This report summarizes results of AISD's 2010 employee coordinated survey.

The aim of this study is to reveal how well online communities of practice (oCoPs) help teachers share explicit knowledge and bring their tacit knowledge to the surface. An Internet based oCoP platform called "The Professional Development Circle" (The PDC) was developed for this study. The study was conducted in two phases: 1) a…

A group study method proved helpful in improving senior-level students' performance on unit tests through collaborative learning. Students of a History of Textiles course voluntarily attended study sessions to review course content and prepare for unit tests. The students who attended the group reviews scored better on tests than those who did…

There has been a conversation about university graduate employability within the Higher Education literature for some time (Cryer, 1997; Barrie, 2004, 2006, 2007; Murray, 2000; McAlpine, 2006). Within this, and often under the banner of questioning the relevance of the PhD (Murray, 2000), there have been discussions about the employability of…

Two approaches to professional learning communities, the inquiry-oriented and the results-oriented approaches, both have weaknesses. Neither adequately addresses the overall coherence of a school's efforts to improve teaching and learning. A third model, the Common Priorities approach, combines the strengths of the other two approaches and…

This article contributes a framework for analyzing learning as an expansive process in which persons come to partly transcend marginalization. Expansive learning is a kind of learning that partly transcends marginalization through changed participation and recognition by others of participants in their changed communities. This article draws on…

Regular readers of "Computers in Libraries" are aware that social networks are forming increasingly important linkages to professional and personal development in all libraries. Live and virtual social networks have become the new learning playground for librarians and library staff. Social networks have the ability to connect those who are…

This article reports on a study into how collaborative contexts influence the professional development of an early-career primary teacher, Julia. We describe the process of change by which Julia manages to make her planning to teach mathematics more flexible so as to adapt to student difficulties, and we analyse the role that joint reflection…

Classroom discipline is a major concern of American teachers and why many leave teaching. A conventional view of learning is so deeply interrelated with schooling in the American culture it also drives the view of discipline, especially in urban contexts where students are disproportionately failed and excluded by the mainstream educational…

The presence of career change students in teacher education programs is neither new nor unusual. Despite this, there is a lack of research into the experiences of such people as student teachers. In this paper, the experiences of one career change student teacher, Michelle, and the ways in which she constructed her new professional identity as a…

The increased focus on interdisciplinarity and collaboration in academia necessitates a re-evaluation of established mentoring practices. This article reviews the literature on traditional and peer mentoring models, explores Communities of Practice (CoP) within learning organizations, and discusses the implementation and evaluation of a CoP at the…

Raffo and Gunter (20087) argue that there is insufficient research which has "systematically examined, categorised and synthesised the types of leadership in schools that might assist social inclusion" (p. 397). In this paper I argue that Wenger's concept of a "community of practice", when applied to the parent-teacher relationship, provides a…

The purpose of this case study was to examine one learner's (Keira) personal trajectory in an online, transnational telecollaborative learning environment, focusing on how she negotiated (1) her own sense of identity,(2) her perspective on French and American cultures, and (3) the possibility of a transcultural dialogue. The data (observations,…

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) create large virtual communities. Online gaming shows potential not just for entertaining, but also in education. This research investigates the use of commercial MMORPGs to support second language teaching. MMORPGs offer virtual safe spaces in which students can communicate by using their…

When professional learning communities (PLCs) are developed to promote the academic achievement of English language learners (ELLs), the results can benefit not only ELLs but the whole school. This article examines the ventures of three high schools that implemented PLCs as part of a Title III National Professional Development Project. The authors…