Teachers’ Workplace Learning within School Cultures Community in the United States and Lithuania

The purpose of this study is to explore teachers’ workplace informal professional learning and inform educational researchers, teacher educators, administrators and teachers about ways teachers learn to improve their practice. By questioning how teachers learn on-the-job to be better teachers and how school cultures position them as learners, this work generates hypotheses about relationships between the nature of workplace informal professional learning and its content and contexts. An ethnographic design based upon a grounded theory generates analytic categories from interviews and field notes through comparison of learning environments in three contrasting schools in two countries—Lithuania and the United States. Discourse analysis is employed to understand how teachers learned through interaction with students, colleagues, and administrators. The findings illuminate six facets of school culture that provide or fail to provide opportunities for informal teacher learning: architectural features of a school building; school mission statements; classroom environments; organizational arrangements; school traditions, and teachers’ professional relationships. The limitations of this study derive from its focus on school cultures as learning organizations that produces detailed thick descriptions, which are culturally specific and may not necessarily be transferable to other schools. The implications underline that teachers and teacher educators could enhance teachers’ professional learning by contributing to building and sustaining the opportunities necessary to maintain professional growth at teachers’ work places. The value of the study is in 1) defining specific cultural features in schools that create or fail to create opportunities for teachers to learn informally; 2) showing how teachers use these opportunities for their learning; 3) calling for re-evaluation of professional development systems to include informal learning as an important path for professional growth

Action Research as Professional Development: Creating Effective Professional Development in Every Classroom

Professional development is a critical component of teacher professional growth that directly influences increased student learning and achievement. As professionals, teachers continue to develop their knowledge and skills with the aim of improving their teaching to assure that students can learn better. A huge investment in time and resources is invested in teacher professional learning every year. However, teachers report, and research supports, that teacher professional development often does not meet teachers’ needs and does not perform its integral function of creating a sustained change in teacher behavior that leads to a corresponding positive change in student achievement. This problem of practice directly affects the success of all students, teachers, and schools. There exists, however, forms of professional development that do lead to this type of positive change, and one of those professional development models is classroombased action research. This dissertation reports outcomes of a mixed-methods actionresearch study exploring the effect of training teachers to use classroom-based action research as professional development in which they identified and worked through the action research cycle to solve their own problems of practice. It details a study of teachers who embarked upon cycles of action research in their own classrooms and teaching environments. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses indicate positive changes occurred in teacher behavior through their conducting action research projects and that positive changes occurred in learning and achievement among their students. Further analysis of study data revealed increased understanding of the purpose of professional development, need for sustained change, and expectations of professional development that contains the characteristics that support the development of those changes. While a body of research on classroom-based action research already exists, findings from this study supports and extends understanding of the characteristics of effective professional development and establishes classroom-based action research as one of those practices. Additionally, this study’s finding of action research as a form of professional development that gives teachers “permission” to prioritize what they value in their classrooms opens up an additional interesting view into how teachers’ professional time is compromised by outside forces and requirements, which is an area that merits further investigation

Learning Through Privilege: My Teaching and Educational Journey

This ethnography traces my journey teaching kindergarten in the Pico Union neighborhood in Los Angeles. Its purpose is to understand the macro and micro levels of the community to inform my teaching practices and support my students and families. On a micro-level, I conducted case studies on three specific students. Data analysis of in-home interviews, personal interactions, and assessments allowed me to create action plans to best support these students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. On a macro level, I studied my students’ environments: community, school, and classroom. Attending community events, learning about my school’s mission, and reflecting on my classroom culture and expectations, I internalized how students’ environments plays a role in their education. By analyzing whole class and individual student data and reflecting on my own development, I grew as a professional educator and became an effective and socially just teacher

An investigation of professional learning in dynamic environments

Typically, individuals and managers of organisations seek to sustain competitive advantage and maximise their potential through participation in training and development. Prior to this study, little was known about the specific nature of the relationship between training and development and organisational change in the participating organisations. The purpose of this research was to investigate, describe and evaluate this relationship in a volunteer organisation and two government agencies in Australian contexts. So, the researcher investigated adult learning within three organisations in order to understand participants’ experiences with professional learning in a context of organisational change. As a result of this study the researcher made recommendations and developed a model that informs professional learning in dynamic environments.This research was situated within the interpretive paradigm and data were collected using multiple methods. Data collection involved 210 questionnaires and 70 semistructured interviews conducted across the three participating organisations. Quantitative questionnaire data were analysed using SPSS: Qualitative data from the questionnaires and interviews were entered into NVivo 7 and subsequently analysed with themes and categories identified. The major themes were provision, accessibility, motivation, effectiveness and relationship; the themes related directly to the research questions. Individual case reports were sent to managers in the participating organisations. The results are reported in the thesis as separate case studies and include the perspectives of both managers’ and non-managers’ experiences of training and development and its relationship to organisational change. Additionally, a cross-case analysis was conducted and discussed in relation to the literature reviewed in the thesis.Primarily, the researcher found that there were direct and indirect links between training and development and the organisational change agenda, but participants were not always aware of these relationships. Typically, managers provided formal learning opportunities for staff but overlooked the benefits of informal learning. In practice, participants used formal education, non-formal programs, informal and incidental learning; they recognised the benefits of informal and incidental learning. In this research, middle managers had difficulty accessing role-related training and development; managers and non-managers sought their own career development and job-related training and development beyond what was provided by their employers. Individuals’ motivation to participate in training and development was influenced by its relevance to their careers, jobs, and interests. Their motivation to transfer what they had learned into practice in the workplace depended on the purpose of the learning and opportunities for its implementation. Also, it was found that program evaluation was inconsistent and evaluation of staff training and development was marginalised.As a result of the findings, the researcher developed the ‘Integrative Model: Professional Learning in Dynamic Environments (IMPLIDE)’; comprised of three components - capacity, process, and approach. A key feature of IMPLIDE was the up skilling of managers and human resource developers to facilitate effective training and development programs. The findings of this research and the subsequent development of this model have significance for academics and practitioners in the field of human resource development. As a consequence of this research, areas for further research have been identified, particularly, in relation to the current capacity and professional development of middle managers

ACQUIRING METHODICAL SKILLS OF PRESERVICE PRESCHOOL TEACHERS: FROM ABSTRACT KNOWLEDGE TO SITUATION BASED LEARNING

Students, pre-service preschool teachers, need professional competences, which include the methodical, to become autonomous professionals, empowered in their significant social role of teachers of young children, to self-express and self-realize as practitioners. Bearing that in mind, the question of the competence development and quality is becoming a significant „desirable outcome“ of programs that educate future educators, including the corpus of faculty courses that make up the scientific field of Methodics of preschool education, other words, integrated methodics of early childhood education. Developing professional methodical competences of pre-service preschool teachers in higher education is not only an isolated process based on academic knowledge and teaching through lectures and academic exercises that are performed in a campus classroom environment. It is a process that is closely associate the abstract knowledge with the authentic and natural context, which, in this case, has its own continuity, soul and a lot of more things (preschool institution). It allows the meaningful construction and application of the abstract knowledge, also competence development based on experien-tial learning as a central concept of the postmodern adult education (Usher, 2009). Since young children about whom students learn and develop knowledge, attitudes, values, beliefs, emotions, communications skills and skills for negotiating and playing are not objects, students must be given the social situation with real children in kindergartens and real tasks from study content. In that authentic learning environments, the students will be able to understand theoretical information obtained on faculty lectures - cognitive authenticity, but also to build their professional competencies on meaning and applicability and usability manner - physical authenticity. In this regard, the paper analyses the model of faculty course Methodics of language development on the university Program study of early childhood education (Faculty of Philosophy, Banja Luka) which is still under development. Besides the theoretical basis on which model lays, paper will cover the analysis of opinions of students and their mentors – in-service preschool teachers on the effectiveness of this approach to learning in higher education institution

Adult Learners' Motivation in Self-Directed e-Learning

Thesis (PhD) - Indiana University, School of Education, 2005As with traditional instruction, learner motivation is important in designing effective e-learning courses. However, lack of motivation has been a major concern in theory and practice for facilitating successful online learning environments. A review of literature indicated that there is little empirical knowledge on how to motivate online learners, particularly in self-directed e-learning settings (SDEL). Research questions addressed in this study included: 1) what motivates or inhibits adult learning in SDEL? 2) does adult learner motivation change as he or she goes through SDEL? 3) what factors are related to motivational change during SDEL? This study used mixed methods. A content analysis was conducted on three SDEL courses in order to better understand the learning context. Twelve qualitative interviews of typical learners were conducted to identify major motivational factors. Analysis of these interview results led to construction of a 60-item Web survey of adult learners who had taken one or more SDEL courses (n = 368). Approximately 60 percent of the respondents were from corporate settings and 40 percent from higher education. A factor analysis of 33 survey items led to identification of three strong factors: 'e-learning is not for me'; 'e-learning is right for me'; and 'I don't want to be all by myself'. Results from both qualitative and quantitative analyses indicated that learners started SDEL for personal or professional development, and that they chose the online training option because of its flexibility and convenience. Both qualitative and quantitative results suggested that lack of motivational quality in the e-learning course was a key factor for some learners who decided not to complete the course, followed by lack of time. A stepwise multiple regression analysis resulted in five factors that significantly contributed to predicting the learner's reported motivational change: 1) E-learning is right for me; 2) satisfaction with their learning experience; 3) interactivity with an instructor or technical support personnel; 4) age (negative relationship); and 5) learning setting (corporate more than higher education). Implications of findings from this study are discussed for design of self-directed e-learning environments that may help increase or sustain learner motivation

The Wholeheartedness of Becoming: Evidence-Based Inquiry into Practice for Inservice Teacher Educators

Recent trends in the professional learning and development of teachers are moving more towards the activation of learning rather than content delivery. Teachers are expected to take more responsibility for their learning within collaborative environments. This has implications for the practice and learning of inservice teacher educators. Evidence-based inquiry into practice (EBIP) is one approach that is being adopted, which involves evaluation of practice against values, beliefs and assumptions. This study investigated the professional learning and development experiences and perceptions of a group of 10 inservice teacher educators, who participated in the Inservice Teacher Education Practice (INSTEP) project from 2005 to 2009. INSTEP was a New Zealand Ministry of Education project designed to investigate and develop professional learning approaches for inservice teacher educators. In particular, its focus was on the implementation of collaborative EBIP to improve practice. Collective case study and grounded theory methodologies were adopted. Semistructured interviews were conducted with participants in 2008 and 2010. The interviews were analysed using inductive content analysis. Theoretical sampling was applied to identify further participants and document sources such as artefacts, reports and publications, which were also used to inform the research. The findings indicate that, while all participants improved practice and gained knowledge through EBIP, some experienced transformations in their perceptions of themselves, their practice, and their role as inservice teacher educators. Rigorous and systematic EBIP was most effective, and only sustained, when it was supported within formal, informal and social organisational contexts. Such contexts incorporated collective responsibility for learning. This included negotiation and development of shared meanings, tools, mechanisms, and frameworks, which systematised and reified the process of EBIP. This also enabled individual professional learning goals to be located within an overall infrastructure incorporating a shared vision, and alignment with strategic priorities and resourcing. The study suggests that sustainability of change and improvement of practice within system-wide educational reform is more likely to be achieved by individuals working coherently within an educational system and organisations that value and adopt an inquiry approach and nurture collaborative environments. Such environments provide safety to expose vulnerabilities, and enable opportunities for learning that minimise the impact of power relations and contestable environments, while offering challenge, support and diversity of perspectives. The theoretical framework for EBIP derived from the research, and an integrative analysis of the literature, identifies three interconnected and interdependent components linked by a common vision of purpose, and a collective commitment to learning. The components are: individual learning and transformation; communities and connectedness; and systematisation and reification. The study includes recommendations for more research into the contexts and processes of collaborative models of professional learning, and into the changing role and professional learning requirements of inservice teacher educators. It also identifies a need to investigate valid means of judging effectiveness of practice for inservice teacher educators, since evidence of enhanced student learning is linked only by a chain of influence to inservice teacher educator practice

Advanced Clinical Practice Education: designing an academic model to support the reality of practice: A Case Study

There is a considerable amount of evidence within the literature relating to advanced clinical practice in nursing, its impact on service provision, challenges to role identity and the introduction of advanced practice roles into clinical environments. However, there is little evidence in relation to curriculum design to support such development. This study aims to develop an understanding of the educational and clinical needs of nurses in their professional development towards advanced nursing practice and utilises educational theory and proposed models to offer insight into advanced practice programme design. This is a qualitative case study using multiple embedded participants of student advanced nurse practitioners and clinical medical supervisors. The data is captured through semi-structured individual interviews and respondents’ diaries and analysed using thematic analysis. Four key themes emerged from the data analysis: Confirmation, Clinical, Academia/Education and Reflection. Analysis of the emerging themes and educational theory has allowed for the proposal of suggested models that reflect the reality of practice and will support future advanced clinical practice curriculum design. Education providers should collaborate with health care providers and create curricula that are focused upon the clinical need of student advanced practitioners. Learning within clinical practice, should be supported by an educational programme content that relates to the reality of practice, keeping the learning in context and applicable

Different Approaches to the Development of Online Learning in Higher Education

The relevance of the study is substantiated by the intensive transition of the educational process to the digital environment. In this context, methods and principles of teaching, which are necessary to meet the society needs in modern education, are changing and developing. The authors reveal the issue of the global economy transformation, focusing on digital environments (digitalization). It is highlighted that digitalization contributes to the increasing demand for personnel and the necessity to improve the education system. The analysis of the theoretical features of online education is conducted, methods of its organization are identified, and modern requirements for teaching in higher education are determined. The key concepts that are the basis for the study are clarified. Approaches to the classification of online course formats and their other essential features are generalized. The authors introduce the classification of online learning in terms of time (synchronous, asynchronous) and the classification according to the degree of the educational process integration with online technologies. Additionally, the character of participants’ interaction (web support, blended learning, and fully online learning) is generalized. A review of online courses models by the format of participants’ interaction is carried out (model of online repository courses, xMOOC, cMOOC, hMOOC, ahMOOC, SPOC). The processes of online learning implementation, including e-learning and distance learning technologies in higher education have been revealed. The experience of the development of the first online courses at M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University is described. As a part of the study, the main approaches to the development of online learning in higher education are identified. The authors of the study focus on the work of the advanced training courses for the academic staff as the opportunity for professional competencies development in the context of online education