For their 61st annual conference, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) met in St. Petersburg, Florida. This year's conference theme was "Engaging All Readers through Explorations of Literacy, Language, and Culture," which was also used as the title for this year's "Yearbook." This "Yearbook"…

This study explored baccalaureate social work students' self-efficacy at a rural southern university. Bandura's concept of self-efficacy is used as a theoretical base for the study. Students (N = 43) in introductory social work courses and in the field practicum course completed the Foundation Practice Self Efficacy Scale. Following The Council on…

This study seeks to determine how and to what extent the core principles of the early childhood education programme at Levinsky College of Education in Israel were applied by a third-year student teacher in a traditional fieldwork placement. At the beginning of the school year, the student planned to engage two small groups of children in her…

This study explores music education teaching practice in Greece, collecting data from three university departments: two music departments (M1 and M2) and one primary education department (P) during the academic year 2006-2007. The project was based on data from 84 students (N = 84). Fieldwork in students' teaching practice comprised a selection…

Teaching research to social work students continues to be the topic of an ongoing dialog within the profession. The literature suggests that some form of a "real-world" or "hands-on" learning opportunity has many benefits for teaching a subject that students often are reluctant to engage in. Using online survey methods,…

The proficiency with which teachers of students with emotional and behavioural disorders (EBD) plan for, provide instructional activities, and address the challenging behaviour of their students is influenced by the nature of their preservice teacher preparation. The purpose of this study was to examine educators' perceptions of the…

This study investigated the extent to which case development allowed pre-service teachers to recognize the interactions and integration of technology with content and pedagogy in their own practice. These interactions form the core of what has been called Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), a distinct type of knowledge required…

Sixty-two elementary pre-service teachers enrolled in a mathematics methods course were asked to "draw math" at the beginning and end of the semester. These drawings were used to examine the initial perceptions and how these changed by the end of the semester of methods and field experiences. Findings describe the various drawings and…

Over the last decade, some UK Geography Departments have diversified their range of courses to offer Foundation degrees (Fds), providing students with alternative routes through higher education (HE). These courses are delivered either offsite at further education colleges (FECs), embedded within an undergraduate programme at higher education…

In this study, members (n = 48) of 2 sections of a required educational psychology course conducted 3 service-learning-type field experiences and wrote reflections on the experiences in relationship to the theories and principles addressed in the course. Participants also described their vision for teaching at the beginning and the end of the…

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to examine case study as a pedagogical tool used to scaffold the conceptualization of developmentally responsive pedagogy for middle level preservice teachers in early field experiences. Child study projects (CSP) completed by middle level preservice candidates were analyzed to determine if…

The pedagogical work of university supervisors has received little attention in teacher education literature. Based on this concern, this paper provides a conceptual framework for university supervisors, recasting their role as teacher pedagogues focused on responding to the particular contextual needs of student teachers as they learn to teach.…

Building on Christina Siry and Johaira Lara's account of one teacher's (Johaira's) identity formation, we describe how our own experiences with elementary teacher candidates inform, and are informed by, this account. Chris and Johaira provide a lens that helps us consider how experiences in elementary science teacher preparation courses and in…

During field experiences, preservice teachers are typically required to observe mentor teachers in schools, but what exactly are they seeing? This research examined the patterns and variations that existed with regard to preservice teachers' classroom observations during recent field experiences. Data were collected from 24 preservice teachers…

This qualitative case study reports how 5 first-year kindergarten/primary teachers utilized knowledge and skills from their teacher preparation program as a means of approaching curricular decision-making for instructional practice. In many ways, participants drew from university courses, field experiences, or both to help them make sense of their…