A coach develops his or her craft by reflecting on previous playing experiences (Erickson, Côté, & Fraser-Thomas, 2007) and continuing to seek learning opportunities through a variety of informal and non-formal learning methods (e.g. discussion with other coaches, trial and error, observation, advice of a mentor, clinics, web sites, books and…

This paper summarizes the evaluation of a project that involved undergraduate mathematics students in the development of teaching and learning resources for statistics modules taught in various departments of a university. This evaluation regards students' participation in the project and its impact on their learning of statistics, as…

The value of developing philosophical thinking among young children and its pedagogical possibilities has been discussed in the Philippines in the recent years. One such possibility is the pedagogy of Philosophy for Children (P4C) which allows children to participate in a dialogue in the context of a community of inquiry. The community of inquiry…

This article contributes to knowledge about learning in workgroups, so called "microcultures" in higher education. It argues that socially constructed and institutionalised traditions, recurrent practices, and tacit assumptions in the various microcultures influence academic teachers towards certain behaviour. In line with this…

Professional learning communities have long been considered a powerful form of collaborative professional learning, as the Learning Communities standard in Learning Forward's Standards for Professional Learning attests (Learning Forward, 2011). This focus on communities can engage teachers in ongoing professional dialogue and examination of…

An important task for the preschool teacher is to create meaningful learning situations where children have opportunities to experience science. However, many teachers have both weak subject knowledge and a lack of confidence to teach science. The aim of the project presented in this article was to capture how nine preschool teachers developed…

In his focus article, Koretz (this issue) argues that accountability has become the primary function of large-scale testing in the United States. He then points out that tests being used for accountability purposes are flawed and that the high-stakes nature of these tests creates a context that encourages score inflation. Koretz is concerned about…

Pedagogical transformations in universities are typically explored as "top down" attempts or in the context of training programs targeted towards educating more pedagogically aware individuals. In this study, promoting pedagogical development is explored on a community level as change agency: acting as a broker between the…

"Communities of Learning" (CoL) are an innovative methodological tool to stimulate knowledge creation and diffusion within organizations. However, past research has largely overlooked how participants' hierarchical positions influence their behavior within CoL. We address this shortcoming and provide empirical evidence on 25 CoL for a…

There is growing interest in the role Communities of Practice (CoPs) play in continuing professional development of academics. However, very little research has explored how CoP theory is applied in practice in academic settings. Using the concepts of resonance and micro-mobilisation from social movement theory, we explore academic engagement (and…

In today's world, the Internet is a global library, classroom, and town hall--and it is so much more. This is especially true for families and professionals involved with deaf and hard of hearing students. When two to three out of every 1,000 children are deaf or hard of hearing (National Institutes of Health, 2014), and these children are…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at schools as a function of school culture policies and procedures. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative study was conducted at three secondary schools in the Midwestern USA. Administrators and teachers were interviewed, professional learning…

After being a steady member of the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) for 14 years as a faculty member, program director, department chair, associate dean, and even as a mother, Cynthia Grutzik was nominated to run for President-Elect of CCTE in 2010. She was in a unique situation as she came into the CCTE presidency: two women had…

Professional learning communities are receiving increasing attention within the schooling sector but empirical research into their development and use within early childhood education contexts is rare. This paper reports initial findings of an exploratory study into the development of professional learning communities in New Zealand's early…

The purpose of this study was to examine one urban elementary school to determine the influence of PLCs on administrator and teacher efficacy in supporting academic success. Using Stewart, Williams, and Matthew's (2009) Learning Community Culture Indicator (LCCI), which is based on the work of Richard DuFour (2006) and Eaker and DuFour (1998), the…