3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item What and how do teachers learn in professional learning communities? a South African case study(2016) Cereseto, Antheastudy, located in the field of in-service teacher professional development, investigated what knowledge teachers learned in three subject-based professional learning communities (PLCs), how they learned it, and the conditions that enabled this learning. The Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa 2011-2025 envisages all in-service teachers participating in PLCs in order to learn knowledge-for-teaching. There is limited research on whether PLCs are likely to be effective for this purpose in South Africa. Even less is known about what types of knowledge can be learned in PLCs. Drawing on the literature related to teacher education and professional knowledge (Shulman, 1986; 1987; Ball, Thames & Phelps, 2008; Winch, 2010, 2013a, 2013b) a “Framework for knowledge-for-teaching” was created and used to investigate what knowledge was learned by participants in three PLCs. The study is a case study of cases in which each of the three PLCs, purposively selected, is a separate case on which cross-case analysis was undertaken (Bassey, 1999; Adler & Reed, 2002). It explored what teachers from eleven diverse schools from one school district in Gauteng discussed and did in PLC sessions over a period of eighteen months. Minutes or verbatim transcripts of audio-recordings of the sessions supplemented with individual interviews, questionnaires, and learning reflection journals of the participants provided the main data sources and were analysed using a grounded theory approach. A key finding is that teachers learned more practical knowledge than subject matter knowledge and that teachers with the ability to make inferential connections between propositions (Winch, 2010; 2013a), dependent on sound subject matter knowledge, were able to contribute more knowledge and were more confident than teachers whose subject matter knowledge was weaker. Four key factors that enabled the work of the PLCs were identified: supportive school and teacher characteristics, effective facilitation, a definite focus on learning, and the use of structured collaborative enquiry processes. From the findings a “Framework for Learning in Professional Learning Communities” was constructed to identify these and other enabling or inhibiting factors which impact on what can be learned in a PLC as well as other potential positive outcomes of participation. One implication of these findings is that the effectiveness of PLCs is likely to be improved if the enabling factors are strengthened. A second is that the model of PLC adopted in South Africa may have to be adapted to meet the needs of teachers whose subject matter knowledge is inadequate. In light of the need for subject matter knowledge, attention will need to be given to how subject matter knowledge can be learned in PLCs and to how to make this learning more systematic. Keywords: teacher professional development, professional learning communities, facilitation,Item Caught in the "nest" : teachers' experiences of layered regulation of quality improvement : a case study of teachers working in five "achieving" public secondary schools in Gauteng.(2010-02-26T06:44:31Z) Cereseto, AntheaThis study investigates in what ways a relevant and reliable accountability system that supports and strengthens the professional responsibility of teachers could improve quality. The study explores three issues: why teachers believe their professionalism is under attack, what they believe can improve the quality of learning outcomes in their schools, and what model of teacher regulation emerges from their accounts. The study is conducted by means of a case study of five individual “quality teachers” and five focus groups of teachers from five diverse “achieving schools” in Gauteng, South Africa. The beliefs and experiences of these teachers are investigated by means of an interview using a semi-structured interview schedule, a written questionnaire and a drawing. The data is analysed using grounded theory analysis. The study finds that the teachers’ professional identity is fragile. There are factors operating mostly at the internal level of the school and at the level of teachers’ capacity that strengthen their professional identity but others, particularly from the external environment, tend to fragment it. The study finds that if teachers, who are embedded in a nest of contractual obligations, do not have capacity and the other layers of the nest do not support the teacher, neither the teacher nor the school can improve quality regardless of the amount of pressure placed on them. To deliver quality teachers require a balance between autonomy and control. This is best attained by ensuring that teachers’ internal capacity/accountability is aligned to external accountability demands. A teacher-centred model of accountability that recognises the moral obligation of all parties, understands that the teacher is at the centre of the process of quality education and consequently invests in building their instructional capacity, and ensures institutional alignment, emerges as an appropriate model for quality improvement. This model respects and strengthens the professionalism of teachers.