Today, members of the various lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities enjoy many of the same rights and privileges as their cis-gender, heterosexual peers. Yet, the lived experiences of many queer-identified teachers in schools remain problematic, uncomfortable, and tension-filled. Given the rise of 'No Promo Homo' laws…

Psychological trauma is swiftly becoming one of the most significant public health concerns and obstacles to effective education in the current teaching climate. This paper responds to my experiences as both a secondary English teacher and registered psychologist, examining the potential utility of trauma literature in the English classroom for…

Reflection and collaboration are two activities teachers can use to change and improve their practice. However, finding the time and space to do so can be challenging. The collaborative reflective teaching cycle is a structured activity teachers can use to engage in reflection and collaboration. This article describes how a seventh grade teaching…

Education experts argue that using rich mathematical tasks in student-centered classrooms is especially conducive to student learning (NCTM 2000). That said, they also acknowledge that using complex tasks and developing student-centered classrooms can be intimidating and challenging for teachers (Chazan and Ball 1999). One difficulty associated…

Several years ago, the author's relocated their work as educators from middle and high school music classrooms to positions in teacher education at two Canadian universities. Recognizing that working in initial teacher education demanded a new level of theorizing their practices of music education, they questioned their professional knowledge,…

One seventh-grade English language arts teacher engaged in teacher research in order to become a more understanding, responsive, and confident instructor. Systematic inquiry into her own practice revealed a conflict between what students perceived as their literacy needs and desires (discrete reading skills) with what she perceived to be important…

Fraction division is generally introduced in sixth or seventh grade with this rule: "Invert and multiply." The authors examined current commercial curricula and found that few textbooks use context as a way to build meaning for the division of fractions. When context is used, the connection between the invert-and-multiply rule and the context is…

In this article, the authors discuss some of the dispositions that comprise students' (and teachers') relationships with mathematics--what they call a "mathematical identity." They define "mathematical identity" as an individual's "relationship" with mathematics. They present three reflective tasks that can be used with math students at all levels…

This article illustrates the effects of embedding a common language derived from research, conducted through Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, into teachers' documentations of classroom experiences. It suggests that documentation can be enhanced by using shared professional vocabularies that describe categories important in…

In this paper we use an example of when students appear not to have learnt from their experience to examine some of the "orthodoxies" of experiential education. This frames a discussion exploring how it is possible for a teacher to declare that students have got it "wrong" in relation to learning from experience. It is argued…

This dialogical narrative describes the observations and changes in instruction of an 8th-grade science teacher in an English language learner (ELL) sheltered science class before and after receiving instruction in ESL methods, and the backdrop for the teacher's growth, as narrated by the second language teacher educator who directed the teacher's…

This easy-to-use, introductory guide to teaching in contemporary middle and high schools provides teachers with the tools to become reflective practitioners. It shows pre- and inservice teachers how to use standards to choose instructional materials and methods that are appropriate with particular students, at a particular time, in a particular…

This article illustrates how community service-learning can be defined and implemented as a group inquiry project in which students apply academic knowledge and social problem-solving skills. The authors examined eleven different community service-learning projects put into practice by elementary and middle school teachers who participated in…

In this article the author reviews needs theory as a field of research and scholarship, examines seven needs theories (including Nussbaum's capabilities approach), and synthesizes elements of all of these into a list he used tentatively and speculatively to analyze two common instructional practices in music education. The author's intent is to…

At a recent professional development program, the authors asked teachers to recall the ways in which they learned about history in the course of their own schooling. The teachers at this professional development gathering not only identified some of the key challenges facing elementary teachers charged with teaching social studies curricula, they…