Lesson Study (LS) is a structured, collaborative professional development approach that gives instructors a framework for actively investigating how to improve student learning in their classrooms. Despite evidence of LS improving teacher practice and student learning in K-12 settings, there have been few documented examples of its use among…

The current Canadian higher education environment is one in which there is competition for limited resources, learning must be measured and demonstrated, and student demographics are evolving and changing on a continual basis. The field of Student Affairs in higher education, which traditionally provides support services to students and is often…

This non-experimental, descriptive study examined the effect(s), if any, that professional learning communities have had on the professional practices of secondary (grades 9-12) mathematics teachers in Boone, Clay, Putnam, and Kanawha counties in West Virginia. Also investigated were the potential differences in instructional-practice change(s)…

State postsecondary education data systems are vital information assets for policymakers, researchers, and the public. The Communities of Practice project (funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) builds upon SHEEO's ongoing efforts to measure the capacity and effective…

Over time, state testing has been the central focus of schools and school districts regarding accountability and the pressures to improve student achievement (Dufour, 2004). Under those circumstances, professional learning communities have been discovered to improve teacher effectiveness which in turn improves overall student achievement (Kuh,…

This dissertation was motivated by a deep commitment to creating robust mathematics learning communities for teachers and for students that are grounded in care, dignity, and connection. Designing for learning from this relational perspective requires disrupting dehumanizing aspects of systems of schooling that function to construct difference and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers engaged in curriculum deliberation through lesson study (LS) and how different types of teacher knowledge were elicited, co-constructed and transformed in integrated ways across LS stages. It also clarifies how different school-level orientations influence the nature, depth and scope of…

Purpose: Nowadays, networks are the basic core of social organization and interaction; consequently, networking has become an indispensable requirement in today's societies. In education, the development of different types of collaborative networks has been observed, leading, in recent years, to the creation of educational macro-networks that…

In spite of its increasing popularity, distance education faces challenges -- levels of digital literacy, access to technology, workload and time management, students' feelings of isolation and disconnection -- that can have a significant impact on the experience of the learners. In addressing these issues, we propose a pedagogical model for…

This study is positioned at the crossroads of pedagogical action learning and action research, as it addresses the challenges in designing and implementing action-learning approaches in the Middle East. In particular, it focuses on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and draws from a reflective analysis of a university-industry 'business challenge'…

Students With Disabilities (SWD) typically underperform compared to their non-disabled peers; these gaps are often widened by poverty, race or ethnicity, and English language proficiency. Principals are often unprepared to meet their learning needs. This mixed methods study took place in the Westford Central School District, a pseudonym, a high…

This paper explores possible affordances of technology and online professional learning to develop and support communities of practice in which educational practitioners develop, share and build on one another's reflections and learning. Evidence is presented from a design-based research study that iteratively designed and developed a mechanical…

This action research project focused on teacher retention in Adult Education programs. The study was centered on new teachers in Adult Education, as defined as having less than three years of experience teaching in the field of Adult Education. The study concentrated on growing new teachers' senses of belonging, self-efficacy, and new teachers'…

In the study reported on here we investigated the use of post-method practice to optimise pre-service teachers' teaching practice and English First Additional Language (EFAL) proficiency. This study was premised on the theoretical framework of Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy which promotes diverse perspectives in language learning and teaching…

This article offers research-based advice on how to write and publish community-engaged scholarship (CES), with special emphasis on success in career-building and academic publishing contexts. It further offers a snapshot of a program designed to build a faculty community of practice for advancing publication of CES. Publishing CES throws into…