scholarly journals The Future of Math Teacher Professional Learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Slama ◽  
Roya Madoff Moussapour ◽  
Gregory Benoit ◽  
Nancy Anderson ◽  
Justin Reich
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Current State ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Math Teaching ◽  
Comprehensive Programs ◽  
Math Teacher

We summarize the results of a field scan that set out to describe the current state of math teacher learning and promising future directions for improving math teaching and learning for all learners, particularly those most underestimated by the education system. We share five key learnings: (1) math teacher learning is in a "steady state," where schools and districts generally use three approaches to support math educators: professional learning communities (PLCs), instructional coaching, and professional learning workshops, (2) researchers have not been able to document a strong link between each of these three approaches and teacher and student learning, with the exception of coaching which shows benefits for teachers but not direct evidence of student learning, (3) comprehensive programs that apply several of these approaches simultaneously with sufficient supports can improve math outcomes for students, but gains often dissipate when supports decline, (4) there are a few "points of light" of innovative new approaches including teacher-led learning innovations, teacher pipeline initiatives, practice-embedded models, and digital clinical simulations, and (5) there are opportunities for new initiatives in math education to pay greater attention to the implications for teacher learning. We discuss important critiques of our report and offer a "call to action" for stakeholders in the field.

scholarly journals An activity theory approach toward teacher professional development at scale (TPD@Scale): A case study of a teacher learning center in Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 525-538
Author(s):  
Cher Ping Lim ◽  
Juliana ◽  
Min Liang
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Activity Theory ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Learning Center ◽  
Teacher Professional

AbstractContinuous teacher professional development (TPD) ensures that teachers have the capacity to continually plan and implement quality teaching and learning that supports students in achieving their expected program/course learning outcomes. However, teachers’ access to quality TPD is a challenge due to geographical limitations, gender, special needs, marginalized communities, and the government’s policies, or lack of policies, regarding teachers. There are tensions between quality and equity, and cost implications that may hinder the scaling up of quality TPD programs. This paper adopts an activity theory approach to examine how a teacher learning center (TLC) in a regency of Indonesia enhances teachers’ access to quality TPD. The findings reveal that teachers learn in the TLC through different TPD activities. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are found to mediate the professional learning activities, learning resources, learning support, and assessments in the TLC. Furthermore, three key stakeholders—the local government, teacher working groups, and school principals—play significant roles in supporting teachers’ professional learning in the TLC.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perception of Their Code-Switching Practices in English as a Foreign Language Classes: The Results of Stimulated Recall Interview and Conversation Analysis

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110138
Author(s):  
Yetti Zainil ◽  
Safnil Arsyad
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
West Sumatra ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Stimulated Recall Interviews

Teachers often code-switch in the EFL classroom, but the question of whether or not they are aware of their code-switching has not been satisfactorily answered. This article presents the study on teachers’ understandings and beliefs about their code-switching practices in EFL classrooms as well as effective language teaching and learning. The participants of this study came from four junior high schools in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia: five teachers with their respective classes. This research used the conversation analysis and stimulated recall interviews to analyze the data which came from the video recording of classroom observations and the audio recording of stimulated recall interviews with teachers. The results revealed the pedagogical functions and affective functions of teacher’s code-switching. The data also showed that the use of stimulated recall interviews helped teachers to be consciously aware of their code-switching as well as of their other pedagogical practices in the language classroom. Therefore, stimulated recall interviews can be a useful tool for teacher self-reflection that they were not aware of their code switch. This awareness could be incorporated into language teacher professional development and in-service teacher professional learning.

scholarly journals Socio-Cultural Development Approach to Investigate Teacher Learning across Two Contexts

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Hee-Jeong Kim
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Development Approach

Teacher professional learning occurs across various contexts. Previous studies on teacher learning and changes in practice have focused on either classroom contexts or learning communities outside of school, but have rarely investigated teacher learning across multiple contexts. Investigating teacher learning across the double contexts of classroom and learning community has presented methodological challenges. In response, this paper proposes the suitability of adopting a socio-cultural development framework to further the analytical approach to such challenges. Using the framework, this paper considers the case study of a middle school mathematics teacher who resolved a problem of teaching practice through interacting with other members of the community of practice where they build shared goals and knowledge. This paper contributes to the field by expanding the scope of research on teacher learning across these two contexts, in which problem of practice becomes conceptual resources that the teacher uses in her teaching practice.

scholarly journals Tolerance in the UAE Islamic Education Curriculum

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
International Climate ◽  
The Subject

Promoting the values of peace and tolerance within an international climate of turbulence and instability is an essential responsibility for governments and schools. Threats to tolerance include the circumstances of societal challenges, instabilities in the region, and the increasing risks of social media. Ways to nurture and instill tolerance through the subject of Islamic education in UAE high schools is a key concern. Through a case study of the written, taught, and learnt curriculum of UAE Islamic education, this paper investigates the teaching and learning of tolerance in UAE high schools. It provides recommendations on how Islamic education classes, built on an awareness of the Islamic value of tolerance as a foundational component, can be utilized for shaping educational experiences that promote open mindedness. Curriculum-aligned Islamic education resources need to be further developed and teacher professional learning programs should be launched to empower teachers to achieve this intended aim.

Supporting Teacher Learning: Improving Mathematics Instruction through Classroom-Based Inquiry

2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-186
Author(s):  
Caroline Brayer Ebby ◽  
Maria Palaitis Ottinger ◽  
Penny Silver
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Mathematics Instruction ◽  
Learning To Teach ◽  
Mathematical Content ◽  
Beliefs And Practice ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Teacher's Knowledge

Research has shown that learning to teach mathematics for understanding is not simply a matter of learning new pedagogical techniques but rather requires substantial changes in a teacher's knowledge, beliefs, and practice (Putnam and Borko 2000). Preparing teachers to implement reform-oriented curricula requires positioning them as learners and inquirers of mathematical content, student learning, and instructional practice. Ball (1996) asserts that teacher professional development must embrace the uncertainty of practice and reflect a “stance of critique and inquiry—a stance of asking and debating, a discourse of conjecture and deliberation” (p. 506).

scholarly journals The Positive Influence of Inquiry-Based Learning Teacher Professional Learning and Industry Partnerships on Student Engagement With STEM

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Attard ◽  
Nathan Berger ◽  
Erin Mackenzie
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Partnerships ◽  
Inquiry Based Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional

School teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) face challenges in developing and maintaining high levels of student engagement and achievement in those disciplines. Consequently, declining numbers of students are electing these subjects beyond the compulsory years of schooling. A major factor in student engagement often is curriculum content being relevant to the lives of students outside the classroom. Two key ways teachers can enhance the real-world relevance of their lessons are inquiry-based learning and localising the curriculum to provide an authentic context for teaching and learning. In this paper, we report a qualitative study into the perceived influences of inquiry-based learning on student engagement, as facilitated through teacher professional learning in the context of two major infrastructure programs in Sydney, Australia. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with primary and secondary teachers who participated in professional learning about inquiry-based pedagogies, as well as with their students who undertook inquiry-based learning projects based on the infrastructure programs in their local community. Inductive and deductive content analyses using Attard’s Framework for Engagement with STEM illustrated how the combination of teacher professional learning, student inquiry-based learning, and localised industry-school partnerships enhanced student engagement across operative, cognitive, and affective domains. Another significant finding was the extent to which professional learning as the vehicle for inquiry-based learning and industry connections enhanced teachers’ pedagogical relationships and pedagogical repertoires in ways not possible with more conventional approaches to industry-school partnerships.

Examining principal leadership effects on teacher professional learning in China: A multilevel analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322110416
Author(s):  
Liang Huang ◽  
Yating Huang ◽  
Shike Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Teacher Professional

While principal leadership has been exercised in day-to-day practices to address the needs of teachers as professional learners, empirical studies regarding its effects on teacher professional learning have not increased proportionally. Using a sample of 255 secondary school principals and 2756 teachers from four provinces of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong in China (B-S-J-G-China) who participated in the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA 2015), this study employed a two-level hierarchical linear modeling to examine principal leadership effects on teacher professional learning. Results showed that principal leadership practices explained a large proportion of between-school variance in teacher learning. Principals’ developing people had positive effects on both personal and collaborative learning. Principals’ instructional improvement had a positive effect on collaborative learning, while principals’ facilitating teacher participation had a negative effect on collaborative learning. The implications for improving principals’ role in promoting teacher learning are also discussed.

The Moderation Role of Transformational Leadership in the Effect of Instructional Leadership on Teacher Professional Learning and Instructional Practice: An Integrated Leadership Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 0013161X2110350
Author(s):  
Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş ◽  
Ali Çağatay Kılınç ◽  
Mahmut Polatcan
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Practices ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Integrated Leadership ◽  
The Relationship

Aim: While integrated leadership has received significant scholarly attention in the past decade, most existing research in this vein has focused on its impact on student achievement and often dismissed how it might be related to instructional practices, which are at the center of many school reforms. In this research, we examined the relationship between integrated leadership and teacher professional learning and teacher practices in Turkey, where educational policy makers have recently introduced several school reform initiatives. More specifically, we aimed to examine the moderating function of transformational leadership in the relationship between instructional leadership and teacher practices, with an emphasis on the mediating role of teacher professional learning. Research Design: We conducted this study with a cross-sectional design and moderated mediation model. Data collected from 616 teachers working in a mix of primary and secondary schools in Turkey were analyzed using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping tests. Findings: We found evidence that transformational leadership acted as a moderator of the indirect effect of principal instructional leadership on teachers' instructional practices through teacher professional learning. Implications: This study adds to the accumulated body of knowledge on the effects of school leadership by concluding that the effect of instructional leadership on teacher learning and practice is contingent upon the extent to which principals enact transformational leadership. School principals who adopt a more comprehensive leadership approach that combines instructional leadership and transformational leadership practices can maximize their effects on student achievement through teacher learning, and better address the ever-growing demands of educational reforms.

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