Collaborative Inquiry (CI) engages teachers to jointly inquire into a shared problem of practice. The majority of CI research presents qualitative case studies of individual collaborative inquires; few studies directly examine teachers' responses to CI through a large-scale study across an entire system of education. To examine teachers' perspectives on the impact and functionality of CI as professional learning, we surveyed 292 elementary teachers across 15 school districts and conducted 6 focus groups with teachers who had been involved in CI. We report the factors that enhance and inhibit teacher experiences of CI and significant outcomes from a teacher perspective.

Over the past two decades, creativity has emerged as one of the core 21 st century learning objectives within K-12 education systems around the world. While some literature has demonised assessment as something that inhibits creativity, a growing body of research supports feedback-driven teaching -also known as formative assessment or assessment for learning-as an effective pedagogical approach across contexts and content areas. Given this empirical foundation, we propose that assessment for learning holds powerful potential for helping students to learn about being creative. To examine intersections of creativity and assessment in K-12 educational contexts, we carried out the scoping review study reported here, with the aim of advancing understanding of how assessment can support and promote creativity in classroom contexts. Fifty-one research articles were selected for review, based on inclusion criteria which required that articles (a) reported the collection and analysis of quantitative or qualitative data, (b) addressed K-12 classroom or extra-curricular contexts, (c) addressed the formative or summative assessment of creativity for pedagogical intent, (d) were peer-reviewed, and (e) were published in English. Analysis of the research revealed two dominant and consistent themes. Firstly, multiple studies indicated the importance of defined criteria for effective and useful creativity assessment within K-12 classroom contexts. Secondly, a number of studies identified the particular value of self-assessment and/or reflection in supporting creativity. We discuss implications of these findings in relation to educational policies and practices that seek to promote creativity, and areas for future research.

This article reports a case study of an experienced teacher of composing working with secondary school students in a large urban centre in Ontario, Canada. Results suggest authentic assignments connect student composing to the 'real world', and so have meaning and life beyond the music classroom. Teachers can facilitate the development of theoretical music knowledge by supporting and enhancing the experiential learning that students accomplish on their own, through composing. Offering suggestions for change to compositions-in-progress, and cultivating a classroom ethos where students exchange this service amongst themselves, serves to enhance composing potential. By helping students infuse their work with personal knowledge, experiences, and interests, teachers can increase students' meaningful involvement in classroom composing.

This study employed narrative inquiry to understand the oral English learning motivation of Chinese international students with low oral English proficiency through their academic acculturation stories. Expectancy-Value Theory served as the theoretical framework to inform the study design and the interpretation of results. Findings suggest all participants’ motivation for oral English learning increased as a result of the newly acquired high subjective value of spoken English during their academic acculturation. However, they experienced high levels of psychological stress during their academic acculturation due to their low oral English proficiency. Further, participants’ perceived expectancy of success for learning oral English declined as their academic acculturation progressed, negatively influencing their oral English learning motivation. Implications for various stakeholders are discussed.

This article reports research that identified and analyzed assessment for learning strategies employed by six Canadian music educators to support and develop student creativity. Findings include descriptions of creativity-nurturing practices organized into four categories: (a) developing assessment criteria, (b) encouraging creative processes, (c) optimizing the classroom context, and (d) activating self-assessment. Results include detailed descriptions of strategies that educators can employ to leverage formative assessment to nurture student creativity within and beyond music education contexts.