Effective coaches make time for their own learning. As they systematically engage in professional learning, they develop and deepen their knowledge in areas including the Standards for Professional Learning (Learning Forward, 2011), adult learning principles, and research-based instructional practices. This ongoing learning process doesn't happen…

In South Africa and internationally, studies using post-structuralist frameworks and social theory have thrown light on the roles played by identity and the imagination and by school and the broader society in literacy acquisition. This article contributes to research on these themes, analysing extracts from literacy acquisition narratives written…

Communities of practice offer situated, social and distributed learning experiences that support the professional growth of teachers. However, while some communities of practice are successful, others flounder. This manuscript reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined teachers' experiences in the Discovery Educator Network, a…

Within the vast search for ways to enhance the online classroom learning environment and to engage students fully, researchers often turn to discussions concerning instructor-student interactions that take place daily in the online classroom. Although students interact with other students and with the content, it is the student-instructor…

This qualitative study explored students' perceptions of their experience in a social justice living-learning community throughout their time in the community and one year after participation. Findings illustrated students (1) developed a broader conception of social justice and greater awareness of social justice issues in the community, (2)…

Learning communities have been a part of the higher educational landscape since the 1980s. Despite their widespread use, research regarding their effectiveness with enhancing retention is sparse. This study describes a freshmen curricular learning community linking courses required for all business majors. Retention for students taking courses in…

The aim of this study was to gain a perspective of new members of staff who attempt to gain entry into an existing community of practice, to ascertain how this process occurs, and to explore new ways of inducting teams into established communities of practice. This research is situated, while demonstrating uniqueness, against a critique of Lave…

Purpose: This study aims to develop a pedagogy which would help a school become a workplace for learning and professional development. Essentially, this objective addresses the following critical question. How can a school become an attractive workplace where learning and professional development of teachers positively contribute to better…

Interest in how to use mobile devices to support teaching and learning has increased as technologies have become more sophisticated and ubiquitous. A recent focus in teacher education is the use of mobile devices to support teachers' professional learning networks (PLNs). This study investigates how pre-service teachers (PSTs) use mobile…

This paper aims to explore disciplinary variation in valuation practices by comparing the way research groups accumulate credibility across four epistemic cultures. Our analysis is based on case studies of four high-performing research groups representing very different epistemic cultures in humanities, social sciences, geosciences and…

One of the primary goals of education is to ensure that learners can apply their acquired knowledge in various ways and under different circumstances. However, this expected "transfer" does not always occur and, therefore, the acquired knowledge cannot be flexibly employed in different contexts. One way to minimize this problem is to…

Research on professional learning communities (PLCs) in early childhood education (ECE) contexts is still relatively rare and little is known about how such communities can be established and embedded. This article reports findings from research into the sustainability of professional learning communities in New Zealand's early childhood sector…

In this article we review the evidence of the impact of lesson study on student learning, teacher development, teaching materials, curriculum, professional learning and system enhancement. We argue for lesson study to be treated holistically as a vehicle for development and improvement at classroom, school and system levels rather than as a…

Teaching is a primary responsibility of many academic librarians. However, despite the job duties, many academic librarians do not see themselves as teachers. To determine how participation in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) impacted academic instruction librarians' teacher identity the authors conducted an explanatory sequential…

This Forum explores what the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) has been learning about formation in online contexts through the Educational Models and Practices project. Deborah Gin's opening essay briefly enumerates operating assumptions, several widespread misconceptions, and emerging recommended practices. G. Brooke Lester proposes a…