Higher education faculty have many responsibilities, with teaching as arguably the most public of those yet also the task for which many are least prepared. Professional development around teaching and learning can provide faculty with the knowledge and skills needed to improve student learning while also improving job satisfaction. The present paper describes the use of faculty learning communities as a best practice for professional development around teaching. Such communities engage a group of participants over time and provide a way to impart knowledge and resources around teaching and learning, encourage application of new skills in the classroom, and evaluate and refect on the effectiveness of those trials. Research shows that time spent in faculty learning communities translates into improvements in both teaching effectiveness and student learning. Resources are provided for administrators interested in developing and supporting faculty learning communities around teaching and learning.
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Improving Teaching Effectiveness and Student Learning Through the Use of Faculty Learning Communities
Stephen M. Roth
Effective Professional Development for Physical Education Teachers: The Role of Informal, Collaborative Learning
Kathleen M. Armour and Martin Yelling
This paper reports data from the third phase of a 2-year investigation into continuing professional development (CPD) for physical education teachers in England. The purpose of this phase was to examine the ways in which 10 case study teachers engaged in professional learning over the course of 1 academic year. Data were collected from a series of individual interviews with the teachers, learning diaries, field notes, and a final focus group interview. The findings suggest that these teachers identified CPD as “going on a course,” but, in reality, they learned in a variety of ways. The most striking finding was the high value they placed on learning informally (yet strategically) with and from each other. We argue, therefore, that the traditional relationship between teachers and CPD provision needs to be altered such that teachers in their professional learning communities or networks play a leading role.
Meaningful Learning in Professional Development: Teaching Without Telling
Kevin Patton, Melissa Parker, and Erica Pratt
The purpose of this study was to examine the pedagogy of facilitation within physical education professional development (PD). Specific research questions were: 1) What were the self-identified pedagogical strategies employed by facilitators in PD?, and 2) From the perspective of the participants, what strategies contributed to their growth as learners? Participants included fifteen PD facilitators and 88 teachers from eight selected professional learning communities in the U.S. and Europe. Data sources included interviews, artifacts, and field notes. Three participant-centered pedagogical strategies reflected facilitators’ methods and teachers’ perceptions: (a) learning as doing: providing structure without dictating, (b) learning as trying: creating and testing new ideas, and (c) learning as sharing: public presentation of work. By teaching without telling, purposeful facilitator actions contributed to the development of an environment that encouraged teachers to become active participants in the creation of knowledge and development of professional capital.
Initiating and Sustaining a Teacher-Initiated Community of Practice as a Form of Continuing Professional Development: Internal Leaders’ Perspectives
Bomna Ko, Yun Soo Lee, and Tristan Wallhead
participants’ perspectives and not researcher bias. A rich description of context, participants, and data collection protocols provides a degree of dependability and potential transferability and utilization to other large teacher-initiated professional learning communities ( Miles et al., 2014 ). Results This
What Makes Teachers’ Professional Learning More or Less Effective?: An Evolution of Community of Practice for Physical Education Teachers
Keejoon Yoon, Sunghae Park, and Hyunwoo Jung
PE-CoPs for Teachers’ Professional Learning Communities of practice (CoPs) are defined as “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” ( Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder
Exploration of the Patterns of Physical Education Teachers’ Participation Within Self-Directed Online Professional Development
Okseon Lee, Euichang Choi, Victoria Goodyear, Mark Griffiths, Hyukjun Son, Hyunsoo Jung, and Wonhee Lee
required into the different ways in which different teachers participate in self-directed online PE-CPD environments ( Goodyear et al., 2019 ; Harvey & Hyndman, 2018 ). Similar to the analysis of teacher professional learning communities on social media by Goodyear et al. ( 2019 ), the framework for the
Chapter 4: Physical Education Teacher Education Initial Certification: Meeting the Challenges
Phillip Ward, Murray F. Mitchell, Hal A. Lawson, and Hans van der Mars
pandemic, it is the intention of the organizers to continue it as an ongoing professional learning community as long as there is a need for it (K. Andrew and R. Richards, personal communication, December 21, 2020). The collaborative is a solid example of specific professional development for PETE faculty
Chapter 9: Pathways Toward Desirable Futures
Murray F. Mitchell, Hal A. Lawson, Hans van der Mars, and Phillip Ward
capacity—will and skill—in a hurry. Chapter 8 offers a planning framework for strategic, effective collective action undertaken by physical educators and facilitated by state and national professional associations. Strategies include professional learning communities, social networks, and partnerships
Physical Education Teachers’ Experiences of Nurturing a Community of Practice Online
Heidi J. Ferreira, Luiza Gonçalves, and Melissa Parker
. , Parker , M. , Luguetti , C. , & Carbinatto , M. ( 2022a ). The facilitator’s role in supporting physical education teachers’ empowerment in a professional learning community . Sport, Education and Society, 27 ( 3 ), 272 – 285 . https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2020.1825371 Gonçalves , L
Professional Development for Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility: Past, Present, and Future
Robin J. Dunn and Sarah A. Doolittle
“communities of practice” ( Lave & Wenger, 1991 ) or professional learning communities, where practitioners, educators, and scholars interested in a topic or issue meet regularly and with parity ( Casey & MacPhail, 2018 ; Coulson, Irwin, & Wright, 2012 ; Hemphill et al., 2015 ; MacPhail, Patton, Parker
