Higher-order thinking and metacognition are closely related and are part of learning to develop competence. The goal of this research was to determine the practice of teaching biology that develops metacognition and evaluate whether teachers require specific professional training for this purpose or if broader cognitive-focused training can also…

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in several challenges for students and teachers in the United States. The introduction of virtual instruction was a challenge for many, especially teachers. As many educators attempted to determine how to best support their students and teachers, the latter looked for ways to create lessons and connect with students…

A highly distinctive and structured approach to teacher development, Lesson Study emerged in Japan but has since been adopted much more widely and now sees growing interest in the UK. Tony McConnell, Davinia Daley, Rebecca Levy, Lisa Waddell and Richard Waddington describe the process by which their school first investigated and then adopted…

This guidebook is designed to improve instructional supervisory skills of school leaders, teaching practices of teachers, and, eventually, learners' learning outcomes. With the goal of establishing Communities of Practice in schools, this guidebook will surely be a stepping stone towards improving the quality of education in the Philippines. [This…

It is characteristic that besides other duties teacher competence management and development is becoming a part of school responsibilities. Still, school leaders lack the experience and instruments to accomplish these duties. From a teacher's perspective competence management and development can be seen as the process of identification and…

According to the Michigan Department of Education, between 2011 and 2017, the number of multilingual learners (MLs) enrolled in K-12 schools in the state increased by more than 50%. In 2017, the average teacher to ML ratio in the state was an alarmingly low 1:168. To increase the number of teachers prepared to effectively serve MLs, we developed…

Teacher collaboration, and teacher professional development within this context, has become an area of interest in recent years. In particular, teacher education has seen the rise of collaboration as an effective school-based professional development activity, where in-service teachers plan, observe and reflect on lessons together. The most common…

In classrooms, students engage in argumentation through justifying and generalizing. However, these activities can be difficult for teachers to conceptualize and therefore promote in their classrooms. In this article, we present the Student Discourse Observation Tool (SDOT) developed to support teachers in noticing and promoting student justifying…

This study investigated how a group of English teachers engaged in collaboration through joint lesson planning in a Chinese school. Drawing on data from interviews and field observation, the findings indicate that the establishment of a teacher collaborative culture is a developmental process permeated with various contextual challenges (i.e., a…

In studies on teacher professional development, the embodiment of teachers' values in professional practice has emerged as an important area of focus. Employing the sociocultural approach, this study discusses the link between teachers' acts and underlying values based on a Vietnamese teacher's detailed field notes on cases of school reform…

Higher education faculty benefit from participating in communities of practice focused on developing and improving their own instruction. However, collaborators with common interests are not always located at the same physical location. In this article, we share how participation in a technology-facilitated lesson study provided the means for five…

This article describes how lesson study creates a process of teacher learning whilst developing student learning through collaborative planning, guided observation and reflection. It presents a framework for conducting lesson study in a teacher development programme in Lower Austria. The role of knowledgeable others in the development of ownership…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are responsible for teaching the majority of biology undergraduate laboratory sections, although many feel underprepared to do so. This study explored the impact of biology GTA participation in a professional development model known as lesson study. Using a case study methodology with multiple qualitative data…

Teaching experience has been identified as an important factor in pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development. However, little is known about "how" experienced teachers may draw on their previous experience to facilitate their PCK development. This study examined how two experienced high school biology teachers approached the…

This quasi-experimental study examined an eighteen-month professional development project focused on improving instructional practices for emerging bilingual and multilingual English learners (ELs). The study is grounded in sociocultural and interactive learning theories related to teaching ELs. Professional development activities included seven…