scholarly journals Pedagogical Transformation and Teacher Learning for Knowledge Building: Turning COVID-19 Challenges into Opportunities

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chew Lee Teo ◽  
Seng Chee Tan ◽  
Carol Chan
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Transformative Pedagogy ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Building Practice

This paper reports on the continual effort of the Knowledge Building Community (KBC) connecting teachers within and across schools for knowledge creation and community building during the COVID-19 disruptions. During this crisis, schools around the world are challenged with the issues of implementing online learning. Three areas of misalignment were identified: disjoint in learning with home-school separation, piecemeal technologies to mimic physical teaching, and disconnect between teacher professional development and classroom practices and we discussed emerging realignment efforts for transformative learning. Through analyzing the three case examples of how teachers responded to COVID-19 challenges in inter-related areas of curriculum, pedagogy, technology and community, we identified several themes on emerging alignments conducive for transformative pedagogy and technology through community advancement. These themes include: innovating practice around the centrality of ideas; perceiving knowledge building as pervasive; transformative use of technology, and symmetrical advancement of knowledge. These case examples show that in these disruptive times, the teachers were more actively building new practices supported by community dynamics and systemic processes of the KBC.  Consequently, the interactions between stakeholders shifted from disjointed relations in different hierarchical levels to a networked community of people, ideas, and resources, and teachers continually advancing their knowledge-building practice in these challenging times.

scholarly journals Language teacher professional education:

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 304-317
Author(s):  
Kátia Muck ◽  
Denise Cristina Kluge
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Sociocultural Perspective ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Teacher Professional

This article provides a theoretical discussion regarding the implications of peer-to-peer learning in online environments for language teacher professional learning and second language academic literacy. It approaches the use of technology as means to enhance prospective teachers’ cognition and metacognition skills and to foster their language learning, as Language Teacher Education programs usually fulfil a twofold purpose: to learn the language itself and to learn how to teach it as a foreign language. In order to arrive at these implications, it presents a grounded discussion on sociocultural perspective within L2 teacher education, teachers’ beliefs, and mediation in the sociocultural perspective. The discussion reinforces the significance of peer-activities (peer-observation and peer-feedback) to foster a teacher development process. Moreover, it suggests that a guided peer-activity, such as employing the use of carefully elaborated rubrics, could enhance this process.

Computer-supported knowledge building community

2021 ◽  
pp. 35-50
Author(s):  
Calixto Gutiérrez-Braojos ◽  
Carlos Rodríguez-Domínguez ◽  
Francisco Carranza-García ◽  
Gabriel Navarro-Garulo
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Building Community

Adult Education With Technology for Transformative Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 718-734
Author(s):  
Victor Wang ◽  
Uta M. Stelson
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Web 3.0 ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Technological Skills

Adult learners often fear that employment will be difficult if they lack technological skills. Newspapers, magazines, and advertisements for positions often emphasize the importance of the use of technology in the workplace. Without adequate skills in the use of appropriate technologies, adult workers may face challenges in finding employment. Web technologies can provide powerful teaching and learning strategies, enhance learner engagement, provide a chance to acquire critical technological skills, and promote critical reflection. This chapter addresses technological applications in vocational and adult education advancement from different perspectives. Technology has the potential to support transformative learning. Technology, along with the vital role of adult educators, helps learners grow, change, and develop. Through the discussion of these, and related issues, a model titled, Learners' Seeking Transformation via Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 Technologies, emerged.

scholarly journals Do Pre-service Teachers Dance with Wolves? Subject-Specific Teacher Professional Development in A Recent Biodiversity Conservation Issue

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Büssing ◽  
Maike Schleper ◽  
Susanne Menzel
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Subject Specific ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Affective Components ◽  
Affective Dimensions

Biodiversity conservation issues are adequate topics of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), as they involve ecological, economic and social aspects. But teaching about these topics often challenges teachers due to high factual complexity but also because of additional affective dimensions. As a consequence, teacher professional development in ESD should address these affective components, to better qualify and motivate teachers to integrate conservation issues into their teaching. To investigate behaviourally relevant factors, we selected the context of natural remigration and conservation of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) in Germany and surveyed 120 pre-service biology teachers (M = 23.2 years, SD = 3.3 years) about contextual factors and their motivation to teach about the issue. Participants reported more positive attitudes, higher enjoyment and an increased perceived behavioural control towards teaching the issue in future teachers when they perceived a smaller psychological distance to the issue and an overall higher motivation to protect the species. As this motivation was grounded in more fundamental personality characteristics like wildlife values and attitudes towards wolves, we discuss the central role of these traits as a basis for transformative learning processes and the necessity of a holistic and subject-specific teacher professional development in ESD.

Written Speech

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Pamela Moen ◽  
Kelley Walters
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Professional Development Program ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Written Speech

Data collected within this qualitative, multiple-case study included teachers' knowledge building preferences for written speech in a virtual community of practice (VCoP), blended learning, teacher professional development program. This data was analyzed using the theoretical tenets of Vygotsky's social constructivist learning theory. Through heterogeneous sampling, six sites were selected from 11 program participating schools, with 11 participating teachers purposively selected from these sites. Following semi-structured participant interviews, data were coded and analyzed, where the findings indicated that participants preferred the audiovisual learning content to the written activity format in the blended learning, VCoP teacher professional development program. Program developers may use the research findings to guide the development of VCoP content alternatives to singularly text based online professional development delivery models. Recommendations for future research include studies that address the impact of audiovisual VCoP content on knowledge building.

scholarly journals Teacher Professional Development in Mathematics and Science: A Blended Learning Approach

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Sinclair ◽  
Ron Owston
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
School Level ◽  
Online Groups ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mathematics And Science

Blended learning is a promis- ing model for supporting teacher professional development that combines the advantages of tradi- tional face-to-face interaction with the flexibility of online learning. In this study, we examine the impact of two one-year blended learning programs on teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, and classroom practices. These professional development programs were designed to enhance middle school teachers’ subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills in mathematics and science/ technology. Our results indicate that the programs positively affected teacher attitudes and content knowledge in these curricular areas and motivated many teachers to transform their classroom practices. Increased teacher collaboration and involvement at the school level sug- gest that the experiences contrib- uted to the emergence of fledgling communities of practice. At the same time, the lack of cohesion in online groups and the drop off in participation suggest the need to rethink some aspects of the design of blended learning environments.

scholarly journals Social Network Analysis to Examine Interaction Patterns in Knowledge Building Communities

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald N. Philip
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Grade 5 ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Building Community

This paper describes use of social network analysis to examine student interaction patterns in a Grade 5/6 Knowledge Building class. The analysis included face-to-face interactions and interactions in the Knowledge Forum® Knowledge Building environment. It is argued that sociogram data are useful to reveal group processes; in sociological terms, the community lies in the connections among the group. A classroom of unconnected individuals is unlikely to form as a Knowledge Building community; data analyses reported in this study show promise in understanding the dynamics of Knowledge Building in a consistent and measurable way. The strength of the work is not in particular patterns demonstrated but in new forms of assessment and their potential to inform work as it proceeds. The research reported shows that teachers and students are finding social network analysis useful and that through their engagement research-practitioner-engineer teams are better positioned to develop tools to advance Knowledge Building pedagogy.

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