Search

This case study reports on the professional identity development of a group of beginning in-service teacher educators in Türkiye. The focus was on investigating how a group of in-service teacher educators' participation in professional communities and their collaboration with experienced educators and teachers affected their professional identity development. Within the qualitative constructivist paradigm, twelve participants were interviewed for unearthing the social and relational dimensions of developing as teacher educators in Turkish in-service teacher education (INSET) context. The analysis drew on the theoretical-methodological framework which is composed of five identity lenses (becoming, doing, knowing, being, and belonging). The findings indicated that a supportive community of colleagues and the attitudes of INSET participants were the building blocks of teacher educators' development. This article highlights the significance of professional collaboration and the crucial influence of INSET participants on in-service teacher educators' identity development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-temperature, steady-state, in-pile experiment was developed to simulate prototypical nuclear thermal propulsion conditions. The experimental development of the resistively heated test apparatus involved spatially scaling the device to a larger heated region from a previous smaller out-of-pile prototype. A series of tests and investigations were conducted to replicate the smaller out-of-pile system's success of achieving 2500 K. However, limitations within the larger assembly were identified; specifically, the heater filament design does not scale well. The larger assembly can reliably generate usable temperature levels from room temperature up to those exceeding 1300 K for hours. It can briefly sustain a usable 1800 K. The larger system is achieving temperatures over 2500 K, but these are localized and unable to be monitored in the current design. The achieved temperature levels remain suitable for testing various components considered for a nuclear thermal rocket. However, due to the limitations of the current heater filament, it is recommended that the apparatus be redesigned to utilize a rigid heating element similar to that used during the Radioisotope Propulsion Technology Program (Project POODLE) in the 1960s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a CfBT Education Trust funded study, we investigated the practical steps school leaders can take to ensure that self-evaluation of school performance led, through the effective staff development, to genuine school improvement. On the journey from self-evaluation to school improvement our research identified what schools did that worked, how people helped each other, how obstacles were overcome, and what was done to ensure even greater improvement. The role of continuing development of staff was crucial in helping to address most of the priorities identified through self-evaluation to bring about improvement, enhance the quality of the learning experience, and generally make things better for pupils. In this article we outline the key factors that need consideration by school staff development leaders to ensure that the journey leads from self-evaluation to school improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]