The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion concerning adaptations and improvements of preschool teacher education. Such changes are crucial, because many newly qualified preschool teachers struggle to live up to the requirements the profession places upon them. This study is conducted in Sweden, where early childhood education…

This study explores what factors enable or prevent South African educators from carrying out effective mathematics teaching. The objectives are to explore the qualifications and experience of those involved, which skills, tools, and resources they use and what barriers they encounter. A qualitative approach using an interpretivist paradigm with…

This basic qualitative research study examined teacher perceptions of characteristics of effective instructional leadership. The purpose of the study was to determine what instructional leadership styles teachers identified as having the most impact on improving their own instructional skills. Previous research on instructional leadership has…

This study aimed at investigating the acquisition degree of the 21st-century skills of mathematics teachers from the perspective of school principals. The study sample consisted of 75 school principals. They were selected randomly among the public schools. The study instrument consisted of four questionnaires, namely: personal skills,…

Many instructional leaders--superintendents, assistant superintendents, curriculum coordinators, principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches--forget how hard it is to teach. The real-life experience of teaching, with its day-to-day intensity, fades a little bit each month one is not in the classroom. There is, however, a way that…

We examine the dynamic nature of teacher skill development using panel data on principals' subjective performance ratings of teachers. Past research on teacher productivity improvement has focused primarily on one important but narrow measure of performance: teachers' value-added to student achievement on standardized tests. Unlike value-added,…

Instructional leadership can be explained as an educational leadership approach whereby the school principal engages in a wide range of activities aiming to improve teaching and learning for all students. A recent meta-analysis found that female principals engaged in more active instructional leadership than male counterparts. The current…

The present study focuses on the relationships between principal support, school-wide inclusive practices, teacher agency, and teachers' professional skills in the Chinese context of inclusive education -- Learning in Regular Classroom. Data were collected from 1,676 primary and junior high school teachers in China. Results of structural equation…

This study assessed the influence of school heads' direct supervision on teacher role performance in public senior high schools. The study adopted the embedded mixed methods design. Slovin's formula, the proportional allocation method, and simple random and purposive sampling were used to select a sample of 617 respondents comprising 295 teachers,…

Rural school principals continue to have difficulty hiring and retaining qualified teachers. Researchers have sought to determine the preferred type of preparation programs and the specific characteristics of teacher candidates, but few have specifically focused on the perceptions of the rural principal. The purpose of this study was to understand…

The phrase 'next practice' was coined to indicate a shift from the notion of best practice to thinking more broadly about the needs of future learners and the ways in which teaching practice might align to support these needs. In understanding what next practice means for the classroom, this study was particularly interested in examining how…

This paper reports an evaluation of a pilot programme of workplace music mentoring for generalist classroom teachers in eleven early childhood education settings in Australia. Mentoring in the arts in general and in music specifically is still under-researched despite a body of literature on approaches to mentoring, and descriptions of mentoring…

Key policies on teacher development emphasise the necessity of a teaching force that is competent to apply learner-centred practices. Barriers to learning, like poverty, present huge classroom challenges and have implications for in-service programmes intended to develop learner-centred practices. This study endeavoured to determine factors that…

This study examined teachers' dedication, discipline, knowledge and skills in Kwara State basic schools, Nigeria. The study population comprised all the 1,591 head teachers, 3,907 assistant head teachers; and 440 principals, 1,112 vice principals and all the students in Kwara State lower and upper basic schools respectively. Multi-stage sampling…

Forty school administrators in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York State were surveyed about the characteristics of preservice and novice teachers believed most critical. These administrators represented a broad and socio-demographically diverse cross-section of rural, suburban and urban school districts. The administrators collectively rated…