The influences of participation in a teacher study group focusing on the Crede Standards for effective pedagogy on four high school teachers' instruction

Abstract

This study examined how participation in a weekly study group influenced the educational practices of four teachers from a rural high school on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. The study group focused on understanding and implementing the Standards for Effective Pedagogy, principles for effective teaching that have been described by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence (CREDE). Teachers were videotaped at the beginning and end of the school year while teaching in the classroom and during fieldwork. The videotapes were analyzed to determine the extent to which instruction reflected enactment of the Standards. Teachers were interviewed at the beginning and the end of the school year about their classroom practices and teaching philosophy and asked to maintain teaching journals relating to implementation of the Standards. Results indicate that the teachers' with the most and least teaching experience changed the most throughout the year.