Specialized literacy professionals (specialists/coaches/coordinators) are enacting leadership roles that influence how school communities interact and collaborate to change instructional practices. These positions involve multiple responsibilities highlighted in the standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals (International Literacy…

This paper reports on the continual effort of the Knowledge Building Community (KBC) connecting teachers within and across schools for knowledge creation and community building during the COVID-19 disruptions. During this crisis, schools around the world are challenged with the issues of implementing online learning. Three areas of misalignment…

As teacher learning groups become more prevalent as vehicles for instructional improvement and school change, skilled facilitation of such groups becomes increasingly important. Facilitation, as a core function of teacher leadership, is recognized as a demanding and complex practice. This study investigates how facilitators conceptualize…

Throughout the five-year Teacher Practice Networks initiative, teacher leaders have developed and demonstrated new leadership skills to help their peers engage in reflective professional learning focused on improving instruction. A common sentiment among teacher leaders is the realization that facilitating adult learning requires a different set…

Grounded in a close partnership between a university, school district, and non-profit organization, this 5-year mathematics professional development project involves 27 elementary teachers prepared and supported as Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs). The project aims to develop EMSs who deliver ambitious mathematics instruction in their…

Effective coaches make time for their own learning. As they systematically engage in professional learning, they develop and deepen their knowledge in areas including the Standards for Professional Learning (Learning Forward, 2011), adult learning principles, and research-based instructional practices. This ongoing learning process doesn't happen…

Purpose: This paper presents a study on how professional learning communities (PLC) are developed in an Asian setting, and the nature of leadership that helped to cultivate and sustain PLC in this setting. Research Method: The study adopted a sequential mixed method, starting with a survey followed by qualitative case studies, involving focused…

This study focuses on identifying the barriers and obstruction factors of Research-Based Learning (RBL) which was implemented in the schools under "Pohpanpanya" Youth Researcher Development Research Program. RBL consists of three domains: Contemplative Education (CE), System Thinking (ST) and Professional Learning Community (PLC). Those…

School ethos and culture, and their influence on teacher career-stage learning, are integral yet often overlooked components of school-based professional development planning. An in-depth study was conducted over two years within and across three independent schools in Sydney, Australia utilising a collegial methodology centred on principles of…

This article shows how City-As-School, a progressive public school in New York City, used descriptive inquiry to deepen shared decision making, which is a central value of the school and part of a democratic way of life. Descriptive inquiry is a democratic knowledge-making process that was developed at the Prospect School in North Bennington,…

Achieving the ongoing professional development of teachers is of international concern. Professional development communities (PDCs), also known as professional learning communities, developed as a means of attaining this goal. In 2015, Israel began to implement a teacher development program called Hashkafa that consists of school-based PDCs whose…

How can teachers move from working in isolation within ineffective systems to building thriving, collaborative teaching environments in which they are supported and inspired to work with their colleagues in communities focused on mutual professional growth? In the authors' work as early learning instructional coaches, they have witnessed the ways…

This 5-year mathematics professional development project involves 27 elementary teachers prepared and supported as Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs) in high-need urban schools. They complete a university's K-5 Mathematics and Teacher Supporting & Coaching Endorsement programs and participate in Professional Learning Communities and…

This book traces the origins and activities of the longest-standing collaborative teacher group in education, the Portfolio Group. Each chapter documents, historically and conceptually, the main intellectual moments in the evolution of the idea of knowledge communities. Authors illuminate the expansive work, research, and the leading/learning…

Professional learning communities can be effective vehicles for teacher learning and instructional improvement, partly because they help change professional culture. However, little is known about "how" these changes occur. We used activity systems analysis to investigate the development of professional learning communities and their…