Readings

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Bedtime readings
June 08 again... Adie has sent me this, it's a nice list of reasons to use wikis. Could help with encouraging your teachers. Heather

June 08
Hi ladies. I recently received some links to articles in a magazine called Innovate and this one is really quite affirming. You will find it useful to enable you to explain to teachers why we are moving towards online communities as a way of connecting people. In fact it discusses a new pedagogy called connectivism, a move on from constructivism. It's not as long as it seems as it's got pages of references at the end :) Ignore the highlights, just me making notes. Heather



Here's a literature review and synthesis about online communities of practice that Janine has found. This literature review and synthesis aims at developing a knowledge base to inform the Ministry of Education on how to develop, implement, and maintain online communities of practice (CoPs), and how communication technologies can be used to support them.

ABSTRACT. The importance of changing teachers’ beliefs and practices in school improvement efforts is well accepted but little empirical work has been reported on the micro-processes involved. In this paper, we use schema theory to examine how the teachers in three schools changed their beliefs about the causes of low academic achievement from external factors, such as the parents’ and children’s deficits, to internal factors, such as the contribution of their own teaching practices. These change processes are contrasted briefly with those in a fourth school in which the teachers continued to blame external factors. The three conditions identified as critical for schema revision included the salience of discrepant data, the presence of an external agent to assist with the interpretation of those data, and the availability of information on alternative practices.

Even the best professional development may fail to create meaningful and lasting changes in teaching and learning unless teachers engage in ongoing professional dialogue to develop a reflective school community

The origins of action research are unclear within the literature. Authors such as Kemmis and McTaggert (1988), Zuber-Skerrit (1992), Holter and Schwartz-Barcott (1993) state that action research originated with Kurt Lewin, an American psychologist. McKernan (1988 as cited in McKernan 1991) states that action research as a method of inquiry has evolved over the last century and careful study of the literature shows "clearly and convincingly that action research is a root derivative of the scientific method' reaching back to the Science in Education movement of the late nineteenth century." (McKernan 1991:8)

This report examines effects of structural and process features of professional development programs on teachers’ knowledge, practice and efficacy. It is based on four recent (2002-2003) studies undertaken through the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme, designed to enhance teacher quality. The total data set for the survey study includes 3,250 teachers who had participated in eighty individual professional development activities within these studies. Teachers were surveyed at least three months after participating in an activity, which provided them with the opportunity to gauge the impact of programs on their practice. To investigate factors affecting impact, a theoretical model was developed based on recent research into the characteristics of effective professional development and tested using blockwise regression analysis. The model included contextual factors (e.g., school support), structural features of programs (e.g. ,length), process features (e.g., emphasis on content; active learning; examination of student work; feedback; follow-up), a mediating variable (level of professional community generated), and four outcome measures (knowledge; practice; student learning and efficacy). Consistent significant direct effects were found across the four studies for the impact of content focus, active learning, and follow-up on knowledge and professional community. Feedback was rarely incorporated into program design. Impact on efficacy was strongly related to the perceived impact of activities on teachers’ practice and student learning outcomes.
 * Abstract**

This article explores how far research findings about successful pedagogies in formal postschool education might be used in non-formal learning contexts – settings where learning may not lead to formal qualifications. It does this by examining a learner outcomes model adapted from a synthesis of research into retention. The article first introduces the model. It then explores this model to identify pedagogy suitable for formal education. Next it asks whether this pedagogy may also be appropriate for use in four non-formal learning contexts: community development; adult literacy; workplace learning; and personal interest learning. While it gives a qualified ‘yes’ to the question, it acknowledges some shortcomings in the pedagogy for non-formal adult learning. Finally, the article attempts to address shortcomings by integrating a critical dimension into the model, suggesting that learner outcomes in formal education could also benefit from the inclusion of this critical dimension.

A number of suggestions are offered through which the scolarship of teaching and learning may be improved. Based on Glassick et al.

ABSTRACT: Giving constructive feedback to a teacher is a complex process. This article addresses the difficulty of giving feedback by discussing three different cases, each of which illustrates a dimension of the complexity of learning the process. It argues that an attitude of inquiry increases the likelihood that a novice observer (supervisor) will become better at providing feedback. These cases illuminate why genuinely constructive feedback is difficult to learn and to practice.

This paper considers ways in which trainee teachers can be helped to develop their ability to engage in reflection on their practice. The context for the research is a Block School Experience developed by tutors in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of Sunderland. An exploration of the nature of reflective practice shows that a common element is the need for individuals to be aware of, and able to monitor, their own thinking, understanding and knowledge about teaching and to be aware of the different kinds of knowledge upon which they can draw to help develop their practice.

ABSTRACT. The reasons why many educational change initiatives have little impact are often framed in terms of either a poorly designed process on the part of the change initiator, or in terms of problems with the attitudes, skills and/or knowledge of those responsible for implementation. In this paper, we seek to integrate these two perspectives more closely by focusing on their interface and the competing theories frequently held by the change initiators and implementers. This concept of theory competition is illustrated with a case of a national literacy initiative in New Zealand in which the change initiators wished to raise the achievement of low performing students through the development of ‘‘learning-centred’’ leadership in schools and evidence-based practice. The desired outcomes were not achieved because theories about what it means to be a successful leader in such a situation, the data needed to undertake the type of evidence-based analysis envisioned and school personnel beliefs about the target students were understood differently by those responsible for initiating the change and those responsible for implementing it.