Pathways to Critical Literacy Leadership: An Examination of a Cohort Model of Professional Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 238133772110246
Author(s):  
Rebecca Rogers ◽  
Martille Elias ◽  
Melinda Scheetz
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Cohort Model ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Literacy Leadership ◽  
The University ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
The Impact

As faculty at a land-grant university, we wanted to better understand the complexity of and pathways toward critical literacy leadership among educators. Specifically, we asked: What forms of critical literacy leadership become visible when educators participate in a cohort model of literacy professional development? Thirty educators enrolled across four different literacy cohorts at the university participated in this case study. Participants were diverse in their teaching experiences, racial identity, teaching placement, and literacy expertise. Participants shared similar geo-political-educational realities as they were all a part of the same large, urban district. Survey data, interviews, teaching and learning documents, and categorical data were analyzed in overlapping phases. Descriptive statistics were generated. Four themes related to critical literacy leadership surfaced from interviews using constant comparative methods: brokering equitable literacy practices, negotiating tensions, sharing/strengthening existing literacy practices, and imagining the futurity of literacy leadership. Educators offered complex portraits of critical literacy leadership in various spaces—often leading through learning. Participants’ voices highlighted the impact literacy leaders have on transformative, grassroots efforts toward change.

scholarly journals Hastening slowly: insights about teacher development from an evaluation of courses at the WCED’s Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Meyer ◽  
Lydia Abel
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Level ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Leadership Institute ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
The Impact

In the area of teacher professional development, South African education administrators face the challenge of reconciling two imperatives that have entirely different implications for programme time frames and budgets. On the one hand, there is an urgent need to improve the pedagogic content knowledge of many teachers to improve the overall standard of teaching and learning in the public school system. Considering the scale and urgency of the matter, centralised course-based in-service training seems to be the only affordable alternative. On the other hand, researchers have long warned that once-off course-based training on its own has limited impact on teachers’ practice, and has to be accompanied by further professional support in the school and classroom, or be abandoned in favour of more enduring professional learning communities. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has grappled with this dilemma in the Department’s various professional development initiatives for teachers, a mainstay of which is the training offered by the Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute (CTLI). This paper presents some of the data and findings from an external evaluation that ORT SA CAPE conducted in 2011–2012 of courses offered by the WCED at the CTLI. The hierarchy of INSET outcomes proposed by Harland and Kinder (1997) was applied to record changes in the practice of 18 teachers at eight schools. The progress of five of the teachers is discussed to illustrate the interplay between school-level factors and the experiences of individual teachers which influenced the impact of CTLI training on their teaching.

scholarly journals Opinions of school principals and teachers about teacher evaluation according to performance criteriaPerformans kriterlerine göre öğretmenlerin değerlendirilmesine ilişkin okul müdürü ve öğretmen görüşleri

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferudun Sezgin ◽  
Ayşe Tınmaz ◽  
Sezgin Tetik
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
School Principals ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to examine the opinions of school principals and teachers about the new implication process which teachers are being evaluated by school principals according to performance criteria. Phenomenological study design was chosen in this qualitative research. Participants were selected according to maximum variation sampling which is one of the purposeful sampling methods. Data were collected from 11 school principals and 14 teachers via semi-structured interview forms in Tokat city center. Data were analyzed according to descriptive analyzing technique. According to the results obtained in the study, participants stated that the purpose of current performance evaluation is the evaluation of teachers and to support their professional development. About the new application’s access to the purposes, while many of the teachers reported that the system could not achieve its goals, most of the school principals stated that the system would reach the goals with some shortcomings. Participants criticized the system for fast coming up and implementation. Participants stated that school principals were not qualified for this system. The most important strength of the system was defined as the teacher’s close awareness of the school principals. According to teachers’ views about the weaknesses of the system; the impact of conflicts or prejudices affecting school, school principals’ failure to take into account the criteria list, the existence of biased behaviors, the fact that principals were not educated in supervision, erroneous or incomplete practices in branch-specific evaluations, the deterioration of organizational peace. The majority of school principals reported that the applied system could contribute to the professional development of teachers, while the majority of teachers thought that the system would make a limited contribution. A two-day seminar was held with the school principals while training for teachers was not arranged by the Ministry of Education prior to the performance evaluation process. In the study, some suggestions were also made regarding the development of the current practice and the assessment of teacher performance in Turkey.Extended English abstract is in the end of PDF (TURKISH) file. ÖzetBu çalışmanın amacı öğretmenlerin performans kriterlerine göre okul müdürleri tarafından değerlendirildiği yeni uygulama konusunda okul müdürleri ve öğretmenlerin görüşlerini ortaya koymaktır. Nitel araştırma yöntemine göre tasarlanan bu çalışmada olgu bilim deseni benimsenmiştir. Çalışmada katılımcılar amaçlı örnekleme yöntemlerinden maksimum çeşitlemeye göre oluşturulmuştur. Tokat il merkezinde görev yapmakta olan 11 okul müdürü ve 14 öğretmenle yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu kullanılarak veri toplanmıştır. Veriler betimsel analiz tekniğine göre çözümlenmiştir. Araştırmada elde edilen verilere göre katılımcılar mevcut performans değerlendirme uygulamasının amacının daha çok öğretmenlerin değerlendirilmesi ve mesleki gelişimlerini artırma olduğu yönünde görüş belirtmişlerdir. Yeni uygulamanın amacına ulaşabilmesine ilişkin öğretmenlerin çoğunluğu sistemin amacını gerçekleştiremeyeceğini düşünürken okul müdürlerinin çoğunluğu bazı eksiklikler belirtmekle birlikte sistemin amacına ulaşabileceğini ifade etmektedirler. Uygulanma süreciyle ilgili katılımcılar sistemin bir anda gündeme gelmesi ve uygulanmasını eleştirmektedir. Katılımcılar okul müdürlerinin bu konuda yeterli olmadığını düşünmektedir. Sisteminin en önemli güçlü yanının okul müdürünün öğretmeni yakından tanıması olduğu ifade edilmiştir. Sistemin zayıf yönleri ile ilgili olarak öğretmenler; okulda yaşanacak çatışmaların veya önyargıların değerlendirmeyi etkilemesi, okul müdürlerinin kriter listesini dikkate almaması, taraflı davranışların varlığı, müdürlerin denetim konusunda eğitimli olmamaları, branşa özgü değerlendirmelerde hatalı veya eksik uygulama, örgüt barışının bozulması şeklinde görüş belirtmişlerdir. Okul müdürlerinin çoğunluğu uygulanmakta olan sistemin öğretmenlerin mesleki gelişimine katkı sağlayacağını belirtirken öğretmenlerin çoğunluğu kısıtlı katkı sağlayacağını düşünmektedir. Performans değerlendirme süreci öncesinde Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı tarafından öğretmenlere yönelik bir eğitim düzenlenmezken, okul müdürlerine iki günlük bir seminer düzenlenmiştir. Çalışmada ayrıca mevcut uygulamanın geliştirilmesi ile ilgili ve Türkiye’de genel anlamda öğretmen performansının değerlendirilmesi ile ilgili olarak birtakım önerilerde bulunulmuştur.

Multidisciplinary Group Case-Based Learning Environment

2018 ◽  
pp. 262-277
Author(s):  
Despo Ktoridou ◽  
Epaminondas Epaminonda ◽  
Achilleas Karayiannis
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Core Element ◽  
Innovation And Technology ◽  
Case Based Learning ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
New Type ◽  
Multidisciplinary Group ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Case Based

Technological, economic, and social developments represent dynamic changes for businesses across industries, creating opportunities for young entrepreneurs to build profitable companies. A key consideration relates to the need to recognize market opportunities and understand when and how to capitalize on them, whether starting a new type of business or growing on existing ideas; entrepreneurial thinking is a central attribute in cultivating an answer to this consideration. This chapter examines the impact of case-based learning introduced in a multidisciplinary undergraduate course, “Management of Innovation and Technology,” at the University of Nicosia. A core element in this process are the students' and lecturers' experiences, benefits, and challenges of cultivating entrepreneurial thinking. The findings can be useful for academics teaching entrepreneurship-related topics and seeking ways to incorporate innovative approaches in their teaching and learning processes in order to motivate students towards the development of entrepreneurial thinking in their professional engagements.

Teaching a ‘Managing Innovation and Technology' Course

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Despo Ktoridou ◽  
Epaminondas Epaminonda
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Student Centered Learning ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
Management Of Innovation ◽  
Innovation And Technology ◽  
Inductive Methods ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

In the last few years an increasing emphasis on developing entrepreneurship has been evident in many universities in an effort to prepare students to integrate effectively into the competitive working environment of the 21st century. A key question is how to do this. This work examines the impact of Student Centered Learning (SCL) introduced in a multidisciplinary undergraduate course of Management of Innovation and Technology at the University of Nicosia. It examines students' and lecturer experiences, benefits and challenges of implementing SCL, and gives recommendations to lecturers for designing a SCL based curriculum, incorporating inductive methods. The findings may be useful for academics who teach entrepreneurship related topics and seek ways to incorporate innovative approaches in their teaching and learning processes in order to motivate students towards the development of entrepreneurial skills and thinking.

Multidimensional Faculty Professional Development in Teaching and Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-39
Author(s):  
Alev Elçi ◽  
Hüseyin Yaratan ◽  
A. Mohammed Abubakar
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Great Effort ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
Faculty Professional Development ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Institutional Expectations ◽  
Coefficient Of Concordance ◽  
Building Activities ◽  
The Impact

Higher educational institutions exert great effort to improve educational quality and effectiveness to cope with digital challenges in education. The impact of COVID-19 on education highlighted the importance of the achievement of sustainability in higher education. To overcome many of these challenges, faculty members need sustained professional development infrastructure embracing individual and institutional dimensions for enhancing educational qualifications. In this study, a quantitative method was employed to explore goals, individual needs, and institutional expectations of faculty in an international university in a developing country. The obtained survey data were analyzed using descriptive and non-parametric statistics (i.e., Kendall's coefficient of concordance, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Mann–Whitney U test). The findings demonstrate that the preferred goals of the faculty are found as developing skills in disciplinary knowledge, teaching and learning, and research. To achieve these goals, they favor certain capacity building activities and support services. Findings reflect the faculty's positive attitude towards multidimensional development, thus opening up to the global knowledge-based community. This study contributes to the existing literature as a pilot study to identify that faculty professional development needs are in line with student academic support.

The Use of a WhatsApp Record for Communication With Students

2021 ◽  
pp. 310-325
Author(s):  
Leslie Chiuswa ◽  
Alex Sibanda
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mixed Methodology ◽  
Internet Connectivity ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Regional Campus ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Quantitative Approaches

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of WhatsApp usage in disseminating information to students at the Management, Zimbabwe Open University's Mashonaland West Regional Campus. This study employed a mixed methodology wherein both the qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaires were distributed to students through WhatsApp groups for all faculties. A total of 255 questionnaires were distributed to students through the existing WhatsApp groups. Of the distributed questionnaires, 128 were returned, and of these, 69 were usable for data analysis. The study revealed that the majority of students utilize WhatsApp for communication with the university. The other finding was that WhatsApp communication was characterized by data bundle costs and internet connectivity challenges. The study recommended that there be a WhatsApp policy and widening of the use for teaching and learning.

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