Educational Research最新文献

{"title":"Capturing instructional differentiation in educational research: investigating opportunities and challenges","authors":"Lieke Jager, E. Denessen, A. Cillessen, P. Meijer","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2022.2063751","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2022.2063751","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Instructional differentiation within classrooms involves educators’ adaptations of instructional elements to meet diverse learners’ needs. It is usually regarded as a crucial component of high-quality education that promotes equal and inclusive opportunities for all students. However, defining and operationalising this complex construct is challenging, and important, in efforts to better understand instructional differentiation and support learners worldwide. Purpose This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of instructional differentiation. It discusses definitions and operationalisations of instructional differentiation in the educational research literature and argues for the inclusion of deliberateness and adaptiveness as two defining characteristics of instructional differentiation. Sources of evidence and main arguments Using theoretical arguments and illustrations from empirical research, including a small-scale study of our own, we discuss and exemplify the value of considering deliberateness and adaptiveness in empirical research on instructional differentiation. Further, we consider the challenges and opportunities for research on instructional differentiation. Conclusions Studying the deliberateness and adaptiveness of instructional variation calls for conceptual and operational alignment, and research methodologies that take into account the multiple perspectives of teachers and students. Our investigations draw attention to the conceptual complexity of instructional differentiation, challenges in practice and the need for professional development to support teachers’ embedding of instructional differentiation practices.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49264208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relations between school bullying, friendship processes, and school context","authors":"Joakim Strindberg, Paul Horton","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2022.2067071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2022.2067071","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Despite considerable anti–bullying efforts and greater awareness of the social processes underpinning bullying, bullying is still a serious problem across schools in many countries. In exploring the social processes that contribute to school bullying, research indicates complex relationships between bullying and the maintenance and building of friendships. While such findings provide important information about the social context of school bullying, more needs to be understood about the institutional context within which school bullying – and friendship – occur. Purpose The aim of this study is to better understand how school bullying relates to friendship processes, and how these are, in turn, influenced by the institutional constraints of the school context. Method The findings discussed draw on 3 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted at one Swedish elementary school. The fieldwork involved participant observations, as well as semi–structured group interviews with 34 sixth-grade pupils (approx. 12 years of age), which were conducted towards the end of the fieldwork. Data were analysed thematically. Findings The analysis highlighted the importance of friendships to pupils but also identified the ways in which understandings of friendship relations were closely tied to the importance of social perceptions and the organisational constraints of the school context. Conclusions Taken together, the findings suggest that school bullying cannot be de–contextualised from the social and institutional contexts of school but may rather be connected to the perceived need for control in that particular arena. The study draws attention to how the complex relations between bullying, friendship and school context need to be better understood, in order to support efforts to prevent school bullying.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46981419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ethical thinking and decision-making in the leadership of professional learning communities","authors":"Brit Olaug Bolken Ballangrud, Marit Aas","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2022.2044879","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2022.2044879","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Despite widespread interest in the leadership and establishment of professional learning communities (PLCs), the ethical dimension may be overlooked. This article examines, in a Norwegian context, how principals have to deal with different sorts of ethical dilemmas in leading professional learning communities. Purpose The study aimed to investigate the leadership strategies and interventions that principals implemented in professional learning communities and the nature of ethical dilemmas that were apparent in establishing a professional collective culture. Methods Participants were from two different schools, both of which had challenging environments. Data were collected through observations and interviews with the principals (including follow-up interviews after a year had passed), middle managers, two groups of teachers and two groups of students in the two schools, and also with a district-level representative. In total, 15 interviews were conducted with 41 informants. Data were analysed qualitatively. Findings Analysis suggested that establishing a professional learning community, building on an inclusive ethos, pedagogical collaboration and democratic leadership are all important strategies. Leadership practices were anchored in an ethical perspective that emphasised responsibility not only for personal morality but for the enhancement of civic moral education that leads to self-knowledge and community awareness. Conclusion This research draws attention to how school leadership, especially in challenging environments, is closely connected to the democratic purpose of the school. Ethical thinking and decision-making can be developed in discussions between leaders at school and district level and between leaders and teachers in the learning communities in the school. To lead such discussions, school leaders should increase their knowledge and understanding of ethical decision making, which can help develop their own ethical leadership practice.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2022-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43654659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Primary teachers’ professional learning during a COVID-19 school lockdown","authors":"V. Mankki, Pekka Räihä","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2021.2013127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.2013127","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background The COVID-19 crisis forced education providers around the world to cancel contact teaching in schools as part of measures to limit contact between people and to slowdown the spread of the virus. The rapid and unexpected transition to distance teaching in the beginning of the pandemic posed an unprecedented challenge for teachers and placed a significant demand on their informal professional learning. This study focused on Finnish primary teachers’ professional learning domains and activities during the first weeks of Finland’s COVID-19 school lockdown. Purpose The aim was to understand what and how primary teachers learnt during the beginning of the distance teaching period. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with 20 Finnish primary school teachers, all of whom had been delivering distance teaching from the beginning of the lockdown, during the fourth week of the distance teaching period. Two separate qualitative analyses were undertaken. Findings The first analysis indicated that teachers’ professional learning involved more than progress in the most self-evident and apparent technological knowledge domain: learning was also firmly connected to pedagogical knowledge and coping skills. The second analysis identified the individual learning activities, such as learning by doing, experimenting and considering one’s own teaching practice, and revealed three levels of collective learning activities (with a close colleague, in the school community and in larger online communities) carried out with the aim of improving distance teaching. Conclusions The study draws attention to primary teachers’ multifaceted professional learning domains and the activities entered into during the rapid shift from contact to distance teaching. It highlights that even in emergency circumstances, teachers’ individual and collective learning processes are interrelated and supplementary to each other. Educators’ hard-earned understanding achieved in relation to distance teaching should be nurtured and refined to further benefit and support the profession.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41776519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The influence of school climate and achievement on bullying: Comparative evidence from international large-scale assessment data","authors":"C. Bokhove, D. Muijs, Christopher Downey","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2021.1992294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.1992294","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Bullying is widely acknowledged as one of the most harmful events in a child’s life, leading to negative life experiences and outcomes. However, ‘school effects of bullying’ are rarely studied from an international perspective, especially with international large-scale data. Purpose In this study, we aim to look at bullying through an international comparative approach, focusing on the contribution of the school, the education system and culture, and pupil level factors such as socio-economic status (SES) and gender. Our key question is whether school factors can affect bullying prevalence. Methods We used data from six countries (USA, Finland, England, Romania, Korea and Italy) from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), a large-scale international study. We used multilevel modelling to analyse the dataset. Findings We find little evidence of a relation between country policies and levels of bullying, though there are differences in the extent to which school and pupil factors are related to bullying. The most consistent relationship was between gender and bullying, with prevalence higher among boys, while school factors were not significant. Conclusion The findings indicate that ‘one size fits all’ school policies might not be the best course of action, and individual support might be a more fruitful avenue.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49356983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Teacher wellbeing and social support: a phenomenological study","authors":"K. Turner, M. Thielking, Natalie Prochazka","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2021.2013126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.2013126","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Internationally, teachers are increasingly reporting elevated levels of stress, anxiety, exhaustion and burnout. Although social support has been found to be a protective buffer against stress, depression and burnout, there have been limited strength-based studies examining the relationship between social support and teacher wellbeing. There is also a need for qualitative research to facilitate in-depth understanding of teachers’ application of positive psychology strategies to improve wellbeing. Purpose Using the positive psychology PERMA wellbeing framework, this strengths-based, qualitative study aimed to address this gap in knowledge by asking: what are teachers’ experiences of consciously providing social support to their colleagues, and what are the reported effects on their wellbeing and teaching practice? Method The study employed a phenomenological approach. In-depth interviews were held at three time points with a small sample of five Australian teachers, none of whom had previous experience with applying positive psychology strategies to support their wellbeing. The study required participants consciously to use the positive psychology strategy of providing social support to their colleagues for 15 working days. In addition, the teachers completed daily written reflections. Data from the interviews and written reflections were analysed thematically. Findings The core themes emerging from the data were ‘eudaimonia and altruism’, ‘friendship’ and ‘pedagogical practice and professional development’. Teachers reported providing social support at work by engaging in eudaimonic and altruistic behaviours, supporting their own wellbeing, collegial relationships, pedagogical practices, professional development and whole school operational practices. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of understanding how teachers provide social support, and the flow-on effects of socially supportive behaviours in schools. Findings from this study may inform future research and changes to pedagogical practices and professional development that are supportive of teacher social support and teacher wellbeing.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41751586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Teacher-researcher collaboration in animal-assisted education: Co-designing a reading to dogs intervention","authors":"Jill Steel, Joanne M. Williams, Sarah McGeown","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2021.2016061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.2016061","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Animal-assisted Education (AAE), including Reading to Dogs (RTD), is an area of growing interest internationally across all phases of education, and increasingly considered an innovative approach to improving pupil outcomes. As creating RTD interventions necessitates a combination of expertise from the fields of education and human-animal interactions, finding effective ways to achieve collaboration in RTD intervention design is imperative. Purpose We sought to develop and work within a collaborative framework in order to co-design an AAE intervention, drawing upon researcher and teacher knowledge, experience and expertise. Our specific collaboration had the goal of co-designing an RTD intervention focused on supporting primary-aged children’s reading and wellbeing. This paper describes the co-design process, and our evaluation of the collaborative process and framework. Methods Three teachers, from different school contexts and educational authorities, and a researcher engaged in a structured co-design process to create the RTD intervention. A three-phase co-design framework was developed, implemented and evaluated. The framework ensured that theoretical and empirical research (via the researcher) and professional and pedagogical expertise (via three teachers) informed the intervention design. Findings The three-phase framework – initial preparation, recruitment and online platform creation, and intervention co-design – enabled a productive and meaningful collaborative process which led to the development of an RTD intervention informed by a synthesis of research and practice. In our evaluation, the collaborating teachers were very positive about the framework, reflecting that it provided effective facilitation of the co-design and observing that working with teachers from other authorities offered a valuable and motivating learning opportunity. Conclusions The co-design of interventions by researchers and teachers offers a way to synthesise theoretical and empirical research insights with professional and pedagogical expertise. It can help to create interventions that are research-informed but also more likely to be acceptable to the education community and feasible for classroom practice. This framework could be drawn upon by researchers, teachers and school leaders across a range of disciplines who seek to develop AAE and other interventions collaboratively.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48655669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Teachers’ experiences: social emotional engagement – knowledge and skills","authors":"Lindee Morgan, Sharron Close, M. Siller, E. Kushner, Susan Brasher","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2021.1988865","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.1988865","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Active classroom engagement is at the heart of children’s learning. The definition of active classroom engagement has broadened over time to incorporate aspects of social emotional learning (SEL). SEL – a developmental process that supports student acquisition of skills to build healthy peer relationships and regulate emotions appropriately – has increasingly become a priority for schools and educators. At the same time, classrooms have become increasingly diverse. There is a need for teachers to be equipped with suitable support tools to ensure that classroom diversity translates into successful social inclusion and student learning. Purpose The aim of this study was to explore teachers’ experiences and perceived effects of a professional development approach called Social Emotional Engagement – Knowledge and Skills (SEE-KS), which aims to incorporate support for teachers to help them meet the diverse social-emotional and academic needs of their students. Methods This study, conducted in the USA, used a qualitative descriptive research design. Participants were 61 teachers, whose practice ranged from preschool (ages 3–5) to high school (ages 14–18). A semi-structured interview guide was used to facilitate six focus group discussions. Focus group data were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed by a team of qualitative experts. Findings The analysis identified five main themes: 1) dynamic engagement of learning, 2) seeing more than was expected, 3) discovery of challenges and needs, 4) translation of SEE-KS to teaching practice, and 5) creating workable solutions for future implementation. These themes contributed to an overarching theme entitled ‘achieving openness to social emotional engagement in teaching’. Conclusions Teachers provided rich descriptions of their experiences in learning and implementing SEE-KS, including perceived benefits to students and teachers. These findings offer a starting point for future adaptations of and inquiry into SEE-KS as well as highlighting implications for teaching practice.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2021-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45961504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring empowering practices for teachers’ sustainable continuing professional development","authors":"Marina Bendtsen, Liselott Forsman, Mikaela Björklund","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2021.2000338","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.2000338","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background The question of how best to enable sustainable professional development remains a challenging one. The research reported here is situated within a professional learning communities (PLCs) approach as a long-term goal for continuing professional development (CPD) with action research (AR) principles as a means of organisation. Purpose The aim of the study was to investigate how teachers’ CPD can be structured and facilitated to enable sustainable professional development. In this context, ‘sustainable’ refers to an impact of professional learning beyond the duration of the course in question. Method An AR-oriented CPD course was used as a case study, with a specific focus on the participants’ experiences of how the course work affected their professional practice and the enabling factors contributing to this end. Data were qualitative interviews with the 11 in-service teachers who completed the course, 6 months after its completion. The interviews were analysed in an inductive manner using qualitative content analysis. Findings The analysis identified eight different categories relating to participants’ experiences of how the AR-inspired CPD process affected their practice. Effects were connected to three overarching levels in terms of scope: individual level, school level and level of the wider community. In addition, we determined ten interconnected factors that appeared to influence the scope and quality of the process. Conclusions The findings highlight the importance of grounding CPD courses in participants’ own practice and offer insights into the significance of collaboration and collegial relationships for sustainable professional development. The study reflects how an increase in strategies and structures for collaboration has the potential to transform school cultures into more collaborative ones. It also draws attention to how cognitive and affective aspects are intertwined during developmental processes: teachers suggested that acknowledgement and supportive actions of colleagues and leadership had underpinned development, empowered them and spurred them on as active agents of change.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46529850","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Professional learning networks: a conceptual model and research opportunities","authors":"C. Poortman, Christopher R. Brown, K. Schildkamp","doi":"10.1080/00131881.2021.1985398","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2021.1985398","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) of educators represent a promising approach to achieving continuous school improvement. At the same time, a range of studies in this area, including several systematic reviews and meta-analyses, report multiple conceptual and methodological challenges, or, at best, mixed results. Purpose and sources The aim of this theoretical discussion paper, therefore, is to seek, first, to synthesise and connect to previous studies focused on professional learning communities and networks by combining and reflecting on their findings and recommendations. Second, we aim to contribute to the methodological development of the field in order to propose research that can link what happens in PLNs to changes in outcomes for students. For the latter, we will also make use of new insights from the field with regard to the use of big data in education. Main argument We propose a conceptual model of what defines PLNs, enactment process variables, and influencing factors, presenting our theory-of-action for how PLNs can be effective. Second, we discuss challenges and recommendations in studying PLN impact regarding research approach, research design and measurement. This discussion includes consideration of the use of big data to help to make the analysis of patterns in, and relations between, different types of PLN research data more efficient and reliable. Conclusion We need to define and study the processes and effects of PLNs more efficiently and effectively, to support PLNs in fulfilling the promise of increased teacher learning, improved outcomes for students, and, ultimately, sustainable school improvement at scale.","PeriodicalId":47607,"journal":{"name":"Educational Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2021-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46657135","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}