This dissertation aims to center the experiences of first-year writing educators in one program with a shared curriculum. Guided by social theories of learning and scholarship and practices in writing studies and writing program administration, I conducted qualitative surveys and interviews with teaching-focused faculty and graduate teaching…

Recent circumstances (e.g., COVID-19, socio-political tensions) exacerbate persistent teacher shortages, reinforcing the need to attend to factors associated with teacher retention. In this multimethod study, we explore outcomes of an online, year-long professional development focused on collaboration and autonomy -- two factors correlated with…

Because of the rapid expansion of computer science (CS) education, educational leaders must consider how to recruit, prepare, and support teachers who typically do not have a background in CS. This study examines two professional development (PD) approaches used to introduce CS education to non-CS teachers. We aim to understand if/how each model…

Drawing on data collected from multiple sources, this qualitative case study investigates how seven English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) academics from a university in mainland China perceive and cope with their professional vulnerability within the system of performativity. Three themes were generated from the data: (1) professional vulnerability…

Significant numbers of studies declare the effectiveness of "active learning" and numerous universities develop programs to support the incorporation of active learning methods, yet despite various incentives, adoption is met with resistance. This work shares the results of a study of instructor perceptions about active learning at a…

In this qualitative study, the researcher analyzed how secondary educators perceived virtual professional development (PD) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Furthermore, the researcher explored educators' viewpoints on mental health and whether there were additional implications as it pertained to in-person PD. When school districts…

Following Self-Determination Theory, scholars theorize that professional well-being is essential for teachers' satisfaction and personal-professional growth. However, teacher professional development programs (TPDPs) primarily focus on promoting student achievement and only partially and indirectly address teachers' professional well-being. The…

Teacher autonomy refers to a teacher's empowerment in the classroom, school, and community, leading to instructional efficacy and professionalism. Despite its proven contribution to pedagogical decision-making, studies reveal that many teachers lack sufficient autonomy mainly owing to institutional constraints. It is suggested that teachers…

In global trends and current curricular policy reforms in second language (L2) education, there is a great emphasis on repositioning of teachers as assessors and teachers' role as responsible agents in assessment. However, various factors affect the agency of teachers as assessors in the classroom. This study explored the ways English as a Foreign…

Teachers' perceptions of long-term career success are largely related to the levels of support they receive early on in their careers. This study on teacher retention and the factors that influence teacher choice to remain in the field after the first five years of employment, examined three schools of varying demographics and socioeconomic status…

Teacher professional development (PD) has been shown to have numerous benefits, such as greater self-efficacy, higher motivation, and enhanced wellbeing (e.g., Kimura, 2014; Polin, 2023; Wang & Chen, 2022), and teaching additional languages is certainly no exception. However, the extent to which teachers are willing and able to engage in PD…

The importance of empowering school participants is increasing day by day. A school with empowered teachers can take more confident steps towards future education. Thus, it is important to determine the empowerment level of teachers as an important stakeholder of the school. The main purpose of this research is to adopt a measurement tool…

This article presents the results of a mixed-methods study that examined how state policy requiring the use of high-stakes teacher performance assessments (TPAs) affected candidates enrolled in urban teacher preparation programs in the Midwest. The data reveal that despite institutional pass rates above the national average, the edTPA process…

In the field of TESOL, teacher guides are widely used resources providing instructional support and guidance to English language teachers. Drawing upon Vygotskian sociocultural theory, this research explored how novice language teachers perceive the mediational roles of these artifacts in shaping their teaching practices and the affordances and…

This mixed methods study explored administrators' self-efficacy (SE) as school leaders (n=14) and influences promoting their willingness to continue, in spite of obstacles, and tested the usefulness of a new model to facilitate trustees and superiors in supporting administrators and building administrators' professional and personal agency.…