not addressed the sustainability of the communities which emerge. This study, therefore, adds to the existing literature by investigating teachers' perceptions of the long-term impact of lesson study participation on their professional community.

Classroom Discussions as an Artifact towards Teachers' Professional Community

This study examines in-service teacher development around a pedagogical practice central to teaching and learning in mathematics education, leading a classroom discussion. This practice is used as an artifact to support the development of a teacher's professional community. This work views making teaching practices public as central to teacher's professional community in that it can develop collegial trust. Accordingly, this study supports a teacher's professional community through peer observation. The model of peer observation put forth in this study positions a middle school mathematics teacher as a participant-observer taking on the role of a student at her school for three days. This case study describes this participant observation in which the participant was relieved of teaching duties to allow her to attend - and be a participant in a full schedule of middle school courses.In addition to the teacher participant-observer, the study participants also include five middle school teachers in whose classes the participant-observer teacher took on the role of a student. Through the analysis of the teacher participant-observer's journal and clinical interviews, this study characterizes the presence and development of collegial trust, conceptual change, critique of collegial practice, development of disciplinary understandings, conceptions of the impact of the institutional setting on teaching and learning, and the capacity to understand the students' perspective. Finally, this study presents evidence from a teacher feedback meeting that indicates the development of the professional community.

LEGAL REGULATION OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION IN THE INTERESTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY IN A NETWORK SOCIETY

Formation and development of the modern network society is accompanied by domination of informatization, wide use of the Internet, information interaction of various technical means in interests of public, social and economic relations. This directly affects such important areas as security and the development of science and education. It makes revolutionary changes in pedagogical practice, transfer and exchange of knowledge, creation of a new professional community of teachers, scientists and engineers. Innovative approaches to the organization of training of specialists in various fields, virtual universities, network transnational consortia of researchers and developers are being formed. In these conditions, it is legitimate to talk about a new branch of law, i.e. the "network law", which regulates public relations, built with the use of infosphere, which is correct and in the interests of national security. Legal regulation of science and education in the interests of national security in a networked society should be considered as a complex, systematic and continuous process that requires improvement of organizational and managerial mechanisms, the legislative framework based on the strategic goals of ensuring national security of Russia, the priorities and objectives of the state national policy. The paper substantiates the existence of a systemic relationship between the features of the network society, national security, education and science, which are in close interaction, complementing and conditioning each other. Taking into account the research goals and objectives, the main provisions of the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation 2020, the Federal law "On education in the Russian Federation", presidential decrees and government resolutions on science and education are analyzed. The conclusion is formulated that the legal regulation of science and education in the interests of national security in a network society acquires a special role as a strategic resource for sustainable development of modern society and an important factor of socio-economic and technological development of Russia.

Conceptualizing Virtual Instructional Resource Enactment in an Era of Greater Centralization, Specification of Quality Instructional Practices, and Proliferation of Instructional Resources

This article conceptualizes the enactment of virtual instructional resources. We propose a framework that combines traditional concepts of curricular enactment (e.g., the designated, intended, and enacted curriculum) with concepts more salient to the implementation of virtual instructional resources. More specifically, we develop a model that considers the purpose of virtual instruction resources (core or supplemental), the social organizational contexts (e.g., district administrators, teacher professional communities, individual teachers) that shape the enactment of virtual instruction resources, and the process—from creation to enactment—through which virtual instructional resources impact classrooms. We first offer a brief overview of the greater specification of desirable instructional practices and greater centralization, because it is our assertion that virtual instructional resource enactment can best be understood in the context of other important changes and contexts in education more broadly. Next, we introduce our conceptual model of virtual instructional resource enactment. We then specify the concepts of purpose, social organization, and process and situate these concepts in our model. Third, we explain how purpose, social organization, and process influence different aspects of life in schools, including sensitivity to specific contexts, teacher learning, affordances for search and transfer, opportunities for participation in professional communities, and consistency of implementation. We conclude with a discussion in which we articulate the potential tensions and provide direction for future research.

CIDA: A collective inquiry framework to study and support teachers as designers in technological environments

The use of new technologies such as learning analytics by teachers is challenging due to the changes they bring to teachers’ practices and their pedagogical interventions. A design approach into teaching has been proposed for mapping pedagogy with technology to effectively integrate these changes. However, limited collective approaches exist in which teachers participate in professional communities to build knowledge for the design and implementation of learning scenarios with learning analytics. In this paper, we propose a framework (CIDA) for collective inquiry in such professional communities of teachers. Based on other collective inquiry frameworks for knowledge building, we propose three interconnected components: the inquiry process, the collective process, and technological support to facilitate and study teachers’ design practices in technological environments. We explain the framework with examples of implemented technologies and present empirical results of three cases; two High schools and a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Results inform further how our framework can be implemented in practice and its required supports to facilitate knowledge building for inquiry communities of teachers.