With the introduction of a new school curriculum in South Africa in 1998, Technology as a school subject was introduced for the first time. Implementation by the National Department of Education took place over a very short time frame allowing very little time for adequate training of technology teachers by the provincial departments of education.…

Barriers to technology adoption in teaching and learning are well documented, with a corresponding body of research focused on how these can be addressed. As a way to combine a variety of these adoption strategies, the University of Sheffield developed a Technology Enhanced Learning Festival, TELFest. This annual, week-long event, emphasises the…

Learning English for academic purposes (EAP) can help university students promote their academic literacy through socializing them into academic communities of practice. This study examined the impact of the use of collaborative projects on three social network sites on EAP students' attitudes towards EAP and academic content learning. Three…

This study makes a comparison between what literature on Japanese Lesson Study suggests are key elements of a good mathematics lesson and what junior high school mathematics teachers in Japan value in planning their lessons. The teachers' strong consensus in their endorsements of these key elements explains why Japanese teachers strongly support…

This applied dissertation was designed to verify the effectiveness of professional learning communities (PLC), as it relates to the participation of administrators and teachers. Prior studies have emphasized the importance of continuing learning experiences for school administrators while working. Chiptin (2013) pointed out the importance of a…

The present paper reports on early-career academics' (ECAs) experiences of support for teaching in a research-intensive university in Africa. Through conducting a questionnaire and follow up in-depth interviews greater insight into how ECAs perceive and experience support for developing their teaching practice, is gained. Our analysis suggests…

This article reports on an investigation into the use of action research for beginner teachers' professional development through the use of peer mentoring. Action research principles were applied by the mentor and the participating mentees/peers, forming a scholarly community of practice. The mentees were empowered to transform their teaching…

Within the framework of schools as communities of learning and practice, the purpose of the research upon which this article is based has been to analyze the perceptions of families with respect to the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the European Schools. The findings of the research show that parents value highly the existence of the…

The transition to student-centred learning, advances in teleconferencing tools, and active international student exchange programmes have stimulated tandem learning in many parts of the world. This pedagogical model is based on a mutual language exchange between tandem partners, where each student is a native speaker in the language the…

When students and teachers behave in ways that reinforce learning as a spectator sport, the result can often be a classroom and overall learning environment that is mostly limited to transmission of information and rote learning rather than deep approaches towards meaningful construction and application of knowledge. A group of college instructors…

The purpose of this study is to understand the phenomenon of the "professional journey" of elementary teacher candidates (ETC) both as learners and as teachers by exploring their learning experiences and practices regarding the virtual reality (VR) platform called Second Life (SL). Using the grounded theory approach, we designed an…

This mixed-methods study explored how early-career academics (ECA) at the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) acquire pedagogical knowledge, develop their teaching experience as well as examine their expectations regarding the teaching profession. A questionnaire, composed mostly of closed questions and one open-ended question, was applied to 71…

Pedagogical innovations have been diffusing unevenly through the Chinese education system as a result of the implementation of the New Curriculum Reforms. Drawing on large-scale linked teacher and principal survey data from the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, this article investigates the extent to which interlocking teacher networks, which…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline an innovative method of delivering staff development in an higher education (HE) setting. The paper evaluates the processes behind the "Focus on Inspiring Teaching" week and outlines its initial impact on staff. Design/methodology/approach: This is a descriptive case study which highlights…

This article outlines how student teachers' experiences of a philosophical community of enquiry (PCoE) facilitated their pedagogical reflections. Although reflection occupies an important place in teacher education curricula and pedagogy, it is a contested and problematic concept. In this study, a group of second year student teachers took part in…