scholarly journals Untapped Potential for Professional Learning and Development: Kindergarten as a Learning Organization

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Cato Wadel ◽  
Åse Dagmar Knaben
Keyword(s):  
Learning Organization ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
International Research ◽  
Learning Organizations ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Learning And Development

AbstractThe importance of professional learning and development for quality in kindergartens has been established in international research. The fact that the kindergarten is a learning organization can be crucial in achieving necessary professional learning. The aim of this study was to investigate what characterizes Norwegian kindergartens as learning organizations. Our research question is: What kind of understanding do kindergarten managers have of a learning organization, what do they believe that a kindergarten must learn about and what do they perceive as characteristics of a learning kindergarten? We have conducted qualitative interviews with five kindergarten managers. The findings point to joint reflection as a key characteristic of a learning kindergarten. However, kindergartens struggle to make reflection a natural part of a day-to-day practice. Consequently, kindergartens fail to utilize an important potential for professional learning. Hence, we conclude that there is an untapped potential for professional learning and development in Norwegian kindergartens.

The influence of risk and uncertainty on teachers’ responses to professional learning and development

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaye Twyford ◽  
Deidre Le Fevre ◽  
Helen Timperley
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how perceptions of risk influenced teachers’ sensemaking and actions during a professional learning and development (PLD) initiative where teachers were expected to change their practices. Design/methodology/approach A risk perception lens, focussed on uncertainty, was used to capture the on-going experiences of teachers as they participated in PLD. The PLD, delivered by one organisation, focussed on developing teacher use and understanding of formative assessment practices. Data for this three-school qualitative exploratory case study of teachers’ perceptions of risk primarily utilised qualitative interviews. Findings Findings identified that teachers perceived risk and experienced feelings of vulnerability as a result of their on-going assessment and evaluation of the uncertainty in the professional learning context. The perceived risk informed teachers’ responses and actions, ultimately impacting on teachers’ learning. Practical implications The risk perception process model developed from the findings and conceptual framework provides a tool for educators to navigate and reduce perceived risk and enhance learning in change. Originality/value This research advances the conceptualisation of perceived risk in PLD. It challenges the current concept of teachers’ resistance and instead considers the role of their perceptions of risk, broadening the understanding of responses to educational change.

How chief learning officers build learning organizations

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 331-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica D. Haight ◽  
Michael J. Marquardt
Keyword(s):  
Learning Organization ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Learning Organizations ◽  
Strategy Development ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Systems Model ◽  
Leadership And Change

Purpose This study aims to identify how and why chief learning officers (CLOs) build the learning organization. The study was undertaken in the conceptual framework of leadership and change by using the lens of the Marquardt Systems Model. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study used semi-structured interviews with 20 participants. The purpose of the interviews was to understand the themes and subthemes associated with how CLOs define and build the learning organization, as well as the activities and strategies they use to build a learning organization. Findings Four major conclusions were drawn from the study: CLOs collaborate and encourage others to collaborate both within and outside of the organization; they assess and measure learning and development programs consistently; they seek and secure funding and resources; and they have a vision for the learning organization and realize that vision through strategy development and implementation. Originality/value This study is the first to provide comprehensive research on how CLOs build learning organizations, as well as the first to analyze this role using the Marquardt Systems Model.

scholarly journals Integrated STEM for Teacher Professional Learning and Development: “I Need Time for Practice”

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Andrea C. Burrows ◽  
Mike Borowczak ◽  
Adam Myers ◽  
Andria C. Schwortz ◽  
Courtney McKim
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Authentic Science ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Integrated Stem ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
K 12

This study compares three pre-collegiate teacher professional learning and development (PLD) integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences framed in astronomy. The study is set in the western United States (USA) and involves 60 pre-collegiate teachers (in the USA these are K-12 teachers) over the course of three years (June 2014–May 2017). During the PLDs, astronomy acted as a vehicle for pre-collegiate STEM teachers to increase their STEM content knowledge as well as create and implement integrated STEM classroom lessons. The authors collected quantitative and qualitative data to address five research questions and embraced social constructionism as the theoretical framework. Findings show that STEM pre-collegiate teachers are largely engaged with integrated STEM PLD content and embrace astronomy content and authentic science. Importantly, they need time to practice, interpret, translate, and use the integrated STEM content in classroom lessons. Recommendations for PLD STEM teacher support are provided. Implications of this study are vast, as gaps in authentic science, utilizing astronomy, PLD structure, and STEM integration are ripe for exploration.

The Persistence of Presentism

2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (11) ◽  
pp. 2505-2534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Hargreaves ◽  
Dennis Shirley
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Performance Data ◽  
Low Performing Schools ◽  
Capacity Enhancement ◽  
Quantitative Performance ◽  
Strategies For Change

Background/Context This study draws on the voluminous research on teachers’ workplace orientations and especially on Dan Lortie's documentation of conservatism, individualism, and presentism among teachers. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This study investigated a school reform network of over 300 secondary schools entitled Raising Achievement Transforming Learning (RATL) to explore the role of the network's interventions in increasing or diminishing presentism. Setting England. Population/Participants/Subjects Quantitative performance data were analyzed for all 300 schools. Site visits were made to 10 RATL schools in which educational administrators and teachers were interviewed individually and in focus groups. Additional phone interviews were conducted with administrators in 14 RATL schools. Intervention/Program/Practice RATL provided a combination of interventions and supports for schools in the network, including data analysis and capacity enhancement; partnering mentor schools with low-performing schools; regional conferences; a Web portal for schools in the project; and a menu of short-, medium-, and long-term strategies for change. Research Design Qualitative interviews and focus groups of educators in RATL schools, along with secondary analysis of pupil performance data. Conclusions/Recommendations In Dan Lortie's seminal research on teachers’ workplace orientations, he identified “presentism,” or short-term thinking, with conservatism and individualism. This research indicates that in the RATL project, individualism among teachers diminished, but this did not diminish either conservatism or presentism. The research identifies three kinds of presentism—endemic, adaptive, and addictive—that have amplified educational conservatism while altering its nature to fit the current culture and political economy of fast capitalism.

Making sense of continuous development of digital infrastructures

2021 ◽  
pp. 026839622110466
Author(s):  
Karen Osmundsen ◽  
Bendik Bygstad
Keyword(s):  
Research Question ◽  
Sense Making ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Continuous Development ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Digital Infrastructure ◽  
Definition Of

Continuous development extends the agile approach and focuses on bringing valuable services to users with the aim of achieving a continuous flow of learning and development in short cycles. The objective of this work is to theorize the idea of continuous development in the context of digital infrastructure evolution and explore the organizational interactions underlying continuous development. By drawing on literature on digital infrastructure theory and continuous development as it has emerged as an idea from the DevOps thinking expanded from agile, we outline main characteristics of continuous development and propose a theoretical definition of continuous development in organizational contexts. Then, in answering our research question “which patterns of interactions can be identified in the continuous development of digital infrastructures?”, we conducted a longitudinal case study at a Norwegian grid company and explored how a specific digital infrastructure evolved through continuous development. We identified generic interaction patterns with two cycles of sense-giving and sense-making between organizational actors, enabling the continuous development of the digital infrastructure. Our findings and model of interaction patterns offer a nuanced perspective on both digital infrastructure evolution and established views of sense-making and sense-giving mechanisms, as well as new ways to think about digitalization in incumbent firms.

scholarly journals Public health platforms: an emerging informatics approach to health professional learning and development

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Gray
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Professional ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Health Informatics ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Design Of Learning Environments

Health informatics has a major role to play in optimising the management and use of data, information and knowledge in health systems. As health systems undergo digital transformation, it is important to consider informatics approaches not only to curriculum content but also to the design of learning environments and learning activities for health professional learning and development. An example of such an informatics approach is the use of large-scale, integrated public health platforms on the Internet as part of health professional learning and development. This article describes selected examples of such platforms, with a focus on how they may influence the direction of health professional learning and development.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document