Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the driving factors for staff cohesiveness in the workplace and how they are related to workplace learning and development opportunities. Two research questions guided the inquiry: (1) What are the driving factors for staff cohesiveness in the workplace? and (2) How does staff cohesiveness…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-associative study was to measure if or to what extent there was a relationship between factors of school culture and teacher work engagement for elementary school teachers in public school districts in Arizona. The overarching research question was, if and to what extent does a relationship exist…

The courageous community the Divergent Research Team began as a result of their involvement with the Initiative for Literacy in a Digital Age. They are individuals dedicated to teacher excellence who have strong ties to the National Council of Teachers of English and the National Writing Project. They are also scholars who share their humanity in…

The teaching-research nexus is omnipresent in academic professional life. How it is articulated depends on specific situations, contexts, and academic hierarchies. Initiatives to change the nexus in Dutch research universities are now informing European policy processes, but how academics in different positions play it out and deal with various…

The purpose of this action research study was to investigate the perceived status of adjunct faculty and improve their sense of belonging and organizational inclusion in a community college English department. Adjunct faculty are the majority in public two-year campuses, yet they are not fully included in college activities or organizational…

In an attempt to create a rationale for Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), schools have dedicated time to improve teacher collaboration. It is shown that time in PLCs can be reflective, collaborative, and overall inclusive with learning being a top priority among teachers. PLC groups are intended to enhance student teaching and improve…

Early-career secondary school music teachers navigate many challenges as they settle into the profession. These include consolidating their knowledge of subject content, gaining classroom confidence and honing skills in classroom management. In addition, their sense of belonging can be enhanced by working at collegial relationships within their…

We view the school principal as a school-wide community organizer who is central in actuating collective teacher efficacy. The purpose of the present study was to explore the attitudes, practices, and behaviors of principals who develop collective teacher efficacy. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews of 24 principals. The data…

The Women Writing Women Collective was a collegial and collaborative response to the isolation that is often experienced by women scholars as they pursue their academic careers. For 5 years, a group of women gathered on a monthly basis to share their writing. In doing so, the group members provided a sounding board for each other as they engaged…

For many years people have discussed the research-to-practice gap in education. Recently, increased attention has been devoted to creating opportunities for practitioners and researchers to engage in highly collaborative partnerships from design to implementation to dissemination (e.g., Institute for Education Sciences, 2016). In this article, we…

Based on a two-year self-study by a group of early-career scholars of color, we explore and purposefully name our role, within the contemporary context of neoliberal reform, as educational researchers of color who are former K-12 teachers. We capture the insights that emerged from our self-study through a close reading of dominant neoliberal…

Leadership and school culture are two factors that have a great impact in schools today. Much research has focused on leaders, but more is needed on the culture of schools. Improving both elements of leadership and school culture may also increase other challenges that schools face such as student achievement. The purpose of this study was to…

This article presents developmentally appropriate applications of Motivational Interviewing (MI; Miller & Rollnick, 2002) for use in preparing group members for the working stages of group. Practical strategies are offered for using MI to facilitate an atmosphere of trust, recognize member readiness for change, identify and resolve members'…

If faculty are dissatisfied with their work, colleges and universities can experience educational and organizational repercussions that include contentious departmental climates and stagnant work productivity. Researchers have studied the workplace satisfaction of faculty during three traditional career stages: the tenure-track, middle-career, and…

Collective efficacy reveals how well group members relate to one another while working toward common goals. It also reveals group resilience and the willingness of group members to continue working through difficult situations. The purpose of this study is to explore collective efficacy at the classroom level, using Vygotsky's view of individual…