This conceptual article presents a challenge to the dominant view and practice of teacher professional learning and its focus on preparing "experts in teaching" and proposes instead an emphasis on preparing "experts in learning." Drawing on contemporary knowledge on the nature of human learning and development, and in…

Although research indicates that deliberate practice is indispensable for achieving high levels of proficiency and expertise in a range of disparate fields, this type of practice has largely been overlooked in the second language acquisition literature. To bridge this gap, and advocating for a more intentional and goal-directed approach to second…

The paper presents the aims and the design of the international e-learning course for teacher training "International Project" / Internet and Competence to work on the Project"/IPC/, organized with students from the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (Bulgaria) and universities from Germany, USA, Spain, Japan, Sweden…

Given current extensive expectations of how teachers should excel, any attempt to summarize teacher expertise in action in the second decade of this century may seem at best misguided. However, this has not stopped teacher educators offering diverse metaphoric encapsulations that aim both to distil and prescribe quality teacher practice. In this…

How to facilitate learning by novices (students) on their road to expertise has attracted the attention of a vast number of researchers in cognitive and educational psychology as well in the field of learning and instruction. Although many studies have investigated the phenomenon of expertise development, the implications of the findings for…

A small-scale action research project was used to consider the policy and rhetoric surrounding development of the "expert learner" and how this might be further explored to provide opportunities for learners to have greater direct involvement in reflection and discussion with teachers. The research was based within a further education…

Understanding how best to assess expertise, the situational variations of expertise, and distinctive qualities of expertise that arises from particular workplace experiences, presents an important challenge. Certainly, at this time, there is much interest in identifying standard occupational measures and competences, which are not well aligned…

This study was undertaken to better understand the range of learning practices that academic librarians use throughout their careers, and to explore the ways library schools give students the opportunities to engage in learning methods that they are likely to use in their careers as librarians. The study uses semi-structured interviews with…

This dissertation thesis describes a research inquiry that took place at a large Midwestern University, in the Fall semester of 2009, is comprised of three case studies, and attempts to respond to the question: "How do prospective teachers perceive, think about, and respond to the instructionally relevant variation of their students".…

This dissertation provides a critical analysis of three informal science education partnerships that resulted from a 2003-2006 National Science Foundation grant titled, "Archaeology Pathways for Native Learners" (ESI-0307858), hosted by the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. This dissertation is designed to contribute to…

For this self-study of my teacher education practice, I positioned myself as a novice in the unfamiliar context of learning to ride a horse. This gave me an opportunity to re-experience being an authentic learner and thereby to deepen my understanding of how an individual learns to teach. I recorded my experiences in an electronic journal and…

School and work organizations are operating in an increasingly global world. Meeting different people and groups is part of daily learning situations. The diversity of student and work communities can change from putting up with difference into conscious learning from dissimilarity in interaction. Intercultural education emphasizes the personal…

This study explores the musical content and human processes of improvisations of children and adults using the phenomenological lenses of time, space and responsivity. Paired improvisational performances of two late-career adult composers and two 7-year-old children were analysed considering a lifespan-related perspective involving the origins of…

This booklet synthesises the research on teacher professional learning and development that has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on valued student outcomes. Its findings relate to teachers who have received at least some initial teacher education and who are in the process of deepening their knowledge and refining their skills. The…

The 4th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2011) brings together researchers from computer science, education, psychology, psychometrics, and statistics to analyze large datasets to answer educational research questions. The conference, held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, July 6-9, 2011, follows the three previous editions…