Suchergebnisse

"Developed by RMC Research Corporation, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, under contract #105-93-1585". -- (Source: p.[iv]) ; "U.S. Government Printing Office: 2001 - 615-032/24256". ; Resources (p. 97-100). ; Mode of access: Internet.

As public demands for school accountability continue to increase due to federal legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, educators struggle to meet rising minimum standards. In an effort to address these pressures and search for ways to improve, educators consider implementing a professional learning community model which focuses on the improvement of teaching and learning. While attributes and characteristics of professional learning communities are documented in the literature, little is known about how the model is established or sustained. The purpose of this case study was to understand how one middle school implemented a professional learning community model and planned for sustainability of the model. More specifically, the researcher determined the schools level of immersion in the basic dimensions of a professional learning community, identified compelling and constraining forces affecting implementation, and assessed beliefs of certified personnel about the sustainability of the model. As a quantitative method, a survey instrument to assess perceptions of the faculty on instructional practices was administered to certified personnel. Descriptive statistics reported were mean, median, mode, and standard deviation. Qualitative methods used in this case study included an interview with the principal, a focus group discussion with 5 certified personnel selected by the principal as being knowledgeable about reform efforts in the school, a focus group discussion with 5 certified personnel randomly selected by the researcher, observations of professional learning community meetings, and a review of artifacts. Findings indicated the school was deeply immersed in the basic dimensions of professional learning communities. In addition, compelling forces impacting implementation were categorized as: (a) leadership, (b) time, (c) small changes, (d) staff attitude, (e) on-site expertise, (f) risk-free environment, and (g) system level support. Constraining forces were categorized as: (a) time and logistical issues, (b) staff attitude, (c) stressors and demands, (d) professional development, (e) teacher turnover, (f) student population, and (g) external forces. Factors leading to sustainability of the model were categorized as: (a) leadership, (b) staff recruitment, (c) system level support, and (d) planning for leadership succession.

The extent to which organizational, social, cultural, and leadership contexts within schools support or impede the complexity of emergent leadership as it relates to professional learning communities was investigated in this study. Through in-depth interviews exploring ways in which teacher leadership manifests itself, the ability of teachers to understand their own leadership capacity, and how their emergent leadership influences others, data from this study reshape the notion that schools do not need to reform, but need to transform from traditional schools of teaching into contemporary schools of learning, providing the type of professional knowledge needed to foster 21st century skills for students. Data were collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted With fourteen teachers from four schools designated as the highest and lowest Title I and Non-Title I schools in a large urban district based on state wide achievement scores. These interview data were analyzed to develop five thematic constructs with sixteen themes. Thematic constructs were also developed to address the four context factors that may support or impede emergent teacher leadership. The findings suggested that teacher leadership has the ability to develop through the process of collaboration which is socially constructed in the context of professional learning communities. Findings further reveal that deep considerations for the ramifications of working within such a complex system as a learning community be made. These considerations include understanding that teacher leadership leads to a shift in decision making from a hierarchical to democratic model, that collaboration builds organizational intelligence, that struggling students are motivators for reflective professional discourse, and that influential peers set the model for this type of intuitive teacher leadership. Implications for further practice and directions for future research are also discussed.

Dalam praktek pendidikan, pengajaran di sekolah banyak menghadapi hambatan dan permasalahan. Hambatan dan permasalahan terhadap proses pengajaran yang muncul di lapangan dapat bersifat umum dan dapat pula bersifat khusus yang sangat khas, yang sangat dipengaruhi oleh situasi dan kondisi setempat. Terkait dengan masalah khusus atau khas di atas, setelah dilakukan pengamatan pendahuluan di SMPN 6 BATANGHARI, ditemukan hal-hal sebagai berikut. Dari 6 kelas yang ada, tampak ada kelas yang siswanya banyak bertanya dan responsif terhadap umpan dari guru, ada kelas yang biasa-biasa saja, dan ada pula kelas yang menyulitkan guru dalam mengembangkan pelajarannya. Gambaran permasalahan di atas menunjukkan bahwa perlu diusahakan pembelajaran IPS yang lebih optimal. Selaku guru IPS di Kelas VII merasa terpanggil untuk melaksanakan penelitian tindakan (action research) dalam upaya meningkatkan hasil Ilmu Pengetahuan Sosial melalui model pembelajaran Learning Community di SMPN 6 Batang hari. Model pembelajaran Learning Community merupakan salah satu contoh kecil dari penerapan pembelajaran yang demokratis di sekolah. Proses pembelajaran yang demokratis adalah proses belajar yang menempatkan siswa sebagai subyek. Mereka harus mengalami sebuah perubahan ke arah yang lebih positif. Dari yang tidak bisa menjadi bisa, dari tidak paham menjadi paham dan dari tidak tahu menjadi tahu. Disepanjang proses belajar itu,aktivitas siswa menjadi titik perhatian utama. Dengan kata lain mereka selalu dilibatkan secara aktif. Guru dapat berperan untuk dapat mengajak siswa mencari solusi bersama terhadap permasalahan yang ditemui. Model ini digunakan (Arends, 1998) untuk melatih dan mengembangkan keterampilan sosial agar siswa tidak mendominasi pembicaraan atau diam sama sekali. Guru memberi sejumlah kupon berbicara dengan waktu kurang lebih 30 detik per kupon pada tiap siswa. Sebelum berbicara siswa menyerahkan kupon terlebih dahulu pada guru. Setiap tampil berbicara satu kupon. Siswa dapat tampil lagi setelah bergiliran dengan siswa lainnya. Siswa yang telah habis kuponnya tidak boleh bicara lagi. Siswa yang masih memegang kupon harus bicara sampai semua kuponnya habis. Guru hendaknya selalu menciptakan dan menjaga hubungan yang harmonis dengan siswa, kedekatan yang sesuai dengan proporsinya akan sangat membantu siswa dalam hal terdapatnya hambatan-hambatan psikologis seperti apprehension. Jarak yang jauh dan terlalu formal antara siswa dan guru dapat menimbulkan rasa sungkan, malu, bahkan takut. Sebaliknya hubungan yang terlalu akrab akan dapat melunturkan wibawa guru atau rasa hormat siswa. Karenanya, keramahan dan sikap simpatik guru hendaknya selalu diimbangi dengan ketegasan dan kedisiplinan.

This paper features the process whereby an experimental Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) program fostered a critical learning community around peace and security across 13 countries and with 40 women. It addresses the epistemological questions of doing research in collective ways (with and among activists/scholars), the axiological challenge of recognizing and embracing counter-expertise, and the possibilities for incorporating values and practices of care as well as non-extractivism in producing and disseminating knowledge. By articulating the core ethical principles that emerged from this experience, the paper suggests a critical feminist epistemological commitment in taking seriously grassroots women's knowledge in peace and security processes, rather than what is often done in both policy and academy: prescribing their needs from above, interpreting their knowledge from the outside, and advising what problems to tackle and how to live.

Da der Transfer und das Management von Wissen für den Erfolg global agierender Automobilunternehmen von immer größerer Bedeutung werden, stellt sich auch die Frage nach deren kulturellen und kommunikativen Bedingungen im Verhältnis verschiedener Standorte, insbesondere im Verhältnis von "Konzernmutter" und "Auslandstochter". Die Autoren beleuchten einige Aspekte dieser für einen gelungenen Wissensaustausch notwendigen Voraussetzungen am Beispiel der Betriebe des tschechischen Skoda-Unternehmens und der deutschen Volkswagen-Zentrale in Wolfsburg. Ihre empirische Analyse auf der Grundlage von leitfadengestützten Interviews zeigt, dass eine alltäglich gelebte "Kultur des Austauschs" weder angeordnet werden kann, noch sich aus funktionalen Kooperationserfordernissen von selbst ergibt. Sie betrachten vor allem drei erfolgskritische Bereiche für Wissensaustauschprozesse im organisationalen Alltag: Die Bedeutung von Face-to-Face-Kommunikationen, die Einbettung in konzernweit verknüpfte Funktionsbereiche sowie die Art und Weise des unternehmenskulturellen Wandels selbst. Die Autoren ziehen daraus abschließend Konsequenzen zur Genese und Steuerbarkeit einer "Kultur des Austauschs" von Wissen. (ICI2)

Da der Transfer und das Management von Wissen für den Erfolg global agierender Automobilunternehmen von immer größerer Bedeutung werden, stellt sich auch die Frage nach deren kulturellen und kommunikativen Bedingungen im Verhältnis verschiedener Standorte, insbesondere im Verhältnis von "Konzernmutter" und "Auslandstochter". Die Autoren beleuchten einige Aspekte dieser für einen gelungenen Wissensaustausch notwendigen Voraussetzungen am Beispiel der Betriebe des tschechischen Skoda-Unternehmens und der deutschen Volkswagen-Zentrale in Wolfsburg. Ihre empirische Analyse auf der Grundlage von leitfadengestützten Interviews zeigt, dass eine alltäglich gelebte "Kultur des Austauschs" weder angeordnet werden kann, noch sich aus funktionalen Kooperationserfordernissen von selbst ergibt. Sie betrachten vor allem drei erfolgskritische Bereiche für Wissensaustauschprozesse im organisationalen Alltag: Die Bedeutung von Face-to-Face-Kommunikationen, die Einbettung in konzernweit verknüpfte Funktionsbereiche sowie die Art und Weise des unternehmenskulturellen Wandels selbst. Die Autoren ziehen daraus abschließend Konsequenzen zur Genese und Steuerbarkeit einer "Kultur des Austauschs" von Wissen. (ICI2).