This article reports on a survey of New Zealand teachers, designed to assess their experiences of distance learning during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The survey gathered detailed quantitative and qualitative data from 31 schoolteachers who had previously experienced professional development in digital learning. The questions addressed many areas of practice, including the issues faced by teachers in the move to online distance learning, the impacts on relationships with students, families, and other staff, the impacts on workload and practice, and the experience of working intensively with digital technologies. The results suggested that this group of relatively well-prepared teachers were able to effectively move their practice online in a short period of time and, in most cases, to maintain the relationships with, and the learning of, their students. However, there were some indications in the data that learners from the Māori community faced resource challenges in successfully transitioning to online distance learning.

Critical reflection is the cornerstone of teacher education and professional learning and there are countless models to support and refine the practice of critical reflection.  This paper forms a narrative critique of the authors’ bespoke framework for critical reflection-on action, created to support the gradual transformation of trainee and beginning teachers working in New Zealand communities that are characterised by rich diversity. Entitled ‘He Anga Huritao’ (a framework for reflection), the framework draws from literature pertaining to both critical reflection and education for social justice, placing emphasis on tuakana-teina (or mentor/mentee) relationships. This framework was created following the analysis of how critical reflection was experienced by beginning secondary trainee teachers in employment-based Initial Teacher Education. Following investigation of the application of this framework with individual considerations at each stage, this paper concludes with recommendations for practitioners interested in applying He Anga Huritao to their practice or setting. This paper is to the interest of New Zealand teachers and school leaders, involved in using critical reflection as a tool for social justice to support the transformation of teaching practice. In reading this paper educators will develop a sense of the particular need for critical reflection to transform teaching practice towards social justice and be provided with a tool with which to do so.

PurposeThis scoping review discusses how bug-in-ear (BIE) technology has been used to coach teachers and pre-service teachers in special education, general education and initial teacher education (ITE). The purpose of the review is to identify the range of practices in implementing BIE technology and the potential impacts on teachers, learners, coaches and professional learning and development (PLD) providers.Design/methodology/approachThe PRISMA framework guided the structure of the scoping review. Four leading educational database searches informed initial results. Peer review ensured that inclusion and exclusion requirements were rigorously followed. Two screenings, a hand search and snowballing found 20 relevant studies for review.FindingsBIE coaching is a cost-effective approach to support the development of teachers and pre-service teachers, with the potential to improve learner outcomes. Delivering coaching remotely yields the widest range of benefits for PLD providers. Technology issues persist; therefore, simple approaches work most effectively. There are opportunities to explore coaching attributes required for BIE coaching and how BIE feedback can differ from in-person feedback.Practical implicationsPLD should be based on available resources; however, it is possible to train participants to use BIE in a short amount of time. Pre-determined prompts should be co-constructed between the coach and the teacher. Prompts should be delivered within 3–5 s of the teaching behaviour and consist of positive, corrective, questioning and goal-orientated statements.Originality/valueThis is the first evidence-based review of BIE coaching that highlights effective practices in special education, general education and ITE. This review also explores how BIE coaching is used with teachers, which has not been covered in detail.

No abstract

No abstract