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In this paper the author presents a framework for understanding how improvement-oriented high school teachers' accounts of change experiences portray their evolving roles as change agents in school reform. The data on which this paper is based come from a one-year long in-depth study (doctoral thesis research project) in which the author set out to investigate how improvement-oriented teachers pursue important changes in the realm of classroom, school and community; how the teachers-initiated changes can be characterized; and how the teachers' roles evolve with their change practices. The researcher employed qualitative case study methodology, using in-depth interviews, classroom observations, post-observation discussion, and document analysis, as the main sources of data. The teachers whose change practices and values are depicted in this report recognize their roles in pedagogical, institutional and social change, and wherever possible, they try to engage in efforts to bring these changes about. Through the study the author recognizes an inherent link between teachers' endeavors aimed at bringing about fundamental change in the classroom and their efforts towards promoting institutional change in the schools and social change in the community.

This study documented in detail teachers' voices about their working conditions, professional development needs and opportunities to cater to these needs. The study reported in this paper was conducted as part of a large-scale study that used mixed methods to assess teachers' professional development needs. The qualitative data reported in this paper were collected using focus group discussion with teachers (N = 481), classroom observation (N = 66), post-observation interviews with teachers (N = 24) and analysis of qualitative responses from survey questionnaires (N = 200). By bringing together a collection of teachers' voices, the findings of the study illuminate a hope for positive change in teaching and learning in public schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, provided that teachers are genuinely considered as part of the solution and are facilitated with necessary physical and structural resources and psychological incentives. The education system needs to create conditions in schools that support teachers' work and their continued professional growth.

This article reports on a school improvement initiative undertaken by a private university in Pakistan. The Whole School Improvement Programme, designed with the purpose to improve the quality of education appropriate to children and teachers of poor communities, is being implemented in selected elementary schools. Central to the program is capacity-building of teachers as leaders. The program seeks to gain a better understanding into the ways in which teacher leadership can influence school change leading to improved student learning. The program focuses on institutional capacity-building through development of teacher leadership. Twenty teachers were developed as Lead Teachers. The Lead Teachers are responsible for leading the work of school improvement as internal change agents. The immediate impact of the training program on the Lead Teachers was assessed through comparison of pre-course and post-course test data supplemented by qualitative data. Comparison of the data indicated significant impact of the program on the confidence level of the participants in their competence as Lead Teachers. The qualitative data showed that a considerable shift has occurred in how they think about school improvement, how they perceive their role in school improvement and how they judge their abilities to work as Lead Teachers.

This article sets out to describe and explain how four high school teachers, identified as improvement-oriented teachers (IOTs), in their day-to-day teaching, try to use pedagogical remedies to help their students overcome the difficulties that hinder in-depth learning in secondary mathematics classrooms. Providing reflective accounts from the IOTs’ experiences and presenting illustrative examples from their classrooms, the study provides a broad picture of the context in which students learn mathematics. The study recognizes the factors that constrain students from gaining in-depth understanding into subject matter knowledge; it highlights the possibilities of fostering in-depth learning by establishing the primacy of the teacher in bridging the gap between students’ perceptive faculty of mind and subject matter knowledge. It recognizes the influences the teacher’s actions, pedagogical moves and decisions exert on students’ in-depth learning of concepts. The study also underscores the vital importance of students’ prior knowledge of basic mathematical concepts in in-depth learning of new concepts. Implication of the results of the study underscores the need for synergy of efforts on the part of teacher, school, and other key stakeholders, and curriculum in creating and promoting an environment conducive to students’ in-depth learning in mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]