The concept of professional learning communities (PLCs) has received considerable attention in research as well as in school practice since the late 1990s. PLCs have been positively associated with a variety of outcomes for both teachers and students, but differences in the way the concept is operationalised, and the fact that most of the research…

This paper explores the perceived professional development needs of inservice teachers of English-language learners (ELLs) from 10 rural and small districts in the USA. The survey instrument that captured responses from 159 elementary and secondary teachers in Texas was primarily quantitative and was based on the state English as a second language…

This article explores some of the challenges faced by Teach First teachers during their first year of teaching in a culturally diverse school, and describes some of the strategies they employ to overcome them. Using a variety of methods, both qualitative and quantitative data are collected, focusing on the perspectives of the teachers over the…

This paper begins with a review of an emerging set of studies, combining a critical focus on reflective teacher development in developing educational contexts, and a greater level of authorial identification (as compared with previous studies) with the contexts being researched. Next, the paper adds to this emerging literature an analysis of a…