Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Professional Learning In Trauma Informed Positive Education: Moving School Communities From Trauma Affected To Trauma Aware, Helen Stokes, Tom Brunzell

School Leadership Review

In order to assess and then to identify promising approaches for school leadership within rural communities, it can be helpful to reframe struggling schools as trauma-affected schools. Acknowledging the impacts of childhood trauma on students and their learning allows school leaders to undertake professional learning both with and for their schools to become trauma-aware. Embedded within a rural community located in a region contending with intergenerational disadvantage, the findings reported in this study suggest that when school leaders deliberately implemented trauma-aware practice as a whole-school approach for all staff members, there was growth in student academic outcomes. In addition to …

Teacher Evaluation Practices And Policy Implications: Effective Strategies For Changing Instruction, Scott Grens

Dissertations

This study is a program evaluation of the effectiveness of teacher evaluation practices in a small suburban elementary school district in Illinois from 2017-2019. The primary research question explored in this program evaluation is whether and to what extent the teacher evaluation process is changing teacher practices in Washington School District 25. Employing a qualitative research methodology, with data gathered from teacher interviews, school administrator interviews, and document analysis, this study identified several key components to the improvement of instructional practices for teachers. Policy implications and recommendations highlight the importance of the following: a common instructional framework, staff involvement in …

Contextual Factors In Early Career Teaching: A Systematic Review Of International Research On Teacher Induction And Mentoring Programs, Benjamin Kutsyuruba, Keith D. Walker, Lorraine Godden

Journal of Global Education and Research

Early career teachers (ECTs) are situated in a dynamic contextual landscape that both influences their development and practice and dictates professional expectations for instruction and professional learning. This systematic review of international research literature sought to establish the understanding of teacher induction and mentoring program support of ECTs through the following research questions: 1) which nations and regions are represented in research literature that details formal or programmatic support of ECTs? 2) what international research evidence is there to describe various contextual factors that affect experiences of ECTs? and, 3) how do teacher induction and mentorship programs respond to the …

Infographic: Wise Words On Lifelong Learning, Dominique Russell

Teacher infographics

Each year in our reader survey, we ask you: ‘looking back on your experience as an educator, if you could share one piece of advice with your peers, what would it be?’ In this infographic, we take a look at some of your responses on the topic of lifelong learning.

Hashtags And Pins In Education: Digital Native Educators In Digital Habitats., Kelly Pilgrim Cassidy

Doctor of Education in Instructional Technology Dissertations

As technology becomes more ubiquitous in society, education cannot ignore the impact it is having on education. This research seeks to understand how Digital Native educators are using Digital Habitats in their professional practice. By gaining a deeper understanding of how educators use Digital Habitats, including their tools, like hashtags and pins, we can begin to develop ways to incorporate these skills into our teacher preparation programs. The knowledge gained from this study can help administrators, technology leaders and coaches to better understand their Digital Native teachers and how they are using these technology tools in their professional practice. This …

Real-Time Support: Using Ecoaching To Increase Preservice Teachers’ Confidence To Teach, Morgan V. Blanton, Aftynne E. Cheek, Elizabeth Bellows

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The role of teacher education preparation programs is to equip preservice teachers (PSTs) with the knowledge and skills to support the development of all students. To do this, university faculty must establish and monitor PST’s progress toward quality standards for teaching. eCoaching is a professional learning tool that provides real-time feedback to PSTs during instruction. In this article, the authors present eCoaching as a professional learning strategy. An overview of eCoaching logistics, perceived impact of eCoaching on PSTs, a description of eCoaching in action, and an explanation of how it meshes with current support practices are provided.

Effectiveness Of Teacher Professional Learning : Enhancing The Teaching Of Fractions In Primary Schools, Derek Hurrell

Derek Hurrell

This study was motivated by the need to develop professional learning for primary school teachers that would support them to more effectively teach the mathematics topic of fractions. What seemed evident, was that previous professional learning attended by teachers had not adequately met their needs.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether professional learning, with a focus on subject content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and reflective practice could enhance primary school teachers’ PCK for teaching fractions and make them more confident teachers of fractions. Demonstrating this to be the case would have wide implications for the development of professional …

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Early Childhood Education Preparation And Experiences Of California Certificated Elementary School Educators Assigned To Transitional Kindergarten, Elizabeth A. Golchert

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This dissertation represents original, independent research that is a contribution of new knowledge to the field of educational practice. As a new phenomenon in the California public school system, transitional kindergarten (TK) is now bringing about a closer look by researchers at legislative practices, TK program implementation, local school district policies, teacher preparation, and teacher implementation of best practices related to the education of children of approximately four years of age. The purpose of conducting this study was to broadly examine these topics, but more specifically, investigate the problem of children being assigned to teachers who do not have the …

Brookings, South Dakota: Learning Lab, Doriane Paso

Empowering Research for Educators

The following paper explores the possibilities of education in one local setting using both an insider and outsider perspective. Education is a part of society, and as society changes, why should education not change with it?

Impact Of Lesson Study On Teachers’ Beliefs, Professional Knowledge, Collaboration, And Instructional Planning, Megan Houtchens

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies: Doctoral Research Projects

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to create a lesson study framework that content and grade level teams of teachers can use to develop and implement their own professional learning connected to student learning goals over the course of a school year. The knowledge claim (McNiff, 2017) for this study is lesson study will result in changes in teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about their content, pedagogy and student learning, in teachers’ collaborative capacity, and in the teaching and learning resources that are used to support student thinking (Lewis et al., 2009). Three teams of content specific teachers …

Educating Our Educators: How Teachers Understand Themselves As Adult Learners And Perceive Their Professional Learning Experiences, Desirae` Khampanya

Education Dissertations and Projects

This study investigated how teachers understand themselves as adult learners and perceive their professional learning experiences within a rural school district in North Carolina. This study was a replication of Fitzgerald’s (2014) dissertation and sought to extend the generalizability of the original study. An explanatory mixed-methods design was used, and the two sources of data collected included an online survey and virtual interviews. The results from this study indicated that almost all participating teachers learned best when the core adult learning principles (Knowles, Holton, & Swanson, 2015) were applied to their professional learning experiences, but less than half of those …

The Impact Of Blended Professional Learning Focused On Total Physical Response Storytelling (Tprs®) On Teacher Perceptions And Practices, April Dawn Debord

Education Dissertations and Projects

Professional learning plays an integral role in every educator’s career. Studies show that traditional workshop professional learning in a one-round session without follow-up training is not effective (Ball & Cohen, 1999), yet this type of professional learning still comprises the bulk of professional development offerings. This study sought to discover the impact of providing blended professional learning with coaching on teacher perception, teacher knowledge, classroom practice, and student learning. Participating instructors from various Grades 9-12 backgrounds received asynchronous virtual training in the TPRS® method and Marzano’s (2004) vocabulary learning strategies. The training was delivered via the Canvas Learning Management System. …

Exploring Intersections Of Work Intensity And Professional Learning: Female Teachers’ Responses To Research Engagement As Professional Learning, Jennifer Mitton-Kukner

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Much research has focused upon the promise of teacher research engagement as a form of professional learning. Yet, little scholarship has looked closely at how female teachers juggle research engagement alongside personal and professional responsibilities. This inquiry into the research experiences of two mid-career teachers provides an up-close look at the ways they attempted to sustain engagement over a three-year period. Attending closely to participants’ accounts of time use, as they engaged in research activities, sheds light upon the presence of socio-cultural expectations, in these instances, constraining their efforts and, arguably, impacting the depth of their professional learning.