Why does some professional development fall flat, while others resonate with teachers and make a real difference? How can professional learning be made better and lead to lasting changes in teacher practice? Schools and districts can get more out of their investment in professional learning for teachers (and principals) by creating PD systems,…

Communities serve as a vital resource for educators seeking ideas to advance their practice. Online professional development capitalizes on technological communication to facilitate such sharing.

The Academy of Information Technology and Robotics (AITR) in the Volusia County (Florida) Schools district is leading students to stronger academic gains and better preparation for college and career. AITR is a beefed-up version of the career academy model that began in Philadelphia in 1969. The strengths of AITR exemplify the features of career…

Research into teachers' epistemic cognition is emerging as a key to understanding the quality of teachers' knowledge for teaching. Typically, investigations into the quality of teachers' knowledge have been situated within traditional subject areas, such as science or maths. However, developing good quality teacher knowledge about improving…

In this paper, we argue that in order to get a fuller understanding of the complexity of conflict in democratic pedagogies in online and blended learning settings, it is important to know not only how to manage or resolve it, but also how it is triggered and can be avoided. The emancipatory nature of democratic pedagogies fosters differences, and…

Taking the distinction between the Institution of Apprenticeship, that is, the social partnership arrangements which underpin its organisation, and Apprenticeship as a Social Model of Learning, in other words, the configuration of pedagogic and occupational etc. dimensions which constitute the model, as its starting point the paper: (i) argues the…

Purpose: This paper explores the concept of peer-to-peer learning (P2PL) in the context of North-European small-scale forest owners. The aim is to develop a framework for initiating new and evaluating already existing forest owners' P2PL communities. Design: Previous studies of peer-learning are used to determine and justify eight dimensions for…

This study examined how self-efficacy and motivation affected student persistence at an urban community college. Self-efficacy was studied at two dimensions: self-regulated learning efficacy and self-efficacy for academic achievement. Motivation was also investigated at two levels: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Results show that…

The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program at the University of Minnesota is a primary academic support program for historically difficult, introductory college courses that serve as gatekeepers to academic degree programs. Based upon operating principles of other academic support programs and educational theories, PAL is integrated into the courses…

Renaissance School is part of a network of Expeditionary Learning (EL) schools that was borne of a collaboration between the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Outward Bound, USA. The EL model is centered on the Outward Bound ethic of having youth work together to achieve a task. EL schools take an approach to teaching and learning that…

It is important for leadership teams and faculty members in higher education to create an atmosphere of trust as new and improved ideas are addressed in a professional learning community setting. Prior to the past ten years, many faculty members at the university have been accustomed to working somewhat independently in their own discipline.…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2011a; 2011b), the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report revealed that African American and Hispanic students with disabilities continue to score well below their White and non-disabled counterparts in all areas tested and across all grade levels. Researchers…

Civic competence is critical to the successful functioning of pluralistic democracies. Developing the knowledge, skills, and motivations for effective democratic participation is a national and global imperative that many higher education institutions have embraced through the teaching strategies of community-based learning and service-learning.…

This article reports upon a Portuguese pedagogical model, where children engage with the teacher in planning and assessment during routine activities like "Council Meetings", "Communication Time," and using specific tools such as an "Activities Chart" and a "Diary." The article questions how these processes generate a community of practice in…

This is an educational ethnography of collective informal learning and education in social movements based on five years of participant observation among Boston's New Majority from 2003-2009. The New Majority is a "movement of movements" and an organization of People of Color in Boston that seek to address an egregious obstacle to…