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PurposeThe paper discusses the influence of instructional leadership on effective teacher teaching practices and learning outcomes. In particular, the paper examines one of the instructional leadership practices, namely teaching evaluation, and seeks to investigate the influence on the effective teacher practices and on the achievement of 6th grade primary school students studying mathematics in the Cyprus educational system.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research approach was deemed appropriate and employed for the purpose of the research subject, and in particular for the type of questions studied. Data were collected from 81 principals, 139 6th grade teachers and 1,553 students in the Cyprus educational system. In addition, data analysis was performed using structural equation models (SEM).FindingsThe instructional leadership approach assumes that principal evaluations influence high learning outcomes. Findings demonstrated that the principal evaluation has a positive and statistically significant impact on effective teaching practices and student achievement.Originality/valueIt is important to acknowledge that in the Cyprus educational leadership field the corellation among the instructional leadership, the effective teaching practices of teachers and the students achievements were not examined through the above parameters. Furthermore, the survey provided important insights into the principals, teachers, pupils and, more generally, on Cyprus's educational policy.

The current emphasis on data-based decision-making ties discussions of accountability, school improvement and educational reform to the notion that gathering and using evidence addresses questions ...

Music curriculum programmes are designed by English Music teachers in schools as the primary means of musical engagement for young people aged 11–14. Such Music curricula are often structured in learning topics. However, Music teacher rationales for the sequencing of the topics they have chosen to include in their curriculum is an under-developed area of music education research literature. This study seeks to examine teacher practices in this domain through a comparative case study of nine English secondary school teachers using Think Aloud Protocols to uncover sequencing practices. The findings are analysed using the Friedman ANOVA statistical test and eyeball analysis of teacher curriculum formulations. Theorising from these results facilitated the development of a teacher model of curriculum processing, and illuminated hidden practices in curriculum design.

Emerging research shows teachers and architects perceive higher numbers of affordances for learning in innovative learning environments (ILEs) than in traditional classrooms. Yet, offering ILEs alone will not bring about significant changes to teacher practices nor students’ learning experiences. Supporting teachers to perceive and utilise spaces that offer multiple activity settings, such as afforded by ILEs, is important in eliciting pedagogical change. This research explored the development of strategies intended to support teachers to actualise the affordances of ILEs, i.e. take advantage of new learning spaces for effective teaching and learning. An innovative methodological pairing of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Co-design was employed to explore teachers’ instructional practice development in relation to new learning spaces. The study uncovered insights into current and future practices, where teacher participants planned, enacted, and reflected upon their pedagogical strategies. It was found that empowering teachers to actualise ILE affordances involved generating communities of practice that provided them with the ‘time and space’ to collectively develop their practice.

This paper reports the findings of a meta-synthesis of studies which investigated the ways in which teachers described their pedagogical practices in three different contexts: the Maldives, Austral...

The study intended to explore whether and to what extent principal learning-centred leadership influences teacher practices, with the mediating role of teacher beliefs and teacher professional lear...

The aim of the study was to examine assistive technology (AT) use, elements teachers take into consideration when selecting AT, and barriers from the standpoint of teachers of students with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. To answer the research questions, the researcher employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. A self-administered online survey and interviews were conducted to collect data. A total of 92 special education teachers from four special education institutes were surveyed, and five teachers were interviewed to provide interpretations for the analysed quantitative data. Results demonstrated there were cultural factors that could influence AT use with students. Findings revealed there was a lack of AT use, with teachers reporting higher use of low-tech than mid-tech and high-tech. The most reported barriers were lack of AT devices and lack of training. The results also revealed there were statistical differences in AT use between the four special education institutes and between teachers with previous AT training. Four major themes and several sub-themes emerged from the interviews. The themes were (a) AT use, (b) considerations, (c) barriers, and (d) professional development. These themes made it possible to interpret and elaborate on the quantitative data. The findings suggest the necessity of professional development for teachers, an increase in financial support, and provision of appropriate curriculum for successfully using AT in classrooms.

Postmethod pedagogy is the development in pedagogical practices after 1990s and is open to further developments as "a pedagogy in progress" (Kumaravadivelu, 2001). Implication of postmethod pedagogy underpinned by deconstruction has the potentials to make pedagogy more effective for which the postmethod teacher needs to play the role of a deconstructionist teacher. So in this paper I have reviewed the works on postmethod pedagogy and deconstruction and explored how they are interrelated and how they can be exploited as deconstructive pedagogy to make pedagogy more effective in context. As a result, it is concluded that when a postmethod teacher practices pedagogy as a deconstructionist teacher, any challenges emerging in the practice of pedagogy can be addressed as deconstructive pedagogy destabilizes the pedagogical practices and looks for possibilities of multiple meanings in context.

To validate the modified System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time to measure teacher practices related to physical activity promotion (SOFIT+) in physical education (PE) amongst 5–6-year-old-c...

Contains fulltext : 231541.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) To ease the transition to university, preparation in secondary school is often seen as a first step. This study investigated longitudinal relationships between teacher practices in secondary education (i.e., emotional support, autonomy support, and student-centred teacher practices) and first-year students' academic achievement and social and emotional adjustment at university. We focused on students' perceptions of their teachers' practices to, on the one hand, take individual differences into account and, on the other hand, to investigate differences in teacher practices between schools. In a three-wave longitudinal study, 235 students were followed from their final year of secondary school to the end of the first year at university. The results indicated that teacher practices related to students' social and emotional adjustment across the transition to university, but not to their academic achievement. Specifically, we found that perceived teachers' emotional support was related to students' social adjustment at university whereas autonomy support was associated with emotional adjustment. Differences in teacher practices between schools were quite small. This study indicated that teachers in secondary education might play a pivotal role in preparing students for university. This role goes beyond preparing students for academic achievement, as teachers may have a long-term impact on first-year students' social and emotional adjustment. 19 p.

Teaching practice is an action of the teachers and the students who are contributing together in the elaboration of knowledge in the classroom. This practice has an important scientific interest for school success, quality and efficiency of teaching. The objective of our work is to evaluate teaching practices in learning situations in order to ensure a good quality of teaching in Moroccan schools. An exploratory survey was conducted during the 2019-2020 about classroom practices for 50 qualified high school physical chemistry sciences teachers recruited from 10 public schools in Kenitra. The results of our study showed that the practices adopted by the teachers are numerous and their uses change from one teacher to another, each practice has specific effects that allow the teacher to select effective and appropriate methods to achieve each effect, in order to regulate the learning of students, improve their levels and evolve the teaching and learning process, in fact the evaluation of teacher practices plays a very important role in detecting problems encountered by teachers during a teaching and learning situation.

Form-focused instruction occupies an important position in China’s secondary schools. However, middle school English teaching has been criticized for the sustainability of form-focused instruction. The new English Curriculum Standards for China’s secondary English teaching suggest that grammar teaching should be integrated into communicative activities, but no precise guidance is provided on how to integrate grammar into communicative activities. This study investigates teachers’ beliefs and practices about form-focused instruction, as well as the factors influencing their beliefs and practices, in the context of China’s secondary schools. Data were collected through 33 classroom observations and interviews with 3 teachers with different levels of experience. The findings reveal that, overall, the teachers preferred form-focused instruction, focus on forms and explicit teaching. The teachers with more teaching experience adopted communicative approaches of form-focused instruction, integrating form and meaning at different times inductively. The teacher with fewer teaching years adopted traditional, isolated, and deductive methods of grammar teaching. The differences between the teachers were found to be influenced by various factors, including teaching and research activities, curriculum standards, examinations, and learning experience. The teachers’ beliefs and practices and the gaps and connections between theoretical domains and classroom practices were discussed and implications were provided.

Bu nitel arastirmada amac, okul oncesi siniflarda ogretmenler tarafindan kullanilan erken okuryazarlik materyallerini ve ogretmenlerin erken okuryazarlik ogretimiyle ilgili uygulamalarini incelemektir. Bu nitel arastirmanin katilimcilari, Turkiye'nin Usak ilindeki 22 devlet okulunda gorev yapan 52 okul oncesi ogretmenidir. Siniflardaki materyalleri incelemek icin Erken Okuryazarlik Materyal Kontrol Formu kullanilmis ve ogretmenlerin uygulamalarini anlamak icin yari yapilandirilmis gorusme formu ile birebir gorusmeler yapilmistir. Bu calismanin sonuclarinda, okul oncesi siniflarinda yeterli miktarda ve turde erken okuryazarlik materyallerinin bulundurulmadigi ve bu becerilerinin gelisimi icin secilen etkinliklerin yeterli olmadigi ortaya cikmistir. Etkili bir okuryazarlik ortaminin varligi, kitap cesitliligi ve sinif icerisinde farkli ve ilginc gorsellerin yer almasi gibi konularda eksiklikler oldugu belirlenmistir. Ogretmenlerin genellikle matematik etkinlikleri yaptiklari ve cocuklarin erken okuryazarlik becerilerini gelistirmelk icin cizgi calismalari yaptiklari belirlenmistir. Etkinliklerin uygulanmasinda en cok kullanilan yontem kitaplarin ve / veya calisma sayfalarinin kullanilmasidir. Bu bulgulara dayanarak, erken okuryazarlik becerilerini desteklemek icin alternatif yollar ve erken okuryazarlik materyallerine ve sinif uygulamalarina daha fazla vurgu yapan egitim programlarinin yurutulmesi onerilmektedir.

This study investigated teachers’ reported practices of teaching culture in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms from the perspective of their approaches to student diversity. Specificall...

We studied how the distal policy mechanisms of curricular aims and objectives articulated in official curriculum documents influenced classroom instruction, and the factors that were associated wit...

This article discusses the impact of a professional learning activity called the Principals as Literacy Leaders (PALL) program on the capacity of school leaders to engage, involve, and support teachers and their school communities to develop a shared moral purpose for making their school more effective in assisting students to become more able readers. It uses data collected from participants in the PALL program together with case study data collected from five Tasmanian schools to analyse the actions by school leaders to develop a shared moral purpose related to facilitating higher levels of student learning in reading. The study shows that school leaders felt more capable in their ability to lead their schools after completing the program and that the development of a shared moral purpose led to improved teaching practices and higher levels of student engagement, students’ ability to talk about their learning, and better achievement in reading.

Teacher online collaboration has recently attracted more and more attention and interest in many parts of the world. Unfortunately, very little research, if at all, has been conducted so far in the Sultanate of Oman. The present paper sought to fill this severe gap in research by asking and finding answers to this central question: What beliefs and opinions do faculties hold towards online collaborative projects (OCPs)? It used a quantitative method approach through a questionnaire administered to a group of PgCert student-faculty group (n=50) from Middle East College to get to know about their perspectives concerning the questions set above. The results obtained revealed (a) a high positive feedback on the part of the study participants as to their involvements in online collaborative projects, (b) very different reports on issues faced when working on online collaborative projects, and (c) varying degrees of impacts of OCPs on their teaching practices. The results of the study will have tremendous significance to teachers in all fields of specialization who are/will be engaged in OCPs. The potential implications of these and other results on teacher practices and involvement in such OCPs are discussed

El trabajo escolar a distancia causado por la pandemia desde el año 2020 evidenció una necesidad urgente en educación: los estudiantes deben desarrollar habilidades de aprendizaje autónomo. En este estudio, siguiendo la metodología de la investigación acción educativa, se exploró la generación de alternativas de acción que respondan a este desafío por parte de los docentes de grado undécimo de la I.E. Concentración de Desarrollo Rural de Manaure, departamento del Cesar. En un primer ciclo de la investigación se identificaron desafíos y oportunidades para el desarrollo del aprendizaje autónomo de los educandos, así como las acciones que los docentes habían trabajado hasta el momento para lograrlo. Con estos insumos se desarrolló un segundo ciclo ya de intervención, que permitió motivar y activar la participación de los actores. Consecuencia de esta nueva dinámica investigativa, se promovió el diálogo entre docentes generando propuestas de acción. Es así como fruto de esta exploración colectiva, se constituye la Comunidad Profesional de Aprendizaje CDR, como comunidad de docentes que mediante la autoformación profesional y trabajo colaborativo en red buscan las mejoras esperadas en su práctica. The distance schoolwork caused by the pandemic since 2020 evidenced an urgent need in education: students must develop autonomous learning skills. In this study, following the methodology of educational action research, we explored the generation of action alternatives that respond to this challenge by eleventh-grade teachers of the I.E. Concentración de Desarrollo Rural de Manaure, department of Cesar. In the first cycle of the research, challenges and opportunities for the development of autonomous learning of students were identified, as well as the actions that teachers had worked so far to achieve. With these inputs, the second cycle of intervention was developed, which allowed motivating and activating the participation of the actors. As a result of this new research dynamic, a dialogue among teachers was promoted, generating proposals for action. As a result of this collective exploration, the Professional Learning Community CDR was created as a community of teachers who seek the expected improvements in their practice through professional self-training and collaborative work in a network. Magíster en Educación http://www.ustadistancia.edu.co/?page_id=3956 Maestría

The use of a pedagogical practice known as ‘differentiation’ has become more common over time as educators have sought to respond to increases in the diversity of students enrolling in their local school. However, there are now so many misperceptions and definitional inconsistencies that it is difficult to know what is being enacted in the name of differentiation or indeed what is being researched internationally. The aim of this scoping review was to identify key characteristics of and conceptualisations within peer-reviewed empirical research on differentiation published between1999 and 2019, as well as to map the ways in which this body of research was produced. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to inform a systematic screening process and resulted in a final sample of 34 articles focusing on differentiation in regular schools. Half were conducted in the United States and most in the elementary school phase. Survey and case study designs were dominant, as was research of and influences on teacher practice. Only a small group of studies focused on differentiation’s impact on student outcomes and these typically only examined specific elements of differentiation or its use in specific academic domains. The diversity of focus and methodological approaches across the 34 studies prevents comparison of findings and weakens the evidential basis to make claims of either differentiation’s effectiveness or indeed its ineffectiveness. The review concludes with recommendations for future research and practice in this important area of practice.

The article is motivated by the analysis of the relationship between university student ratings and teacher practices and attitudes, which are measured via a set of binary and ordinal items collected by an innovative survey. The analysis is conducted through a two-level random intercept model, where student ratings are nested within teachers. The analysis must face two issues about the items measuring teacher practices and attitudes, which are level 2 predictors: (a) the items are severely affected by missingness due to teacher non-response and (b) there is redundancy in both the number of items and the number of categories of their measurement scale. We tackle the missing data issue by considering a multiple imputation strategy exploiting information at both student and teacher levels. For the redundancy issue, we rely on regularization techniques for ordinal predictors, also accounting for the multilevel data structure. The proposed solution addresses the problem at hand in an original way, and it can be applied whenever it is required to select level 2 predictors affected by missing values. The results obtained with the final model indicate that ratings on teacher ability to motivate students are related to certain teacher practices and attitudes.

In the contemporary context, adoption of educational technologies has become inevitable. In virtual learning environments, teachers are not only exploring new ways of teaching, e.g. blended or online, but also incorporating various tools and strategies in order to facilitate the learning/teaching process. Learning analytics has received a lot of attention as it offers a support to teachers in monitoring students’ performance and making decisions regarding pedagogical approaches and techniques that would enhance learning and fulfil students’ realtime needs. In this research, a case study of university online or blended learning courses investigates the usage of learning analytics as a metacognitive tool to analyse how teaching and learning as well as learning design may be improved in order to enhance student success.

It is expected that teacher practices could improve students’ emotional state by encouraging the endorsement of adaptive goals. However, the mediation effect of achievement goals in the relationshi...

This multiple case study explores how two middle school social studies teachers enact a district mandated unit on the Islamic Empire. Using Cunningham’s division of influences on teacher practices,...

In this article, teacher professional practice is conceptualised within a regenerative framing as a synthesis of intercultural perspectives drawn from wisdom traditions, placing ethics-in-action alongside reflection-in-action. Regenerative practice foregrounds the need for renewal connecting professional learning with lifelong learning. Global sustainability agendas also inform this endeavour, reminding us of our connectedness within living ecosystems while ‘local wisdom’ is considered a primary source to inspire regeneration. Ecological models of education are therefore explored to determine the nature and scope of regenerative practices. Isolation imposed by the global pandemic provided opportunity to reflect upon our own practices and how these inter-relational constructs, often at odds with competency-based requirements, might nevertheless be integrated into teacher professional development. Three layers of regenerative practice, ‘being with ourselves’, ‘being with nature’ and ‘being with each other’ are presented as integral to a holistic approach that can be aligned with and supported by teacher professional standards.

Differentiated instruction (DI) addresses academic diversity in order to maximise learning. Although it is theorised as both a philosophy and as a praxis of teaching, it is rarely measured as such. This study examines teacher profiles on differentiated instruction relating to their philosophy and self-reported praxis. The data stem from an exploratory study on differentiated instruction, which served the purpose of creating a valid instrument to measure teachers’ philosophy and teaching approaches relating to academic differences in interests, readiness and learning profiles, namely the DI-Quest instrument. The results reveal three teacher profiles based on five DI-related factors. The patterns are almost identical in primary and in secondary education. Interestingly, if more frequent adaptations to students’ differences in interests, readiness and learning profile are what differentiated instruction aims for, both philosophical factors (namely growth mindset and ethical compass oriented to students) need to be present. Lacking one of these factors, will have less adaptations as a consequence. This study displays the predictive power of teachers’ philosophy about Differentiated Instruction for their daily classroom practices. Consequences for future research, professional development and teacher education are discussed in detail.

This paper examines the effects of instructional leadership on the change in teachers’ classroom practices, with the mediating role of shared practice and learning effectiveness. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design, using quantitative methods. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data collected from 350 teachers in primary and secondary schools in various provinces of Turkey. The results provided evidence consistent with the previous research from western English-speaking societies, suggesting an indirect relationship between leadership and teachers’ instructional practices with the full mediation roles of shared practices among teachers and their sense of agency in learning effectiveness. This work concludes that teacher learning and collaborative practices among teachers, influenced by principals’ instructional practices, can facilitate a significant change in several diverse components of classroom instruction, such as the quality of grouping, questions, homework, instructional strategies and differentiated practices.

Mobile phones are turning into a growingly widespread educational tool across various contexts. However, the scope of research on teachers’ role in mobile-oriented instruction is limited, much less...

المستخلص: بحثت هذا الدراسة اعتقادات معلمات اللغة الإنجليزية في المرحلة الثانوية المتعلقة بالواجبات المنزلية من حيث: أثر الواجبات المنزلية في دعم تعلم الطالبات، مواصفات الواجب المنزلي الفعال، وأثر الواجبات المنزلية في تطوير شخصيات الطالبات، وممارسات المعلمات من حيث: الهدف من تعيين الواجب، ومقدار الجهد المبذول في أداء الواجب، والعمل على تنمية مهارات اللغة الأجنبية باستخدام الواجب المنزلي، ومتابعة أداء الواجب وتقديم التغذية الراجعة. وقد استخدمت الباحثة الاستبانة لتحقيق هذا الغرض، وخلصت الدراسة إلى افتقار المعلمات إلى المعرفة، وعدم الإلتزام بمعايير الواجبات المنزلية الفعالة، التي تؤدي إلى تعلم الطالبات، وإتقان مهارات اللغة الأجنبية. وقد فاقت مناطق الضعف بکثير مناطق القوة، وقد أبرزت النتائج تناقضا کبيرا بين اعتقادات المعلمات المتعلقة بالواجبات المنزلية وممارساتهن، وقد اتضح من نتائج تحليل الاستبانة تهميش عبء العمل وعدم اعتباره مهما، والتطبيق المنخفض لاستراتيجيات التغذية الراجعة الفعالة، وتفضيل الأساليب التقليدية وغير التفسيرية، وقد عززت هذه النتائج الحاجة إلى تقديم مقررات تتعلق بالواجبات المنزلية الفعالة، وکيفية بناءها، والجهد الذي ينبغي أن يبذل لکل مرحلة دراسية، ولکل منهج دراسي في کليات التربية، وضرورة تقديم درورات تدريبية لمعلمات اللغة الإنجليزية في المرحلة الثانوية، تتعلق بأهمية الواجبات المنزلية، وکيفية تحديد الأهداف، والتخطيط لعبء العمل، وتقديم التغذية الراجعة بطريقة تدعم عملية التعلم. Abstract: This study examined the beliefs of female English language teachers at the secondary stage related to homework in terms of: the impact of homework in supporting female students’ learning, effective homework characteristics, and the impact of homework in developing students’ personalities, and examine teacher practices in terms of: the goal of imposing the assignment, and the amount of effort needed to accomplish homework. To achieve this purpose, the researcher used a questionnaire, and the study concluded that there is a lack of knowledge, lack of commitment to maintain effective homework standards, which does not enrich female students learning to master the foreign language skills. The areas of weakness far exceeded the areas of strength, and the results highlighted a significant contradiction between the female teachers’ beliefs related to homework and their practices. These results have reinforced the need to add a course about effective homework. The female teachers should be trained by workshop of homework, how to set goals, plan workload, monitor and evaluate homework, and provide feedback in a manner that supports the learning process.

While higher education institutions (HEIs) are exploring innovative ways to enhance and facilitate learning experience of students and so to improve the overall quality of studies, technology enhanced learning (TEL, henceforth) becomes inevitable. Having explored the possibilities and benefits of TEL, HEIs encourage teachers to develop blended online courses in virtual learning environments, to use new tools and solutions available for student learning monitoring and enhancement and to research how these practices are successful and what are the factors that make impact to teaching and learning success. This paper aims to identify teacher practices how the use of learning analytics in virtual learning environment may enhance learners’ engagement in blended online studies in HE.

The aim of the study is to investigate the learning objectives and teacher practices in the preschool curriculum implemented in the 2013-2014 academic year in terms of the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. Case study design of the qualitative research methods is used in the study. In collecting research data, convenience sampling method of purposive sampling is used. For this purpose, planned classroom practices of five teachers in a private primary school were observed, and then the same teachers were interviewed. Additionally, the learning objectives of the preschool curriculum in 2013 are examined. Teacher observation and interview forms are used to collect the data. Descriptive content analysis is conducted using “QSR NVivo 10” and “Microsoft Excel 2010” software in the analysis of the research data. The study results indicate that learning objectives in the preschool curriculum were gathered at the knowledge level, that teacher practices supported this finding, but that the results obtained in the interviews did not support this finding.

This investigation examined whether teacher practices, as measured by the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS), were associated with students’ proficiency and gain scores, as measured by the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), in 13 high-poverty charter schools in New Jersey. Results from two-level hierarchical linear models, fitted to a sample of 2,188 Kindergarteners through eighth-grade students in 110 classrooms, revealed that instructional and behavior management strategies on the CSAS were associated with (a) MAP gains in mathematics but not in reading and (b) MAP Rasch Unit (RIT) (proficiency) scores in mathematics and reading. The relationship between CSAS scores and student achievement did not differ across grade levels. In general, students in classrooms with higher quality use of classroom strategies exhibited higher gains in mathematics and proficiency scores in mathematics and reading. Implications for research and educational practices are discussed.