In-service teacher professional development is central to most empirical conceptions of educational quality. As the techniques and strategies for educational reform have spread rapidly throughout the world, teacher professional development practices have been borrowed across borders. It is important to study the global sharing of information on teacher professional development. Global Perspectives on Teacher Performance Improvement examines the implementation of proven, high quality teacher professional development practices in unique environments around the world. It further explains the power of a globally connected community of teacher quality improvement. Covering topics such as mentoring programs, education technology, and education workforce, this book is an essential resource for educational administration and faculty, pre-service teachers, the public education sector, government officials, educators of both K-12 and higher education, researchers, and academicians.

Many studies of teacher motivation have been conducted in different contexts over time. However, until fairly recently there has not been a reliable measure available to allow comparisons across samples and settings. This has resulted in an abundance of findings which cannot be directly compared or synthesised. The FIT-Choice instrument offers the opportunity to examine motivations across settings. The various studies in this book suggest that people who choose teaching as a career are motivated by a complex interaction of factors embedded within communities and cultural expectations, but seem generally to embrace a desire to undertake meaningful work that makes for a better society. Unlike some careers, where rewards are in the form of salary and status, by and large these factors are not strong drivers for people who want to become teachers. They want to work with children and adolescents, and believe they have the ability to teach.

Engineering education aims to prepare engineering undergraduates for their future professional journey where they will be called on to solve challenges affecting individuals, companies, and society. The European Project Semester (EPS) exposes students to project- and challenge-based learning, paying special attention to international multidisciplinary teamwork, sustainable design, innovative thinking, and project management in order to develop a set of desired professional skills. The Handbook of Research on Improving Engineering Education With the European Project Semester shares the best practices in engineering education through close examination of the EPS. It describes the adopted learning framework, analyzes how it contributes to the development of skills, reports on the types of challenges proposed to teams, and delivers a set of team-project cases from the network of providers. Covering topics such as engineering ethics, project management, and sustainable behavior, this book is essential to students in engineering, engineers, engineering educators, educational researchers, academic administration and faculty, and academicians.

Global Perspectives on Education Research echoes the breadth and scope of education research worldwide. It features the work of established and emerging scholars from a range of universities and research institutions in Africa, Europe, and North America. The book's ten chapters are organized around four themes: Education Policy, Teaching and Learning, School Context and Student Outcomes, and Assessment and Measurement. Each chapter offers cross-cultural, transnational, or comparative insights on some of the most pressing challenges and promising opportunities for improving education around the world. Across thematic areas, these perspectives shape new ways of understanding context as an influence on, and a framework for, conceptual insights into education policy and practice at the international, national, and local levels. With chapters on topics including the cultural complexities of literacy, the effect of socioeconomic inequality on student learning, and the tension between education for global competitiveness and education for global citizenship as national policy strategies, Global Perspectives on Education Research addresses issues and questions that will interest education researchers, educators, policy makers, and societal leaders worldwide. This volume is a publication of the World Education Research Association (WERA). WERA is an association of major national, regional, and international specialty research associations dedicated to advancing education research as a scientific and scholarly field. WERA undertakes initiatives that are global in nature and thus transcend what any one association can accomplish in its own country, region, or area of specialization.

Teaching excellence in higher education needs to be promoted and celebrated. However, a universal definition of excellent teaching remains elusive, and robust evidence about how it affects student learning appears to be lacking. This timely book explores the notion of teaching excellence from the viewpoint of a variety of international authors; guiding the reader to understand the complex terrain in which teaching excellence is foregrounded, and highlighting a number of key issues facing the future of global higher education. Global Perspectives on Teaching Excellence explores: what is meant by teaching excellence, whether it can be measured and if so, how? the impact of teaching excellence frameworks, initiatives and awards. the new challenges for delivering global teaching excellence fit for the 21st century. With a mix of political, theoretical and applied research foci, each chapter also includes a short critical commentary from international experts in the field to further the debate and situate the topics in a wider context. Global Perspectives on Teaching Excellence is essential reading for academic and education policymakers, researchers, and undergraduate and postgraduate students in education.

Education is a field in which reflective practice is imperative for teacher and student success and for maintaining the desire to remain in the profession. During times of uncertainty, particularly as teachers faced the dual pandemics of social injustice and the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, they have felt demoralized and powerless. As a result, burnout among educators is becoming increasingly prevalent. It is crucial for teachers to hear reflections of others’ experiences to remind them that they are not alone in their work, provide opportunities for them to find connections with fellow educators, and encourage them to engage in reflective practices of their own. Teacher Reflections on Transitioning From K-12 to Higher Education Classrooms provides a collection of reflections from educators on their varied experiences within education and how and why they have pursued a place in academia. This book speaks to the humanistic side of academia by acknowledging the multiple passions, professions, and pathways that led each of the authors to academia. It is unique in that it is laced with the lived realities of the human side of academia from a shared stories perspective. Covering topics such as lifelong learners and identity shifts, this major reference work is ideal for academicians, researchers, scholars, practitioners, principals, administrators, educators, and students.

The personal and organizational struggles and accomplishments revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic highlight that innovation is the defining trait of individuals and organizations that thrive in the 21st century. The global health crisis not only accelerated the global geopolitical tensions and disrupted organizations in all sectors, but confirmed the importance of preparing globally competent citizens, professionals, and learners who can effectively respond to the economic, environmental, and digital transformations in the 21st century through lifelong learning and professional development. Leaders today need to not only understand the financial, operational, sociocultural, and historical contexts of regional, national, and global systems, but also to build effective partnerships and trusting relationships with all stakeholders in effective policymaking, fostering an organizational culture that supports innovation and managing risks. Preparing Globally Competent Professionals and Leaders for Innovation and Sustainability is centered on international higher education’s role for the global common good. It critically examines the need for globally competent citizens, professionals, and leaders in the 21st century and higher education’s role in the global common good for a sustainable world. The book presents an evidence-based interdisciplinary framework and promising strategies to allow all learners to develop global citizenship and global leadership while addressing the need to prepare human capital for the global knowledge economy and digital transformation of the 21st century. Covering topics such as accessible education, international higher education, and organizational innovation, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for organizational leaders, executives, faculty and administration of higher education, government officials, human resource managers, industry professionals, researchers, academicians, and students.

This book presents a searing critique of the global take on education, questioning why the idea that education should be international has come to dominate the field and positing that the discourse of internationalisation has altered the way we conceptualise education. Using diverse examples from the Middle East, the UK and South-East Asia, the book gathers insights from international schooling, refugee education and the internationalisation of higher education to argue that the ‘global gaze’ renders other ways of looking at education as invisible. It suggests that an oversaturation of international comparison amongst individuals and institutions alike creates a culture of powerlessness, exclusion and silencing. Furthermore, this volume also debates the issues that are caused when education is required to transcend national boundaries. Ultimately questioning the global education system in its current form, this book will be an important contribution for academics, researchers and students in the fields of higher education, education policy and politics, and education and development more broadly.

Diversity creates a rich environment for ideas to evolve into new and more refined forms. This pedagogical approach can help students to appreciate and value all forms of diversity and enrich learning. There is a need for administrators in education to institute policies that will support diversity and inclusion within special education classrooms. Rethinking Inclusion and Transformation in Special Education explores the latest findings on how children learn by discussing global policies and educational practices, considering professional expectations, establishing parent relationships that enhance communication, creating an effective learning environment that meets all students’ needs, and using technology wisely. Covering topics such as language development promotion, school leadership practices, and long-term skill support, this book is essential for special education teachers, diversity officers, school administrators, instructional designers, curriculum developers, academicians, researchers, and upper-level students.

"Throughout history education systems have strived to help teachers be as effective as possible in order to help students learn as much as possible. However, these teacher evaluation efforts have long been unhelpful in the pursuit of teacher development. Reflecting on, Observing, and Coaching Teaching presents a case for the necessity of effective teacher evaluation in the name of strong teacher development. Authors Robert J. Marzano, Cameron L. Rains, and Philip B. Warrick provide in-depth background research on the history of teacher evaluation, strong cases for the necessity of an intertwined evaluation and development system, as well as specific suggestions for improvement in both fields. Teachers should not be interchangeable parts. They should be vital cogs in an educational machine who each fill their niche as effectively as possible, and this book serves that end"--