This descriptive study explored how teachers implemented interactive practices during vocabulary instruction after participating in a professional development initiative comprised of an initial workshop to provide an overview of vocabulary research and instruction, opportunities for teachers to receive targeted feedback on audiotaped classroom…

Postgraduate study provides teachers with opportunities to become critical consumers of research as well as generators of their own knowledge, enabling them to fulfil the mandate of teaching being a research informed and evidenced based profession (Robinson, 2003). This article pays attention to 18 practicing teachers' reasons for undertaking a…

The purpose of this study is to contribute to existing research on teacher supervision, instructional leadership, and teacher reflectivity and teacher reflexivity by examining: teachers' personal perceptions and reflections about improving instructional effectiveness through observations of their own lessons when using a standards-based appraisal…

This study explores the interaction between transformative processes in which a group of teacher educators became a professional development community (PDC) and the individual progress of these instructors through the professional development course on the topic of thinking education. Twelve teacher educators who participated in one of three…

This descriptive study identifies: 1) the factors which motivated Pennsylvania teachers to begin the National Board Certification process; 2) the factors of persistence which led teachers to successful achievement of National Board Certification and; 3) the personal transformation which took place in the process. Quantitative and qualitative…

This is a study of teachers' authentic professional learning at a public school in Poudre School District in northern Colorado. At Polaris Expeditionary Learning School, teachers and administrators have developed a form of school-based instructional rounds referred to herein as PLC rounds (professional learning community rounds). In PLC rounds,…

This paper reports the contribution of Teachers' Resource Centres (TRCs) in enhancing teachers' professional development. Variables investigated were designed programme for the primary school teachers, teachers who were attending in-service training at the TRCs, as well as those who had completed the training and teaching, and head teachers at the…

This case study, concerning peer coaching for sustainable professional practice, utilised video to enable teachers "deep learning" during peer coaching sessions. While the use of video is not a new tool for continuing professional development, this research employs a fresh way of using it. Teachers reflected on their learning process by…

The objective of this study was to document teachers' and administrators' perceptions of how, if at all, LAUSD's new Teacher Growth and Development Cycle (TGDC) changed their practice in ways that can be expected to lead to improved student learning. Specific emphasis was placed on how the TGDC, the comprehensive observational system (teacher…

Despite the abundance of research on the potential of lesson study for promoting teachers' professional growth through practice and collaboration, little is known on how language teachers perceive this strategy for their computer assisted language learning (CALL) professional development. In an attempt to contribute to this research base, this…

With increased attention focused on the economic cache afforded through literacy and numeracy skills, governments around the world have turned their attention to developing the expertise of their teachers. Improving teachers' levels of competency leads to improvement in student achievement. In this qualitative case study, we focus on the…

Implementing teacher evaluation systems across the United States has created both challenges and opportunities to improving teacher quality. Lessons learned at the state level illustrate a wide range of challenges with system implementation, including value-added growth scores, implementation timetables, and human capital demands (McGuinn, 2012),…

This paper describes a process in which early childhood professionals, who were novice researchers, engaged in their own research projects in collaboration with academics through a practitioner inquiry group. The aim of the project was to introduce the concepts and practices of practitioner enquiry, and learn about, plan and implement a…

This study explores how informal inquiry among teachers occurs in pursuit of their professional development within a learning community that has been voluntarily constructed by South Korean teachers. To this end, the study investigates what leads teachers to participate in a self-organized learning community, how informal inquiry occurs in the…

Professional development (PD) is essential for primary school teachers to meet the demands of the education system. Quality PD is aligned with classroom conditions, school contexts and teachers' daily experiences. The purpose of the study was to explore primary teachers' experiences of a 6-week physical education professional development programme…