Pub Date : 2022-06-15DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-02-2022-0013
Pamela Osmond-Johnson, L. Fuhrmann
PurposeThis paper draws on data from a research project that examined the impact of a community of practice (CoP) model of teaching practicum that engaged teacher candidates in collaborative inquiry projects based on self-identified problems of practice that emerged during their practicum experiences.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was adopted to better understand the ways in which the CoP served as a support mechanism for teacher candidates to develop social capital during internship. Data collection included anecdotal observation notes, student postings in online discussion forums, and a one-hour post-project focus group. Data analysis was rooted in phenomenology (Lin, 2013) and was guided by the four pronged coding process outlined by Bicudo (2000).FindingsAs the paper illustrates, the CoP created rich opportunities for teacher candidates to cultivate social capital, which positively impacted their human and decisional capital. Relatedly, teacher candidates demonstrated an enhanced sense of collective efficacy and an understanding of the significance of collaborative professional cultures on their continued growth as members of the teaching profession.Originality/valueWhile a number of studies have considered various factors impacting the professional capital of practicing teachers, the development of professional capital amongst interning teachers remains as an under-explored area in the research literature.
{"title":"Supporting teacher candidates to become collaborative teaching professionals: developing professional capital through a collaborative inquiry-based community of practice","authors":"Pamela Osmond-Johnson, L. Fuhrmann","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-02-2022-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-02-2022-0013","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis paper draws on data from a research project that examined the impact of a community of practice (CoP) model of teaching practicum that engaged teacher candidates in collaborative inquiry projects based on self-identified problems of practice that emerged during their practicum experiences.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was adopted to better understand the ways in which the CoP served as a support mechanism for teacher candidates to develop social capital during internship. Data collection included anecdotal observation notes, student postings in online discussion forums, and a one-hour post-project focus group. Data analysis was rooted in phenomenology (Lin, 2013) and was guided by the four pronged coding process outlined by Bicudo (2000).FindingsAs the paper illustrates, the CoP created rich opportunities for teacher candidates to cultivate social capital, which positively impacted their human and decisional capital. Relatedly, teacher candidates demonstrated an enhanced sense of collective efficacy and an understanding of the significance of collaborative professional cultures on their continued growth as members of the teaching profession.Originality/valueWhile a number of studies have considered various factors impacting the professional capital of practicing teachers, the development of professional capital amongst interning teachers remains as an under-explored area in the research literature.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49454564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-09DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-08-2021-0045
W. Ye
PurposeThis paper explores education group school principal’s influence on professional learning community (PLC) development in China.Design/methodology/approachQualitative comparative case studies were conducted.FindingsThe findings show that principals indicated principal-level factors were their major concerns regarding PLC cultural condition design, school needs were the major concerns in PLCs’ relational and structural design, and educational-group factors impacted principals’ extension of PLCs’ structural conditions.Originality/valueThis article concludes by presenting a “three-context” framework for understanding education group principal’s influence on PLCs in China.
{"title":"Context, school principals and professional learning communities in China: the case of educational group schools","authors":"W. Ye","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-08-2021-0045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-08-2021-0045","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis paper explores education group school principal’s influence on professional learning community (PLC) development in China.Design/methodology/approachQualitative comparative case studies were conducted.FindingsThe findings show that principals indicated principal-level factors were their major concerns regarding PLC cultural condition design, school needs were the major concerns in PLCs’ relational and structural design, and educational-group factors impacted principals’ extension of PLCs’ structural conditions.Originality/valueThis article concludes by presenting a “three-context” framework for understanding education group principal’s influence on PLCs in China.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43255379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-27DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-09-2021-0060
Izhar Oplatka, Alaa Afif Elmalak-Watted
PurposeThe aim of the current study was to explore emotional closeness and emotional distance between Arab teachers who teach in the Jewish State Educational System and their Jewish counterparts in the school.Design/methodology/approachThe research used semi-structured interviews with 16 Arab and Jewish teachers in Israel.FindingsThe authors identified patterns of emotional closeness and emotional distance among Arab and Jewish teachers, perception gaps among Jewish and Arab teachers and the factors affecting emotional closeness/distance among them. Empirical and practical implications are suggested.Originality/valueThe study sheds light on the emotional aspects of multicultural educational teams and workplaces and increases our understanding of the complexity of teacher emotion in multi-ethnic and multi-religious staffrooms.
{"title":"Emotional closeness and emotional distance among schoolteachers: the case of Arab teachers who teach in Jewish schools","authors":"Izhar Oplatka, Alaa Afif Elmalak-Watted","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-09-2021-0060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-09-2021-0060","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe aim of the current study was to explore emotional closeness and emotional distance between Arab teachers who teach in the Jewish State Educational System and their Jewish counterparts in the school.Design/methodology/approachThe research used semi-structured interviews with 16 Arab and Jewish teachers in Israel.FindingsThe authors identified patterns of emotional closeness and emotional distance among Arab and Jewish teachers, perception gaps among Jewish and Arab teachers and the factors affecting emotional closeness/distance among them. Empirical and practical implications are suggested.Originality/valueThe study sheds light on the emotional aspects of multicultural educational teams and workplaces and increases our understanding of the complexity of teacher emotion in multi-ethnic and multi-religious staffrooms.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45963361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-19DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-01-2022-104
Carol Campbell
{"title":"Afterward? Moving onwards for developing pracademia and pracademics in education","authors":"Carol Campbell","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-01-2022-104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-01-2022-104","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43998655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-19DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-01-2022-103
Trista Hollweck,Deborah M. Netolicky,Paul Campbell
as characterizing the plurality of and the itself, occupied by those interacting within, between, and beyond the domains of practice and academia, and involving the three key components of identity, community and engagement. We define pracademics as those who not only work and lead within and across the traditions and domains of practice and academia, but who also engage in the bridging work of being between and across domains.
{"title":"Guest editorialPracademia: exploring the possibilities, power and politics of boundary-spanners straddling the worlds of practice and scholarship","authors":"Trista Hollweck,Deborah M. Netolicky,Paul Campbell","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-01-2022-103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-01-2022-103","url":null,"abstract":"as characterizing the plurality of and the itself, occupied by those interacting within, between, and beyond the domains of practice and academia, and involving the three key components of identity, community and engagement. We define pracademics as those who not only work and lead within and across the traditions and domains of practice and academia, but who also engage in the bridging work of being between and across domains.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":"42 35","pages":"1-5"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138504740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-26DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-11-2020-0084
Hayley Weddle, Mariko Yoshisato, Megan Hopkins
PurposeAlthough schools across the United States are becoming increasingly linguistically and culturally diverse, many teachers remain underprepared to work with students classified as English learners (ELs), especially at the secondary level. Acknowledging the importance of developing systems of support for teachers of ELs, this paper examines the district- and school-level factors shaping secondary teachers' access to EL-focused professional learning in one large urban school district.Design/methodology/approachTo examine teachers' access to EL-focused professional learning, the authors draw on 49 in-depth interviews with district leaders and staff from nine secondary schools. Data analysis was guided by a structure, culture and agency theoretical framework.FindingsFindings revealed that decreased structural support, in terms of both fiscal and human resources, constrained teachers' access to EL-related professional learning. Further, the district culture was characterized by limited understanding of ELs' backgrounds and assets. While some school leaders exercised agency to bolster EL-focused professional learning for teachers, such supports were rare.Practical implicationsFindings help to contextualize secondary teachers' feelings of unpreparedness to serve ELs, illuminating several factors that district and school leaders should attend to in order to bolster the development of professional capital for teachers of ELs at the secondary level.Originality/valueWhile prior research outlines the importance of designing systems of support for EL-focused professional learning, this study highlights specific structural and cultural factors shaping such systems.
{"title":"Professional learning for secondary teachers of English learners in an urban school district: examining systems of support","authors":"Hayley Weddle, Mariko Yoshisato, Megan Hopkins","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-11-2020-0084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-11-2020-0084","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeAlthough schools across the United States are becoming increasingly linguistically and culturally diverse, many teachers remain underprepared to work with students classified as English learners (ELs), especially at the secondary level. Acknowledging the importance of developing systems of support for teachers of ELs, this paper examines the district- and school-level factors shaping secondary teachers' access to EL-focused professional learning in one large urban school district.Design/methodology/approachTo examine teachers' access to EL-focused professional learning, the authors draw on 49 in-depth interviews with district leaders and staff from nine secondary schools. Data analysis was guided by a structure, culture and agency theoretical framework.FindingsFindings revealed that decreased structural support, in terms of both fiscal and human resources, constrained teachers' access to EL-related professional learning. Further, the district culture was characterized by limited understanding of ELs' backgrounds and assets. While some school leaders exercised agency to bolster EL-focused professional learning for teachers, such supports were rare.Practical implicationsFindings help to contextualize secondary teachers' feelings of unpreparedness to serve ELs, illuminating several factors that district and school leaders should attend to in order to bolster the development of professional capital for teachers of ELs at the secondary level.Originality/valueWhile prior research outlines the importance of designing systems of support for EL-focused professional learning, this study highlights specific structural and cultural factors shaping such systems.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45847980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-06DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-04-2021-0024
D. Lee
PurposeBoth Hong Kong and Singapore leverage teacher collaboration to improve student learning, but state reforms differ in how teacher collaborative capabilities are prioritized. This paper provides a nuanced comparison of Hong Kong and Singapore teachers' values (risk-taking, power distance and uncertainty avoidance) to develop insights into how different policy focuses cultivate teachers' capabilities to focus on improving student learning.Design/methodology/approachEmploying Hargreaves and Fullan's (2012) concept of professional capital, statistical analyses determine teachers' values profiles of high, medium and low professional capital in the respective contexts. Leveraging related research on Singapore teachers (Lee and Lee, 2018), nuances in teachers' values in the Hong Kong results are identified via cluster analysis and explained via structural equation modelling.FindingsMedium professional capital Hong Kong teachers' values matched Singapore's, but teachers in other clusters are nuanced. Compared to Singapore teachers with similar levels of professional capital, high professional capital Hong Kong teachers have higher uncertainty avoidance, while low professional capital teachers are the opposite. In Hong Kong, high uncertainty avoidance values positively influence teacher leadership and focus on student learning. Nevertheless, as with their Singapore counterparts, high professional capital Hong Kong teachers have low power distance and high risk-taking values.Originality/valueThis paper raises awareness regarding policy's influence in cultivating teachers' values and their transformational change capabilities. By comparing two hierarchical Chinese societies, the discussion questions whether Chinese and Western cultural influences are mutually exclusive, and whether transformational change in cultural values, if achievable, is necessary.
目的香港和新加坡都利用教师合作来改善学生的学习，但各州的改革在如何优先考虑教师合作能力方面有所不同。本文对香港和新加坡教师的价值观(冒险、权力距离和不确定性规避)进行了细致的比较，以深入了解不同的政策重点如何培养教师专注于提高学生学习的能力。采用哈格里夫斯和富勒(2012)的专业资本概念，统计分析确定了教师在各自背景下对高、中、低专业资本的价值概况。利用对新加坡教师的相关研究(Lee and Lee, 2018)，通过聚类分析确定了香港结果中教师价值观的细微差别，并通过结构方程模型进行了解释。调查结果中等专业资本香港教师的价值观与新加坡相当，但其他地区的教师则有所不同。与专业资本水平相似的新加坡教师相比，高专业资本的香港教师具有更高的不确定性规避，而低专业资本的教师则相反。在香港，高度的不确定性回避价值观对教师领导和关注学生学习有积极影响。然而，与新加坡教师相比，高专业资本的香港教师具有较低的权力距离和较高的冒险价值观。本文提出了政策对教师价值观和转型变革能力培养的影响。通过比较两个等级分明的中国社会，讨论了中国和西方文化的影响是否相互排斥，以及如果可以实现的话，文化价值观的转型变革是否必要。
{"title":"Relationships between policy, teachers' values and professional capital in teacher collaboration in hierarchical Chinese societies","authors":"D. Lee","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-04-2021-0024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-04-2021-0024","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeBoth Hong Kong and Singapore leverage teacher collaboration to improve student learning, but state reforms differ in how teacher collaborative capabilities are prioritized. This paper provides a nuanced comparison of Hong Kong and Singapore teachers' values (risk-taking, power distance and uncertainty avoidance) to develop insights into how different policy focuses cultivate teachers' capabilities to focus on improving student learning.Design/methodology/approachEmploying Hargreaves and Fullan's (2012) concept of professional capital, statistical analyses determine teachers' values profiles of high, medium and low professional capital in the respective contexts. Leveraging related research on Singapore teachers (Lee and Lee, 2018), nuances in teachers' values in the Hong Kong results are identified via cluster analysis and explained via structural equation modelling.FindingsMedium professional capital Hong Kong teachers' values matched Singapore's, but teachers in other clusters are nuanced. Compared to Singapore teachers with similar levels of professional capital, high professional capital Hong Kong teachers have higher uncertainty avoidance, while low professional capital teachers are the opposite. In Hong Kong, high uncertainty avoidance values positively influence teacher leadership and focus on student learning. Nevertheless, as with their Singapore counterparts, high professional capital Hong Kong teachers have low power distance and high risk-taking values.Originality/valueThis paper raises awareness regarding policy's influence in cultivating teachers' values and their transformational change capabilities. By comparing two hierarchical Chinese societies, the discussion questions whether Chinese and Western cultural influences are mutually exclusive, and whether transformational change in cultural values, if achievable, is necessary.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41613147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-29DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-05-2021-0026
Trista Hollweck, Deborah M. Netolicky, P. Campbell
PurposeThe aim of this paper is to define pracademia and conceptualise it in relation to educational contexts. This paper contributes to and stimulates a continuing and evolving conversation around pracademia and its relevance, role and possibilities.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a conceptual exploration. It draws upon existing and emerging pieces of literature, the use of metaphor as a meaning-making tool, and the positionalities of the authors, to develop the concept of pracademia.FindingsThe authors posit that pracademics who simultaneously straddle the worlds of practice, policy, and academia embody new possibilities as boundary spanners in the field of education for knowledge mobilization, networks, community membership, and responding to systemic challenges. However, being a pracademic requires the constant reconciling of the demands of multi-membership and ultimately, pracademics must establish sufficient legitimacy to be respected in two or more currently distinct worlds.Practical implicationsThis paper has implications for knowledge mobilization, networks, boundary spanners, leadership, professional learning, and connecting practice, policy, and research. While the authors are in the field of education, this exploration of pracademia is relevant not only to the field of education but also to other fields in which there is a clear need to connect practice/policy with scholarship.Originality/valueThis paper provides a new definition of pracademia and argues that pracademia identifies an important yet relatively unknown space with many possibilities in the field of education.
{"title":"Defining and exploring pracademia: identity, community, and engagement","authors":"Trista Hollweck, Deborah M. Netolicky, P. Campbell","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-05-2021-0026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-05-2021-0026","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe aim of this paper is to define pracademia and conceptualise it in relation to educational contexts. This paper contributes to and stimulates a continuing and evolving conversation around pracademia and its relevance, role and possibilities.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a conceptual exploration. It draws upon existing and emerging pieces of literature, the use of metaphor as a meaning-making tool, and the positionalities of the authors, to develop the concept of pracademia.FindingsThe authors posit that pracademics who simultaneously straddle the worlds of practice, policy, and academia embody new possibilities as boundary spanners in the field of education for knowledge mobilization, networks, community membership, and responding to systemic challenges. However, being a pracademic requires the constant reconciling of the demands of multi-membership and ultimately, pracademics must establish sufficient legitimacy to be respected in two or more currently distinct worlds.Practical implicationsThis paper has implications for knowledge mobilization, networks, boundary spanners, leadership, professional learning, and connecting practice, policy, and research. While the authors are in the field of education, this exploration of pracademia is relevant not only to the field of education but also to other fields in which there is a clear need to connect practice/policy with scholarship.Originality/valueThis paper provides a new definition of pracademia and argues that pracademia identifies an important yet relatively unknown space with many possibilities in the field of education.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2021-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43119567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-20DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-10-2020-0078
Y. Owusu-Agyeman, Enna Moroeroe
PurposeScholarly studies on student engagement are mostly focused on the perceptions of students and academic staff of higher education institutions (HEIs) with a few studies concentrating on the perspectives of professional staff. To address this knowledge gap, this paper aims to examine how professional staff who are members of a professional community perceive their contributions to enhancing student engagement in a university.Design/methodology/approachData for the current study were gathered using semi-structured face-to-face interviews among 41 professional staff who were purposively sampled from a public university in South Africa. The data gathered were analysed using thematic analysis that involved a process of identifying, analysing, organising, describing and reporting the themes that emerged from the data set.FindingsAn analysis of the narrative data revealed that when professional staff provide students with prompt feedback, support the development of their social and cultural capital and provide professional services in the area of teaching and learning, they foster student engagement in the university. However, the results showed that poor communication flow and delays in addressing students’ concerns could lead to student disengagement. The study further argues that through continuous interaction and shared norms and values among members of a professional community, a service culture can be developed to address possible professional knowledge and skills gaps that constrain quality service delivery.Originality/valueThe current paper contributes to the scholarly discourse on student engagement and professional community by showing that a service culture of engagement is developed among professional staff when they share ideas, collaborate and build competencies to enhance student engagement. Furthermore, the collaboration between professional staff and academics is important to addressing the academic issues that confront students in the university.
{"title":"Professional community and student engagement in higher education: rethinking the contributions of professional staff","authors":"Y. Owusu-Agyeman, Enna Moroeroe","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-10-2020-0078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-10-2020-0078","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeScholarly studies on student engagement are mostly focused on the perceptions of students and academic staff of higher education institutions (HEIs) with a few studies concentrating on the perspectives of professional staff. To address this knowledge gap, this paper aims to examine how professional staff who are members of a professional community perceive their contributions to enhancing student engagement in a university.Design/methodology/approachData for the current study were gathered using semi-structured face-to-face interviews among 41 professional staff who were purposively sampled from a public university in South Africa. The data gathered were analysed using thematic analysis that involved a process of identifying, analysing, organising, describing and reporting the themes that emerged from the data set.FindingsAn analysis of the narrative data revealed that when professional staff provide students with prompt feedback, support the development of their social and cultural capital and provide professional services in the area of teaching and learning, they foster student engagement in the university. However, the results showed that poor communication flow and delays in addressing students’ concerns could lead to student disengagement. The study further argues that through continuous interaction and shared norms and values among members of a professional community, a service culture can be developed to address possible professional knowledge and skills gaps that constrain quality service delivery.Originality/valueThe current paper contributes to the scholarly discourse on student engagement and professional community by showing that a service culture of engagement is developed among professional staff when they share ideas, collaborate and build competencies to enhance student engagement. Furthermore, the collaboration between professional staff and academics is important to addressing the academic issues that confront students in the university.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2021-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46803531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-03DOI: 10.1108/jpcc-11-2020-0095
Sharon Friesen
PurposeThis paper is a thinking piece that examines, from the viewpoint of a Canadian pracademic, working through two definitions of pracademic, a collaborative relationship between academics and practitioners and a person engaged as a practitioner and researcher. Two aspects of a pracademics scholarship is discussed, wide awakeness and praxis. The purpose of the paper is to make the case that it is pracademics who are well suited and attuned to questioning, challenging, and disrupting the ordinariness of the everyday, to envision new possibilities, and who take responsibility for mobilizing the educational community to undertake meaningful social change within an education system. A case is provided to illustrate wide-awakeness and praxis in practice. A case is provide to illustrate how wide-awakeness and praxis present themselves in practice.Design/methodology/approachThis paper considers the work of pracademics from Galileo Educational Network, located within a research-intensive university, who research and lead design-based professional learning. Drawing upon a design-based approach to guide design-based professional learning and design-based research, I highlight the ways in which wide-awakeness and praxis work themselves out in practice.FindingsDrawing upon the two aspects of wide-awakeness and praxis, creates a liminal space for pracademics to engage with practitioners to undertake stubborn and persistent problems of practice to create important educational improvements. A key to engaging in transformational change through collaborative professionalism is to engage in sustained design-based professional learning led by pracademics.Originality/valueThis thinking piece offers the perspective of one Canadian pracademic who shows how pracademics are uniquely positioned to take on the work of transformation, agency, and social change.
{"title":"Dwelling in liminal spaces: twin moments of the same reality","authors":"Sharon Friesen","doi":"10.1108/jpcc-11-2020-0095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-11-2020-0095","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis paper is a thinking piece that examines, from the viewpoint of a Canadian pracademic, working through two definitions of pracademic, a collaborative relationship between academics and practitioners and a person engaged as a practitioner and researcher. Two aspects of a pracademics scholarship is discussed, wide awakeness and praxis. The purpose of the paper is to make the case that it is pracademics who are well suited and attuned to questioning, challenging, and disrupting the ordinariness of the everyday, to envision new possibilities, and who take responsibility for mobilizing the educational community to undertake meaningful social change within an education system. A case is provided to illustrate wide-awakeness and praxis in practice. A case is provide to illustrate how wide-awakeness and praxis present themselves in practice.Design/methodology/approachThis paper considers the work of pracademics from Galileo Educational Network, located within a research-intensive university, who research and lead design-based professional learning. Drawing upon a design-based approach to guide design-based professional learning and design-based research, I highlight the ways in which wide-awakeness and praxis work themselves out in practice.FindingsDrawing upon the two aspects of wide-awakeness and praxis, creates a liminal space for pracademics to engage with practitioners to undertake stubborn and persistent problems of practice to create important educational improvements. A key to engaging in transformational change through collaborative professionalism is to engage in sustained design-based professional learning led by pracademics.Originality/valueThis thinking piece offers the perspective of one Canadian pracademic who shows how pracademics are uniquely positioned to take on the work of transformation, agency, and social change.","PeriodicalId":44790,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Professional Capital and Community","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2021-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46319458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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