Education Commons^™

The Role Of Early Childhood Pedagogical Leaders In Schools: Leading Change For Ongoing Improvement, Amie Fabry, Lennie Barblett, Marianne Knaus

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Early childhood pedagogical practice in primary schools is often challenged by academic demands, debate about best practice and ongoing change through new policy initiatives. This paper reports an investigation of how early childhood pedagogical leaders assist early years teachers in schools to embrace change and embed early childhood pedagogy. Framed within a constructivist epistemology, this paper reports on findings from three case studies drawn from a larger mixed-methods study from Perth, Western Australia. Data collected through shadowing pedagogical leaders, undertaking contextual interviews and analysing school documents revealed that pedagogical change was promoted, encouraged and sustained through a number of strategies. …

Impact Of A Teacher Education Program On The Intercultural Competence Of Teacher Candidates, Elizabeth J. Sandell

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Parental Involvement In Children’S Education At A Christian School: A Transcendental Phenomenological Approach, Deborah Ann Minix-Fuller

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Parents share collective experiences of either involving themselves or not in their child’s education. This transcendental phenomenological study’s rationale was to explore the views, experiences, beliefs, and motivations of parents who are involved in their children’s education. Eleven participants who engaged in this research are from a small-sized Christian school in Kentucky. The theory guiding this study is Urie Bronfenbrenner’s theory (1979), the Ecological System (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem). The data collected from interviews, a focus group, and two surveys. NVivo12 plus Qualitative Data Analysis Software (Q-DAS) implemented to analyze the qualitative data collected. Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenological seven …

The Differences Between Principal And Teacher Perceptions Of Professional Learning Communities In California Schools, Michael Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Effective Professional Learning Communities are one tool schools utilize to ensure that student achievement improvement is prioritized. Professional Learning Communities help educators increase their professional knowledge and minimize conflict amongst colleagues. Additionally, teachers who regularly participate in a Professional Learning Community have students who reach higher achievement benchmarks than the students of their non-participating peers. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a statistically significant difference existed between principal perceptions and teacher perceptions of Professional Learning Communities as measured by the Professional Learning Communities Assessment—Revised. A sample of 49 principals and 53 teachers from 49 schools in California …

The Aftermath Of Detroit's Economic Decline And The Exodus Of Urban Teachers: A Phenomenology, Melissa Holtzhouse

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the decision-making process of teachers, Kindergarten through twelfth grade, who left the urban setting in metropolitan Detroit. The theories that guided this study were Rotter’s locus of control and Condorcet’s decision theory as they investigated the experiences leading to teachers’ decisions to leave the urban setting within metropolitan Detroit. Four research questions were included (a) How do select teachers, Kindergarten through twelfth grade, describe the decision-making process they underwent before leaving urban education in metropolitan Detroit? (b) How do participants describe their experiences prior to their decision to leave urban education …

The Revolving Door Of Education: Teacher Turnover And Retention Amongst The Graduates Of A Liberal Arts Teacher Education Program, Gregory W. Dachille, Chloe Ruff

Education Faculty Publications

In the United States, elementary and secondary education teachers comprise 4% of the entire civilian workforce (Ingersoll, 2001). The composition of that 4% is changing because of teacher turnover. According to recent statistics, 46% of teachers leave the classroom within the first five years of teaching and 9.5% of teachers leave the classroom within their first year (Rinke, 2014; Riggs, 2013; Zheng & Zeller, 2016). This study is designed to examine the teaching experiences of graduates of one teacher education program and the potential differences between graduates who stay in teaching and those who leave. Throughout this study, the guiding …

A Grounded Theory Study On Building Positive Teacher-Student Relationships In Christian Schools, Joy Stouffer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this systematic grounded theory study was to understand how teachers and students from open-enrollment Christian schools in Guam and Hawaii described the process of building positive teacher-student relationships. The framework guiding this study was social constructivism and Vygotsky’s (1980), Bruner’s (1997) and Bandura’s (1993) theories on the influence of environmental factors on the perceptions of the teacher-student relationship. The central research question asked how teachers and students described the process of building positive teacher-student relationships in Christian schools. Data collection methods included online surveys, focus groups, and individual interviews. A systematic, grounded theory approach, data analysis, and …

More Than Just Plain Old Technology Adoption: Understanding Variations In Teachers' Use Of An Online Planning Tool, Heather Leary, Victor R. Lee, Mimi Recker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper examines variability in teachers’ usage patterns as they interacted with an online teacher support tool, the Curriculum Customization Service (CCS), as part of their professional work. The CCS is a web application that supports teachers in planning, adapting, sequencing, and enacting differentiated instruction in Earth science education. By mining the usage log files of over 40 teachers who used the CCS over a yearlong period, we analyzed for variability using a framework developed in marketing research to characterize appropriation of technology. This analysis helped reveal different kinds of teachers’ patterns along two dimensions: frequency and variability of use. …

Teacher Design Using Online Learning Resources: A Comparative Case Study Of Science And Mathematics Teachers, Mimi Recker

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Using a comparative case study design, this paper explores the impacts of a technology-related professional development (TTPD) design aimed at helping science and mathematics teachers design classroom activities using the wealth of resources available on the Internet. Using the lens of curricular adaption and the notion of teachers’ varying pedagogical design capacity, we analyzed the experiences of four teachers in terms of the kinds of instructional activities teachers designed, how these were supported with online resources, and teachers’ perceptions of impacts on student learning. Findings suggested that participants used a variety of personally relevant design strategies when applying TTPD concepts …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Teacher Support Approaches In Afghanistan, Noorullah Noori

Master's Capstone Projects

This research explores the effectiveness of three teacher professional development (TPD) approaches in the context of Afghanistan: 2-year in-service teacher education; short-term (ad-hoc) teacher training; and teacher learning circles (TLC). In this research, I compare these three models, their impact on improving teacher quality and subsequently student outcome. I applied the mix-methods approach by using three different research tools: classroom observations, self-administered questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. I also reviewed student performance records over four semesters; from 2010 to 2011. Despite many challenges, the results show three core strengths of each of these models: the 2-year in-service teacher …

Instructional Architect Teacher Professional Development Handouts, Mimi Recker, Andrew Walker, M. Brooke Robertshaw, Linda Sellers, Heather M. Leary

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Research

Three handouts for the teacher professional development workshops on the Instructional Architect (IA). Starting spring 2009 the face-to-face workshop was changed to be three different days of learning about how to use the IA, inquiry based and problem based learning, evaluation of IA projects with a rubric, and creating IA projects.

The Role Of An Educational Website In Providing Better Opportunities For Kabul Education University, Siddiqullah Barikzai

Master's Capstone Projects

Technology has played an important role in improving and expanding education worldwide. Website is a part of technology through which institutions and companies can easily and cheaply share and advertise their profiles with rest of the world.

Kabul Education University (KEU) where I used to teach is a newly established (2003) university in Kabul (the capital city); it trains professional teachers for secondary schools. The university did not have a website till recently (June 2009), while all other public universities in Kabul had it. So, I developed a website for it due to the demand of the university administrators, teachers, …

Education Faculty Math Curriculum And In-Service Teachers Needs, Sayed Sarwar Yaqubi

Master's Capstone Projects

This study accomplished as an education master thesis and addresses the following issue- the education faculty math curriculum in Jowzjan University in Afghanistan and the in-service teachers’ needs. I conducted this study on third-year in-service teachers who are studying at the Jowzjan University in Afghanistan. This study was conducted as qualitative study; there were 11 participants from the third-year in-service teachers. The methodology system was interview with participants. Because of the lack of time I did just one time interview with the participants. There were not class observation and group discussion. The finding from this study revealed some important and …

Online Learning In Teacher Education: Enhanced With A Problem-Based Learning Approach, Roisin Donnelly

Articles

This paper describes research undertaken by an academic tutor in a Learning and Teaching Center (LTC) on the design of a module on Online Learning on a Postgraduate Diploma in Third Level Learning and Teaching. The LTC supports academic staff (Faculty) at the Technological University Dublin in learning, teaching and assessment activities, including integrating learning technologies. This work is supplemented by increasing awareness of current national and international research and strategies related to learning and teaching in higher education. The goal of the LTC is to offer resources, consultation, and a forum for discussion to help academic staff provide a …

Teacher Survey To Accompany The Spring, '96 Sehome Student Survey, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

A survey of Sehome High School teachers to find out how engaged high school students are at their high school.

Using Distance Education To Improve Teaching In Namibia: Teachers' Views On An Inservice Training Program., Ndinovaameni Christian Shatona

Master's Capstone Projects

Teacher education in Namibia is likely to involve more participants and more expenditure in the future. Analysis of the substance and character of teacher education programs as seen by the teachers are very important for the public. This study is a compilation of the thoughts of almost 70 teachers enrolled in a distance teacher education program. Their views are captured in conversations, observations, interviews and on questionnaires. Voice is an important aspect of the study, for both content and tone. The actual words of teachers have been quoted directly and at leng·�h, so that they may speak for themselves, as …

Western Washington University Teacher Education Placement Survey, Western Washington University. Office Of Survey Research

Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Survey of students that have graduated from the teacher education curriculum at Western Washington University.

Staff Development And Teacher Change, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

The most significant changes in teacher attitudes and beliefs come after they begin using a new practice successfully and see changes in student learning.