| 1. |
- Aas, Marit, et al.
(författare)
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Benchlearning as professional development of school leaders in Norway and Sweden
- 2018
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265. ; 44:1, s. 62-75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we investigate a new national collaborative Benchlearning program for principals in Norway and Sweden. Four process leaders have been running the program. The aim is to give the participants the knowledge to develop a leadership practice and school environment that are more innovative. The program includes theoretical inputs, sharing experiences, school visits, training, and trialing of new leadership practices. Drawing on data from surveys, participants’ reflections, and the leaders’ descriptions of new leadership practice, we examine and identify successful and critical aspects of the learning process. The findings show that principals’ motivation and willingness to start change processes can be created in a synergy between structured school visits, work in learning groups, and a theoretical foundation. Working in groups across schools in two countries seems to enhance principals’ sense of efficacy, which in turn is shown to have a positive effect on their willingness to trial new practices. Two implications of the study are suggested. First, in the design of principal programs, systematic and critical reflection about authentic practice should be the basis. Second, educators should be trained to be process leaders who can support principals’ learning during a critical and social construction of a new practice.
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| 2. |
- Bergmark, Ulrika
(författare)
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Teachers’ professional learning when building a research-based education : context-specific, collaborative and teacher-driven professional development
- 2023
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265. ; 49:2, s. 210-224
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A prominent phenomenon in education in Europe and internationally is the demand for research-based education, which is also the case in Sweden, the context of this study. Therefore, greater academic demands have been placed on teachers, which can present a distinctive challenge for teachers who were educated when teacher education prioritised practical teacher training rather than academic training. Therefore, it is especially important to explore what and how experienced teachers learn and develop when moving towards a research-based education. The theoretical framework builds on communities of practice and social learning. The empirical data consists of written reflections from 50 teachers in preschool, compulsory and upper secondary school, who participated in action research projects that aimed to help build research-based education. The findings show that the teachers’ professional learning entailed changes in the ways they think, act and relate to others in three areas: teaching, research and collaboration. The study offers insights into the importance of a professional development process being based on a bottom-up perspective, collaborative, context-specific and integrated in teachers’ work. Lastly, the study points to the benefit of engagement on multiple levels – principals, lead teachers, teachers and researchers – to achieve lasting success in building research-based education.
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| 3. |
- Brauckmann, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Bringing context and educational leadership together : fostering the professional development of school principals
- 2023
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Routledge. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265. ; 49:1, s. 4-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Policy makers increasingly acknowledge that problems and challenges arising at the school level should be resolved on site. At the same time, the political expectation to delegate more responsibility to the individual school is rather heavily contrasted with the weak knowledge about how this new public management approach can be translated into successful leadership practices. Thus, considering that there is a close relationship between context and leadership, principal preparation programmes should be guided by a deeper examination of contextual factors. Against this background, we aim to critically examine existing views of practitioners and researchers on the challenge of establishing more context-sensitive school leadership preparation programmes in an era of New Public Management in Education. In doing so, we introduce the Swedish Model of principal preparation as an example for a more context-sensitive leadership preparation program. To that end, we argue that a differentiated perspective about contextual conditions and their role as facilitators or obstacles to effective leadership must be further explored. Moreover, school leaders should be encouraged to consider the relevance of such approaches to their own needs.
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| 4. |
- Edling, Silvia, Universitetslektor, 1974-
(författare)
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The purpose, description and development of teachers’ professional seeing a dialogue between Hattie and Schön
- 2023
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A pedagogy of vision and seeing has a long history. Teachers’ professional vision, seeing and noticing are today regarded as important factors that affect the quality of their teaching and are considered important to develop. The article argues that there is a need to gain a deeper understanding of teachers’ professional vision, seeing and noticing and how they can be developed by creating bridges between various research traditions. Drawing on hermeneutic conversation as a method, the study addresses how two different researchers, John Hattie and Donald Schön, describe a) the purpose of teachers’ vision, seeing and noticing, b) what kind of development regarding teachers’ vision, seeing and noticing they suggest and c) where plausible similarities and/or differences between their reasoning can be found. The article’s major contribution is that it provides a metacognitive roadmap for professionals and educational researchers that both shows where Schön and Hattie intersect and where their views of teachers’ professional vision, seeing and noticing differ.
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| 5. |
- Edwards-Groves, Christine, et al.
(författare)
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Generating leading practices through professional learning
- 2013
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265. ; 39:1, s. 122-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we show how practices of professional learning and practices of leading can be understood as related in ecologies of practices. We will present findings from an international empirical research project that directs us to the connectivity between professional learning and leading practices that emerged as ‘adventitious’, ‘opportune’ and ‘unexpected’ outcomes of long-term professional learning. We will show how practices (like professional learning) that exist in real situations shape other practices (like teaching and leading) when each creates enabling and constraining conditions for the others; they are mutually sustaining when together they form an ecology of practices existing in a dynamic ecological balance. Results build on established literature describing professional learning which customarily describes the characteristics, conditions and outcomes of effective professional development programmes. Specifically, our findings add a new dimension to the descriptions of the influences and accomplishments of professional learning – the development of teacher leading capacities.
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| 6. |
- Forsberg, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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Knowledge sources and autonomy : German and Swedish teachers’ continuing professional development of assessment knowledge
- 2012
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265. ; 38:5, s. 741-758
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article presents a comparative study of German and Swedish teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) in relation to student assessment. It investigates the sources teachers use to improve their knowledge about assessment and the relationship this has to different national contexts. Assessment, as well as evaluation, defines what counts as valid knowledge and how this can be measured. As such, assessment is a major focus of teaching and specifies constraints and possibilities for teacher practice in the classroom. Teachers are seen as agents in a regulated CPD marketplace, and within this framework teachers make decisions about the knowledge sources they use to educate themselves about assessment. These choices can be seen as expressions of what they perceive as important and relevant in relation to assessment. We argue that this expression of opinion can contribute to an understanding of teachers’ professional autonomy, especially in relation to their decisions about a crucial aspect of their profession. In this way, we propose a way to conceptualize the impact of the national context on teachers’ CPD.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Francisco, Susanne, et al.
(författare)
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Professional learning that enables the development of critical praxis
- 2023
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265. ; 49:5, s. 938-952
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Professional learning is increasingly understood as vital for the development of educators, and for the development of a strong educational system. We argue that the most essential purpose of professional learning is for the development of critical praxis. Critical praxis is related to action that is morally, socially and politically informed. This action is undertaken with an awareness of possible consequences together with the intention to make positive contributions to society and to humankind. Critical praxis in education is an intentional action (or associated reflexivity) informed by critical questioning related to the social, moral and political purpose of education. Critical praxis is tightly connected with learning experiences. This article looks at three examples of the development of critical praxis through professional learning, across three different educational settings. We explore the practice architectures that enable and constrain critical praxis in professional practice and identify three key themes in relation to the development of critical praxis: agency, power and relational trust. We argue that the potential power of professional learning is in supporting and developing the capacity to question institutionalised habits or educational practices that may be in conflict with values, purpose and moral intentions, in order to create positive change.
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| 9. |
- Frascisco, Susanne, et al.
(författare)
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Action research as professional learning in and through practice
- 2024
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Routledge. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265. ; 50:3, s. 501-518
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is widely accepted that professional learning is a crucial aspect of the ongoing professional practice of educators. But how should this professional learning take place, and what arrangements enable and constrain practices associated with educator learning? In this article, we explore two case studies of action research projects: one undertaken with Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) teachers, and the other undertaken with Swedish principals. Using the theory of practice architectures and the Professional Learning Framework (see text), we consider what action research team members identified that they learnt through the action research projects, and what enabled and constrained that learning. The findings highlight five key themes that enabled and constrained educator professional learning and supported educators in making positive changes in their professional practice: power and solidarity, trust, recognition, agency and time. Further, reflection and collaboration were also highlighted as important factors in supporting educator professional learning. We conclude that action research can enable educator professional learning, can support the contextualised understanding of what works, how it works and for whom it works, and can enable educators to make positive changes in their professional practices
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| 10. |
- Grimm, Frida
(författare)
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Teacher leadership for teaching improvement in professional learning communities
- 2023
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Ingår i: Professional Development in Education. - : Routledge. - 1941-5257 .- 1941-5265.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Teacher leaders are increasingly leading learning conversations in professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools in several parts of the world today, but there is little empirical knowledge of teacher leadership in PLC conversations. Thus, this article aims to enhance such knowledge, particularly the development of teacher leadership in PLC conversations. Empirical data were acquired in a study of three Swedish PLCs and consisted of six video observations and 24 interviews with teachers and teacher leaders (hereafter 'first teachers'). The study particularly addressed how professional learning and teaching improvement was encouraged in teacher-led PLC conversations, what tended to be missing, and how the conversations influenced the teaching practices of participating teachers (self-reportedly). The results indicate that the teaching practices did not change in depth if the first teachers focused on acknowledging and sharing PLC conversations about concrete teaching methods. Instead, there seems to be a need for informed teacher leaders who consciously and systematically analyse and support teachers' learning processes, and foster a habit of inquiry among their peers. It is suggested that this should include challenging norms and understandings about what it means to be a learning teacher and requirements to improve teaching practices in the long run.
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