Education Commons^™

University Faculty Perceptions Of Professional Development: Impact And Effectiveness, Claudia Vela, Velma D. Menchaca, Hilda Silva

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

The purpose of this study was to examine faculty perceptions of the effectiveness and impact of professional development programs and activities in the areas of teaching, research, and service. This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted in a four-year Hispanic-serving institution in South Texas. It focused on exploring tenured and tenure-track faculty perceptions and experiences of their participation in professional development to help them meet tenure and promotion expectations. Analysis of data showed that faculty had mixed feelings about the workshops and training sessions that were offered on campus. However, networking, collaboration, and access to resources and technology were practices that …

Teaching Under Crisis: Impact And Implications Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Education In Minnesota, Boyd L. Bradbury, Ximena P. Suarez-Sousa, Mike Coquyt, Tiffany L. Bockelmann, Amy L. Pahl

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

A mixed-methods exploratory study was conducted to explore the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on Minnesota teachers. A convenience sample of 976 teachers were surveyed in mid-April 2020 via the Qualtrics version of the Swaggert Instructional Practice Under Crisis (SIPUC) questionnaire containing 43 questions. The SIPUC data were analyzed following the Leadership in Times of Crisis Framework for Assessment (Boin et al., 2013), that is, an emergency instructional triage to determine which teachers had been mostly impacted and the scope and effect the pandemic had on their instruction and lives. Teachers described the pandemic as an event that disrupted …

Research Across The Curriculum: Using Cognitive Science To Answer The Call For Better Legal Research Instruction, Tenielle Fordyce-Ruff

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The American Bar Association (ABA), law students, and employers are demanding that law schools do better when teaching legal research. Academic critics are demanding that law professors begin to apply the lessons from the science of learning to improve student outcomes. The practice of law is changing.

Yet, the data shows that law schools are not changing their legal research curriculum to respond to the need of their students or to address the ABA’s mandate. This stagnation comes at the same time as an explosion in legal information and a decrease in technical research skills among incoming students. This article …

Rethinking The Teaching Of Writing In An Era Of Remote Learning: Lessons Learned From A Local Site Of The National Writing Project, Troy Hicks

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close in the spring of 2020, teacher consultants from a local writing project site were compelled to make their practice public, sharing conversations about what remote learning and the teaching of writing could look like through a series of eight webinars and, subsequently, an open institute in the summer of 2020. Built on principles of the National Writing Project including openness, flexibility, and an inquiry-driven stance toward professional learning, the work of this site’s director and teacher leaders is described as they worked together to think about issues of equity and access, socio-emotional …

Adjuncts And The Chimera Of Academic Freedom, Deirdre M. Frontczak

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

The last 40 years have seen a dramatic shift in the hiring, evaluation and promotional structures prevalent in higher education. While the model of a largely full time, tenure-track faculty continues to be the ideal of most academic institutions, economic, political and social changes have eroded that model. A substantial percentage, typically a majority, of college and university faculty are now hired on a contingent or part-time basis, with fiscal and other conditions determining job security, compensation, professional advancement, and an opportunity to participate in governance of departments and institutions. This paper examines the unseen impact that such hiring practices …

Collaborative Autonomy: Exploring The Professional Freedom Of Three Science Teachers, Michael Ralph, Darian Robbins, Stephen Young, Laurence Woodruff

Educational Considerations

Education reform efforts must support and protect professional autonomy for classroom teachers. When policymakers attempt to make systemic change in ways that reduce the professional autonomy of educators, student learning suffers. Teachers need the freedom to identify their professional goals, seek resources and collaboration opportunities in pursuit of those goals, and act on feedback regarding their progress in meeting those goals. We present three stories from teachers who share a department engaged in collaborative autonomy. These accounts provide guidance for how professional autonomy can be defended by those pursuing systemic change.

“Not My Issue!!!”: Teaching The Interpersonal Conflict Course, Nancy Brule, Jessica J. Eckstein

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Students who enroll in communication courses to improve their conflict management abilities should be provided with both an understanding of, and skills pertaining to, interpersonal conflict across diverse contexts. In this article, we offer pedagogical guidance for teaching the Interpersonal Conflict course. With an emphasis on building communication skills usable in a variety of real-life situations and settings, this article includes discussion of necessary foundational concepts and applied content areas, sample application assignments, and relevant considerations for those teaching the course.

“I Never Planned To Be A Teacher!” An Interview With Margaret Hill, President Of The Board Of The San Bernardino City Unified School District, John M. Winslade, Margaret Hill

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

An interview with Margaret Hill, President of the Board of San Bernardino City Unified School District

Normalizing The Need For Help: What All Teachers Need, Nancy Gropper

Occasional Paper Series

Gropper recalls her need for support when she first joined the graduate faculty at Bank Street College as a Supervised Fieldwork advisor. She explores the connections between her own most recent experiences as a newcomer and what all new teachers need in order to succeed - teacher support. This article describes critical components of a teacher support program, referencing the methods of the New Educators Support Team (NEST).

Emphasis On Test Scores In Education, Lindsay Olson

Empowering Research for Educators

This article discusses how too much emphasis on standardized testing can affect student learning as well as teaching in the classroom. It includes a personal interview with a high school teacher as well as an article from the Washington Post regarding a study that was completed involving testing students.

Working With Teachers, Maja Apelman

Thought and Practice: (1987-1991) the Journal of the Graduate School of Bank Street College of Education

Discusses advisement work with teachers as part of their professional development within schools.

Qualitative Study Of Current And Prospective Student Perceptions Of A University Website, Sheila J. Henderson, Jennifer Coloma

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Building a sustainable system that goes beyond myopic interests and short-term policies is an arduous task for any school leader. In the U.S., our education system has been criticized for being too shallow in curriculum and unsustainable in the long run. In fact, a 2007 report by UNICEF concerning children’s well-being in 22 countries ranked the U.K. and the U.S. at the bottom of the industrialized nations in the survey. Hargreaves (2007) laments that these two countries, in their single-minded pursuit of economic competitiveness and development at all costs, are destroying the planet, while “eating their young.”

The Impact Of National Cultures On Corporate Cultures In Organisations, Kwasi Dartey-Baah

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The school’s main core business is teaching and learning. A quality curriculum and effective instruction are key elements to ensure successful teaching and learning in schools (Grigsby et. al. 2010). Thus, various activities and resources established in the schools should be optimized to ensure that teaching and learning are implemented effectively. From the human resource perspective, the main drivers of successful teaching and learning are teachers. Hence, quality teachers who can perform their responsibilities with commitment are prerequisites for successful and excellent education.

Resident Block-Rotation In Clinical Teaching Improves Student Learning, Ralitsa Akins, Gilbert Handal

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

In 2007, a new block-rotation in clinical teaching was implemented for the third-year residents in the pediatric residency program at Texas Tech HSC in El Paso, Texas. We describe the design and implementation of this rotation, as well as its impact on student learning and satisfaction. During 2.5 academic years, the teaching residents supported the experiences in the pediatric clerkship of 129 medical students. Evaluations of teaching residents and clinical teaching rotation, as well as written feedback indicate improved student learning and satisfaction. Our clinical teaching rotation presents a structured approach to “teaching residents to teach” with an ample time …

Perceived Causes Of Teacher Dissatisfaction In Sekondi –Takoradi District Of Ghana., Dampson George

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

A teacher’s job satisfaction is one of the most essential issues for educational systems around the world. Next to pupils, teachers are the largest, most extensive, crucial and key to improving quality in any educational system (Afe, 2001; Stuart, 2002). This paper focuses on the third world country of Ghana where according to Bame 1992 and Akoto -Danso (2006) teachers are often in short supply. Akoto- Danso documented that enrolment into basic schools in Ghana has gone up by 17% from 3.7 million to a record of 4.3 million.

Teacher Morale: The Magic Behind Teacher Performance, Michael Hess, Jerry Johnson

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Educational progress depends upon the quality of teachers. Unfortunately most of the persons who enter teaching profession do not like their jobs at all. They are here because they could not be selected for any other profession, Hence, quite a number of rejected and dejected university degree holders seek admission in training colleges and become teachers. Their inner-self never wanted to become a teacher. Many teachers take no pleasure in the teaching and simply pass their time. They do not care to set worthwhile goals before their pupils. They never care for what the students say about them. They are …

Teacher Perceptions Of Administrative Support For Democratic Practice: Implications For Leadership And Policy, Audrey Murphy

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

This paper reports results from a qualitative study that examined perceptions of administrative practice expressed by members of a grassroots teacher group committed to the practice of democratic education. The group (the Friday Roundtable) was comprised of K-12 public school teachers in rural Appalachian Ohio who spent considerable time together trying to answer the collective question how can we be better teachers? A key element of that dialogue involved consideration of increased state and national pressures that often included educational expectations of their building administrators that the teachers perceived as undemocratic. Using case studies of eleven individual teachers situated in …

Work Motivation Of Teachers : Relationship With Transformational And Transactional Leadership Behavior Of College Principals, Uma Devi, R.S. Mani

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The strength of an educational system largely depends upon the quality of its teachers. It is a teacher who helps to transform an individual into a person of imagination, wisdom, human love and enlightenment, and institutions into lampposts of posterity, and the country into a learning society. The National Policy on Education (1986) has rightly remarked “The status of the teacher reflects the sociocultural ethos of a society; It is in this context that today a teacher occupies a unique and significant place in any society.

Developing Critical Thinking Skills Of Pre-Service Teachers In Ghana: Teaching Methods And Classroom Ecology, Charles Owu-Ewie

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The study sought to answer these questions: How do the teaching strategies employed by Ghanaian initial teacher educators and the classroom ecology they create affects the thinking skills of pre-service teachers? And what can be done to improve pre-service teachers’ thinking through teaching methods and classroom ecology? The study employed a qualitative case study approach to investigate the problem at Akatakyiman Teacher Training College (a pseudonym) in Ghana. Teachers in science, mathematics and social studies and students were interviewed and observed.

What Does It Mean To Be Highly Qualified?, Diana Brannon

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) seems to be one of the most talked about and controversial educational reforms in decades. NCLB is an elementary and secondary education act signed into law January 8, 2002 designed to help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers. It requires that teachers be considered “highly qualified” in the core academic subjects they teach. A highly qualified teacher according to NCLB is one who has a bachelor’s degree, full state certification and licensure, and has demonstrated competency in the subject area he or she teaches (U. S. Department of Education, 2004). However, …

Stress Levels Of School Administrators And Teachers In November And January, Robert Moody, James Barrett

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Teaching today’s young people is not only arduous work, but can be dangerously stressful. Anxiety due to school reform efforts, minimal administrative support, poor working circumstances, lack of involvement in school decision making, the encumbrance of paperwork, and lack of resources have all been identified as factors that can cause stress among educators (Hammond & Onikama, 1997). The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and its subsequential mandated standardized assessments, family responsibilities, continuing education, low salaries, and poor working conditions can also create stress.

How Do You Go From ‘Good’ To ‘Outstanding’?, Rima Aboudan

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Many college educators receive a rating of ‘good’ on their teaching delivery. Following teaching evaluations, usually, raters highlight some clear areas for improvement in their rating reports. The challenge for the educator is to characterize what needs to be done and work on the pedagogy advice to gain an ‘outstanding’ rating in the final verdict of the college rating – satisfy those criteria they say, and outstanding you will be. But how? That is the question.

Preparing Students For The College Experience, Stefanos Gialamas, Peggy Pelonis

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Preparing students for College life and most importantly for life beyond high school is a key challenge for many educators and secondary education institutions. Above all, today more than ever, educators must prepare students for the unknown and the unpredictable; careers not yet known to us, opportunities that we can not imagine, and for a world so different that we have no idea what it will look like in thirty or forty years. Hence some of the questions that arise are as follows: what shall we teach our students? What skills do we expect them to develop; and which processes …

Interaction Patterns In Mathematics Classrooms In Ogun State Secondary Schools, Adebole Ifamuyiwa, Abisola Lawani

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Interaction among people plays some vital roles in the life of individuals. This is evident in the way people relate with one-another at home, in the school, within the society, and among peer groups. In particular, the relationship between students and their teachers is expected to have a great effect on their lives. The way students learn any subject, Mathematics inclusive, will depend on the teacher’s pattern of classroom interaction. Teacher-student interaction in the classroom is a two-way process. Each participant influences the other’s behaviour; that is, the students condition their teachers’ behaviour and vice- versa. The concept of classroom …

Total Quality Management Culture And Productivity Improvement In Ethiopia Higher Institutions, B.J Ojo

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The desire of all parents is to have qualitative and functional educational programs for their children from nursery school to the university level. This is in conformity with the general belief that a sound education is the only permanent legacy that parents can pass on to their children to ensure their future. However, what we see nowadays is that many countries’ education system is turning out unemployable illiterates. Hallak (1990) emphasized that the quality of the education system depends on the quality of its teachers. Alloy Ejiogu (1990) stated that the quality of education in any given society depend considerably …

Leading In The Mathematics Classroom, Jon Warwick

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Within the United Kingdom (UK) higher education sector there has been a considerable amount of debate in recent years about the level of quantitative and literacy skills exhibited by students on entry to university courses. Indeed the UK government commissioned two major reports on the development of skills at school level in the post-14 age range focussing specifically on the development of quantitative skills (Roberts 2002; Smith 2004) since there has been a sustained year-on-year fall in the numbers of students opting to study mathematics, science, and engineering subjects at degree level. Coupled with this reluctance of students to specialise …

Critically Prophetic Action In The Public Square: Transformational Insights For School And Community Leaders, Peter Miller, Max Engel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Ladson-Billings’ assertion that students’ familial and cultural identities must be recognized and more fully incorporated into the educative process finds much support in the community of progressive educational scholarship, as countless academics (including bell hooks, Paulo Freire, Peter McLaren, and Henry Giroux) and activists (including Myles Horton and Ernie Cortes) have critiqued generalist models of education that ignore community assets in their structures and delivery. Ladson-Billings and others insist that when educational programs (both school and community-situated) are designed and implemented as if they occur in social vacuums they implicitly ignore unique community identities and modes of understanding. They relegate …

Attraction: The Secret Of Teaching, Learning, And Leadership, Kay Woelfel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The Secret, reveals that the single attribute that ensures success is one that every great educator has always had in his repertoire. Rhonda Byrne (2006, 4) says that “the greatest teachers who have ever lived have told us that the law of attraction is the most powerful law in the Universe.” Byrne points to poets, musicians, artists, and thinkers like Shakespeare, Beethoven, da Vinci, Socrates, Plato, and other legends. But lesser mortals, teachers and administrators in the field, also have known that “attraction” is the secret to school success. Jon Saphier and Robert Gower (1987, 2) put forth this idea …

Exploring The Relationship Between Avid Professional Development And Teacher Leadership, Jeffrey Huerta, Karen Watt, Ersan Alkan

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Classroom teachers receive various forms of professional development throughout their careers with the intent of improving their teaching practices and ultimately, student performance. However, professional development can also have an impact on teacher leadership activities outside of the classroom as well. The purpose of this study is to assess whether professional development received from the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program has an effect on AVID elective teachers’ level of teacher leadership within their schools. Teachers from middle schools and high schools implementing, or planning to implement, AVID were examined in order to answer the following research questions: 1) Is …

A Mentoring Process To Support Teachers’ Growth And Retention, David Bell, Earl Thomas

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

As educational consultants one of the pressing needs that we find administrators often recognize is the need for mentoring new and veteran teachers. Despite their concerns mentoring is often not part of the school system or it is executed in a haphazard manner. For example, when principals are asked to describe the current teacher mentoring system they often report that they just assign new teachers with veteran teachers who are willing to take on an additional responsibility. This suggests there is a lack of attention given to the importance of the quality relationship that must be established between mentor teacher …