STEM Teacher Learning Communities: International Examples and Issues
This paper reports an issue analysis based on data collected to understand teacher induction. Researchers did not design the studies at the time to explicitly investigate professional learning communities, and presenters will note resulting limitations on what is described and the implications drawn. Four main sources data are utilized. (1) Secondary analysis of prior case studies of induction systems in France, Japan, New Zealand, Shanghai and Switzerland (Britton, Paine, Pimm & Raizen, 2003). (2) Examination of data from current MSP-RETA study on topics used when coding data using software for qualitative analysis (HyperRESERACH), for example: school subject departments, sources of support, and learning from other science/math teachers. (3) Secondary analysis of prior U.S. case studies of induction programs. (4) Preliminary look at need for rigorous synthesis of extant literature in the field.
