scholarly journals Professional Learning Communities: Reflections on Cases in Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates

2021 ◽  
pp. 51-96
Author(s):  
Osama Al-Mahdi ◽  
◽  
Marloes de Munnik ◽  
Beatrix Henkel ◽  
Luke Meinen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Educational Context ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
School Cultures ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Teacher Training Programs ◽  
Professional Teaching

This chapter explores the different definitions and, characteristics of international and regional research on a professional learning community (PLC) approach. The chapter discusses models of professional development that are used in international educational systems then it reflects on possible ways for adopting these models in the educational context in Bahrain, Oman and The United Arab Emirates. A focus on the educational context in the countries is included with recommendations for the implications thereof on policy and practice. This chapter has two parts: the first is a literature review that synthesizes key ideas, research, and results in the field of PLCs. The chapter thereby is connecting to ideas from a socio-material practice perspective in the field of workplace learning. This results in a focus on professional responsibility, accountability and experience. The second part includes two detailed cases that illustrate how PLCs are translated into learning and teaching practice in two private schools in Bahrain and Oman, and a third case reflecting on PLC initiatives in The United Arab Emirates. The chapter recommends promoting a PLC approach in educational systems in the Gulf Council Countries (GCC) and globally by focusing on the following practical implementations: expanding its use in pre- and in-service teacher training programs, adapting PLCs’ best international practices to the localized educational context, preparing school principals to lead PLCs in their schools, providing human and financial support to these communities, and working on changing school cultures to become more collaborative by using initiatives such as coaching. A shortage of studies about PLCs, specifically in the GCC region, may lead to a limited spread of improved professional teaching practices applied in GCC schools and the wider network of schools associated with GCC schools. This chapter highlights the importance of a PLC approach and provides examples of how this approach is being used. We suggest that other practitioners, school leaders and researchers may benefit by embracing a PLC approach for increased professional teaching practice, subsequent learner success and improved organizational education outcomes.

scholarly journals Riding Out the Storm: Out-of-Field Teaching Practice in Indonesia

Humaniora ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Esti Rahayu ◽  
Shuki Osman
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Classroom Observations ◽  
Extended Time ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Teaching Learning

As out-of-field teachers existence led to change in teachers, this research aimed to explore their commitment to learning and teaching, and how their schools supported them. Five Indonesian teachers who started teaching as out-of-field teachers and their school leaders were interviewed for this research. The qualitative case study was employed to explore the problem through interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis. The findings reveal that the initial commitment to teaching, learning, and growing is an investment for further actions throughout the teaching practice. The schools provide necessary assistance through the induction and during their in-service in the provided and requested professional learning, being trusted and acknowledged by school leaders, and having resourceful colleagues. From their schools’ support, the out-of-field teachers become more knowledgeable and remain as teachers for an extended time.

scholarly journals Adaptive digital capability development

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Fiona PETERSON ◽  
Cathy LOCKHART ◽  
Catherine RAFFAELE
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Capability Development ◽  
Short Supply ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Technology Affordance ◽  
Digital Work ◽  
Technology Affordances ◽  
Industry Needs

In a cross-university project, a mixed methods approach was adopted to design a learning model for digital work practices in line with evolving industry needs. Drawing upon industry input (n=50), developmental learning and technology affordance theory, a model was trialled with Design, Journalism and Engineering students (n=78). Workshops were held at five universities with educators (n=66) and this paper discusses their perspectives on the model. Their responses indicated a predominantly functional digital capability focus in their current learning and teaching practice; rather than integrating functional, perceptual and adaptive digital capabilities, which are in high demand but short supply in industry. The educators highlighted a need for their own professional learning and we offer practical suggestions for moving beyond a functional digital focus. We argue it is vital for students and educators to learn and use the vocabulary of technology affordances, to strengthen professional learning for digital work futures.

scholarly journals Lecturer Identities and Perceptions of CPD for Supporting Learning and Teaching in FE and HE in the UK

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 432-453
Author(s):  
Charles Buckley ◽  
Gary Husband
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Longitudinal Impact ◽  
Initial Training ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Teaching Qualifications

This paper draws together the findings of two separate studies that were focused on the professional learning of lecturers working in the post compulsory education sector. The studies were conducted independently in separate locations and institutions in the United Kingdom and focused in different sectors of post compulsory education (further and higher). Each study aimed to discover the ongoing professional learning needs of lecturers some years after initial training had been completed. Through conducting semi structured interviews, each researcher gained a situational understanding from the perspective of the respondent lecturers through a lens of their experience and agency. This paper acts an extending study as the researchers bring together their independent results and findings in a further analysis. Focusing on understanding the similarities and differences in experiences, the paper reports several additional findings based on this cross analysis. Further to the pedagogical developments and support for undertaking teaching practice, this research reports that in both communities of further and higher education lecturers, their initial teaching qualifications and related experiences had a more profound and longitudinal impact on their professional identity and practices than they had previously considered. Organisationally, these finding prove to be interesting as it demonstrates that initial training and induction support networks and courses of study, have a longer lasting impact on individuals and consequently, the cultural and social aspects of associated organisations. By looking at the both combined studies, it was possible to broaden the sample size and ascertain whether observed phenomenon were present in a cross sectoral capacity.

Collaborating alone? Teachers’ and pedagogues’ unequal cross-professional collaboration and what it means for their professional learning in Danish schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-260
Author(s):  
Kari Kragh Blume Dahl
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Situated Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Professional Collaboration ◽  
Professional Capital ◽  
Professional Boundaries ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
Professional Teaching

Cross-professional collaboration in schools is a prerequisite for professional teaching practice and thus for professional development in many post-industrialized societies, yet little is known about how teachers with different professional backgrounds make meaning of and internalize cross-professional collaboration and how inequities in legitimacy and power in cross-professional collaboration affect professional learning. This article examines cross-professional collaboration and the professional learning it initiates between teachers and pedagogues (Danish term for childcare professionals) in Danish schools. Drawing on situated learning theory, critical psychology and Pierre Bourdieu, it explores teachers’ and pedagogues’ professional learning in conflictual cross-professional collaborations. The findings of the study document that cross-professional collaborations are spaces for negotiating and drawing professional boundaries and for producing hierarchies of different forms of professional capital, thereby re/producing dominant understandings of what constitutes teaching professionalism for teachers and pedagogues. The article concludes that cross-professional collaboratory practices may position and draw boundaries between the different professional groups, thus limiting productive learning.

scholarly journals Enhancing primary science teaching: Interconnections of content, policy and practice in a New Zealand professional learning and development programme

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven S. Sexton
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Effective Delivery ◽  
Ongoing Development ◽  
Primary Science Teaching

This paper reports on an ongoing professional learning and development (PLD) initiative in New Zealand. The Academy is designed to provide primary and intermediate classroom teachers with the knowledge, materials and support needed for effective delivery of The New Zealand Curriculum 's science subject area. Specifically, this paper reports on the Academy's interconnections of government policy, professional learning and development, teachers' practice and students' learning. Results indicate how relevant, useful and meaningful education through science has influenced classroom teachers' practice. The implications support the critical importance of effective connections between content, policy and practice in the ongoing development of teaching practice.

scholarly journals Critical hybrid pedagogies: A self-study inquiry into faculty practices in a blended Educational Leadership EdD program

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Strom ◽  
Brad Porfilio
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Self Study ◽  
Hybrid Teaching ◽  
And Gender

In an educational context that includes an overarching neoliberal agenda and rapidly expanding inequalities that cross social, racial, class, linguistic, and gender lines, preparing educational leaders to promote social justice in educational systems is more urgent than ever. Framed by critical posthumanism, this self-study inquiry investigates the construction of hybrid teaching practices that foster the kind of authentic interaction needed to develop transformative leaders who are capable of challenging unjust social relationships in educational institutions. In our findings, we explore the ways the introduction of technology changed the nature of teaching, how we strengthened the connections between online and in-person coursework, describe the creative possibilities afforded by technology, and outline issues of social justice that surfaced during our analysis. The study highlights the professional learning of two Educational Leadership faculty in the area of online pedagogy and speaks to the promise of self-study as a rich way for faculty to engage in collaborative, transformative learning. The study holds the potential to help faculty improve their teaching practice as well as assist them to think deeply about how their subjectivities are mediated via various technologies.

scholarly journals Identifying Factors that Influence the Uptake and Use of Moodle by Academics in three Arts Departments at Roehampton University

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Shackleford-Cesare
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Factors Influencing

This paper explores factors influencing both the take up of Moodle at Roehampton University and the ways it was used by academics to support learning and teaching. It builds on the work of others who have sought to explore and explain why the introduction of various technologies in higher education have not transformed teaching practice in ways anticipated. This study also sought to inform policy and practice in the provision of support for academics in their use of learning technologies.

scholarly journals Cloudworks: Social networking for learning design

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gráinne Conole ◽  
Juliette Culver
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Learning Design ◽  
Educational Context ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Future ◽  
Teaching Ideas

<span>Can we apply the best of Web 2.0 principles to an educational context? More specifically can we use this as a means of shifting teaching practice to a culture of sharing learning ideas and designs? This paper describes a new social networking site, </span><em>Cloudworks</em><span>, which aims to provide a mechanism for sharing, discussing and finding learning and teaching ideas and designs. We describe the development of the site and the key associated concepts, 'clouds' and 'cloudscapes'. We provide a summary of recent activities and plans for the future. We conclude by describing the underpinning theoretical perspectives we have drawn on in the development of the site and in particular the notion of 'social objects' in social networking and a framework for 'sociality' for transforming user practice online.</span>

scholarly journals Science Education Professional Development for Primary/Elementary Teachers: A tale of two systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-123
Author(s):  
Shawn E. Bell ◽  
◽  
Steven S. Sexton ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Science Education ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Science Standards ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Science Professional Development

This paper reports on the illuminatory and exploratory phase of a study into how two educational systems are interconnecting content, policy, and teaching practice into science professional development (PD). New Zealand implemented a new curriculum in 2007 for full implementation in 2010, which should have altered how science was delivered in primary classrooms. New Zealand, however, began limited PD in science education in 2012. The state of Arkansas in the United States of America endorsed the Next Generation Science Standards in 2015, adopted the new Arkansas K-4 Science Standards in 2016 and Years 5–8 in 2017. Arkansas, however, began its science PD in 2015. Through face-to-face discussions during PD sessions, this study investigated how the teachers were experiencing PD explicitly based on the interconnections of content, policy, and practice. The results of this first phase highlight how due to their participation in PD, teachers in both Arkansas and New Zealand are now talking about how they build on what their students’ know and have experienced. The implications of this research note teachers not only need both the time and opportunity to experience learning but also support as they then implement their new learning into their own classroom practice.

Using Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) materials in English as Second Language (ESL) classrooms: perspectives of teachers and students in United Arab Emirates

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramia DIRAR SHEHADEH MUSMAR
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Student Diversity ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching

Integrating scaffolding-learning technologies has been recognized for its potential to create intellectual and engaging classroom interactions. In the United Arab Emirates, having language teachers employ computers as a medium of new pedagogical instrument for teaching second languages generated the idea of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as a medium of an innovative pedagogical instrument for facilitating and scaffolding language learning, with an aspiration that it will lead to improved English language attainment and better assessment results. This study aims at investigating the perspectives of students and teachers on the advantageous and disadvantageous impacts of CALL on learning and teaching English as a second language in one public school in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The results show that CALL has a facilitating role in L2 classroom and that using CALL activities is advantageous in reducing English learning tension, boosting motivation, catering for student diversity, promoting self-directed language learning and scaffolding while learning English. The results additionally report that numerous aspects like time constraints, teachers’ unsatisfactory computer skills, insufficient computer facilities, and inflexible school courses undesirably affect the implementation of CALL in English classrooms. It is recommended that further studies should be undertaken to investigate the actual effect of CALL on students’ language proficiency. 

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