Assessing the sustainability of social studies virtual professional learning communities on social media: a quantitative study of “sense of community”

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Hensley
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the #SSChat community's recognition of cohesion and shared learning goals within the #SSChat community. Specifically, the author sought to gauge the #SSChat community's “sense of community (SOC) ” (e.g. measuring participants' perceptions of membership, influence, fulfillment of needs and a shared emotional connection related to the community) and sustainability (e.g. information contribution and consumption, self-disclosure and intention to leave the community). Additionally, the author aimed to examine “SOC” as a construct supporting the #SSChat community's sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a quantitative survey research design that was guided by McMillan and Chavis' (1986) SOC theoretical framework. The instrument included two reliable and valid surveys. Descriptive and inferential statics were used to investigate the three research questions.FindingsFindings from this study highlight refinement and reinforcement areas framed using McMillan and Chavis' (1986) SOC theoretical framework to support the continued development and growth of the #SSChat as virtual learning community for social studies education professionals.Originality/valueThere is a dearth of research that investigates the dynamic underpinnings and foundations of informal virtual learning communities for social studies educators and whether they are sustainable. While this study is not the first to investigate the relationship between sustainability and SOC, it does extend previous research by evaluating the specific SOC tenets and their individual relationships to sustainability.

School culture and leadership of professional learning communities

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 682-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Shared Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policies And Procedures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at schools as a function of school culture policies and procedures. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study was conducted at three secondary schools in the Midwestern USA. Administrators and teachers were interviewed, professional learning communities observed and artifacts collected to explore school culture policies, procedures and leadership in the implementation of professional learning community practice. Findings – This study concludes that school leaders must provide supportive and shared leadership structures for teachers in order to ensure a positive school culture and effective professional learning communities that impact school improvement. Leaders in schools must work directly with teachers to create policies and procedures that provide teachers the leadership structure to directly impact school improvement through professional learning community collaborative efforts. Originality/value – This study builds on the school culture and professional learning communities literature by exploring existent policies and practices in schools as unique cases. Much of the literature calls for specific case studies to identify issues in the implementation of effective practice. This study is important to the community as specific cases that may inform educational leaders on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures outline in school culture and professional learning community literature.

Learning Communities as Continuing Professional Development for Sport Coaches

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Bertram ◽  
Wade Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Coach Learning ◽  
Sport Coaches

Continuing professional development (CPD) for sport coaches has been defined as all kinds of professional learning that occurs after initial certification (Nelson et al., 2006), and includes both non-formal and informal learning situations. Despite the fact that within the past decade there has been an increasing number of studies on these learning situations, learning communities as a type of CPD have received little attention. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to share initial observations and lessons learned from creating and implementing sport coach learning communities. In addition, this paper extends the dialogue on learning community implementation and assessment. Our learning community efforts were formulated around five key guidelines: (1) Stable settings dedicated to improving instruction and learning, (2) Job-alike teams, (3) Published protocols that guide but do not prescribe, (4) Trained peer facilitators, and (5) Working on student learning goals until there are tangible gains in student learning.

scholarly journals Encouraging professional learning communities to increase the shared consensus in writing assessments

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 269-285
Author(s):  
Roos Van Gasse ◽  
Marije Lesterhuis ◽  
San Verhavert ◽  
Renske Bouwer ◽  
Jan Vanhoof ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Assessment Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose The Flemish Examination Centre designed an intervention to establish a professional learning community on the topic of writing assessment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of this intervention and explain how this intervention succeeded in establishing a professional learning community. Design/methodology/approach A mixed method design was used to answer the research questions. Quantitative analysis of comparative judgement data provided insight into the effects of the intervention. More specifically was analysed whether examiners judged more in line after the intervention. Qualitative analysis of the conversations within the intervention served to examine how interdependent examiners behaved in the professionalisation exercises and to gain insight into how a professional learning community was established. Findings The analysis showed that the intervention of the Flemish Examination Centre facilitated the formation of a professional learning community. This was visible in the quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis showed that highly interdependent activities were helpful in establishing the professional learning community. Practical implications This study shows that interactions of high interdependence are beneficial to facilitate professional learning communities. Originality/value This study shows that the assessment data can guide a well-thought out design of interventions to establish professional learning communities among assessors. Assessment data can be a guidance for supportive group constellations and discussions to improve assessment practices. The key in this regard lies in the level of interdependence that is created among participants.

scholarly journals Newly qualified teachers’ professional learning through practitioner enquiry

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Robson ◽  
Peter Mtika
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
Teacher Education Institution ◽  
Pupil Learning ◽  
Newly Qualified Teachers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on a partnership-based mentoring model and the learning experiences of participant mentees and mentors. As part of the project, newly qualified teachers (NQTs) were supported to develop and implement a practitioner enquiry (teacher/action research) in a learning community involving two local authorities and an initial teacher education institution. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data were collected from five semi-structured focus group interviews with key participant groupings to uncover perceptions and experiences of the partnership and professional learning therein. Analysis using an inductive and iterative approach pinpointed a number of emerging themes used to frame key elements of the findings. Findings Findings suggested that the partnership-based model promoted the professional learning and development of NQTs and their mentors in various ways. The nature and shape of the partnership had an influence on the quality of mentoring and support experienced. The community effectively supported the implementation of meaningful enquiry projects, which had clear connections to the enhancement of professional practice and pupil learning. However, specific tensions and conflicts emerged as hindrances to successful partnership-based mentoring in the specific context. Originality/value New insights into the role of a partnership-based mentoring scheme supporting practitioner enquiry-based learning of NQTs emerged. The local, layered community defining the partnership, and operating within the frame of a national induction scheme, was analysed. Benefits for partners were identified and specific challenges and tensions highlighted, both providing new evidence with potential to impact policy and practice. Policy developments supporting teachers to be mentors and enquiring professionals need to recognise the structural and support tensions that exist in contextual practice.

scholarly journals CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY: INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 493
Author(s):  
Justinas Monkevicius ◽  
Renaldas Čiužas
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Organisational Structure ◽  
Teacher Professional

The article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of institutional factors of creation and development of successful teacher professional learning communities. On the basis of the conducted theoretical analysis, institutional factors were systemised and divided into four groups:factors related to organisational culture, to processes, to organisational structure, and factors related to financial and material resources.The empirical research reveals the relevance of theoretically distinguished factors to the practical processes of creation and development of successful teacher professional learning communities. It also singles out new factors that have not been investigated by other scholars and highlights the encountered barriers.

scholarly journals A case study of two teacher learning communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Free-Queen Bongiwe Zulu ◽  
Tabitha Grace Mukeredzi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
South African ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Education And Development ◽  
Teacher Learning Communities

In the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development, a South African policy, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Department of Higher Education (DHET) call for the formation of professional learning communities and envisage support for teachers and access to enhanced professional development opportunities at the local level. However, the formation and operation of professional learning communities in a South African context is still unclear. In this article we use the concept of professional learning communities to examine the extent to which 2 teacher learning communities operate as professional learning communities. We used interviews, observations, survey questionnaires and document analysis to generate data. The findings of the study reveal that the 2 teacher learning communities were initiated by the DBE and not by teachers. However, the size of 1 teacher learning community and the nature of its functioning seemed to adhere to the characteristics of a professional learning community while the other did not. The findings indicate that professional learning communities that operate in developing contexts might be functional when all the stakeholders play a meaningful role in supporting professional learning communities.

Knowledge Access and Interaction Evolution in Virtual Learning Communities

2012 ◽  
pp. 1019-1038
Author(s):  
Maria Chiara Caschera ◽  
Alessia D’Andrea ◽  
Fernando Ferri ◽  
Patrizia Grifoni
Keyword(s):  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Intelligent Agents ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Software Systems ◽  
Virtual Learning Community ◽  
Support Interaction ◽  
Interesting Alternative

Interaction among members in Virtual Learning Communities influences the communities’ evolution. Starting from this consideration, this chapter provides a discussion on the more widely used software systems that support interaction between virtual communities’ members and virtual learning environment underlining the advantages and the disadvantages considering the several processes that characterize the VLCs. Moreover in education environments interactions are important in order to facilitate the learning process, and this chapter describes how the intelligent agent approaches can bean interesting alternative to a human facilitator. The analysis of intelligent agents describes how they allow both analysing interaction and improving the level of participation of members of a Virtual Learning Community.

Analysis of Students’ Engagement and Activities in a Virtual Learning Community

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Daniel ◽  
Richard A. Schwier
Keyword(s):  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Research Laboratory ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Community Research ◽  
Online Pedagogy ◽  
Virtual Learning Community

With advances in communication technology and online pedagogy, virtual learning communities have become rich learning environments in which individuals construct knowledge and learn from others. Typically, individuals in virtual learning communities interact by exchanging information and sharing knowledge and experiences with others as communities. The team at the Virtual Learning Community Research Laboratory has employed an array of methods, including social network analysis (SNA), to examine and describe different virtual learning communities. The goal of the study was to employ mixed methods to explore whether the content of students’ interaction reflected the fundamental elements of community. SNA techniques were used to analyse ties and relationships among individuals in a network with the goal of understanding patterns of interactions among individuals and their activities, and interviews were conducted to explore features and student perceptions of their learning community.

Making meaning out of noise

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 506-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Cegarra-Sánchez ◽  
Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Making Meaning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The environments provided by classrooms to facilitate learning among students can be seen as useful vehicles for making meaning out of gossip, lies, exaggeration and partial truths (i.e. counter-knowledge). This paper aims to focus on professional learning communities as a process to counteract the problem of counter-knowledge. Design/methodology/approach This paper has analysed the relationships between professional-learning communities and counter-knowledge using an empirical study of 210 undergraduate students to identify whether there is a significant impact on student achievement by professional learning communities. This study uses PLS-Graph software version 3.0 to conduct an analysis of the data collected. Findings Outcome findings support that professional learning communities provide a way of counteracting counter-knowledge and the noise heard through gossip, lies, exaggeration and partial truths. Originality/value Results also confirm that counter-knowledge is a variable that, when controlled, has the effect of strengthening the relationship between learning and student achievement.

Chapter 5: Using Social Media: One Physical Education Teacher’s Experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 464-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Collin C. Brooks ◽  
Jaimie M. McMullen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Physical Education Teachers ◽  
Instrumental Case Study ◽  
Community Theory ◽  
Categorical Aggregation

Purpose: This study explored one physical education teacher’s engagement in an online professional learning community and her perceptions of its impact on her own feelings of isolation. Sense of community theory was used as a lens to explore the data. Method: Using a single instrumental case study design, the participant of this study was a female physical education teacher. The data were collected through semistructured interviews, public tweets (Twitter), and informal participant communication (Voxer). The data were analyzed using categorical aggregation, and codes with similar meanings were combined to develop themes. Results: Three themes were evident across data sources that represented her perceptions of participation in an online professional learning community: (a) taking initiative, (b) different support systems, and (c) stages of social media participation. Conclusion: Social media can provide a sense of community for physical education teachers, allowing them to feel less isolated.

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