This study explores how literacy coaches use cognitive tools to foster productive professional learning conversations around teachers' videoed classroom text discussions. The use of cognitive tools increased the evidence-based specificity of these exchanges and was also associated with a greater likelihood that coaches and teachers connected specific instructional interactions in video-recorded lessons to dialogic goals and principles. Tool use, however, was not consistent. Specifically, coaches were more likely to use tools in planning reflection questions prior to the post-conference, rather than in ‘real time’ to support problematizing processes and interpretations of classroom discussions during the post-conference conversation. Even when tools were used, connections between specific evidence from class discussions to dialogic goals and principles rarely occurred. Implications are discussed for professional development that supports coaches in using cognitive tools more strategically and consistently to facilitate professional learning conversations that can advance teachers' adaptive expertise for dialogic teaching.
This study examined how preservice teachers’ AI-related knowledge relates to AI reliance and attitudes toward AI use in academic work. Using a cross-sectional correlational design, data from 202 preservice English language teachers at a Turkish state university were analyzed with mediation and moderation models. Participants reported high AI-related knowledge, moderate AI reliance in reading and writing, and ethically ambivalent attitudes. Knowledge predicted reliance but not these attitudes directly, and mediation analyses showed reliance statistically accounted for the knowledge–attitudes association, whereas knowledge did not moderate the reliance–attitude link. Behavioral reliance, rather than knowledge, was most closely associated with these attitudes, underscoring the need to integrate academic integrity into AI-related teacher education. Because the design is cross-sectional and correlational and the attitudes measure may partly capture general openness to AI rather than tolerance of misconduct, the indirect pathway reflects an association rather than causation, and the single-institution sample limits generalizability.
Addressing teacher burnout and turnover through strategies that promote wellbeing and resilience is essential for thriving schools. Although there is extensive literature on positive psychology interventions (PPIs) for educators, we lack insight into how these interventions are implemented in practice. In this scoping review, we systematically charted school-based PPIs designed to promote wellbeing and/or resilience among educators—teachers and other school-based staff in instructional, leadership, or support roles. We searched randomised and non-randomised studies (2000–2025), identifying 247 sources (135 quantitative, 48 qualitative, 64 mixed-methods) and examined intervention characteristics, outcomes, reported effects, and factors that may influence implementation and effectiveness. The most frequently identified approaches—and those most consistently associated with positive effects—were combined mindfulness and social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions (n = 56), mindfulness-based approaches (n = 52), and multi-component PPIs (n = 37). These typically aimed to strengthen self-regulation and mindfulness skills, enhance teacher self-efficacy, and cultivate positive relationships to promote wellbeing and resilience. Qualitative findings suggest that successful implementation may benefit from systems-informed approaches that actively involve staff in program design and delivery. We provide recommendations for designing and implementing interventions to support educator wellbeing and resilience, with implications for research and practice.
Teacher education research highlights the challenge of connecting university coursework with classroom practice during placements. While practicum experiences provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to develop teaching competence, assessment literacy development during placement remains under-examined. This study investigates the 4–1 School–University Model, a practice-based structure integrating four days of school placement with one day of university-based coursework on assessment. Data were collected through surveys (n = 89) and focus group discussions (n = 64) with 200 PSTs enrolled in an assessment course. Findings show that the model supported PSTs’ classroom application of assessment concepts, peer dialogue, and confidence in designing and evaluating assessment tasks. However, PSTs reported tensions associated with navigating dual contexts and managing workload. The study proposes a structured placement–learning cycle that strengthens assessment literacy and offers a model integrating assessment learning within professional experience programs.
In today's linguistically diverse classrooms, teacher and student beliefs towards multilingualism are key variables for innovative multilingual teaching approaches. This study investigates the predictive impact of teacher beliefs towards multilingualism on student beliefs towards multilingualism, and how these beliefs are predicted by teachers' and students' own multilingualism and the proportion of multilingual students. Results from 48 fourth grade teachers and 873 students in Germany reveal that student beliefs are related to teachers' beliefs and predicted by students' own multilingualism. The proportion of multilingual students predicted students' beliefs but showed no significant composition effect, and it did not predict teachers' beliefs. The study emphasizes the decisive role of teachers as role models as their beliefs are significantly related to student beliefs towards multilingualism.
This comparative study examined predictors of multicultural teaching self-efficacy (MTSE) among lower secondary teachers in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, using TALIS 2024 data and hierarchical linear models with bootstrapped mediation analysis and moderation tests. Initial teacher education (ITE), professional development (PD) participation, classroom linguistic diversity, and school professional learning community (PLC) climate were significant independent predictors across all three countries, replicating core professional learning pathways identified in existing TALIS research. PD participation mediated part of the ITE-MTSE relationship in all three countries, though the mediated share was smallest in Norway, where teachers with the strongest perceived PD need benefited least from participation: a possible content-need mismatch rather than an absence of mediation. Teacher multilingualism independently predicted MTSE in Norway, with a weaker, marginal pattern in Sweden. Collaborative PD formats were positively associated with MTSE in Norway and Sweden. Denmark showed an apparent MTSE advantage unexplained by any measured predictor.
Facilitators of collaborative professional development (PD) develop their practice through evidence-informed reflection on sessions, yet they lack systematic ways to gather participant perspectives to guide their reflection and goal-setting. This qualitative study examines how facilitators across three mathematics-focused PD sites in the U.S. analyzed evidence from a participant-facing survey which surfaces conditions of the PD learning environment linked to teachers’ learning opportunities – a practical measure that provides systematic, timely formative data to support ongoing improvement. Participants included preservice and in-service teachers, coaches, and teacher leaders (n = 16); facilitators included university-, organization-, and district-based leaders (n = 7). Data sources included facilitator debriefs and interviews. Using constant comparative analysis, we found that facilitators drew on participant perceptions to validate impressions, refine goals, generate change ideas, and monitor ongoing decisions. Findings underscore the value of participant-centered formative assessments that make the PD learning environment visible for facilitators' reflection and goal-setting.
This qualitative case study examines how resilience develops across career stages among Chinese master teachers. Drawing on retrospective narratives from six nationally recognized teachers, the study explores how teachers construct resilience through negotiating internal–external tensions amid persistent occupational demands. The findings reveal three developmental phases—Cautious, Confident, and Poised—shaped by the dynamic interplay of personal, institutional, and sociocultural factors. These phases are analytical categories capturing dominant cross-case patterns, with individual trajectories remaining nonlinear, overlapping, fluctuating, and context-dependent. The study proposes the Double Sand Dune Model, positioning belief-filtering as the central mechanism through which teachers interpret demands, shape coping responses, and sustain commitment. Its dual-cone structure captures the progressive strengthening of belief systems and the shift from externally dependent coping to internally driven purpose. This study offers a culturally grounded conceptualization of career-long teacher resilience development.
Teacher retention remains a critical concern in many education systems, especially for novice teachers facing professional challenges, work stress, and burnout risks. This study examined personal and contextual factors associated with intention to stay among Thai novice teachers using a theory-informed machine learning (TiML) approach. Data were obtained from 1513 novice teachers, with a pilot external validation sample of 71 teachers used to provide preliminary predictive evidence. Eight theoretically derived predictors were examined. Latent class analysis identified two intention-to-stay profiles: Committed Stayers and Uncertain Stayers. These profiles were used as categorical outcomes for classification models, while continuous intention-to-stay scores were modeled through regression. Predictive performance was moderate across elastic net, random forest, and XGBoost models. Resilience, team collaboration, and principal support emerged as relatively consistent predictors. The findings show that TiML can examine retention-related intentions in novice teacher research, but not actual retention or attrition behavior.
The current comparative case study investigated how early childhood educators made sense of quality in a Head Start program serving refugee families in the United States and a Puhui preschool serving children of migrant workers in China. Guided by folk pedagogy and teacher sensemaking theories, data were collected through a review of quality standards, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews with administrators and teachers. Findings revealed that while quality standards in both countries emphasized child-centeredness, individualized learning, and play-based pedagogy, these ideals were interpreted and enacted very differently across the two settings. Educators’ sensemaking was shaped not only by cultural beliefs, but also by local contexts, education systems, and broader societal shifts. These findings highlight the need for a contextually grounded understanding of quality that reflects the lived realities of children, families, and educators. Policies should balance standardization with flexibility so educators can adapt practices to their local contexts.
Reflective practice is widely recognized as essential in initial teacher education; however, systematic evidence concerning the conceptions that underpin and shape its effective pedagogical enactment remains limited. In response, this study examines how diverse actors conceptualize, value, and implement reflective practice within institutional teacher education contexts. A qualitative multiple case study was conducted across three Chilean universities, involving 32 institutional actors, including program heads, practicum coordinators, university-based and school-based teacher educators, and 23 preservice teachers. Data were collected through individual and group interviews and analyzed using thematic content and multilevel axial analysis. Findings show that, although reflective practice is broadly valued as transformative and improvement-oriented, this consensus masks a structural fragmentation we conceptualize as “babelization.” Application-oriented approaches predominate, marginalizing critical perspectives, while instrumental implementations prioritize administrative compliance over sustained reflection. The study repositions reflective practice as a formative object whose transformative potential depends on coherent pedagogical and institutional articulation.
Realizing coherence in initial teacher education remains challenging. Adopting a social network perspective, this study investigates how teacher educators’ network characteristics relate to their contribution to program coherence. The study draws on survey data from 153 teacher educators across five programs in Flanders. The analyses reveal that educators who engage more in teaching-related discussions, hold more central positions within the network, and occupy bridging roles tend to align their teaching practices more strongly with the program as a whole. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing teacher education program coherence as an inherently social, dynamic, and ongoing process of alignment among the diverse actors involved in initial teacher education.
To challenge deficit views and support local ways of engaging multilingual families, a university-district partnership undertook family literacy projects with in-service teachers in one dual-language school district. Using liberatory perspectives on family engagement, we employed thematic narrative methodology to explore educators' agency and how their perspectives on family literacy shifted toward asset-oriented roles for multilingual families through intrapersonal, interpersonal, and systemic levels of enactment. Research questions were: How do teachers and their facilitator enact agency and develop new perspectives through participation in a locally created family literacy project? In what ways does this development change across two years of the project? Findings explore multiple challenges and successes as participants attempted to enact individual and collective agency and engaged in non-linear development that impacted their family literacy perspectives. The study highlights the importance of sustained engagement, facilitator support, multi-layered funding streams, and providing teachers with opportunities to engage directly with multilingual families.
Teachers' nonverbal behaviors influence students' learning and engagement, but providing timely and individualized feedback on these behaviors during microteaching in teacher education is labor-intensive. This study examined whether AI-based feedback could improve pre-service teachers' nonverbal behaviors and how its effects compared with human feedback. In a randomized experiment, 67 pre-service teachers in Mainland China were assigned to human (n = 20), AI (n = 21), or hybrid feedback (n = 26) across four microteaching sessions. Five nonverbal behaviors were targeted: speech disfluency, positive expression ratios, expression variety, frontal posture ratio, and posture shift frequency. Across groups, participants improved in frontal posture ratio, posture shift frequency, and general and nonverbal teaching self-efficacy. AI-supported groups produced more analytic and judgment reflection and less descriptive reflection, whereas human-supported groups produced more applied reflection. User-experience responses showed that participants were positive toward AI feedback for enhancing self-awareness but also expressed a desire for more actionable feedback.
Based on the Job demands-resources model, this study examined the associations of workload, interpersonal conflict, and perceived organizational support with teachers' work engagement, with emotional exhaustion and self-efficacy adopted as mediators. A cross-sectional correlational design was utilized with a valid sample of 473 Chinese primary and secondary school teachers. Results revealed distinct associations of job demands and resources with teachers’ work engagement. Emotional exhaustion was negatively linked with self-efficacy, and together they formed multiple mediating patterns. Specifically, interpersonal conflict exerted a direct relation to work engagement. In contrast, workload showed no direct association with work engagement, while its indirect associations through emotional exhaustion and self-efficacy were observed. Perceived organizational support was positively associated with work engagement across both direct and indirect association patterns, with a stronger indirect association involving emotional exhaustion and a weaker sequential association involving emotional exhaustion and self-efficacy.
