This paper reports findings in a study of an e-mail discussion activity in an undergraduate methods course. Students were asked to contribute an e-mail message to the class discussion at least once every two weeks; they could write on any topic suggested by their field experiences or related class discussions and readings. Critical interpretative…

Three essays on second-language instruction are presented. One describes a letter exchange between teachers as a means of exploring and understanding classroom and instructional issues; another (in French) describes a teacher's reflective examination of the immersion teaching experience; and a third reports on a classroom study of the…

Videotaped six groups of preservice teachers, each of which was solving the same mathematical problem but with different sets of materials, to determine whether videotape could be used as a reflective tool in elementary mathematics education courses. Found that using videotape influenced preservice teachers' conceptualizations of the effect of…

Reports a study that examined the use of story in an adolescent development course, reviewing the methodology employed, the problematics of storytelling in teaching, and the three patterns of storytelling that emerged. The discussion highlights the role of storytelling as a way of expanding experience and the analysis of experience for beginning…

Examines the use of the case method to reform physical education teacher education. Reviews research on the use of cases in other professional preparation programs, and on multicultural education and case method, and technology-based cases. Offers suggestions on possibilities and pitfalls in using case method. (SM)

Indiana University's Teacher Education Laboratory replaces and supplements portions of the preservice program previously provided through field placements in area schools. This article describes the initial field test of a laboratory experience for secondary education majors. Surveys rating students' attitudes about the experience indicated…

Explores whether reflective analysis promotes integration of theoretical knowledge presented in a course on motivation, with the practice of classroom management during a practice teaching round. Analyzes narrative accounts of practice where subjects recorded observations and reflections of experiences. Results indicate the presence of principal…

Documents a five-year study of two instructors who collaborated on formally studying their teaching of a master's level instructional design course. Outlines their views on learning, teaching, and instructional design (ID), describes the ID course, and explains the reflexive instructional model used, in which the teachers examined their teaching…

Reminiscence of a graduate education class that shifted students' focus from right answers to understanding illustrates how Foxfire teachers are never finished constructing their knowledge about teaching. Similarly, there is no single correct way to implement the Foxfire approach. Success is measured by the applications and interpretations of…

A kindergarten teacher relates her teaching experiences as she reexamines her role as teacher and shifts her focus from reading readiness to teaching reading. She reflects on her teaching practices, on learning new skills herself, and the challenge of incorporating new knowledge and practices into classroom instruction. (TJQ)

Mindfulness meditation is increasingly recognized as a health promotion practice across many different kinds of settings. Concomitantly, contemplative education is being integrated into colleges and universities in order to enhance learning through reflection and personal insight. The confluence of these trends provides an opportunity to develop…

This article draws upon and integrates a number of distinct but overlapping areas of inquiry in the literature on teaching: teacher inquiry, reflective practice, spirituality and education, and contemplative practice. In it, we examine the implementation of a particular phenomenological form of teacher inquiry, the Descriptive Review, in an urban…

The article reports on a project conducted with a group of MA-ELT students during their teaching practicum. Many student-teachers, like many teachers in general, rarely see and hear themselves or experience the lessons they conduct from the other side of the fence. When teachers themselves are asked to do the things they normally assign to their…

Mentoring is proposed as an effective strategy for helping novice teachers develop professional knowledge. However, a recent analysis of mentor-novice conversations in the United States about teaching reveals that they may not be important to the development of teachers' reform-minded practice. While this might be the case involving student…

This paper draws on data collected in a one-year research project focusing on elucidating theory/practice relations in learning to teach. As a teacher educator I grapple with the nature and role of teaching methodology. The notion of method, with its implied order and certainty, is confronted alongside prospective teachers throughout their…