• The Mathematical Education
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.119-130
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to explain the long term growth and development of elementary teachers' Professional Learning Communities(PLC) about mathematics implemented on an institutional basis. Especially, it is meaningful to analyze and present the development process and characteristics of PLC, which was started by the basis on the collaboration of a National University of Education and its affiliated elementary school. In this study, PLC activities during three years were analyzed according to the capacities and dimensions of a professional learning community. The developmental capacity of the PLC analyzed in this study can be summarized as follows. In the first year, development of organizational competence in terms of capacity, resources, structure, and system of exchanges was the main factor in personal competence, and the development of individual competence began to share collective learning and practice. In the second year, personal exchanges were active in all the topics of activities, and personal level competence was activated such that more activities of critical knowledge formation were performed on an individual level. On the basis of the development of the individual level formed in the second, individual competence and organizational capacity developed. Factors that have influenced the development of capacities of PLC include: disclosure of activities outside the community, participation in outsiders, provision of procedures to share equal participation and leadership, voluntary and critical participation of teachers, improvement of mathematics teaching methods, sharing themes and visions.

• School Mathematics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2010

The purposes of this study were to understand mathematics teachers' difficulties under the context of community and to contribute to the research on professional development using a partnership between a high school and a university. I examined what struggles mathematics teachers had in building a learning community. I used data from a project in South East area in U.S.A. Three student teachers, three mentor teachers, and a university teacher participated in this study. Data sources included cluster meeting observations, interviews, and documents (such as open-ended surveys and e-mail responses). Data were analyzed using case study and narrative analysis methods. The results showed that the participants had power issues, issues about selecting topics to discuss, criticizing others, sharing goals, and managing time and the number of members.

• School Mathematics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.105-126
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• 2016

Math classes has been regarded as an independent area of a teacher and his/her students of a particular class. In Recent discussions about the professional development of teachers, for the improvement of practices, the point of view of that the community of teachers must work together is spreading. What are the considerations in organization and operation of learning communities for professional development of teachers? In this study, we analyzed the case of the learning community of math teachers in a Science Academy for the purpose of improving math classes to promote the participation of learners. Research results show that teachers share the principles and goals of mathematics teaching through the learning community. Also, through participation in learning communities, the members were practicing the lessons improved by reflection on the lessons of his/her and their colleagues. These results provide implication that it is important to provide opportunities for objectifying his/her classes through the learning community for a substantial improvement in math classes.

• Communications of Mathematical Education
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.439-464
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• 2020

This study conducted a systematic review of mathematics teacher learning communities, especially the characteristics of teacher collaboration in community activities. Our review includes 14 research papers published in national academic journals indexed in KCI and 24 research papers in international academic journals indexed in SSCI from 2003 to 2019. Results show that the literature varied in research design, research topics, and patterns relating to teacher collaboration. While both international and national papers report teacher community activities concerning the organization, management, and participation, there were different levels of involvement, visions, and activities across the communities of practice. For example, research in national journals has presented teacher community as professional development while papers in international journals have focused on documenting teacher community becoming a reflective community of practice. This study contributes to understanding the interplay of context, conflicting epistemic culture, and professional agency in fostering collaboration in teacher communities. This paper also discusses relevant research methods to investigate mathematics teacher communities and insights into the policy and practice of mathematics teacher education.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.970-984
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• 2014

This study aims to inquire into experience of geography teachers participating in a teacher learning community based on the grounded theory methodology. Participation observation was conducted on one of geography teacher learning communities. The total of 11 research participants were selected to conduct in-depth interviews. The data collected were analyzed by the coding method proposed by Strauss and Corbin(1990, 1998). In open coding, 125 concepts, 43 sub-categories and 17 categories were drawn and in axial coding by paradigm model, phenomenon, conditions, action/interaction and consequences turned out. In selective coding, the participants were classified into four types and the condition/consequence matrix was developed. As a result of the analysis, first, participation, obstacles and continuous participation factors of geography teachers in the teacher learning community could be understood from multi-dimensional aspects. Second, principles of the collaborative teacher learning and the factors promoting collaborative teacher learning were established. Third, the professional development of geography teachers through teacher learning community could be understood.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.99-122
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• 2024

This study investigated librarians' awareness of and demand for the librarian learning community in order to successfully introduce and operate the librarian learning community. For this purpose, an online survey was conducted targeting current librarians and a total of 474 responses were collected. The main analysis results are as follows. Firstly, librarians showed a very low awareness of the librarian learning community, while they highly evaluated the purpose and significance of such a community. Secondly, the motivations for librarians to participate in the librarian learning community were primarily focused on professional growth, solidarity with colleagues, and satisfaction of intellectual curiosity, in that order. Thirdly, the ultimate values of the librarian learning community were identified as improving library services, enhancing professionalism, fostering collaborative group exploration, sharing values and visions. Fourthly, the success factors of the librarian-learning community were ranked as follows: member voluntarism, a culture of collaboration among members, dedicated time (once a week), and a supportive environment (budget, space, etc.). On the other hand, the failure factors were identified as a lack of time due to heavy workloads, lack of member voluntarism, indifference from superiors, and insufficient support environment (budget, space, etc.). Finally, the willingness to participate is also very high. Furthermore, it was observed that there is a wide range of interests in various topics among librarians. The results of this study are expected to be useful as basic data for determining practical operation methods or selecting topics when operating a librarian learning community in the future.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.283-298
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• 2015

This research is the case study of collaborative mentoring in the professional development of multi-tiered mathematics teacher community. We observed the procedures of mentoring, and contents of mentoring in PD program. For this purpose, we implemented PD program with participant unit composed of 3 or 4 teachers in the same school and total 25 teachers from 4 elementary schools and 4 high schools. Also there were 1 mentor and 1 sub-mentor to support each school. Observed mentoring processes were all recorded and the participants not only were interviewed several times but also wrote reflection notes after meetings. While mentoring PD program was implemented, mentor and mentee had joint responsibility about lessons implemented by mentee. Furthermore It showed possibility of change of teacher learning culture, learning culture of community. It means that teacher would improve their professionalism more effectively within teacher community instead of individual. 4 reflection contents was founded in collaborative mentring; 1)purpose of mathematics education, 2)motivation and connection between previous lecture and present lecture 3)lack of mathematical contents in lesson 4)discourse between teacher and students.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.221-232
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• 2019

Despite the continuing emphasis on the importance of scientific inquiry, research studies have commented that authentic scientific inquiry is not implemented in school science classroom due to a lack of understanding of scientific inquiry by the teacher. The purpose of this study is to investigate understanding of scientific inquiry developed by beginning teachers through open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interview. They voluntarily set up the goal of inquiry-based classes, planned inquiry-based classes, shared and reflected their teaching experience in professional learning community for more than a year. It appeared that participant teachers understood scientific inquiry as 'what scientists do', 'process how students do science' and 'science teaching methods.' All teacher participants described scientific inquiry as 'what scientists do', and understood 'the process of doing scientific investigation to solve problems related to natural phenomenon' and 'the process of constructing scientific knowledge using scientific practice.' Two participant teachers seemed to understand scientific inquiry as a 'teaching method' based on the understanding of the process how scientists or students do science. Participant teachers had a limited understanding of scientific inquiry that it is the same as laboratory works or hands-on activities prior to engaging the professional learning community, but they developed an understanding of scientific inquiry that there are various ways to conduct scientific inquiry after engaging in professional learning community.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.194-203
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• 2021

Learning communities in medical education have demonstrated favorable outcomes in terms of students' learning, professional development, and wellness. Despite these strengths and the widespread adoption of learning communities in US medical schools, there has been little interest in medical learning communities in Korea. In this context, the present study examined the development and implementation of the Yonsei Medical Learning Community (YMLC) and analyzed its outcomes and areas of improvement. The Yonsei University College of Medicine has operated a learning community as part of the undergraduate medical education curriculum since 2014. The YMLC is the first program of its type in Korea. The overall structure of the YMLC consists of four distinct communities (pillars), which are named after four distinguished alumni, and each pillar is organized into five learning community classes. Each class is vertically integrated across students in different medical school years, and one faculty advisor is matched to about 30 students. As the YMLC focuses on fostering reflective practice in students and providing them with opportunities to build teamwork and experience social relatedness, two educational approaches have been adopted: reflective writing and mentoring and community activities. In this study, we obtained and analyzed second-year students' feedback on the YMLC curriculum and identified its achievements, merits, and areas that need improvement. The results have shown that over 75% and 60% of respondents reported satisfaction with reflective writing and mentoring and community activities, respectively. The educational activities of the learning community helped students regularly reflect on their learning and progress and establish close relationships with faculty advisors. However, several areas of improvement regarding content, format, and logistical issues were also identified. The present findings may provide valuable information for other institutions to develop learning communities relevant to their own context.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Earth Science Education
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.98-113
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to explore how science docents developed their expertise in the context of situated learning where two experienced docents played roles of mentors. Two experienced docents as mentors and six participating docents as mentees interacted in the community to develop exhibition interpretation strategies to be more professional in interacting with visitors through the workshops developed by the researcher. To figure out how docents developed their expertise in exhibit interpretation, the researcher collected the data from docents through observation, artifacts, and interviews as well as surveys. The result of this study included that participating docents formed new perception about scientific inquiry as well as scientific literacy and they developed professional skills of planning, implementing, and reflecting of exhibition interpretation in the context of situated learning, where docents formed alliance one another. It is recognized that participating docents' passions to be professional in exhibition interpretation and two experienced docents' wills as mentors made dynamic interaction in pursuing the same aim of docents' expertise in exhibition interpretation.