Teacher Learning in Changing Contexts

Teacher Learning in Changing Contexts

Author: Alison Castro Superfine

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-09-13

Total Pages: 311

ISBN-13: 1000638421

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New to the Routledge Advances in Learning Sciences series, this book highlights diverse approaches taken by researchers in the Learning Sciences to support teacher learning. It features international perspectives from world class researchers that exemplify new lenses on the work of teaching, encompassing new objects of learning, methods and tools; new ways of working with researchers and peers; and new efforts to work with the systems in which teachers are embedded. Together, the chapters in this volume reflect a new frontier of research on teacher learning that leverages diversity in the content, contexts, objects of inquiry, and tools for supporting shifts in instructional practice. Divided into three sections, chapters question: What new pedagogies and knowledge do teachers need to facilitate student learning in the 21st century? How do learning sciences’ tools, strategies, and experiences provide opportunities for them to learn these? What role do teachers play as co-designers of educational innovations? What unique affordances does co-design afford for teacher learning? What do teachers learn through engaging in co-design? How do teachers work and learn as part of interdisciplinary teams within educational systems? What might it look like to design for teacher learning in these broader organizational systems? Uniquely highlighting how cycles of reflection and co-design can serve as important mechanisms to support teacher learning, this invaluable book lays the groundwork for sustained teacher learning and instructional improvement.


Revisiting The Chinese Learner

Revisiting The Chinese Learner

Author: Carol K.K. Chan

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-03-10

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 904813840X

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It is seventeen years since I first formulated ‘The paradox of the Chinese learner’ in a conference in Kathmandu, Nepal. My original formulation of the paradox was that westerners saw Chinese students as rote learning massive amounts of information in fierce exam-dominated classrooms – yet in international comparisons, students in the Confucian heritage cla- rooms greatly outperformed western students learning in ‘progressive’ western classrooms. This seeming paradox raised all sorts of questions to which many others have contributed important answers, especially that by Ference Marton on how Chinese learners construed the roles of memory and understanding in ways that were foreign to typical western educators. Much of this work was brought together in The Chinese Learner (1996), edited by David Watkins and myself. That work raised more questions still, especially about educational contexts, beliefs and practices, which were investigated in contributions to Teaching the Chinese Learner (2001). And now we have Revisiting the Chinese Learner, which is a very timely collection of excellent contributions that take into account the many changes that have taken place since 2001, changes such as: 1. The globalisation of education especially through educational technology, and enormous socio-economic changes, especially in China itself. 2. Changes in educational policy, aims, curriculum and organi- tion, and decentralisation of educational decision-making in many Confucian heritage cultures. 3.


Science Teachers' Learning

Science Teachers' Learning

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-01-15

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0309380189

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Currently, many states are adopting the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or are revising their own state standards in ways that reflect the NGSS. For students and schools, the implementation of any science standards rests with teachers. For those teachers, an evolving understanding about how best to teach science represents a significant transition in the way science is currently taught in most classrooms and it will require most science teachers to change how they teach. That change will require learning opportunities for teachers that reinforce and expand their knowledge of the major ideas and concepts in science, their familiarity with a range of instructional strategies, and the skills to implement those strategies in the classroom. Providing these kinds of learning opportunities in turn will require profound changes to current approaches to supporting teachers' learning across their careers, from their initial training to continuing professional development. A teacher's capability to improve students' scientific understanding is heavily influenced by the school and district in which they work, the community in which the school is located, and the larger professional communities to which they belong. Science Teachers' Learning provides guidance for schools and districts on how best to support teachers' learning and how to implement successful programs for professional development. This report makes actionable recommendations for science teachers' learning that take a broad view of what is known about science education, how and when teachers learn, and education policies that directly and indirectly shape what teachers are able to learn and teach. The challenge of developing the expertise teachers need to implement the NGSS presents an opportunity to rethink professional learning for science teachers. Science Teachers' Learning will be a valuable resource for classrooms, departments, schools, districts, and professional organizations as they move to new ways to teach science.


Professional Learning in Changing Contexts

Professional Learning in Changing Contexts

Author: Tara Fenwick

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-08

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 113491394X

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The knowledge and decisions of professionals influence all facets of modern life, a fact reflected by the increasing and distinct emphasis on public accountability for what professionals know and do. The nature of this accountability has been fundamentally transformed in response to a changing context of market pressures, network arrangements, declining discretion and public trust, and public managerialism. To tackle these challenges, an important body of research has emerged which concentrates on the material elements and processes of professional learning, and considers how these affect wider society. This volume presents specific pressures on professionals’ learning in different occupational contexts ranging from public school teaching to medicine and creative industry. These pressures are wrought by changing regulatory frameworks, changing modes of organising, changing demands and changing knowledge authorities in professional practice. The authors stress the importance of understanding these relations as sociomaterial webs through which the important moments of professional action and decisions emerge. This approach moves us beyond accepting ‘learning’ as an identifiable, individualist phenomenon by emphasising the multiplicities around professional practice ‘standards’ and ‘quality’, workarounds, responsibility, agency, and knowledge practices. As the chapters here demonstrate, sociomaterial perspectives raise new questions and methodologies that can highlight what is often invisible in the sometimes messy dynamics of professional learning, and point to new ways of promoting and supporting professional education. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Education and Work.


Understanding Language Classroom Contexts

Understanding Language Classroom Contexts

Author: Martin Wedell

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2013-04-11

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1441102450

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Arguably the whole point of education is to effect change in what people know and are able to do. Globalization has contributed to a common perception worldwide of the need to introduce changes to the teaching and learning of languages. The success of many attempts to do so has been limited by insufficient consideration of implementation contexts. Understanding Language Classroom Contexts explores and illustrates how what happens in any (language) classroom is influenced by (and can be an influence on) the contexts in which it is situated. A clear understanding of these influences is thus the starting point for planning effective change. The book considers many visible and invisible features of the multiple layers of any context, and provides a framework for understanding the types of factors that may influence whether changes (planned by a teacher or externally initiated) are likely to be successful. The book will help teachers (and educational managers or change planners outside the classroom) to understand why their classrooms are as they are and so to make informed decisions about what can or cannot (or not easily) be changed, and suggests how any changes might be appropriately managed.


Transforming Teaching and Learning Through Data-Driven Decision Making

Transforming Teaching and Learning Through Data-Driven Decision Making

Author: Ellen B. Mandinach

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2012-04-10

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1412982049

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"Gathering data and using it to inform instruction is a requirement for many schools, yet educators are not necessarily formally trained in how to do it. This book helps bridge the gap between classroom practice and the principles of educational psychology. Teachers will find cutting-edge advances in research and theory on human learning and teaching in an easily understood and transferable format. The text's integrated model shows teachers, school leaders, and district administrators how to establish a data culture and transform quantitative and qualitative data into actionable knowledge based on: assessment; statistics; instructional and differentiated psychology; classroom management."--Publisher's description.


Developing Teachers and Developing Schools in Changing Contexts

Developing Teachers and Developing Schools in Changing Contexts

Author: Zijian Li

Publisher: Chinese University Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 9789629963774

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More than ever, schools are regarded as a learning community in which its leaders, and therefore the school's primary agents of change, are expected to stay abreast of the latest developments in education and instruction. This book provides important insights for improving professional development activities, school-university partnerships and networks, educational management, as well as teaching and learning in schools and colleges. It builds on research conducted in the 1990s, during which the pursuit of school improvement and skill development first converged.


Education in Bhutan

Education in Bhutan

Author: Matthew J. Schuelka

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-09-16

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9811016496

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Bhutan is a country in the Himalayas with a relatively new education system and a unique governmental philosophy known as Gross National Happiness. This book explores the history, culture, challenges, and opportunities of schooling in Bhutan. It discusses topics including historical perspectives on Buddhist monastic education, the regional and international influence on educational development, traditional medical education, higher education, and the evolution of Bhutanese educational policy, to name but a few. It also investigates contemporary challenges to schooling in Bhutan such as adult education, inclusive education, early childhood education, rurality, and gender. Throughout the book, the developmental philosophy of Gross National Happiness is explored as a novel and culturally vital approach to education in Bhutan. The majority of the authors are prominent Bhutanese scholars and educational leaders, with select non-Bhutanese international scholars with strong links to Bhutan also contributing. This book is a valuable resource not only for those specifically interested in education in Bhutan, but for anyone with an interest in South Asian studies, general Asian studies, educational development, comparative education, Buddhist education, and the Gross National Happiness development philosophy.


Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Contexts

Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Contexts

Author: Linda Tsung

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2010-11-11

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0826424481

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Although there is an extensive literature on the teaching of English as a Second or Other Language, there is very little published research on the teaching or learning of Chinese in similar contexts. This book is the first to bring together research into the teaching and learning of Chinese as a foreign language to non-native speakers, as a second language to minority groups and as a heritage/community language in the diaspora.The volume showcases the contribution of researchers working in such areas as language teaching and learning, policy development, language assessment, language development, bilingualism, all within the context of Chinese as a Second or Other Language. This is an exciting extension of teaching research beyond the traditional TESOL field and with be of interest to researchers and practitioners working in applied linguistics and Chinese language education worldwide.


Contexts of Teaching

Contexts of Teaching

Author: Jesus Garcia

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13:

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This unique new book enters into the middle and high school teaching methods market with an intimate, first-person approach, and an emphasis on reflective teaching. Reader, biography, teaching philosophy, and portfolio activities make this a practical book rich in applications. Teaching is portrayed as a process of ongoing learning, growth and development—and a strong emphasis is placed on multiculturalism and diversity. While most books tend to take a more traditional, skills-based approach, Contexts of Teaching presents teaching methods from a constructivist, inquiry perspective consistent with current educational trends. Chapter topics include Knowing Middle and High School Students, Rethinking Classroom Management, considering Curriculum, planning instruction, Selecting Instructional Materials, Teaching with Technology, Implementing Instruction: Strategies and Methods, Assessing Student Learning, Understanding the Role of Community, Making a Difference in Today's Classrooms, and Reflecting for Professional Renewal. For teachers of middle and high school students.