Education Commons^™

In-Service Teachers’ Understanding And Teaching Of Humane Education Before And After A Standards-Based Intervention, Stephanie Itle-Clark

Stephanie Itle-Clark, EdD, CHES

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which credentialed educators conceptualized, understood, and perceived humane education, as well as their intent to include humane education in personal practice and their knowledge of strategies for integrating humane education concepts into their classroom work. The group of 25 educators participated in an online eight-week professional development course and completed pre- and post-surveys. The participants consisted of educators from the United States, British Columbia, and Vietnam. Participants were 11 secondary educators, 10 primary educators, 2 substitute teachers, 1 administrator, and 1 librarian. Results indicate that after an eight-week professional …

“Grounded” Technology Integration: Instructional Planning Using Curriculum-Based Activity Type Taxonomies, Judith B. Harris, Mark J. Hofer, Denise A. Schmidt, Margaret R. Blanchard, Neal Grandgenett, Marcela Van Olphen

Mark Hofer

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK or TPACK) – the highly practical professional educational knowledge that enables and supports technology integration – is comprised of teachers’ concurrent and interdependent knowledge of curriculum content, general pedagogy, and technological understanding. Teachers’ planning – which expresses teachers’ professional knowledge (including TPACK) in pragmatic ways -- is situated, contextually sensitive, routinized, and activity-based. To assist with technology integration, therefore, we suggest using what is understood from research about teachers’ knowledge and instructional planning to form an approach to curriculum-based technology integration that is predicated upon teachers combining technologically supported learning activity types selected from content-keyed …

Student And Teacher Attitudes Toward Giftedness In A Two Laboratory School Environment: A Case For Conducting A Needs Assessment, Jennifer Riedl Cross, Tracy Cross, Andrea D. Frazier

Jennifer Cross

Providing effective professional development in laboratory schools around topics that can be divisive, such as preparing a school environment for expansion of gifted education services, can be quite difficult. However, doing so based on data collected through a needs assessment can be invaluable to the planning process. As part of a needs assessment in preparation to enroll 100 new gifted students, students and teachers (N=171) from a unique setting in which a residential school for gifted high school students is housed within a laboratory school were surveyed using F. Gagné and L. Nadeau’s (1991) Opinions about the Gifted …

Queensland Teacher Workload Study: Final Report To The Queensland Teachers’ Union, Sheldon Rothman, Lawrence Ingvarson, Darren Matthews

Dr Sheldon Rothman

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) conducted an online survey of members on behalf of the Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU). The survey was open to teachers, school leaders (principals and assistant principals) and heads of program working in Queensland government schools. It was based on one conducted for the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) in 2016 and the AEU – Tasmanian Branch in 2017. The survey of the work of union members in Queensland government schools focussed on the hours of work by school staff, staff perceptions of their work, and the relationship between work practices …

Queensland Teacher Workload Study: Final Report To The Queensland Teachers’ Union, Sheldon Rothman, Lawrence Ingvarson, Darren Matthews

Dr Lawrence Ingvarson (Consultant)

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) conducted an online survey of members on behalf of the Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU). The survey was open to teachers, school leaders (principals and assistant principals) and heads of program working in Queensland government schools. It was based on one conducted for the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) in 2016 and the AEU – Tasmanian Branch in 2017. The survey of the work of union members in Queensland government schools focussed on the hours of work by school staff, staff perceptions of their work, and the relationship between work practices …

Valuing Early Career Teachers: Putting The Brakes On The Exodus, Marion Shields, Peter W. Kilgour

Peter Kilgour

The attrition of early career teachers has been

identified as an international issue. This paper

reports on an Australian study that sought to

identify the lived experiences of beginning

teachers in one independent school system

in their first three years. Areas such as the

teacher’s job satisfaction and impacting factors

were addressed. Data revealed that the main

drivers for teachers terminating their teaching

career in the first few years are connected to

work/life balance, the level of support from

administration, the teacher’s mentor, and the

level and appropriateness of the professional

development they are permitted to attend.

“Grounded” Technology Integration: Instructional Planning Using Curriculum-Based Activity Type Taxonomies, Judith B. Harris, Mark J. Hofer, Denise A. Schmidt, Margaret R. Blanchard, Neal Grandgenett, Marcela Van Olphen

Judith Harris

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK or TPACK) – the highly practical professional educational knowledge that enables and supports technology integration – is comprised of teachers’ concurrent and interdependent knowledge of curriculum content, general pedagogy, and technological understanding. Teachers’ planning – which expresses teachers’ professional knowledge (including TPACK) in pragmatic ways -- is situated, contextually sensitive, routinized, and activity-based. To assist with technology integration, therefore, we suggest using what is understood from research about teachers’ knowledge and instructional planning to form an approach to curriculum-based technology integration that is predicated upon teachers combining technologically supported learning activity types selected from content-keyed …

What Skills Do I Need To Teach Online? Researching Experienced Teacher Views Of Essential Knowledge And Skills In Online Pedagogy As A Foundation For Designing Professional Development For Novice Teachers, Catherine Mcloughlin, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

As e-Learning continues to dominate educational services globally, the domain of online pedagogy continues to expand, and teaching in online, blended and hybrid classrooms now considered an essential element of teacher education in the many parts of Europe, Canada and the US. As a result, the need for professional development of higher education teachers has never been greater. An important precursor to designing effective teacher preparation programs is to establish what novice teachers need to know and do to be successful in virtual teaching spaces. The idea that professional development for online teaching needs to focus on instructional and communicative …

Leading School-Based Coaching To Evaluate Open Education Resources, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle (consultant)

This presentation was a people's choice session at the 2018 ISTE conference and engaged participants in conversations about coaching approaches that when coupled with strategies to evaluate Open Educational Resources (OER) can build the capacity of teachers and improve the learning by students. The session provided participants with opportunities to discuss leadership approaches to the evaluation of OER resources that are consistent with education policies, build the capacity of educators and improve the quality of learning by students; and coaching methods for school leaders that enables the identification, analysis, curation and incorporation of OER resources into classroom practices.

Building A Supportive Professional Learning Community, Jen Jackson, Andrea Nolan, Stephen Lamb

Dr Jen Jackson

Developing And Modeling 21st-Century Skills With Preservice Teachers, Jacquelyn Urbani, Shadi Roshandel, Rosemarie Michaels, Elizabeth Truesdell

Elizabeth Truesdell

Today’s youth face a rapidly changing world, requiring them to move beyond basic formulaic knowledge and skills. Current educational policy, such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), represents a shift away from rote learning and memorization of facts to the development of the 21st-century skills of creativity: critical thinking; communication; collaboration; and information, media, and technology skills (IMTS). Business and political leaders also recognize the necessity in addressing these core competencies for the 21st-century landscape (Ravitch, 2010). For students to be competent in a global society, K–12 teachers need to develop, model, and assess the 21st-century skills in their …

Driven By Beliefs: Understanding Challenges Physical Science Teachers Face When Integrating Engineering And Physics, Emily A. Dare, Joshua A. Ellis, Gillian H. Roehrig

Joshua A. Ellis

It is difficult to ignore the increased use of technological innovations in today’s world, which has led to various calls for the integration of engineering into K-12 science standards. The need to understand how engineering is currently being brought to science classrooms is apparent and necessary in order to address these calls for integration. This multiphase, mixed-methods study investigated the classroom practices and beliefs of high school physical science teachers following an intensive professional development on physics and engineering integration. Classroom observations showed that teachers new to incorporating engineering into their physical science classrooms often struggled to maintain focus on …

Using The Self-Determined Learning Principles Of Heutagogy To Support Academic Staff Who Are Learning To Teach Online, Maria T. Northcote, Chris Boddey

Maria Northcote

Tailored professional development (PD) programs assist university teaching staff to capitalize on the educational use of technology. To supplement on-campus PD support, staff at Avondale College of Higher Education developed a self-help online resource, Moodle's Little Helper (MLH), that has since become an integral and accepted component of the institution's PD landscape. Since Avondale's overall PD program is built upon the theoretical underpinnings of heutagogy (Hase, 2009; Hase & Kenyon, 2003), a self-determined learning theory, the purpose and nature of the resource also reflects the key principles of this educational philosophy. Adopting a utilisation-focused research methodology (Patton, 2011) ensured staff …

Threshold Concepts About Online Teaching: Progress Report On A Five Year Project, Kevin P. Gosselin, Maria T. Northcote, Daniel Reynaud, Peter W. Kilgour, Malcolm Anderson, Chris Boddey

Maria Northcote

The burgeoning expansion of online education has presented the challenges of articulating an appropriate pedagogy for online education (Stevens, 2003; Runnels et al., 2006; Gosselin, 2009) while also contending with perceived and real deficits in lecturer competence (Shephard, 2007). Conceptually, the identified areas of concern are viewed as troublesome knowledge (Perkins, 1999), or knowledge that is counter intuitive to traditional teaching face to face teaching. To meet the emerging difficulties of new modes of distance teaching, researchers have focused on transformative learning using threshold concepts, or new portals, that allow understanding of concepts through new modes of thinking (Meyer & …

Instructional Design Partnerships Across Universities: Motivations, Methods And Measures, Maria T. Northcote, Amanda Kendle

Maria Northcote

This paper explores and documents a learning partnership that has developed between two instructional designers employed at two different universities in Perth, Western Australia. The value of this crossinstitutional partnership is initially investigated in terms of the benefits involved for the professional careers of each instructional designer. The context of the university faculty in which the instructional designers operate is appraised. Also, the wider consequences of this partnership are considered in terms of the influence it has on other Australian tertiary education providers. The analysis of the partnership will be built upon an appropriate constructivist theoretical framework.

Moodle's Little Helper: Making Use Of The Self-Determined Principles Of Heutagogy To Support Academic Staff Who Are Learning To Teach Online, Chris Boddey, Maria T. Northcote

Maria Northcote

Tailored professional development (PD) programmes assist university teaching staff to capitalise on the educational use of technology. To supplement on-campus PD support, staff at Avondale College of Higher Education developed a self-help online resource, Moodle's Little Helper (MLH), that has since become an integral and accepted component of the institution's PD landscape. Since Avondale's overall PD program is built upon the theoretical underpinnings of heutagogy (Hase, 2009; Hase & Kenyon, 2003), a self-determined learning theory, the purpose and nature of the resource also reflects the key principles of this educational philosophy. Adopting a utilisation-focused research methodology (Patton, 2011) ensured staff …

From Small To Large Hits: Spreading The Online Message To Academic And Administrative Staff Via Strategically-Targeted Development Activities, Maria T. Northcote, Gail Huon

Maria Northcote

This paper reports on how a university is implementing a capacity-building academic staff development program using a three-pronged approach that draws on adult learning, social learning and capacity-building literature. This approach was designed to enable staff to provide engaging and pedagogically sound online experiences for the students at the University of Newcastle, NSW Australia. Data have been gathered throughout the implementation of this program to evaluate its impact and to inform future refinements of the program. The paper concludes with reflections from staff facilitating the program about the challenges, successes and future of the program.

A Guide To Support Coaching And Mentoring For School Improvement, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle (consultant)

This guide emerged from policies and professional learning practices in the Northern Territory, Australia. Between 2014-2016, six experienced school principals located in remote urban and regional schools met twice a year to share plans, experiences and reflections about how they were using coaching and mentoring conversations to support teachers in their schools.

Threshold Concepts About Online Teaching: Progress Report On A Five Year Project, Kevin P. Gosselin, Maria T. Northcote, Daniel Reynaud, Peter W. Kilgour, Malcolm Anderson, Chris Boddey

Peter Kilgour

The burgeoning expansion of online education has presented the challenges of articulating an appropriate pedagogy for online education (Stevens, 2003; Runnels et al., 2006; Gosselin, 2009) while also contending with perceived and real deficits in lecturer competence (Shephard, 2007). Conceptually, the identified areas of concern are viewed as troublesome knowledge (Perkins, 1999), or knowledge that is counter intuitive to traditional teaching face to face teaching. To meet the emerging difficulties of new modes of distance teaching, researchers have focused on transformative learning using threshold concepts, or new portals, that allow understanding of concepts through new modes of thinking (Meyer & …

Threshold Concepts About Online Teaching: Progress Report On A Five Year Project, Kevin P. Gosselin, Maria T. Northcote, Daniel Reynaud, Peter W. Kilgour, Malcolm Anderson, Chris Boddey

Daniel Reynaud

The burgeoning expansion of online education has presented the challenges of articulating an appropriate pedagogy for online education (Stevens, 2003; Runnels et al., 2006; Gosselin, 2009) while also contending with perceived and real deficits in lecturer competence (Shephard, 2007). Conceptually, the identified areas of concern are viewed as troublesome knowledge (Perkins, 1999), or knowledge that is counter intuitive to traditional teaching face to face teaching. To meet the emerging difficulties of new modes of distance teaching, researchers have focused on transformative learning using threshold concepts, or new portals, that allow understanding of concepts through new modes of thinking (Meyer & …

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Kathryn Brooks

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

Investing In Teachers, Adeola Capel, Hilary Hollingsworth, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Alison Lonsdale, Yung Nietschke, Rachel Parker, Kate Reid, Jeaniene Spink, Mollie Tobin, Mary Fearnley-Sander, Jacinta Overs

Dr Kate Reid

This evaluation compares evidence from the literature with Australia’s experience in supporting teacher development in a range of developing countries. It uses case studies to good effect in explaining choices made, the extent to which expectations were or were not met, and the lessons for future Australian assistance for teacher development. The evaluation found mixed results. In cooperation with governments and other donors, Australia has made positive contributions, such as improving teacher frameworks and curriculums, and training teachers through a range of interventions. However, there is room to improve—for example, in enhancing policy, strengthening analysis and negotiating new investments—so teacher …

Investing In Teachers, Adeola Capel, Hilary Hollingsworth, Elizabeth Kleinhenz, Alison Lonsdale, Yung Nietschke, Rachel Parker, Kate Reid, Jeaniene Spink, Mollie Tobin, Mary Fearnley-Sander, Jacinta Overs

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

This evaluation compares evidence from the literature with Australia’s experience in supporting teacher development in a range of developing countries. It uses case studies to good effect in explaining choices made, the extent to which expectations were or were not met, and the lessons for future Australian assistance for teacher development. The evaluation found mixed results. In cooperation with governments and other donors, Australia has made positive contributions, such as improving teacher frameworks and curriculums, and training teachers through a range of interventions. However, there is room to improve—for example, in enhancing policy, strengthening analysis and negotiating new investments—so teacher …

Supporting Leadership Preparation In Indonesia, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle (consultant)

Kathryn Moyle reports on an evaluation of a professional learning program for aspiring school principals in Indonesia.

Title V Initiatives: Capstone And Student Research With Faculty, Sarah Brennan Ms., Silvia Reyes

Sarah Brennan

The Perceptions Of Recently Assigned Secondary Religious Education Teachers, Chris Hackett

Chris Hackett

This article focuses on survey responses from newly appointed secondary Religious Education teachers from the first phase of a longitudinal study. The study was conducted in Catholic schools in three dioceses of Western Australia over two school years, from 1998 to 1999. The study focused on the teachers’ perceptions of implementing the Perth Archdiocesan Religious Education Units of Work. The article outlines briefly the demographic and professional backgrounds of recently appointed RE (RARE) teachers. Next, it reports upon how these teachers perceived their use of the instructional resources and teaching approach in the RE Units. The article then describes what …

Transitioning From Students To Professionals: Using A Writing Across The Curriculum Model To Scaffold Portfolio Development, Lori Elliott, Nancy Daily, Lori Fredricks, Meadow Graham

Lori Elliott

Teacher educators have found portfolios to be a valuable way to judge readiness for student-teaching and initial certification as well as an effective means of examining and validating teacher preparation programs. Tension exists between using the portfolio as a product for evaluation and maintaining its focus as a personal examination, synthesis, and reflection on becoming a teacher. This qualitative action research study was designed to explore the effects of incorporating writing workshops built on Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) principles into the initial portfolio process required of students during their first semester in an undergraduate middle-grades teacher-education pro- gram. Findings …

Explicating The Teacher's Perspective From The Researchers' Perspectives: Generating Accounts Of Mathematics Teachers' Practice, Marty Simon, Ron Tzur

Ron Tzur

In this article we articulate a methodology for studying mathematics teacher development in the context of reform. The generation of accounts of teachers'practice, an adaptation of the case study, provides an approach to understanding teachers' current practice and to viewing their current practice in the context of development toward envisioned reforms. The methodology is an alternative both to studies that focus on teachers' deficits and to teachers' own accounts of their practice. Conceptual frameworks developed within the mathematics education research community are applied to the task of investigating the nature of practice developed by teachers in transition. We characterize this …

Characterizing A Perspective Underlying The Practice Of Mathematics Teachers In Transition, Marty Simon, Ron Tzur, Karen Heinz, Margaret Kinzel, Margaret Smith

Ron Tzur

We postulate a construct, perception-based perspective, that we consider to be fundamental to the practices of many teachers currently participating in mathematics education reform in the United States. The postulation of the construct resulted from analyses of data from teaching experiments in teacher education classes with a combined group of prospective and practicing teachers and from case studies with individuals from that group. A perception-based perspective is grounded in a view of mathematics as a connected, logical, and universally accessible part of an ontological reality. From this perspective, learning mathematics with understanding requires learners' direct (firsthand) perception of relevant mathematical …

Effectively Communicating With English Language Learners Using Sheltered Instruction, Geeta Verma, Lisa Martin-Hansen, Jerald Pepper

Geeta Verma

Sheltered instruction is not a commercial program but is a set of instructional practices used specifically with English Language Learners (ELL). It embeds existing instructional strategies such as wait time, visual organizers, group work, and allowing students to actively respond for immediate feedback. Sheltered instruction "integrates lesson knowledge and concepts with opportunities to practice using English by reading, writing, listening and speaking" (Colburn and Echevaria 2001). This article describes the four elements of sheltered instruction (Group work, Wait time, Group-response technique, Supplemental materials).