In both Australia and Malaysia where there is strong central oversight of education, reflective thinking is promoted as integral to an effective pedagogy that leads to good quality learner outcomes. Besides providing tools and resources for teachers and pre-service teachers to use, increasing the systemic procedures for teacher advancement and…

In this paper, we argue from principle that teacher education must enable a positive relationship between educational research and teaching knowledge and practice. We discuss two popular conceptions of good teaching, which conceive of the teacher as craft worker and as executive technician, and suggest that, while each of these aspects of knowing…

In this article we consider the importance of reflective practice and research attitude for the professional development of in-service teachers. Nine teachers engaged in an international master's course (in a Belgium and French university) were interviewed to obtain self-narratives. The two year full-time master's course aims to develop skills in…

Using critical constructivism as the theoretical lens, the teacher educator-researcher used practitioner research to systematically examine the experience of PreK-12 teachers in his district-based teacher research professional development course, while also examining his development as a teacher educator. The results of this study showed that, as…

Student teachers consider cooperating teachers to be one of the most important contributors to their teacher preparation program. Therefore, the ways in which cooperating teachers participate in teacher education are significant. This review seeks to move conceptions of that participation beyond commonly held beliefs to empirically supported…

In recent years, policy documents, curricula and other educational initiatives have promoted a pedagogy founded on the concept of independent learning. This is broadly defined as "having the belief in yourself to think through learning activities, problems or challenges, make decisions about your learning and act upon those decisions".…

This self-study explores my mediation as a literacy teacher educator in the context of a professional development undertaking that involved developing and leading an early school years literacy course. I examine the tensions that arose in the light of my own professional history and explore ways that the tensions led me to reconcile conflicting…

Much has been written about teachers' professional learning through inquiry into their own practice. The emphasis has been on teachers researching, reflecting and making change in their practice. Despite the wealth of literature concerning teacher inquiry and professional development, there is little about teacher educators with respect to their…

In an increasingly global higher education environment, many universities are taking their educational services overseas. One model of overseas provision is through transnational (offshore) education. Transnational teaching challenges the prevailing understanding of an academic role at every level. Transnational teachers are expected to work in…

This article explores teacher learning in the UK English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) context. We draw on data from a continuing professional development (CPD) initiative to understand how learning is shaped by collaborative discussion with others and by reading from the language classroom research literature. The CPD programme--designed…

The "T-MEDIA" project analysed and documented how teachers exploit the use of projection technologies--data projectors and interactive whiteboards (IWBs)--to support learning in secondary-school subject lessons. The research involved collaboration between university researchers and four pairs of UK teachers (of English, mathematics,…

The dynamics of the teacher-researcher relationship-whether embodied in a real time school inquiry or in a writer-reader connection through a piece of literature--are complex and have a significant impact on the meaningful transmission of knowledge between researchers and practitioners. Studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that teachers have a…

This paper makes a contribution to the theory and practice of educational action research by introducing two theoretical and methodological resources as part of a personal review of sustained professional experience: "appreciative inquiry" and the "enneagram". It is more than a theoretical exercise, however, because it also…

Gaps, barriers, boundaries and walls are words often used to describe the separation between educational research and practice. They account for the differences that are said to exist between the 'two cultures'; the members of which appear to occupy different worlds, have different mindsets and express themselves in different discourses. The…

This book aims to support and prepare practitioners to undertake small-scale inquiries and research investigations. The processes of research and inquiry-based learning help teachers come to terms with the complexities and challenges of teaching as their responsibilities widen to include the notion of the teacher as researcher. This major shift in…