This week, we turn to the most recent issue of the Journal of Educational Change. In the past, IEN has featured interviews or posts from contributors to the Journal of Educational Change including including Mireille Hubers and Mel Ainscow. In this post, we highlight the 7 articles from the new issue, which was released earlier this month, along with a few related links.
The latest issue of the Journal of Educational Change includes articles on:
Teacher autonomy in times of standardised lesson plans: The case of a Primary School Language and Mathematics Intervention in South Africa
By Yael Shalem, Francine De Clercq, Carola Steinberg, and Hannchen Koornhof)
A study of the limitations and potential of the use of standardized (scripted) lesson plans, a main component in the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy (GPLMS) being used to promote large-scale changes in instruction in most industrialized province of South Africa (and previously discussed in an interview in IEN with Brahm Fleisch). The article suggests that teachers can seize “autonomy opportunities” when working with standardized curricula when: (1) materials are of high quality and sufficiently specify appropriate and inappropriate uses; (2) legitimate authority is applied in a morally justified an educationally sound way; and (3) educators can apply appropriate professional and personal knowledge when making decisions.
Human elements and the pragmatic approach in the Australian, Scottish and Swedish standards for newly qualified teachers
By Goran Fransson, Andrea Gallant, and Rachel Shanks
A comparative study among newly qualified teachers in Australia, Scotland, and Sweden that aims to explore perceptions of and expectations for new teachers. Results from the study suggest that some countries emphasize pragmatic knowledge in teaching while others emphasize what the authors call contextual professionalism in teaching.
Secondary school creativity, teacher practice and STEAM education: An international study
By Anne Harris and Leon R. de Bruin
An international study of work on creativity and STEAM in a sample of secondary schools in Australia, USA, Canada, and Singapore. The study looks at the role of creativity, how it is used and understood in secondary schools (it also includes an appendix with a “Whole School Creativity Audit”).
Structural change from physical foundations: The role of the environment in enacting school change
By Pamela Woolner, Ulrike Thomas, and Lucy Tiplady
An article looking at how the physical settings of school can help to initiate, support, and sustain change and improvement efforts Additionally, the paper looks at the links between the physical setting and other aspects of schooling such as organizational structure.
Development and initial investigation of a self-report measure of teachers’ readiness to implement
By Cara Marcinek Bliss and Shannon Wanless
A discussion of the piloting of a self-report instrument to assess teachers’ readiness to implement evidence-based programs in the U.S.
Opening or closing doors for students? Equity and data use in schools
By Amanda Datnow and Vicki Park
An overview of a decade of qualitative research on data use and equity in the US to examine the ways in which data use helps to open or close doors for students (by using data for accountability and/or for continuous improvement; to confirm assumptions and/or to challenge beliefs; to track students or promote flexible grouping). See “Teacher capacity for and beliefs about data-driven decision making” by Datnow and Hubbard for a related international literature review also published in the Journal of Educational Change.
Teachers’ agency, efficacy, engagement, and emotional resilience during policy innovation implementation
By Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Hal A. Lawson
A multiple case study on how teachers experience and respond to what the authors call “disruptive innovations” in the U.S. including the Common Core Leanring Standards, data-driven instruction, and teacher performance reviews. The study looks at how teachers adapt to and perform during the implementation of reforms.
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