In teaching science today, the emphasis is on inquiry-based pedagogies, with the expectation that students in the science classroom will be exposed to the theories and practices of scientists in the science community. However, for many science teachers, implementing inquiry in the classroom is a daunting task. In the traditional classroom setting,…

This article reports on findings from a qualitative research project (Overton, 2006) that highlighted a lack of empowerment experienced by, with and for eight early childhood teachers working in Tasmanian schools. The study investigated how change affects teachers, and focused on the theme of power as experienced by these teachers. The study noted…

Undergraduate college "science partners" provided content knowledge and a supportive atmosphere for K-5 teachers in a university-school professional development partnership program in science instruction. The Elementary Science Education Partners program, a Local Systemic Change initiative supported by the National Science Foundation,…

Research on team-based schools suggests the importance of teacher empowerment as a factor in the school revitalization and reform equation and as a critical element in redefining schools as collaborative workplaces. In this study, the authors inquire into potential associations between teamwork skills and teacher team empowerment. Research…

Modern primary teachers must adapt literacy programmes and ensure efficient learning for all. They must also support children with language and literacy difficulties, children learning English as an additional language and possibly teach a modern foreign language. To do this effectively, they need to understand the applied linguistics research…

This study examines the effects of four team-based structures on the organizational commitment of elementary teachers in an urban school district. The study model focuses on organizational commitment and includes three intervening, endogenous variables: teacher empowerment, school communication, and work autonomy. Team teaching had both direct and…

Between 1994 and 2002, Guinea implemented an ambitious program designed to enable teams of primary school teachers to become full partners in the mobilization of the educational system by initiating and carrying out their own professional development and school improvement projects. Known by its French acronym PPSE, this program was not originally…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher autonomy and on-the-job stress, work satisfaction, empowerment, and professionalism. Using a reliable and valid measure of curriculum autonomy and general teaching autonomy (TAS), it was found that as curriculum autonomy increased on-the-job stress decreased, but there was…

Purpose: The educational literature reflects the widely shared belief that participative leadership has an overwhelming advantage over the contrasting style of directive leadership in organizational and team effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effect of a directive leadership approach as compared with a…

Purpose: To investigate relationships between teacher empowerment and interpersonal level trust in the principal. Design/methodology/approach: Trust is a fundamental element in well-functioning organizations. Studies of empowerment, a motivational construct, have suggested that empowering employees is a key factor in managerial and organizational…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if there were commonalities in the approaches of 10 elementary school principals in the state of Florida identified as "success stories" in leading reading improvement in their schools in 2002, shortly after enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act at the national level and the Just…

Professional development in education has recently undergone rapid change. A few years ago, most teachers did not have a voice in the types of sessions they attended or the opportunity to connect what they learned to their classrooms. Most sessions were at an awareness level only with no follow-up. All that has changed. The move toward greater…

Student teaching may require student teachers to address the demands of two masters that often have very different expectations and philosophies. They are caught in a bind of being expected to implement methods advocated in university coursework while also being expected to fit into the classroom to which they are assigned. This bind is further…

Collective teacher efficacy refers to teacher perceptions that they constitute an effective instructional team, capable of bringing about learning in students. Previous research demonstrates that a school staff with a strong sense of collective efficacy is likely to generate high student achievement. This study of 2,170 teachers in 141 elementary…

This volume contains papers submitted to the 11th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 14-17 May 2013, and papers submitted to the 1st International Distance Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre "Scientific Cooperation,"…