https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/65494 2026-04-11T11:33:24Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/65616 Title: Editorial [Malta Review of Educational Research, 14(S)] Abstract: This is the first time in the MRER’s fourteen-volume history that a supplement issue is being published. It adds to the rich heritage of general and special issues, published twice yearly, showcasing a wide repertoire of studies by academics and practitioners. This issue features seven papers, authored by professionals who are located at the intersection of teacher formation, research and practice. The papers, produced by an international consortium of academics, researchers and practitioners from Serbia and Switzerland, coordinated by Francesco Arcidiacono, Aleksandar Baucal, Dragica Pavlović Babić, Nevena Buđevac, and Sanja Blagdanić, who are also involved in the editing of this supplement issue, reflect the importance of urgently reconnecting theory with practice, and of reinventing research as an activity that truly serves the profession. In fact, the papers are practice-led and meant to highlight the notion that research is a collective activity, shared and owned by professional researchers and practitioners alike. Similar to the authors of this supplement issue, we contend that practice-based research should occupy a prominent place in teacher formation and should constitute a permanent fixture within communities of practice. Such an approach would render research more meaningful, relevant and accessible to a profession that seems to struggle to embrace research as a valid way of knowing. [excerpt] 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/65614 Title: Collaboration between research and teaching communities : implications for teacher education, practice, and policy making Authors: Arcidiacono, Francesco; Baucal, Aleksandar; Pavlovic Babic, Dragica; Budevac, Nevena; Blagdanic, Sanja Abstract: In this paper, we aim to present the process of realization of a partnership between two professional communities in different countries devoted to supporting academic institutions in strengthening relationships between teacher education, educational research, and practice. Based on the current situation in the involved partners (academic institutions training pre-service and in-service teachers, school psychologists as well as researchers in psychology and education), we were facing the need to re-think how educational research, teacher education, and practice could be connected in a more useful and valuable way. In response to this, we tried to foster practiceled research activities in the partner institutions. Since the practice-led research approach is the hallmark of high-performing education systems, teachers, practitioners, and teacher educators need to research their practice, and young researchers should be prepared to foster carrying out practice-led research activities. Such an approach requires having capacities, motivation, confidence, and opportunities to do so. Consequently, the focus on practice-led research orientations needs to be modeled and sustained during the initial teacher education, but also in the context of training young researchers in educational sciences. 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/65584 Title: Constructivist beliefs and teaching practices in different school environments Authors: Jokic Zorkic, Tijana; Jovanovic, Vitomir Abstract: The goals of this paper are: a) to identify dominant teachers’ practices (teaching and co-operation with colleagues) as well as constructivist beliefs and b) to analyze the differences in the school environment where different groups of teachers work (more precisely, the school climate and feedback teachers receive in school). The secondary analysis (cluster analysis and ANOVA) of TALIS 2013 data enabled attaining the research goals. Four groups of teachers were identified with varying patterns of scores on three variables – constructivist beliefs (about teaching and learning), co-operation with colleagues, and teaching practices – through cluster analysis: one group with all three highly positive scores, one with all three highly negative scores, and two groups of teachers with moderately developed teaching practices but with varying beliefs and co-operation practices. All groups differ significantly in the extent to which teachers find the feedback they receive in schools important. Also, the majority of the groups significantly differ in teachers’ assessment of the school climate (that is based on respect and mutual trust). A trustful and supportive school climate and frequent feedback are the characteristics of the schools where the teachers work using structured, student-centered, and enhanced teaching practices and frequently cooperate with their colleagues. The results suggest that systematic practices of co-operation with other teachers and a system of receiving and giving feedback on various aspects of professional practices, in a supportive school climate, possibly strengthen effective teaching practices regardless of the teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning. From the policy perspective, strengthening the school climate that is based on mutual respect and support and developing a system of teacher feedback is considered as possible ways of teacher professional development for meaningful and effective teaching practices. 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/65575 Title: The contribution of teacher practices to reading literacy in Serbia : lessons we missed from PISA 2009 Authors: Josic, Smiljana; Banjac, Sonja Abstract: The main focus of this paper is the relationship between the teachers’ practice in Serbian language (reading) classes and student achievement on PISA tasks. Specifically, in an effort to examine this relationship, we focused on the link between the students’ PISA achievements and the strategies teachers use to engage the students during the reading tasks in order to structure and scaffold the work on those tasks. This two-part study relied on a mix-methodology combining quantitative and qualitative analyses. The data from the quantitative study was analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) with student and school level. The results indicated that the students have the best achievements when teachers motivate student in engagement reading and sparingly those intended for structuring and scaffolding the work on the reading tasks. The data from the qualitative analyses revealed the most useful strategies teachers and students identify and whether they recognize in their classes those strategies that were included in PISA questionnaire. 2020-08-01T00:00:00Z