The current study, a part of a bigger study, explored how teachers in Indonesia implemented cooperative learning (CL) in their distinct contexts. This multiple case study design used a qualitative interpretative approach. Following semi-structured interviews with 18 teachers who had attended CL professional development and used CL in their classrooms, four were purposefully selected as cases of teachers. Classroom observations, post classroom observation interviews, and field notes were employed to investigate the implementation of CL. The data were analysed using Miles, Huberman and Saldaña’s framework. Five themes were generated from cross-case analysis: implementation of CL principles, a lack of CL structures, a greater need of group orientation, group composition, and informal CL. The findings indicate that when an innovative pedagogical practice such as CL is implemented in a culture different from the one in which it was constructed, unique contexts both enable and disrupt the successful implementation of CL. This study proposes that further research attention must be given to understanding the challenges faced by teachers shifting away from direct teaching to student-centred pedagogies such as CL.

Boys continue to demonstrate lower average achievement in reading than girls. The influence of teacher gender has been explored among the factors explaining this scenario but with mixed results. Further, although teacher expectations have affected student academic outcomes, and student gender-related stereotypical notions have shaped such expectations, the role of teacher gender within this scenario has been neglected. The current study was conducted with a sample of elementary schools, in New Zealand (a national setting where essentialist gender attitudes have existed and where policies to implement scholastic gender equity have been critiqued as unsuccessful). The influence of teacher gender and of a teacher-student gender match and mismatch on teacher’s expectations of their elementary student reading achievement, was tested via hierarchical linear modeling. Male teachers’ expectations were found to be lower for students of both genders in reading and negative implications for male teachers and their students’ reading achievement were revealed.

The underrepresentation of females in mathematics-related fields may be explained by gender differences in mathematics self-concept (rather than ability) favoring males. Mathematics self-concept typically declines with student age, differs with student ethnicity, and is sensitive to teacher influence in early schooling. We investigated whether change in mathematics self-concept occurred within the context of a longitudinal intervention to raise and sustain teacher expectations of student achievement. This experimental study was conducted with a large sample of New Zealand primary school students and their teachers. Data were analyzed using longitudinal multilevel modeling with mathematics self-concept as the dependent variable and time (which represents students’ increasing age each year), gender, and ethnicity entered as predictors and achievement in mathematics included as a control variable. Interaction terms were also explored to investigate changes over time for different groups. All students demonstrated a small increase in mathematics self-concept over the 3-year period of the current study but mathematics self-concept was consistently greater for boys than girls. Māori, Asian, and Other students’ initial mathematics self-concept was higher than that of New Zealand European and Pacific Islanders’ (after controlling for achievement differences). However, a statistically significant decline in mathematics self-concept occurred for Māori students alone by the end of the study. The expected age-related reduction over time in student mathematics self-concept appeared to be mitigated in association with the longitudinal study. Nevertheless, the demonstration of a comparatively lower mathematics self-concept remained for girls overall and declined for Māori. Our results reinforce implications for future research into mathematics self-concept as a possible determinant of female student career choices.