Search results for "learning community"
showing 10 items of 78 documents
Examining the relationships between teacher self-efficacy, professional learning community, and experiential learning in Japan
2022
This study investigated the relationships between professional learning communities (PLCs), teacher self-efficacy, and experiential learning. A conceptual model that connects PLC components, including shared vision, interactive reflection, and collegiality, to teacher self-efficacy was proposed, as mediated by experiential learning. The data comprised 3,604 teachers from 204 primary schools and 787 teachers from 90 lower secondary schools in Japan. First, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the same constructs of PLC, teacher self-efficacy, and experiential learning were measured at different school levels. Second, multigroup structural equation modelling revealed that …
Fostering sustained teacher learning: a longitudinal assessment of the influence of vision building and goal interdependence on information sharing
2020
To support school improvement, understanding the mechanisms that enhance teachers’ engagement in professional learning activities within schools over time is paramount. The purpose of this three-wave longitudinal study is to examine the role of workplace conditions (school leaders’ vision building and teams’ shared goals), in supporting teachers’ engagement in information sharing over time. To test the directionality of the relationships between the concepts, we analyzed survey data from 655 vocational education and training teachers in the Netherlands using a cross-lagged panel model. Results suggest that teachers’ engagement in information sharing remains stable over time, and the results…
Teachers as learners : a qualitative exploration of pre-service and in-service teachers’ continuous learning community OpenDigi
2021
This study explores pre-service and in-service teachers’ experiences in working as a learning community. Pre-service teachers (N = 60) and teacher educators (N = 9) from a Finnish university and in-service teachers (N = 27) from four local comprehensive schools worked together over six months. The teachers-as-learners continuous learning model was created and implemented in practice. The participants’ written reflections were collected to explore what they learned, what challenges they experienced and how they would further develop the model. The results showed that the pre-service and the in-service teachers reflected on their work somewhat differently. The former experienced learning grou…
Multiple Creativities Put to Work for Creative Ecologies in Teacher Professional Learning: A Vision and Practice of Everyday Creativity
2021
AbstractIn this chapter, we argue for a new vision for teacher professional learning based on the diverse creativities as practice which catalyzes educational change in whole-school contexts. We argue that it is possible (and preferable) to expand improvements to teacher education and professional development beyond neoliberal notions of “workplace readiness” and toward an environmental, ecological, sustainable education for lives worth living. This creative ecological approach considers the entire context and community of various stakeholders.Applying a case study approach, we analyze teachers’ published assignments in a blended in-service teacher education course entitled “Everyday Creati…
Three orientations for understanding educational autonomy: school principals’ voices from Australia, Finland, and Jamaica
2021
This paper reports on the findings from a multi-site case study conducted in Australia, Finland and Jamaica which explored the conditions that enabled and constrained the autonomy of school principals. Systematic data collection was carried out in the form of interviews of school principals and the data was analysed using a qualitative approach. The analysis indicates that: (1) school principals’ practices are prefigured by the peculiarities of historical trajectories and ideological traditions enmeshed in schooling sites; (2) these prefiguring arrangements in turn influence varying realisations of autonomous decision making practices across national sites; and (3) even in the expression of…
Language policy, professional development and sustainability of multilingual approaches
2020
Policies and professional development which focusses on pedagogical skills, beliefs, and agency are essential to ensure the sustainability of multilingual teaching approaches. This chapter begins with an overview of research studies on language policies, teacher agency and beliefs with a focus on multilingual settings. The intertwining of policy and teaching practice is then illustrated by means of the Finnish case, demonstrating how recent ECEC policies advocating diversity and plurilingualism have gradually changed teacher beliefs. The second part of the chapter focuses on professional development (PD) in so far as it is able to support teachers in implementing policies, changing pedagogi…
Effects of Service Learning on Physical Education Teacher Education Students’ Subjective Happiness, Prosocial Behavior, and Professional Learning
2020
Purpose: This study aims to analyze the effects of a service learning (SL) program on the subjective happiness (SH), prosocial behavior (PB), and professional learning (PL) perceptions of Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students as well as to examine the correlations among these variables. Methods: The study used a quasi-experimental design of two non-equivalent groups (control and experimental) comparing pre-test and post-test data. The instruments used were the Subjective Happiness Scale, the Prosocial and Civic Competence questionnaire, and the Impact of Service Learning during Initial Training of Physical Activity and Sports questionnaire. Results: Data indicated that SL onl…
Dannelse og samskaping av utdanning mellom akademia og sykehjem
2020
Cultivation and co-creation of education between academy and nursing home - a critical ethnography study Collaboration between academy and practice in education is emphasized. In this study, we explored and described boundary-crossing spaces, when co-creating an adjusted educational program for nursing students in a nursing home in Norway. Our aim was to explore how to learn person-centered dementia care through the participants in a learning community. A critical ethnographic approach and method with observations, field n otes, minutes of board, spontaneous meetings, and focus groups particularly with the students were used. Data were analyzed with six-step thematic analysis by Braun and…
Collaborativeness as the core of professional learning communities beyond culture and context : evidence from Canada, Finland, and Israel
2015
ABSTRACTProfessional learning communities (PLC) have been widely accepted as effective with respect to good atmosphere, adequate leadership practices, and functional working practices. However, the outcomes for school improvement depend on case-specific issues. To identify less culturally and contextually bound issues in 3 PLC settings in Canada, Finland, and Israel, we examined our cases through the notion of “collaborativeness”. It refers to a systematic and shared process consisting of efforts, ideas, and activities that aim at achieving synergy. By combining the 3 data sets and applying a special model, we were able to distinguish, through qualitative content analysis, ingredients of co…
Professional learning and agency in an identity coaching programme
2016
This article addresses the professional learning that occurred in an identity coaching programme. The arts-based programme aimed to enhance the participants’ professional learning, notably through helping them to process their professional identities. Professional learning was seen as resourced by the participants’ professional agency, and by the promotion of such agency. Through interviews, we investigated what the participants perceived they had learnt during the programme, and the potential differences in learning outcomes between professional groups from university and hospital contexts. The findings showed that the programme was perceived as a rich learning arena in the domains of the …