There is growing awareness of the contribution teachers can make to school leadership, particularly in relation to improvements in curriculum and pedagogy. Teacher leadership offers the potential to engage teachers in bottom-up approaches to school improvement and liberate the professional creativity of teachers. Despite such positioning, clearer…

In this mixed method study, we examined the experience of a sample of international students in four American universities to identify the factors that might enhance their ability in surviving and thriving in a foreign country within the context of university internationalization. The research explored the concepts of cultural values, behaviors,…

Decisions about treatment and options for care at the end stage of an advanced chronic illness are important determinants of the quality of a person's death and of how family members adapt in bereavement. This article describes the steps taken to secure federal funding to study how people make the decision to enroll in hospice. The National…

This study investigates how a two-year continuing professional development (CPD) programme, with an emphasis on teaching about science through inquiry, impacted the experiences of, approaches to and attitudes towards teaching science of 17 primary teachers in Dublin. Data sources included interview, questionnaire and reflective journal strategies.…

This paper explores whether teachers' habits and assumptions about their practice can be enhanced by continued professional development through nurturing self-awareness of lived experiences. Within the paper a practical understanding of critical reflection as a process is explored and particular attention is given to Moon's assertion that one…

In the United States a majority of the students who enroll in community colleges require a review of secondary math before they are eligible for college level mathematics. In the pre-algebra course, that has a high drop-out rate, the most difficult topic for students is fractions. In order to better understand the fraction concept, Kieren…

Women Reading for Education, Affinity & Development (WREAD), a reading discussion group geared toward African American female adult-literacy students with self-defined histories of trauma, was an outgrowth of research identifying links between trauma, women's struggles with literacy, and the need to be conscious of emotional health…

Successive governments in England have regarded classroom observation as an essential tool for monitoring and improving teacher performance. Despite its importance in national policy for teacher development, the impact of classroom observation on individual teachers, and on improving quality and standards in teaching and learning, remain…

Limited research is devoted to the transitional process of adult students to the traditional university environment. Considering the incredible numbers of adults projected to return to higher education and/or entering a college or university program for the first time, it behooves institutions of higher learning to invest in the success of adult…

To date, little attention has been placed on older men (aged 50+ years) as learners, with much of the literature on adult learning concerned with younger age-groups and issues around gender equity directed mainly at women. This article examines the impact of community-based men's sheds on informal and nonformal learning by older men in Ireland. It…

Research concerning professional development and its contribution to the formation of professional identity is prevalent in both general and music education. However, its implications for music educators in the context of graduate programs for music education are seldom discussed. This mixed-methods case study examined experienced music teachers'…

The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is a two-year senior school certificate available to secondary students in Victoria, Australia, and has been operational for almost a decade. It is delivered by secondary schools and further education providers. In 2010, two programmes from each of these providers were reviewed and considered in…

Purpose: The aim of this article is to provide evidence on the consequences of the privatization process in Brandenburg with a focus on the agricultural advisors' situation. Before the background of future European Union (EU) expectations on Farm Advisory Systems (FAS), their capacities and competences to respond to such challenges are discussed.…

This mixed-methods research study explores the potential relationship between the teacher self-efficacy and pedagogical conceptual change. The study context was a drama-based instruction professional development model that specifically sought to facilitate pedagogical conceptual change. Significant differences were present between elementary and…

The paper explores accordance or discordance between efficacy beliefs of adult students and their writing performance, using a mixed methods design. The participants are 33 students with learning disabilities (LD) and 35 low-achieving (LA) students, who were attending two Second-Chance Schools (SCSs), a specific type of adult education.…