Volume 2, Number 1, Fall 2012
V2.1.1
Leading in an Age of Embedded Professional Learning [pdf]
by Carmen Mombourquette
Abstract
This study examined the impact of leadership and embedded professional learning on teaching and learning in a typical Middle School. The paper begins with a description of a shift from a traditional, training-influenced model of professional development, to an adult learning-influenced model of professional learning. Themes of leadership – formal school-based leadership; teacher leadership; and leadership provided by university researchers – are explored. A case study is then presented outlining the process followed and the results achieved. The results show that collaborative teacher practice, blended with distributed leadership and implemented in harmony with current theories of professional learning, can have a positive impact on student engagement and achievement.
V2.1.2
The Impact of AISI on Teacher Professional Learning [pdf]
By Jim Parsons and Larry Beauchamp
Abstract
Large numbers of Alberta teachers report that their involvement in AISI has contributed to both their professional learning and their sense of efficacy. In particular, teachers note that AISI has provided them with more leadership experiences, more opportunities for collaboration, more support to change teaching practices, and more stimulus for professional reading.
V2.1.3
Teaching Metacognition [pdf]
By Kelly Friesen
Abstract
This small project focused on the teaching of Metacognition in a grade 6 classroom. Students in two successive years were given instruction and coaching in five metacognitive strategies taken from the text, Comprehension Shouldn’t Be Silent: From Strategy Instruction to Student Independence (Kelley & Clausen-Grace, 2007). Results show that most students in these two samples scored much higher on PATs in several selected areas of assessment than their counterparts from similar samples of grade 6 students who did not experience the metacognitive strategies.
V2.1.4
Professional Learning for Teachers: A Reflection on One Team's Experience [pdf]
By Jeff Kuntz
Abstract
This article reflects upon the work of a school based learning team and examines the factors that led to sustained and meaningful professional learning. The paper stresses the importance of ownership and agency in the formation and maintenance of learning teams and concludes that successful learning teams are built upon the principles of effective adult learning.