Teachers are concerned with both student engagement and achievement of learning outcomes. Both are necessary, yet often considered in disconnected ways. We argue that such disconnection is a consequence of competing educational purposes, combined with an organizational framework for schooling that attempts to paste over the differences by…

The work of teachers is regularly quizzed and questioned. The responses called for commonly implicate assessment, as this provides answers about learning, which many believe directly translate into answers about teaching. We question teaching differently, beginning with the basic what, how and who questions, while also posing the why question:…

Despite the rising popularity of scripted curricula in the United States public and charter schools, there has been little to no research that explicitly addresses how this phenomenon influences the democratic aims of our educational system. Using the six democratic values that Meira Levinson employed to evaluate the movement towards standards,…

Hong Kong, as a capitalist society, has an achievement-driven education system. Visual arts have become a marginalized learning area, especially in early childhood education. Although 'art and creativity' is one of the six learning domains for early childhood education in the kindergarten curriculum guide in Hong Kong, product-oriented and…

In this paper, we aim to outline what foundations can offer in terms of understanding education and educational practice, and thus for providing a basis for teachers' professional knowledge. We look critically at the struggle foundation disciplines often experience with coherence and integration in terms of both their relation to each other and to…

Despite a groundswell of evidence for transformative education, manifestos for 'transformative pedagogy for global citizenship' remain under-theorized and pay limited attention to implications for practice. This paper connects theory and practice through analyzing a curriculum development project that sought to produce a framework for 'engaged…

The field of curriculum by inveterate, unexamined, and mistaken reliance on theory has led to incoherence of curriculum and failure and discontinuity in actual schooling because theoretical constructions are ill-fitted and inappropriate to problems of actual teaching and learning. There are three major incompetencies of theory: failure of scope,…

This paper explores the relevance and significance of the Practical in Schwab's the "Practical 1" paper in relation to the reconstruction of pedagogics as an educational discipline in China. It begins with employing Schwab's 'medical" framework--in terms of "symptoms," "diagnosis" and "prescription"--to…

Aims to demonstrate effects of teaching practice on teachers' perspectives about teaching. Argues that there is often a mismatch between teachers' explicit beliefs about teaching and practices in which they engage. Suggests that teachers should develop an appreciation of how tensions and stresses of practice inform their beliefs about teaching.…

Suggests lessons and ideas about teaching and research that can be drawn from a teacher's experiences in two research projects. Considers developmental and situational dynamics in teaching. Describes how researchers' intentions and expectations frame and focus research findings. Explains how the description of teaching can become an intervention…

Describes the Written Literacy Forum, a collaborative research effort between Michigan State University's Institute for Research on Teaching and the East Lansing, Michigan Public Schools, which attempted to identify ways that research on writing could be applied to instructional problems. Depicts the first year's experience and offers sample…

To what degree is a Dutch curriculum reform in classics incorporated into teaching practice? This study included two data sources: questionnaires that asked teachers about their beliefs concerning curricular innovations and an analysis of authentic assessment material, i.e. school examinations constructed by teachers. The findings suggest that the…

Discusses a case study of an English teacher, the methods of teaching, and the difficulties encountered by the researcher in the study. Emphasizes the structure that an underlying pedagogical theory supplies for research, enabling the researcher to see, categorize, and analyze the content that teachers present to students. Discusses models of…

Compares two groups of high school social studies teachers to determine how their attitudes and beliefs about instruction inform their practice in promoting higher order thinking among students. Measures teacher performance across 10 dimensions of classroom thoughtfulness based on Fred Newmann's work. Finds an important link between teachers'…

This paper examines the debate about the English literature canon in schools. It evaluates the importance of the canon in a 21st-century curriculum and considers its relevance to adolescent readers saturated in early 21st-century culture who have disparate identities and diverse backgrounds. The implications for teaching and learning of the…