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In addition to pre- and in-service teacher education programmes, teachers' autonomous reading of content related to their work contributes significantly to their professional development. This study investigated the factors that influenced the professional reading of 10,469 language teachers in the 2018 dataset of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Two machine learning models – logistic regression and Support Vector Machines (SVM) – were used to classify light and heavy readers. Nineteen variables related to teachers, including various aspects of their life, education and instructional practices, were used as predictors for classification. The results indicate that the two models had very similar accuracy scores around 65%. Moreover, the length of the reading texts that teachers assign to their students, instruction of reading comprehension strategies, and teachers' own general reading habits were found to be the most important predictors of professional reading time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The series of responses in this article were gathered as part of an online mini conference held in September 2021 that sought to explore different ideas and articulations of school autonomy reform across the world (Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, the USA, Norway, Sweden and New Zealand). It centred upon an important question: what needs to happen for school autonomy to be mobilised to create more equitable public schools and systems of education? There was consensus across the group that school autonomy reform creates further inequities at school and system levels when driven by the logics of marketisation, competition, economic efficiency and public accountability. Against the backdrop of these themes, the conference generated discussion and debate where provocations and points of agreement and disagreement about issues of social justice and the mobilisation of school autonomy reform were raised. As an important output of this discussion, we asked participants to write a short response to the guiding conference question. The following are these responses which range from philosophical considerations, systems and governance perspectives, national particularities and teacher and principal perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the positive impact of collaborative school cultures on teachers' professional growth and student achievement, it is difficult to create such a culture. This study explores the types of school cultures in one school district in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to identify factors that could foster or inhibit true teacher collaboration. Data consist of quantitative survey responses from 361 teachers in 24 schools, and the results of follow-up qualitative interviews with 14 teachers representing 4 schools. Results show that the most common types of school cultures were contrived collegiality and comfortable collaboration, and that true collaboration was the least common. There is also evidence that when teachers' work is governed by mandated learning outcomes, students' assessment requirements, and external accountability demands, teachers lack the time, autonomy, or willingness to create a truly collaborative work culture. The study concludes that teacher autonomy and internal accountability are key elements for creating truly collaborative cultures in UAE schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construct of language teacher immunity has recently been introduced as a robust protective armor allowing language teachers to take on challenges within classroom context. However, due to the novelty of the concept, scant research attention has been given to the predictors of language teacher immunity, especially in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association between autonomy, emotions, engagement, and immunity of experienced in-service EFL teachers (N = 390) in the Iranian context. After collecting data through four electronic questionnaires, standard multiple regression analysis was performed. The results indicated that autonomy, emotions, and engagement could be significant predicators of language teacher immunity. More specifically, the findings suggested that teacher autonomy had the strongest explanatory power in predicting experienced in-service EFL teachers' immunity. In addition, regarding the inextricable connection between EFL teachers' immunity, autonomy, engagement, and emotions, the centrality of language teacher immunity was underscored. These findings contribute to the field of teacher education by depicting the areas on which educators should focus to develop EFL teachers' immunity. The findings imply that providing experienced EFL teachers with opportunities to exercise autonomy, demonstrate commitment, and regulate emotions through teacher education courses can be helpful to facilitate their productive immunity development. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has indicated global trends of decreasing teacher autonomy and increasing teacher accountability. Standardised national tests have been identified as one of many factors constraining teacher autonomy. Another trend influencing teachers' scope of action is the profiling and branding of schools that compete for students. This qualitative case study concerns the general upper secondary level in Finland, the only level of education in the country with a high-stakes final examination—the matriculation exam. The upper secondary level is generally regarded as Finland's most subject-focused level of education. In contrast to this subject-focused tradition, the case school for this research has developed a cross-curricular profile emphasising creativity, boundary crossing and an outward orientated approach. The study explores the teachers' perceptions of how their autonomy is constrained in this context characterised by tensions between the cross-curricular school profile on one hand, and the subject-focused tradition and student evaluations on the other. Although one might expect these tensions to constrain teacher autonomy, the results show that the teachers, in fact, experience the cross-curricular school profile as increasing their individual autonomy. The study demonstrates that upper secondary teachers can experience extensive autonomy despite global trends of increasing teacher accountability and diminishing teacher autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of English Teaching & Learning is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study assessed how teachers understand and value autonomy, collaboration and the relationship between both. Quantitative analyses (N1 = 1610, N2 = 1408) included a multilevel SEM model and identifying teacher profiles based upon perceived autonomy (curricular, didactical-pedagogical) and autonomy attitude (individualistic/reactive, collaborative/reflective). Interviews (N = 17) were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Three teacher profiles were identified: autonomous collaborative, autonomous individualistic and low curricular autonomy collaborative. Teachers in the first profile reported most collaboration. Results demonstrate the need to take the interaction between autonomy and attitude into account. However, small effect sizes and qualitative results indicate that other factors play an important role. Didactical-pedagogical autonomy should be split up into content-related and classroom teaching–related aspects (demonstrating higher sensitivity to external influences). Moreover, while quantitative results demonstrate a unified collaborative attitude, qualitative findings indicate that openness towards deep-level collaboration differs depending on the domain of autonomy. Finally, besides individual autonomy, autonomy at the level of collaboration is influential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of English Teaching & Learning is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 2004, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued the College English Curriculum Requirements in an effort to revitalise English language teaching in China. This official document underpins "College English", a compulsory course for non-English majors in the first 2 years of university study. In a break with the past, the policy document placed considerable emphasis on the development of learner autonomy. Despite these aspirations, in practice it has been observed that many teachers struggle to implement their content (Lin, Chen, Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages 32(2):45–50, 2009; Luo, Journal of the Foreign Language World 183(6):29–36, 2017; Xu, Language and Education 7(4):2–7, 2014). To better document this mismatch and identify its causes, this research investigated 668 students and 182 teachers' beliefs, practices and readiness for autonomy in the context of the College English course. Through a triangulated approach, this article found that both the students and teachers appeared psychologically, but not technically or behaviourally, ready for autonomy. The challenges to the promotion of autonomy in Chinese universities, therefore, seem to be more about pedagogical than cultural impediments. We conclude the paper with a number of implications to enable classroom practitioners to better integrate the development of autonomy into the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homework is an important and commonly expected part of students’ out-of-class learning internationally; however, homework practices as experienced by teachers are little understood. This study draws on the experiences of two English language teachers working in primary schools in Hong Kong to explore how standardized homework practices affect their teacher autonomy, an integral part of teacher professionalism and an essential factor underlying teachers’ professional practice. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with two teachers and samples of students’ homework the participants assigned. Analysis of the data revealed that standardized homework practices do affect the teachers’ autonomy. However, they affected the two teachers differently, with one teacher feeling suffocated and unable to be the kind of teacher she wanted to be, while the other saw the practices as normal and part of her role to deliver the homework as prescribed. The data suggest that these differences can be attributed to the teachers’ professional beliefs about their schools’ standardized homework practices and their role as a teacher. Aspects of the teachers’ teaching experiences, own educational experiences, professional development, and cultural norms were explored to justify the effect of the practice on their autonomy. The article concludes with practical implications and a call for more research to be conducted on teachers’ homework practices, which are widespread yet under-researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standardised curriculum or standardized lesson plans (SLPs) have become an accepted strategy to support and improve instructional practices in schools worldwide. These standardised lesson plans (SLPs) were criticized in the 1970s and 1980s for deskilling the teaching profession and reducing the work of teachers to that of mere technicians. This critique is now returning at a time of growing regulation of teachers’ work in many school systems. In this paper, we investigate the potential and limitations of the SLPs which are the main component of the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy (GPLMS), a large-scale multipronged instructional reform established in Gauteng, the most industrialised province of South Africa around Johannesburg and Pretoria. Our interest is to engage with the impact of SLPs on teachers, given the frequent claims that teacher autonomy is seriously eroded and threatened by SLPs. We examine the relationship between autonomy and authority, by drawing on the philosophers Peters and Winch as well as on curriculum theorists Remillard, Morris and Hiebert who have studied standardized curriculum materials and their impact on teachers’ work. The paper argues for a deeper analytical understanding of teacher autonomy and offers three conditions that can equip teachers to seize “autonomy opportunities” when working with SLPs: (1) standardised curriculum materials of high quality, sufficiently specified so that correct and incorrect ways of following the content and procedures inscribed in the SLPs and the reasons for them are accessible to all teachers; (2) authority which is considered legitimate, applied in a morally justified manner and managed in an educationally sound way; and (3) appropriate use of professional and personal knowledge, when making decisions and evaluating SLPs’ prescriptions in context. In the rest of the paper we evaluate the “autonomy opportunities” provided by the GPLMS standardised lesson plans, by examining whether the three conditions were met. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the main findings of a study that sought to understand how teachers and department heads perceived and experienced the implementation of a classroom observation system in a teacher evaluation context. The data was collected through a teacher and department head survey and interviews with department heads who were responsible for classroom observation. The findings show that respondents regarded classroom observation as an inadequate teacher evaluation instrument. It was also viewed as one of the features of the teacher evaluation system that least contributed to the teachers’ professional development. Department heads felt torn between their intermediate management role as teacher observers and their professional role as teacher peers. Cultural norms of individual professional autonomy that regulated relations among colleagues prevented department heads from using information, gathered through classroom observation, to nourish in-depth professional discussions about concrete educational practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes how a group of teachers in a US public school developed and used permission-seeking moves as strategic and agentic tools to change their school curriculum and challenge norms of teaching. Although the notion of asking permission is typically considered disempowering in educational contexts, this study demonstrates that certain forms of permission-seeking (and giving) can foster collaboration and teacher agency across multiple constituent groups in a school community. This 2-year ethnographic study occurred within a context of a test-driven teaching environment with shifting student racial and economic demographics. Our research offers a reconceptualized theory of permission within a teacher agency framework and new possibilities for practitioners to engage in transgressive teaching with diverse learners in hyper-standardized teaching contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the reasons why teachers introduce innovations into their teaching. Interviews were conducted with thirty teachers in primary, secondary, and university settings in one Midwestern USA community. All participants said they innovated due to a desire to improve student learning; other frequently mentioned reasons were professional development experiences of their own choosing and a desire to avoid personal boredom. Less frequently stated reasons to innovate included the failure of textbooks and experiences with another teacher or the participants' own children. Implications for professional development include encouraging teachers to discover innovations applicable to their own classrooms through providing them with time and autonomy to develop alternative approaches to teaching curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research and policy have increasingly focused on the importance of staffing schools with effective teachers. A critical variable affecting teacher effectiveness is the enthusiasm, energy and effort teachers bring to their work, or teachers' work engagement. Better understanding teachers' work engagement and how it may change over stages in a teacher's career is the subject of this exploratory interview study of second-stage teachers-teachers with 4-10 years of experience. Participants in this study described engaging in their work to different degrees and in very different ways. As beginning teachers, their interest in and enthusiasm for teaching was typically high and they focused a great deal of energy on conducting their classes. However, over time they acquired a sense of competence and had been granted considerable professional autonomy. Although competence and autonomy inspired and energized some of these teachers, it also made it unnecessary to be highly engaged. Their administrators reportedly paid little attention to their choices and did not intervene. Ultimately, the decision about whether and how to engage in teaching was theirs to make. Although all participants reported a continued interest in and enthusiasm for teaching, three stage-related patterns emerged in how they engaged in their work. Some teachers chose to modify their engagement, re-directing a portion of their effort to activities other than teaching, including their families or coursework for recertification. Others decided to focus their engagement, by attending to more fine-grained, interesting aspects of their subject or pedagogy, now that they had the basics under control. Still others chose to diversify their engagement-engaging in new and interesting extensions of teaching, such as leadership roles and extracurricular activities. A few, whose efforts to improve their practice or contribute to their school had been ignored or discouraged, either said they would leave teaching or had disengaged as an alternative to leaving. These findings suggest that having a better understanding of teachers' engagement and the role that the school plays in their decisions about how to engage is important for promoting effectiveness and retention among teachers who have moved beyond their novice years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of an 18-month integrated, problem-solving research study of one new school's efforts to create a K-12 system of student assessment data that reflects their innovative vision for personalized and student-centered instruction. Based on interview, observational, and documentary data, the authors report how teachers articulate, measure, and assess student core competencies, aligned with a common vision and supported by a technology interface designed to promote data use. Findings from this study add to the research literature on assessment and data use by articulating the necessary knowledge and supports teachers in new autonomous schools need to develop and formatively use student assessment data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the hypothesis that the more support beginning mathematics teachers perceive and the better they evaluate the management of their school, the higher their teaching quality is. Indicators of teaching quality were how the teachers, who were in their third year in the profession, regarded themselves able to cope with the challenges of mathematics instruction and generic tasks like classroom management and how satisfied they were with their job. Indicators of support were the level of appraisal and autonomy the teachers reported. School management indicators were the administrative leadership of the principal and the climate of trust as perceived by the teachers. Our results reveal that teacher support plays an important role in the quality of beginning mathematics teachers. All quality indicators improved significantly if beginning teachers reported more appraisal and autonomy. A climate of trust plays an important role for the extent of autonomy perceived. Administrative leadership was significantly related to the amount of appraisal the teachers reported. Our results provide important information on how to steer a school so that the quality of beginning mathematics teachers is maximized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current teacher accountability initiatives such as those included in the "No Child Left Behind" legislation in the United States create particular difficulties that impact deleteriously on the performance of professional educators. The quality of public education is undermined when teachers are held accountable to an external authority rather than to themselves, their colleagues, and their professional associations. In this article, and in response to this concern, we argue that for teachers to strengthen their classroom performance, policy renewal is required on two separate fronts: first, we must restructure teachers' working conditions to support autonomous professional activity related to education; and second, teachers, both individually and collectively, must accept the concomitant responsibility to pursue personal professional development to improve their pedagogical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores the history, philosophies and practices of an "A rated" public charter school (serving infants through 8th grade) in Florida. Participants are the professional educators who were involved in the founding of the school in 1999. Findings are based on semi-structured interviews probing the details of the history of the school and the educators' beliefs and practices. Analysis of the educators' responses reveal a strong sense of ownership and investment by the teachers and administrator who were part of the founding of the school, a focus on doing what is wise for children, a culture of autonomy, and a profound respect for children. Prevailing customs of the school include meetings, field studies, and service. Implications are related to school reforms, teacher autonomy and wise practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]