scholarly journals Exploring the role of a Google Group in enabling lesson resource sharing in a South African geography teachers’ professional learning community

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-62
Author(s):  
Paul Goldschagg ◽  
Di Wilmot
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
South African ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Geography Education ◽  
Policy Statement ◽  
South African School ◽  
Teacher Professional

This article presents the findings of the initial phase of an ongoing exploratory study that responds to a national imperative, to create teacher-initiated professional learning communities (PLCs), to improve the professionalism and capabilities of South African teachers. The overarching goal of the study is to understand how an emergent PLC in the form of an online Google Group for South African geography educators may enhance geography education and teacher professional development. The contributions made to the Southern African Geography Teachers Network Google Group over a six-month period were analysed and categorized according to themes and topics in the Grade 10, 11 and 12 Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) curriculum. The findings, in shedding as they do, light on the curriculum sections receiving the most and least contributions, raise more questions than they provide answers. Areas requiring further research are identified. Our main contention is that the emergent PLC enabled through the Google Group offers exciting possibilities for teacher professional learning. As a bottom-up, online, easily accessible initiative, unrestricted by time or place constraints and with a growing membership, it may play an important role in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in South African school geography.

scholarly journals Gains of e-collaboration in professional engagement initiatives

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-83
Author(s):  
E. Tazhibayeva ◽  
◽  
T. Dolidze ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Online Collaboration ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
Single Case Study ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Teacher Professional

This paper presents a single case study of SR Teaching and Learning community, initially established as an English teacher professional development company in Baku, Azerbaijan. Since July, 2020, the company has determined to enhance its geography by cooperating with academicians and practitioners from different countries by engaging official representatives from Kazakhstan, Georgia, Russia, Poland, Panama, Iran and Uzbekistan through e-collaboration processes, which aims to meet the needs of in-service and pre-service English teachers in their home countries. By investigating ongoing e-collaboration created by the community we attempted to provide a better understanding of the benefits of teachers' online collaboration and its role in teacher professional engagement initiatives. The community members' responses about the nature and extent of e-collaboration they experience served as empirical data for our study. A significant role of moderators in teaching partnership has been noted. The minority of teachers were negative about teamwork claiming that online sessions had led to increase in their personal workload.

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 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.

scholarly journals Digital teaching tools and global learning communities

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Mary Williams ◽  
Patti Lockhart ◽  
Cathie Martin
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
User Survey ◽  
Teaching Tools ◽  
Plant Sciences ◽  
University Level ◽  
American Society

In 2009, we started a project to support the teaching and learning of university-level plant sciences, called Teaching Tools in Plant Biology. Articles in this series are published by the plant science journal,The Plant Cell(published by the American Society of Plant Biologists). Five years on, we investigated how the published materials are being used through an analysis of the Google Analytics pageviews distribution and through a user survey. Our results suggest that this project has had a broad, global impact in supporting higher education, and also that the materials are used differently by individuals in terms of their role (instructor, independent learner, student) and geographical location. We also report on our ongoing efforts to develop a global learning community that encourages discussion and resource sharing.

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.

“A Gay Agenda”: Troubling Compulsory Heterosexuality in a South African University Classroom

2021 ◽  
pp. 0092055X2110224
Author(s):  
Dennis A. Francis
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Critical Incidents ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Compulsory Heterosexuality ◽  
Teachers And Students

Not only does teaching about gender and sexuality diversity lead to some very interesting and often emotionally evocative, pedagogical exchanges; it can also create challenging issues for teachers and students alike. This article focuses on what happens when a module that addresses compulsory heterosexuality and schooling is broached in an undergraduate sociology class. More importantly, it offers an analysis of the critical incidents and tensions that pay specific attention to how power, knowledge, and emotion feature in teaching and learning. Using antioppressive and affect theories, this article offers an analysis of how we might understand pedagogical practice, especially as it relates to addressing the power of normative heterosexuality in a university classroom. With reflections emerging from the module, I argue for more sociological theorization and analysis of the role of affect in pedagogies that seek to advance liberatory teaching and learning in the area of anti-heterosexism education.

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