As universities are undergoing transformations produced by trends towards marketisation, massification, new public management, and 'third mission' of socio-economic impact, higher education (HE) researchers are increasingly concerned with the implications of the HE sector change on academic practice, professional identities, and even wellbeing.…

In "Applied Research for Sustainable Change," Sharon M. Ravitch and Nicole Mittenfelner Carl draw on twenty years of teaching and research to offer an incisive guide to practitioner-led qualitative research. They make the case for "local knowledge generation"--inquiry-based, school-level research that can contextualize…

Teachers' work together with the education systems has experienced many changes in most of the western countries since 1980s. England has played a leading role in the application of educational reforms which has been accelerated in recent years. This article aims to analyse the changes in teachers' work and professionalism in England based on…

During reforms, principals often experience ambiguity, contradicting demands, and lack of information. As critical change agents and system players, principals interpret reform demands and translate them into school practices through a process of sense-making. The current qualitative research explored 59 elementary school principals' sense-making…

Background: Educational changes often face resistance as lecturers tend to stand by familiar methods of instruction. This reluctance presents a challenge for programme coordinators who wish to introduce other methods, such as flipped classrooms, and seek to motivate lecturers to embrace educational change. Research into lecturers' motivational…

Background: The article concerns the tensions that can arise during demanding external, and consequential internal changes and considers how educational leadership is able to respond to them. Leadership is here understood as a collaborative endeavour, producing shared sense-making in situations of tension. Purpose: The main research question was:…

This study presents how beginning teachers create and teach an English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum in urban schools in the context of an educational reform movement driven by mandates such as Common Core State Standards (CCSS), high stakes tests, and prescribed curricula. They serve in schools with each using unique and individual curricula due…

Background/Context: Most research on "elite" schools has focused on the private sector. However, as a result of economic residential segregation, a number of public school districts exist which may plausibly be construed as socioeconomically elite. Districts of this sort remain relatively understudied. In particular, few researchers have…

As a response to accountability and pressure from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, the South Dakota Department of Education informed school administrators of a state-wide transformation of the way districts measure teacher effectiveness in their schools. In 2011, "The Framework for Teaching Evaluation Instrument" (Danielson, 2002)…

The music industry in the 21 century uses digital technology in a wide range of applications including in performance, in composition and in recording and publishing. In this article, I consider how the impact of digital technologies may be affecting pedagogical processes adopted by secondary music teachers, particularly in the area of…

This study investigates teachers' beliefs relating to grammar teaching in modern foreign language (MFL) learning in England. Focus on grammatical form has been consistently supported by linguistic research and teacher practice, and has progressively been reinstated in England's National Curriculum. However, MFL learning assessment in England has…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a preliminary model of instructional leadership in the Chinese educational context and explore the ways in which Chinese school principals locate their instructional-leadership practices in response to traditional expectations and the requirements of recent reforms. Design/methodology/approach:…

This study examines the effects of schools' implementation of a new system for testing on student reading. Data on seven Norwegian primary schools were obtained through participant journals and interviews conducted throughout a period of five years. The analyses draw upon Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, especially the framework for expansive…

The implementation of educational reforms requires behavioral changes from the teachers involved. Theories on successful behavioral change prescribe the following conditions: teachers need to possess the necessary knowledge and skills, form strong positive intentions to perform the new behavior, and have a supporting environment for change.…

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify how PLCs influence the high school English teachers' practice in response to key instructional shifts within teaching standards in the Southwest United States. Legislation from the last two decades puts expectations in place that raise the bar for American students and their teachers…