The four-day school week is a school calendar that has become increasingly common following the COVID-19 pandemic. Proponents of the calendar often claim that offering teachers a regular 3-day weekend will help schools better retain existing teachers and recruit new teachers to their district without incurring additional costs due to higher…

In this "Distance Learning" Special Issue, Errol Craig Sull introduces the "Try This" series of articles to assist with Becoming a Better Distance Learning Instructor. Sull notes, as each new year taps distance learning instructors on the shoulders they look to improve, to be the best they can be as distance educators. There…

This paper explores how motivational theories can be utilised to direct impactful conversations for the support of teaching excellence awards (TEAs). The purpose of applying a motivational lens to TEA conversations is to foster positive motivational conditions for award applicants. Outlining this conversational method may inform future research…

In this survey paper we focus on aspects of the quality of teaching mathematics from several perspectives. We differentiate between effective aspects that are empirically proven and more normative ones that constitute "good teaching" but that are highly dependent on context. High quality of mathematics teaching includes characteristics…

This article presents a sociocultural conceptual framework for researching pedagogy as the "performance" of teaching together with its attendant "discourse." The framework, referred to as pedagogy-as-praxis, consists of two core elements that draw on, combine and adapt several different yet complimentary theoretical…

In this "Distance Learning" Special Issue, Errol Craig Sull introduces the "Try This" series of articles to assist with Becoming a Better Distance Learning Instructor. Sull notes, the basics of how to be a solid distance educator are well known: constant presence in the classroom, quick turnaround of student e-mails and…

Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) was introduced over 30 years ago and remains an educational framework used to guide instruction today. Although research has evidenced its utility and positive impact, little is known about available tools to guide practitioners in assessing and monitoring their implementation of CRT practices. This systematic…

Extension agents frequently teach adult audiences, who require a different approach than youth audiences. Andragogy has been frequently used to frame research in Extension. However, it is not clear if Extension professionals apply andragogical principles in practice when teaching programs. We used Knowles' theory of andragogy and the Personal…

This chapter explores the limitations of measuring teaching quality through observation of "observable behaviors" and argues for a more holistic approach to educational development that focuses on the richness of pedagogical qualities.

The capacity of educators to dynamically adjust their thought processes and behaviors in response to the diverse needs and characteristics of students in an unfolding teaching situation is widely acknowledged as a cornerstone of effective teaching. While teachers' instructional adaptations have been documented and studied from various angles, the…

This study contributes to the growing body of research that highlights the usefulness of professional noticing of children's mathematical thinking for understanding the complexity and variability in teaching expertise. We explored the noticing expertise of 72 upper elementary school teachers engaged in multi-year professional development focused…

The effect of instructor clarity on student learning has been explained using cognitive load theory, which stipulates that students have limited mental resources to devote to activities pertaining to learning. To date, the effect of teacher clarity on students' cognitive burden has been studied in reference to students' extraneous cognitive load…

Academics are expected to craft their jobs to keep up with changes in the teaching environment. Improving academics' willingness to engage in job crafting presents a significant challenge in higher education. Based on the Broaden-and-Build Theory, this study examines the association between teaching emotions and job crafting, and the mediating…

This comprehensive scoping review aimed to identify and synthesize the existing research on professional development (PD) for educators and educational leaders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between 2018 and 2023. Fourteen scholarly articles covering a wide range of topics related to education in the UAE were collected and analyzed. The review…

Professional development in its current form falls short. It is unengaging, ineffective, and considered a waste of time by participants. At a time when the world is experiencing rapid change and schools are facing increasing scrutiny and mounting pressure to improve academic performance, we need professional development that works. Aleta Margolis…