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As a formative assessment procedure, self-assessment aims to converge learners' and teachers' views in assessment. Hence, reducing the perceptual mismatches between the learners' and the teachers' assessments would positively affect the learning process. For this aim, the present study investigated to what extent the learners' assessment of their writing before and after being provided with a list of rating criteria, agrees with that of their teachers. Therefore, a body of six EFL writing teachers and 27 EFL learners participated in this study. The learners were asked to rate their writing before and after receiving the rating criteria developed by the researchers. The teachers also rated the students' writings following the same criteria. The obtained results showed a significant difference between the students' scores on the first and second assessment occasions. The teachers' and the students' assessments on the second time also were found to significantly correlate. Moreover, the analysis of the students' comments showed that while they rated their writing on some limited aspects of writing in the first rating occasion, they assessed their essays using more components in the second assessment phase. Overall, the findings revealed that providing the learners with rating criteria would not only reduce the perceptual mismatches between the students' and the teachers' assessment but promote a more democratic classroom assessment. The findings of the study reduce the complexity of self-assessment practice by narrowing the perceptual gap between the students and the teachers.

The proposed research aimed to examine abusive leadership and workplace ostracism as predictors of employee silence among school teachers in Sargodha, Pakistan. Studies further tend to examine the moderating role of power distance. Purposive sampling was employed to acquire the data. The research variables were quantified using the Abusive Supervision Scale (Mitchell & Ambrose, 2007), Workplace Exclusion Scale (Hitlan & Noel, 2009), Silence Scale (Van Dyne et al., 2003) and Power Distance Scale (Dorfman & Howell, 1988). Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between abusive leadership, workplace ostracism, employee silence, and power distance. Results showed that abusive leadership, ostracism, silence, and power distance have a positive relationship with each other. The findings of linear regression revealed that abusive leadership, ostracism and power distance positively predicted employee silence. Moderation analysis revealed that power distance significantly moderated the relationship of abusive leadership and workplace ostracism with employee silence. The proposed research provides some recommendations and conclusions for future researchers who may be interested in examining the abuse that teachers experience in a high-power-distance culture that compels them to act silently.

Various studies have shown that epistemological beliefs affect personal learning and teaching performances. Therefore, epistemological beliefs have become an attractive object of research with different methods of survey. A distinction can be made between denotative and connotative aspects of beliefs, the former being reflected upon, explicit beliefs, whereas the latter being associative and evaluative judgements on (in our case: mathematical) epistemological beliefs. The present study used the instrument Connotative Aspects of Epistemological Beliefs by Stahl and Bromme to collect data from university students in mathematics in the years of 2017, 2018 and 2019. The pseudo-longitudinal data analysis showed 1. that students hold different connotative beliefs regarding the two domains "mathematics at university" and "mathematics at school" regardless their study progress, 2. that the beliefs remain relatively stable within the domains overtime and 3. that -- considering the different mathematical programmes of study (e.g., pre-service teachers vs. mathematics majors) -- the students' connotative beliefs mainly differ regarding beliefs about the simplicity of mathematical knowledge at school.

This article aims to adapt the Flexible Thinking in Learning (FTL) scale developed by Barak and Levenberg in 2016 to Turkish culture The FTL scale, whose original language is English, consists of three sub-dimensions: "Acceptance of Learning Technologies", "OpenMindedness in Learning" and "Adaptation to New Learning Situations". During the process, language and field experts conducted mutual translations between English and Turkish to assess the language equivalence of the scale. The original scale was supplied to English teachers to measure the degree of similarity between the original language (English version) and the translated language (Turkish version). After a fifteen-day interval, the same teachers were given the adapted version of the scale. The degree of similarity between the scale's original language and its Turkish translation was calculated. Once the scale's harmony was deemed satisfactory in both languages, a pilot study was conducted to receive feedback and suggestions on the comprehensibility, applicability, and general structure of the scale. After necessary improvements were made, the scale was finalized. The Flexible Thinking in Learning (FTL) scale, which was adapted to Turkish, was applied to 516 volunteer teachers. As per the findings of the analysis, the adapted scale has three sub-dimensions, just like the original scale. The measured structure of the adapted scale was found to be consistent with the original scale's factor structure.

Technology integration is regarded as a crucial and complex endeavour to enhance students' learning and prepare them to participate in a digital society. Although the research landscape on teachers' technology integration is vivid and stimulating, an analytical model which synthesises different strands of research to model antecedents (i.e., teachers' professional competences), processes and outcomes of technology integration in an integrated manner is missing. That said, previous research was often rather product-oriented and ignored potential effects on students' learning processes and their achievement. To fill this gap, in this paper, we outline a preliminary model, the TPTI-model (teachers' professional competence for technology integration), in which we deliberately link different research perspectives on teachers' professional competences, professional vision and students' learning (processes) to model technology integration during teaching. Based on the preliminary TPTI-model, we propose future research directions, which may allow to gain a better understanding of the teacher- and student-related conditions as well as processes of technology integration and their effects on students' learning.

It is well known that a quality teacher education is necessary for qualified education. Teachers must be well-trained in multiple areas and have an open-minded structure. They must develop strategies based on the lesson and students, which needs effective material development and use. The materials to be used could be prepared by others and can be incorporated into the classroom setting or teachers could design and present them to students, which is essential for the quality of instruction. When a teacher creates and effectively employs instructional materials, his/her self-confidence will increase and teaching will be enriched and made easier. Comics is one of those materials enriching classroom. This study seeks to elucidate the perspectives and experiences of teachers who took course "The Use of Comics in Social Studies Education" on generating comics as educational materials. The instructor of the relevant course designed and implemented it for the first time in 2019. This is the first and only course of its kind in Turkey. It is an elective graduate course at Yildiz Technical University Faculty of Education, Istanbul, Turkey. The purpose of the courses is to introduce comics, explain the use of comics as an educational resource, and enhance the professional skills and competencies of teachers and teacher candidates. In this study, teachers who completed the course at the master's level were examined. The study group consisted of twelve social studies teachers who took the course between 2019 and 2022, when it was offered for the first time. As a qualitative study, interviews were utilised to collect the data, then analysed through content analysis. The research revealed that the course "The Use of Comics in Social Studies Education" contributed positively to the academic and professional experiences of teachers. It has been determined that comics, as a medium, had positive effects on the professional experience of the participants, such as increasing student motivation, enabling learning while having fun, facilitating permanent learning, contributing to the development of empathy skills, and encouraging the formation of reading habits.

Creative drama encompasses two primary learning objectives: the internalization of democratic values and the cultivation of advanced communication skills. To foster these attributes in individuals through creative drama education, it is imperative that the educators themselves possess these skills. This research pursues a dual objective: firstly, it delves into the communication skills and democratic attitudes of creative drama educators, considering various influencing factors. Subsequently, it explores the correlation between communication skills and democratic attitudes. The study included 143 creative drama educators from 18 cities in Turkey. Various statistical analyses, including independent samples t-tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis, were employed. The findings reveal that the gender and years of experience of drama educators are not significantly linked to their democratic attitudes or communication skills. However, the faculty that they are graduated from significantly impacts both their communication skills and democratic attitudes. Finally, the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis demonstrates a significant and positive relationship between the communication skills and democratic attitudes of creative drama educators.

This study aimed to determine the experiences of gifted children with autism spectrum disorder, their parents, and teachers with the COVID-19 pandemic and holistically reveal the reflections of the restrictions in this process and the transition to distance education on the lives and especially the education of gifted children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study was designed with a phenomenological research design, one of the qualitative research methods. The study participants were gifted children with ASD, aged between 6-14 and continuing their education through inclusion, their parents and teachers. The research data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed in detail by interpretive phenomenological analysis. As a result of the data analysis, two themes, "The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life" and "Distance education and its impacts in the COVID-19 process", and 12 categories were reached. Recommendations were presented in line with the study findings and the literature.

Considering the vital role of college teachers' teaching engagement in guaranteeing the quality of higher education, this study aimed to reveal the behavioral mechanism of Chinese college teachers' teaching engagement through qualitative study based on the grounded theory. It is found that the behavior of Chinese college teachers' teaching engagement is the result of the corresponding intention, which is affected by the three factors of the teaching engagement values, the perceived expectations from the significant others, and the professional knowledge and ability to teach through different ways of interaction. According to the findings, the teaching engagement of college teachers needs to be promoted from three paths: improve teachers' satisfaction of values demands in teaching engagement, reform policy regimes to create a cultural atmosphere that emphasizes teaching engagement, and enhance teachers' professional knowledge and ability of teaching.

Teacher-family partnerships are crucial elements of high-quality early childhood education. The factors influencing these partnerships, particularly for children under age 3, are not well known. This study compares teachers' and mothers' perspectives on their partnership and the ideal practices they would like to see implemented. Additionally, it investigates child, family, and program-level factors predictive of partnership practices. Participants were mothers and teachers of 90 infants who completed the Real-Ideal Teacher-parents Partnership Scale; mothers rated child's temperament, and classroom quality was observed 6-months after infants entered childcare. Home environment was assessed before infants entered childcare. Both mothers and teachers reported a medium-high number of practices being implemented, but ideally, would like more practices to be implemented. The frequency of mother and teacher reports of real and ideal practices were significantly associated, although teacher reports were higher. Findings from the regression analyses showed that teacher level of education (having a Master) was uniquely and positively associated with both teachers' and mothers' reports of real partnership practices, and was significantly associated with teachers' reports of ideal partnership practices. Mothers' education level predicted their ideal partnership practices. Findings highlight the importance of teacher education for partnerships, especially considering the variability in legal requirements regarding qualifications for teaching infants across Europe.

This article compares the attitudes of teachers located in Spain and the United Kingdom toward the integration of LGBTIQ+ issues in their teaching, reflects on teacher training and proposes recommendations to improve teacher education. Drawing on data gathered from 447 teachers located in both countries, the study reveals that the participants agree that their lessons would benefit from integrating LGBTIQ+ topics. However, the results show that pre-service teachers are more favorable than in-service teachers, and teachers in Spain are more positive than their counterparts in the United Kingdom. The article seeks to encourage the development of specific LGBTIQ+ -related teacher training.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are incredibly valuable to the world as innovations can help improve infrastructure and save lives. The United States has called for improvements in mentoring to help build a larger STEM workforce. Many studies and reports have focused on the experience of mentees within communities of practice (COP) to determine mentoring best practices. But few studies have investigated how mentors define their role within the COP. In this study, we provide data from interviews with mentors in a Research Experience for Undergraduate program and a Research Experience for Teachers program. We compare the views of mentors who work with undergraduates to those who work with teachers to highlight the differing views of these two groups and how this affects the type of mentoring provided. Our findings show that mentors struggle to see their role in the RET program since there is not a direct link between mentoring teachers and building the STEM workforce. This is problematic as teachers could be crucial allies in this endeavor.

Purpose: In light of a need for more critical education about datafication, this paper aims to develop a framework for critical datafication literacy that is grounded in theoretical and empirical research. The framework draws upon existing critical data literacies, an in-depth analysis of three well-established educational approaches - media literacy, the German "(politische) Bildung" and Freirean "critical pedagogy" - and empirical analyses of online educational resources about datafication. Design/methodology/approach: The study interconnects theoretical analyses with an empirical mixed methods investigation that includes expert interviews with creators of online educational resources about datafication and a qualitative survey with educators interested in teaching about data technologies. Findings: The research identified novel findings on the goals of resource creators and educators, such as a focus on empowering and emancipatory approaches, fostering systemic understanding of datafication and encouraging collective action. Such perspectives are rare in existing critical data literacy conceptualisations but show resemblance to traditional education scholarship. This highlights how much can be learnt from practitioners and from these more established educational approaches. Based on these findings, a framework for critical datafication literacy is suggested that aims for systemic understanding of datafication, encouraging critical thinking and enabling learners to make enlightened choices and take different forms of action. Originality/value: The study is unique in its interconnection of theoretical and empirical research, and it advances previous research by suggesting a grounded framework for critical datafication literacy.

Although teachers make frequent decisions about whether and how to address difficult topics, they typically do so with minimal support. This article reports a case study of an inquiry community of 20 educators who engaged in practitioner inquiry as professional learning for addressing the difficult topics that they teach within their curricula or otherwise encounter within their professional practices. Through an inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 community participants, the article's authors identified four themes characterizing how the inquiry community supported teachers to lean into the difficult topics they believed they needed to address. The community helped teachers define difficult-topics inquiry while connecting them across divergent political and professional perspectives. The community assisted teachers in engaging difficult topics through purposefully structured inquiry talk, and it prompted them to (re)conceptualize difficult-topics teaching as inquiry. The article demonstrates the potential of difficult-topics inquiry communities as professional learning for turbulent times.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a transcript of a dialogue among literacy educators and researchers on the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the field. In the spring of 2023, a lively conversation emerged on the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL)'s listserv. Stephanie initiated the conversation by sharing an op-ed she wrote for "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" about the rise of ChatGPT and similar generative AI platforms, moving beyond the general public's concerns about student cheating and robot takeovers. NCRLL then convened a webinar of eight leading scholars in writing and literacies development, inspired by that listserv conversation and an organizational interest in promoting intergenerational collaboration among literacy scholars. Design/methodology/approach: As former doctoral students of two of the panel participants, webinar facilitators Grace and Victoria positioned themselves primarily as learners about this topic and gathered questions from colleagues, P-16 practitioners and those outside the field of education to assess the concerns and wonderings that ChatGPT and generative AI have raised. The following webinar conversation was recorded on two different days due to scheduling conflicts. It has been merged and edited into one dialogue for coherence and convergence. Findings: Panel participants raise a host of questions and issues that go beyond topics of ethics, morality and basic writing instruction. Furthermore, in dialogue with one another, they describe possibilities for meaningful pedagogy and critical literacy to ensure that generative AI is used for a socially just future for students. While the discussion addressed matters of pedagogy, definitions of literacy and the purpose of (literacy) education, other themes included a critique of capitalism; an interrogation of the systems of power and oppression involved in using generative AI; and the philosophical, ontological, ethical and practical life questions about being human. Originality/value: This paper provides a glimpse into one of the first panel conversations about ChatGPT and generative AI in the field of literacy. Not only are the panel members respected scholars in the field, they are also former doctoral students and advisors of one another, thus positioning all involved as both learners and teachers of this new technology.

Teacher readiness for parental engagement is a vital competence in the context of increased emphasis on engaging parents in K-12 schools. The rise in the standards movement in education led to the inclusion of parental engagement in teacher standards. Here, critical policy analysis of teacher standards shows how teachers' and school leaders' readiness for parental engagement is addressed in Canadian policy documents. Teacher readiness is conceptualized as the ability to establish relationships, support communication, and build partnerships with parents and families. Current policy provisions support teachers' capacity for parental engagement by introducing the asset-based approach to engagement and acknowledging the diversity among parents. Nevertheless, teacher standards fail to distinguish between parental involvement in schooling and parental engagement in education/learning and remain silent on the role of social inequality in parental engagement. Implications for new teacher standards include centering parental engagement on parents and families and tackling inequality in parental engagement.

This article reports on teachers' experience of working during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis is based on a thematic analysis of group interviews with 76 teachers working throughout the Swedish school system, i.e., preschools, primary, secondary school, and municipal adult education. The interviews were conducted during autumn 2021. Conceptualizing teaching and working during the pandemic as a breakdown of infrastructures, the article focuses on how teachers talk about changes in institutional, social, technological, and pedagogical aspects of teaching and learning. The results show that changes in institutional aspects mainly concern teachers' communication with colleagues, custodians, and school leadership. Social and pedagogical aspects are emphasized, while technological aspects are not as prominent in the teachers' accounts. Commonly taken-for-granted aspects are brought to the fore, and their importance for teaching and learning has implications for the new normal and for what is of importance when creating future infrastructures for teaching and learning.

Guided by a participatory culture-specific consultation model, this study contributes to an understanding of the effectiveness of school consultation with teachers of refugee students. The goal of the present study was to determine the impact of an individual consultation intervention with refugee teachers on their self-efficacy and self-care, in addition to their peer consultation skills. The participants were 109 teachers at refugee schools in Malaysia, most of whom were refugees (91% refugees; 73% female). Of the 109 participants, 84 teachers were coconsultants with psychology graduate students; all 109 were individual consultees. The study used a two-timepoint design with the outcomes of self-reported teacher self-care; teacher self-efficacy in the management of refugee student emotion regulation and emotional engagement; and consultation skills. Additionally, consultee-reported goal attainment, consultation effectiveness, and satisfaction were collected. The findings suggested significant latent growth from baseline to post-intervention in refugee teacher self-care and self-efficacy in the management of student emotion regulation and emotional engagement in addition to the growth of their consultation skills. The effect sizes were large for latent growth of teacher self-efficacy in promoting student emotion regulation, behavior, and emotional engagement (d = 1.19, 1.01, 1.02); the effect size for self-care was medium (d = 0.62). Growth was not dependent on dosage, age, gender, or consultee education, with the exception of teacher self-efficacy in management of emotional engagement which was dependent on dosage. After the intervention, the consultees reported that they completed their consultation goals at a higher level than expected, were satisfied with the consultation, and found the consultants to be helpful. The discussion situates the findings in relevant theory, research, and the culture-specific context.

Given the writing struggles of students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) served in general and special education classrooms, it is imperative that teachers provide effective writing instruction. One way to learn effective writing skills is through writing instruction through practice-based professional development that scaffolds instructional methods to teach evidence-based writing strategies. Within this article, a framework is described to develop an effective professional development for general and special education teachers who work with struggling writers with and at risk for EBD.

Compassion fatigue (CF) is increasingly prevalent among educators, affecting teachers across their career stages. CF tends to emerge early but can persist and intensify. While CF symptoms in teachers have been studied, there is a limited understanding of these symptoms across career stages. To address this knowledge gap, network analysis was employed to identify the core symptoms of CF and the connections between them. A national sample of 3816 teachers completed the Chinese version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Core CF symptoms were found to vary by career stage. The early stage centered on feeling "bogged down." CF in the middle stage was typified by a feeling of being "trapped in the job." In the mature stage, the symptoms included feeling "on edge" and "depressed due to teaching trauma." In the late stage, the central symptom was "tiredness and exhaustion." The findings revealed notable CF differences in teachers' career stages. Structural variations, symptom connections, and node strengths offer insights for customized interventions. This study enhances our understanding of changes in CF throughout teachers' careers, which is vital for addressing this issue in education.

The article examines the results of a study of the resilience of teachers, students, and their parents 2 months after the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine. The total number of respondents who took part in the study is 14,556. There are employees of educational institutions (29%), students (22.41%), and parents (48.22%) from all regions of Ukraine among them. A reduced level of resilience of adult research participants (teachers, parents) and higher resilience of young people were revealed. The relationship between resilience and place of residence, forced resettlement, subjective assessment of one's own security, involvement in various forms of education (teaching), as well as gender and age differences in resilience is presented. The results can become the basis for policy development regarding the system of support for teachers, students, and their parents in conditions of traumatic effects.

This article focuses on a Swedish school company and its operations in India, examining how setting up and operating schools in another national place forge particular spatial imaginaries. It contributes to literature on the Global Education Industry by focusing on international moves of commercial non-Anglo-Saxon actors. Drawing on interviews and extensive fieldwork in India, we show how the 'marriage' between the global (represented by the Swedish company) and local (the 'Indian') are manifested in the spatial imaginary of the 'glocal school', encompassing hierarchical otherings rooted in discourses of both globalisation and colonialism.

Many student affairs professionals had impactful experiences as undergraduate students, themselves, and they want to facilitate those same opportunities. They believe their work is meaningful to students' experiences and is also valued by institutions. So if that is what motivates many student affairs professionals, what happens when they begin to believe their work doesn't actually matter? Foundationally, the study considered how the field of student affairs has evolved since its inception, with early student affairs documents demonstrating overt differentiation between student affairs professionals and educators, to the present standing by the profession's leading organizations that student affairs professionals are educators alongside their faculty peers. This was a phenomenological study with 12 participants, each completing three interviews. The three interviews focused on getting to know the participants, understanding their professional identities, and understanding what it means for student affairs professionals to be educators. There was a variety of ideas posited by the participants. Ultimately, on a large scale, the study revealed that the participants did deeply identify as educators on an intrinsic level, with the word "educator" meaning much more than simply a job. However, the study also revealed the participants felt unable to fully embrace and express their identities as educators because the "student affairs educator" is often not accepted as an educator, especially among people outside of student affairs.

Agency is a core pedagogical goal of the maker education movement. However, there are still many unknowns about how agency is identified in maker settings. To document maker educator professional visions of agency, we conducted video-cued interviews with eleven U.S-based maker educators using video clips of families making in a drop-in cardboard-focused museum makerspace. We found that heterogenous professional visions of agency are in use within the maker education field, falling across for distinct themes: agency as "open-endedness," agency as "progressive development," agency as "pursuing-own-ideas," and agency as "authority." Depending on which of these lenses was foregrounded during video-cued reflections, maker educators interpreted the same video-recorded moments as evidence for and against maker agency. Further, these competing visions held different underlying assumptions about power in makerspace interactions. This documentation of heterogeneity indicates the complexity of agency as a maker pedagogical goal, makes a case that researchers should adopt multiple perspectives when conducting video-based microgenetic analyses, and raises questions about how to grapple with and mitigate inequitable power dynamics in makerspaces.

Concerned with European Union (EU) governance of teachers since the mid-2000s, this paper makes an empirical as well as theoretical contribution to education policy studies in the context of EU governance. Drawing on neo-institutional field theory and an empirical material of policy documents and interviews, the paper analyses the consolidation and evolution of a field at the EU level that is focused on the governance of the teaching profession. We argue that this field constitutes a bridging issue field, spanning several policy domains, including education, employment and economy, and characterised by non-linear and relatively slow change. We demonstrate how the field since the mid-2000s has become elaborated via the strategic framing of teacher skills and careers as policy issues, the mobilisation of actors and networks, and an expanding institutional infrastructure of mechanisms and policy instruments. Theoretically, the paper advances the debate on EU governance by highlighting the epistemic gains of neo-institutional field theory in making sense of soft governance contexts and their trajectories as an outcome of the interplay between issue framings, different types of actors, and institutional infrastructure.

It would be unjust to claim that trauma response is a shared and equal responsibility of all educators without also acknowledging that the unequal share of emotional labor currently falls to the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ colleagues. The authors recognize and condemn this dynamic and aim to provide all educators with the awareness and tools to respond to student trauma more effectively, equitably, and empathetically. Trauma-response efforts in education can only be successful and sustainable when educators commit to sharing their experiences, fears, learning, and responsibilities around this work. The authors know that all educators share the common goal of supporting students, but also hold different identities and varying levels of experience, training, and comfort in knowing how to respond when students share difficult things with them. They have practiced and witnessed a wide range of responses to student trauma and know that not all responses are equal. The authors aim to better define their roles and identify their skills as higher education professionals in responding to student trauma. This work is necessary, ongoing, and worthy of reflection and continued learning both as individuals and as a field. The authors hold no illusions about the challenging nature of this work, but can approach it more confidently, capably, and equitably by asking colleagues about their own learnings and experiences and giving themselves grace in practicing these skills.

By virtue of their teaching role and contact with students, health professions (HP) educators are often the first point of connection for students who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Educators are increasingly expected to include some form of pastoral care in their role. Mental health-related interactions with students may have a negative emotional impact on educators, particularly when roles and expectations are not clearly defined and where boundaries are not managed effectively. Using positioning theory as a lens, this study explored how educators experienced such interactions and how this manifested in positions, storylines, and speech acts. Interviews were conducted with 27 HP educators at a faculty of medicine and health sciences. Reflexive thematic analysis using inductive coding identified themes corresponding to the nearing, weighted, ambivalent, and distancing positions participants adopted in relation to students with mental health difficulties. There was fluidity in and between positions, and more than one position could be occupied simultaneously; participants each moved through different positions in response to different relational situations. Multiple storylines informed these positions, representing how moral- and care-informed responsibility intersected with responsiveness to make certain actions possible or impossible. Normative and personal value narratives were evident in storylines, in many cases underscored by care or justice ethics. The value of positioning theory in facilitating reflective faculty development initiatives for educators engaged in these interactions is discussed.

Background: Learner-centered syllabi influence students' perceptions of their instructors; however, studies have not investigated the gender identity of the instructor. Objective: We sought to investigate whether the gender of the instructor and the syllabus design affected students' perceptions of the instructor, course, and memory of the syllabus. Method: Participants were randomly assigned to read either learner- or instructor-centered syllabi for a course taught by a male, female, or gender-neutral instructor. They reported their perceptions of the instructor (i.e., Teacher Behavior Checklist), how they perceived the syllabus (i.e., Syllabus Tone Survey), and their memory of syllabus information. Results: Students who received a learner-centered syllabus perceived the instructor as possessing higher master teacher behaviors, positive tone and remembered more of the course syllabus. Students perceived gender-neutral instructors as more caring, supportive, professional, and communicative compared to male and female instructors. Perceptions of male instructors were the least negative, and female instructors were the least positive. Conclusion: The current study adds to the growing body of research demonstrating that a learner-centered syllabus can positively influence students' perceptions of the instructor. The initial evidence suggests that gender may also have an effect. Teaching Implications: Instructors should consider designing their syllabus using learner-centered principles and be cautious and aware of a potential gender bias.

Collective reflection, which has become a de rigueur activity in teacher training and professional development, is predicated upon Schön's theory of reflective practice. This concept, according to which people learn to be reflective-in-action through reflection on practice, relates primarily to individual and one-on-one mentorship processes. The shift from individual to collective processes has gone largely unstudied and unproblematized. This study of collective teacher reflection in a professional development workshop calls prevailing assumptions into question by bringing an alternative lens, textual trajectories, to bear on this ubiquitous activity to better account for oft-ignored issues of context and identity. Using linguistic ethnographic methods, it traces textual trajectories of key ideas indexed in a collective reflection event. Key findings include the nonlinearity of the reflective process and the centrality of identity-work in collective teacher reflection. This study thus reveals functions of this ritual that belie its ostensible purposes and suggest a rethinking of this practice.

Purpose: Virtual professional learning communities provide digital platforms for teachers across the globe to join learning networks and engage in continuous and unrestricted learning. This study aimed to explore the impact of contextual factors on establishing virtual professional learning communities in Maldivian schools. Design/methodology/approach: This quantitative study used a sample of 420 Maldivian in-service teachers chosen using two-stage cluster sampling and a stratified random sampling method. Findings: The findings revealed that all three contextual factors-- micro-, meso- and macro-contextual - positively and significantly influenced the virtual professional learning communities. Practical implications: These findings recommend an integrated framework with micro-, meso- and macro-contextual factors as valuable instruments for educational leaders striving to establish virtual Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Originality/value: This study is among the first to examine the association of contextual factors of schools with the establishment of virtual PLCs in a country such as the Maldives, with geographically dispersed islands and limited resources.

Improving child behavior and promoting family well-being is a key objective of evidence-based parenting programs, such as the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program. To achieve this goal, parenting programs are delivered using a multidisciplinary workforce. Previous researchers have collectively examined the entire workforce of parenting practitioners to determine the factors that influence program delivery, primarily using self-report measures. However, these findings did not highlight the unique factors relevant to specific practitioner disciplines. Educators are one practitioner discipline that play an integral role in delivering parenting programs through schools and early childhood learning settings. This study aimed at exploring the facilitators and barriers that impact frequency of program use for educator practitioners using both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Data from 404 Triple P educator practitioners were extracted from a larger dataset of 1202 practitioners from English-speaking countries who completed self-report questionnaires and responded to three open-ended questions. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted using eight independent variables (with participant characteristics as control variables), revealing seven positive and one negative predictor for frequency of use. A thematic analysis was then conducted on the qualitative responses, producing 11 themes and 28 subthemes. The quantitative analysis revealed organisational support, perceived usefulness, and practitioner self-regulation were the most important positive predictors. The qualitative analysis supported these findings and revealed novel barriers including Covid-19/work from home, online delivery, parent factors, and specific organisational factors. These findings highlight the need for online resources, reliable virtual delivery methods, improved ways to reach and engage families, and additional trained education practitioners to distribute high workloads.

Restorative practices are gaining traction as alternative approaches to student conflict and harm in schools, potentially surpassing disciplinary methods in effectiveness. In the current article, we contribute to the evolving understanding of restorative practices in schools by examining qualitative responses from educators regarding restorative interventions for online-mediated conflict and harm, including cyberbullying and sexting. Participants include pre-service educators, as well as junior and senior teachers with varying levels of familiarity with restorative practices. Our findings highlight how educators who have implemented these practices largely hold positive perspectives of their effectiveness for resolving cyber conflicts and restoring a positive classroom environment. Educators emphasize the value of meaningful changes in student behaviour and acknowledge the potential of face-to-face mediation in mitigating online harm and promoting digital citizenship, though some educators raise questions about the appropriateness of restorative responses to serious incidents of online-mediated harm. This research offers fresh insights into the challenges and potential of restorative practices in schools, particularly in addressing cyber-based conflicts. We emphasize implementation challenges related to the distinct contexts in which schools operate and the influence of broader societal and systemic factors on the success of restorative practice initiatives.