There are many accomplished school leaders in Australia, but the profession has yet to develop credible systems for recognising their impact. This article provides a progress report on research initiated by professional associations of school principals, to provide school leaders with authentic and feasible methods for documenting their practice…

Client-Focused Research (CFR) offers an approach to teaching research methods that brings classes into a professional environment by working directly with nonprofit or public sector clients. Students work with clients to define the scope of the research project, design the research methodology, create data collection instruments, gather and…

The diffusion of innovation is critical to societal progression. In the field of education, such diffusion takes on added significance because of the many stakeholders and accountabilities involved. This article presents the argument that efforts at diffusion which are designed from a top-down perspective are not sustainable over the long term…

Katharine Burn has a long-standing interest in history teachers' professional learning--not just the ways in which experienced teachers can support beginners, but how teachers at all stages of their career can be encouraged to go developing their practice. In this article, which draws on a number of small-scale research projects, she illustrates…

This article uses data from 65 teachers participating in a K-2 mathematics professional development research project as an example of how to analyze video recordings of teachers' classroom lessons using mixed methods. Through their discussion, the authors demonstrate how using a mixed methods approach to classroom video analysis allows researchers…

Amongst the academic community there has been an increasing acceptance that knowledge and learning is no longer situated solely within academic settings and that workplace settings are also legitimate spaces for reflecting on practice in order to enhance professional capabilities. Learners are uniquely placed to draw on their workplace experiences…

This paper describes a process in which early childhood professionals, who were novice researchers, engaged in their own research projects in collaboration with academics through a practitioner inquiry group. The aim of the project was to introduce the concepts and practices of practitioner enquiry, and learn about, plan and implement a…

This paper is a narrative of two dimensions of professional learning: a personal one following the development of the author's own understanding of professional learning and its impact on practice explored through her research into support staff in schools. It draws on three research projects which examined the role and work of teaching assistants…

Often, for preservice students, teacher education programs consist of a series of disjointed experiences that fail to make a connection with their fieldwork and student teaching. For example, preservice teachers typically read about how to incorporate specific teaching methods, classroom management strategies, and assessment tools into their…

Knowledge gained through research contributes to the ability to provide worthwhile professional development. That knowledge is developed through the cooperation of practitioners, families, and children when researchers ask for their participation in studies. Many teachers have no idea how to be knowledgeable participants in an early childhood…

Being a professional stems not only from external regulatory and eligibility guidelines, but also from an individual's willingness to internalise and apply the values and insight gained during their training. Increasingly, professionals are expected to undertake ongoing education and training that is now seen as an integral component of…

Understanding the research process is a vital part of the undergraduate experience. Conducting research helps students see the value of the scientific process and various research methods, and encourages inquisitiveness about family and consumer sciences (FCS) issues. Research experiences augment students' professional development, increase their…

The common approach to scaling, according to Christopher Dede, a professor of learning technologies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is to jump in and say, "Let's go out and find more money, recruit more participants, hire more people. Let's just keep doing the same thing, bigger and bigger." That, he observes, "tends to…

The surge of high-stakes testing and accountability has been felt in Texas and all across the country. Every state is demanding to some degree or another that administrators and teachers increase their workload, alter their teaching, rearrange the curriculum, adjust professional development, and implement improvement programs in order to raise…

Many teachers and administrators would acknowledge there are areas of concern in their classrooms and schools. Whether termed "problems," "issues," "challenges," or, as Nunan (1994) put it "puzzles," they provide committed professionals with an opportunity to improve the status quo. Action research is one…