Many public schools currently have organizational structures that form barriers for dealing more effectively with students' challenging behaviors even though positive school-wide approaches exist and provide empirical support for their use. Nevertheless, resistance to change occurs at both institutional and individual levels. Improving student…

Communities of practice challenge the traditional notion of learning as receiving knowledge which is essentially disembodied from practice. A community of practice is grounded by two central tenets: essentially that learning is situated, and that practice is made meaningful through reflection with others who engage in the shared experience. In…

One of the perennial challenges for academics working in the area of professional experiences (practicum) is how to negotiate the constantly moving and contradictory boundaries around their work. A number of questions arise. Firstly, how do they cope with the "shifting, changing landscape" (Clandinin, 2008) of the university and at the…

The current round of basic education curriculum reform in China is considered by many to be the most radical and wide-reaching. However, very little is known about education reform at the school level. Here we document and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities that the reform programme is providing for teachers and schools. We describe…

A mixed-method study was carried out to investigate how teacher attitude and professional development influence learner-centered Information Communication Technology (ICT) integration. A questionnaire, interviews and observations were used to gather data in a school district in Nova Scotia, Canada. Teacher data were categorized by grade level,…

Background/Context: The type of professional development provided for teachers has been undergoing change from a one-time workshop approach to a more embedded, long-term, reflective, and collaborative structure. Although findings on the impact of new forms of professional development (PD) are beginning to emerge in the literature, there is little…

Meaningful professional development (PD) for correctional educators is not frequently addressed, though they work with students who are most at-risk in terms of academic success. In addition to the challenges that the students themselves face, there are obstacles inherent in administering educational programs in correctional facilities whose goals…

In today's society, the professional development of teachers is urgent due to the constant change in working conditions and the impact that information and communication technologies have in teaching practices. "Online Learning Communities and Teacher Professional Development: Methods for Improved Education Delivery" features innovative…

In this article, the authors discuss the characteristics and outcomes of a secondary-postsecondary collaborative professional development project. This project was initiated to address the issue of students' difficulties transitioning from secondary mathematics to postsecondary courses. Key characteristics include a climate of mutual respect, the…

The authors describe practitioners' professional development, the challenges and dilemmas that they confront, and the support they receive in their work. They focus on examples of supervision sessions and describe typical dilemmas and solutions that come up during these sessions. These examples reflect four main themes that were identified as…

This mixed methodology study was designed to examine the factors and the process by which mainstream university faculty members adopt and implement technology in teaching and learning. Data were collected through a survey administered to faculty from 3 academic colleges (N = 117) and interviews of selected survey respondents (N = 9). Path analysis…

Despite clear evidence that formative assessment creates vantage points throughout the teaching-learning cycle for both teachers and students, research suggests that teachers are not taking advantage of the full cadre of formative assessment strategies available to them--particularly those that have been associated with improved student learning…

The application of Communities of Practice (CofP) can potentially serve as an effective learning strategy for higher education classrooms by contributing to student professional development while fostering a desire for life-long learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess the effectiveness of this learning strategy and help…

The Educational Leadership Project (ELP) is a professional development programme attuned to the curriculum and assessment approaches of Te Whariki, New Zealand's early childhood curriculum framework. ELP encourages and supports early childhood teachers to adapt of Te Whariki to their situations. This article links the author's community…

Migration has shifted the world's population such that hardly a monocultural society still exists. These demographic changes have brought about changes in the strategies used to maintain national unity and in the distribution of benefits, goods, and services within the society. Providing equitable access to high-quality education has been among…