This study reports a reflection upon the experience of a multiyear elementary school learning community designed for improved teaching and learning. The exploration uses interview data to describe the perceptions and reflections of the principal and teachers directly engaged in this project of educational reform. The goal of this process is to…

As members of a language and literacy doctoral cohort, we four authors attempt to situate ourselves within a community of practice in which knowledge is socially constructed. In this context, we explore our identities as collaborative writers and researchers. This paper documents the self-study that we undertook while collaboratively writing…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to define a community memory for a virtual communities of practice (CoP) based on organizational learning (OL) concept and ontologies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper focuses on applying the OL concept to virtual CoP and proposes a framework for building the CoP memory by identifying several layers of…

Districts across the country are currently adopting models of professional learning communities (PLCs) as a means for improving teachers' instructional practice and student achievement. This evaluation research case study shares the 3-year history, development, and challenges of a district-wide implementation of Critical Friends Groups (CFGs), a…

In a growing trend, educational paraprofessionals instruct some children who are eligible for special education in elementary general education classrooms. Many educational researchers have framed their employment in this capacity as a problem fraught with confused role boundaries (Giangreco, 2003; Riggs, 2001; York-Barr, 2003) and a lack of…

Community music practices may offer paths to broaden the scope of the music education field by providing meaningful alternatives to traditional approaches found in many formal music education systems. As specific social settings shape and define community music, prominent researchers have called for further investigation into practices in the…

Over the years, there has been a great deal of scholarly work focusing of the life, teaching, and ministry of Jesus. In this article, the author contributes to this body of literature by examining Jesus' ministry through the lens of legitimate peripheral participation, an approach to learning that surfaced during the last decade of the 20th…

Most people believe that our schools and colleges are failing to teach kids and youngsters in the 21st century skills they will need in order to succeed in the future (Rachna Rathore 2009). Even as the price of technology continues to drop, computers keep getting faster, and nearly all teens are exploring online social networking, schools have not…

We conducted a mixed-methodological study of matriculation issues for African-American students in science. The project compares the experiences of students currently majoring in science (N = 304) with the experiences of those who have succeeded in earning science degrees (N = 307). Using a 57-item Likert scale questionnaire, participants were…

Building on contemporary research on teacher professional development, this study examined the practices of a technology-focused learning community at a high school in the United States. Over the course of a school year, classroom teachers and a university-based researcher participated in the learning community to investigate how technology can…

Teacher learning communities are hailed by many as vehicles for reforming and elevating the professional status of teaching. While much research explores teacher community as a venue for measurable gains, our research examines the orientation of practitioner inquiry toward critical debate about effective instruction. Specifically, our study…

The widespread availability of high-quality Web-based tools and content offers new promise and potential for supporting teachers as creators of instructional activities. When coupled with a participatory Web culture and infrastructure, teachers can share their creations as well as leverage from the best that their peers have to offer to support a…

In the current study, we used Activity Theory as the conceptual framework for exploring students' perceptions about how learning in school is affected by the following five elements: Object, Tools, Rules, Community and Division of Labor. Data were collected by administrating a semi-structured questionnaire among 70 junior high school students and…

A joint student and professional practitioner seminar used distance technology to allow remote experts to present to, and remote practitioners to participate in, a university-based learning experience. Participants were professional practitioners from the US Fish and Wildlife Service who were mandated to receive training and on-campus graduate…

Recent national reports have indicated a need for significant changes in science higher education, with the inclusion of more student centered learning. However, substantial barriers to change exist. These include a lack of faculty awareness and understanding of appropriate pedagogical approaches, large class sizes, the time commitment needed to…