Teacher commitment in sustainable learning communities: A new “ancient” story of educational leadership

The findings from this qualitative case study reveal how a principal’s demonstration of compassion and deep care towards his teachers was influential in the participants’ renewed desire for a greater commitment to and improvement of their craft. Understanding how school leaders can nourish and sustain passion and commitment is an essential area of research on learning communities. Exploring the impact of emotions in leadership is highlighted as an important consideration for fostering conditions for sustainable learning communities.Keywords: Emotions in leadership, teacher commitment, personal growth, sustainable learning communitiesLes résultats de cette étude de cas qualitative révèlent à quel point la manifestation de compassion et l'attention profonde de la part d'un principal envers les professeurs ont eu une influence dans le désir renouvelé des participants pour un plus grand engagement et une amélioration de leur métier. Comprendre comment les chefs d'établissement peuvent nourrir et maintenir la passion et l'engagement est un domaine essentiel de la recherche sur les communautés d'apprentissage. Explorer l'impact des émotions dans le leadership est souligné comme étant un facteur important dont il faut tenir compte afin d'encourager les conditions favorables à l'établissement de communautés d'apprentissage durables.Mots-clés: Émotions en matière de leadership, engagement des enseignants, développement personnelle, communautés d'apprentissage durable

COLLABORATION, COLLEGIALITY, AND COLLECTIVE REFLECTION: A CASE STUDY OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS

This case study documents and interprets teachers’ experiences in a professional development initiative called Changing Results for Young Readers in British Columbia. The reflections and discussions of a group of teachers in a rural school district were examined in order to understand how the participants constructed their realities relative to their involvement in professional learning communities. Analysis of the teachers’ descriptions of their experiences provides insights on the significance of collaboration, collegial relationships, and shifting mindsets about the work of teaching, and these insights are important for understanding how professional development opportunities can be structured and facilitated to support the complex role of professional learning.

Towards distributed leadership as Standards-based practice in BC

This narrative study of four BC principals was an initial investigation of distributed leadership using their provincial leadership standards as an organizing framework. The researchers invited participants to describe their understanding and practice of distributed leadership in terms of the Standards. Findings revealed three themes, or sets of administrative practices, that enrich operational understanding of distributed leadership: establishing a shared vision of distributed leadership, leading with character and integrity, and enabling others to find their leadership voice. The practice of establishing distributed leadership was found to be coherent with the development of a sustainable learning community and with the moral stewardship emphasis of the provincial standards.&nbsp

Awakeness, complexity and emergence: Learning through curriculum theory in teacher education

In this self-study research, we explore how the work of significant and diverse curriculum scholars informed the learning of teacher candidates within an intensive summer semester that serves as the foundation for a Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP) at a Canadian university. Questions that guided our inquiry include: How did teacher candidates take up and negotiate theory as part of their emerging professional identities? How did teacher candidates understand the relationship between pedagogy and their learning of/through curriculum theory? How did teacher candidates embody diverse theories and how did they understand the significance of this within and beyond this foundational semester? And finally, as teacher educators, how are our beliefs, understandings and practices developing through this self-study? We employed a qualitative, grounded theory approach and engaged in iterative cycles of analysis with learning artifacts and interview transcripts from 26 teacher candidates. We identified the rich and layered themes of emergence, complexity, and awakeness, which revealed shifts in teacher candidates’ awareness in relation to their evolving identities. We discuss these themes in relation to the above questions and locate the influences of the selected theorists. This research contributes to the field of curriculum studies through offering a living case that explores how taking up diverse and contemporary curriculum theorists has potential to both support teacher candidates to experience praxis and shift the ground of teacher education

Sntrusntm i7 captikwlh: Unravel the Story, the Okanagan Way

This study raises the question of how the Canadian educational system can avoid promoting cultural or ideological racism in a student population that is increasingly Indigenous and immigrant. It responds to this question by pointing to the need to expand knowledge systems in teacher education programs, presenting a multi-thematic discussion that explores how contemporary ways of teaching and learning can be transformed into a diverse, sustainable, and global curriculum. The focus of the article is on school culture, specifically the Aboriginal way of knowing about language-learning, creating multicultural teachers, leadership for a culture of inclusion and diversity, and the idea of resistance to change

Sntrusntm i7 captikwlh: Unravel the Story, the Okanagan Way

This study raises the question of how the Canadian educational system can avoid promoting cultural or ideological racism in a student population that is increasingly Indigenous and immigrant. It responds to this question by pointing to the need to expand knowledge systems in teacher education programs, presenting a multi-thematic discussion that explores how contemporary ways of teaching and learning can be transformed into a diverse, sustainable, and global curriculum. The focus of the article is on school culture, specifically the Aboriginal way of knowing about language-learning, creating multicultural teachers, leadership for a culture of inclusion and diversity, and the idea of resistance to change

Living the Flourish Question: Positivity as an Orientation for the Preparation of Teacher Candidates

In this article, the authors unpack taken-for-granted elements in a question central to their research and teaching: “What if the primary role of teachers is to learn how to thrive as educators and, in so doing, to continually co-explore and facilitate all means by which everyone in their learning communities flourishes most of the time?” As they explore a positive orientation to teaching and research, they work to understand the potential for generative and positive growth in themselves and school communities. Their article focuses upon seeking to create and sustain personal and professional flourishing at the heart of educational practice and consider how flourishing may be central to what it means to become a teacher

Connection, Engagement, and Belonging: Exploring Young Women’s Positive Experiences for Building Inclusive STEM Classrooms

This qualitative study was designed from an appreciative and positive research focus to examine how and why young women engage in, succeed, and persevere in STEM courses. The objective was to gain student perspectives on improving gender equality in STEM education. From the questionnaire and focus groups with participating women university students enrolled in STEM courses three themes emerged (a) Relational Connection with teachers and/or students, (b) Engagement with STEM Curriculum that reflected influential pedagogical learning cultures, and (c) Cultures of Belonging and inclusion. This research offers insight into positive factors for women’s success in STEM academics and careers. Keywords: Female students in STEM; STEM Education; STEM Engagement; Inclusivity; Gender Bias Cette étude qualitative a été conçue dans une optique de recherche appréciative et positive afin d'examiner comment et pourquoi les jeunes femmes s'engagent, réussissent et persévèrent dans les cours de science, technologie, ingénierie et mathématiques (STIM). L'objectif était d'obtenir le point de vue des étudiantes sur l'amélioration de l'égalité des sexes dans l'enseignement des STIM. Le questionnaire et les groupes de discussion auxquels ont participé des étudiantes universitaires inscrites à des cours de STIM ont permis de dégager trois thèmes : (a) le lien relationnel avec les enseignants et/ou les étudiants, (b) l'engagement dans le programme de STIM qui reflète des cultures d'apprentissage pédagogiques influentes, et (c) les cultures d'appartenance et d'inclusion. Cette recherche offre un aperçu des facteurs positifs pour la réussite des femmes dans les études et les carrières en STIM. Mots clés : étudiantes dans les STIM ; éducation aux STIM ; engagement dans les STIM ; inclusion ; préjugés sexiste