Action research has received increasing attention, especially by school leaders, as a result of the Singapore Ministry of Education's push for greater autonomy, diversity and innovation at the school level. It is also perceived as a means for teacher professional development and professionalism. The Teachers Network, which has its own brand of…

This book concentrates on the more theoretical aspects of the Higher Level Teaching Assistant role: professionalism, relationships, statutory frameworks and knowing your limits. It offers guidance and support on fulfilling the standards and succeeding both inside and outside the classroom. The book is divided into the following chapters: (1)…

Most theoretical work on reflection in teaching has been analytical. This body of work presents reflection not as a unified concept but as a loosely aligned group of perspectives. These distinct but related perspectives on reflection in teaching have taken on identities and paths of their own. The existence of this body of research implies that…

Shortly after the publication of "The Reflective Practitioner" (1983) and the sequel "Educating the Reflective Practitioner" (1987) "reflection-in-action" became a major concept in teacher education. The concept has, however, been criticised on ontological/epistemological as well as practice oriented accounts (Van Manen, 1995; Newman, 1999;…

This study investigates how preservice teachers make sense of student-centered instruction with existing traditional beliefs about teaching. Teacher educators assume that university instruction translates directly into practice, yet, research is clear that beginning teachers revert to traditional teaching practice. For elementary teachers, one…

This paper uses Foucault's notion of parrhesia to analyse the story of another and to interrogate teacher education in terms of the particular moral order or the forms of socialization that it uses. I examine the context of my own teaching in terms of truth-telling and the normative expectations that were found to exist. Through reflection and…

In this essay, the authors argue that only by sharing their mistakes and uncertainty can they fully reflect on their own process as teachers, only by understanding their process can they begin to identify the many factors that contribute to classroom messes in the first place, and only by acknowledging the perpetual messiness of their practice can…

Digital teaching portfolios have been proposed as an effective tool for teacher learning and professional development, but there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness. This study proposed the design of a structured digital portfolio equipped with multiple aids (e.g. self-assessment, peer assessment, discussion and journal…

The majority of the teacher candidates in my methods classes come from a background that is different from the primarily African American students at my professional development school. Because these teacher candidates continue to be predominantly White middle-class females, the gap between their cultural comfort zone and their students' cultural…

Teacher Work Samples (TWS) can be viewed in terms of a product and a process. As a product, the TWS measures a teacher candidate's (TC's) ability to promote student achievement, documents that TCs have met minimum national standards, and validates teacher education programs. Teacher candidates engage in observable, job-related behaviors that serve…

Professional teacher communities appear to be positively related to student learning, teacher learning, teacher practice and school culture. Teacher collaboration is a significant element of these communities. In initial teacher training as well as in-service training and other initiatives for teacher learning, collaborative skills should be…

It is known for a fact that textbooks are widely used in today's classrooms. Admittedly, textbooks may have some advantages in the sense that they provide the framework for any educational course. However, exclusively depending on them may restrict both teacher and student autonomy. Textbooks have been criticized for promoting rote instead of…

In this article, some of the ways in which thinking about chaos theory can help teachers and student-teachers to accept uncertainty and randomness as natural conditions in the classroom are considered. Building on some key features of complex systems commonly attributed to chaos theory (e.g. complexity, nonlinearity, sensitivity to initial…

Sufficient changes have occurred in both the agricultural and educational sectors of South Africa to warrant a careful scrutiny of the agricultural education offerings in South Africa. Agricultural extension is identified as an important part of the intended transformation of the agricultural sector. Further, agricultural extension is essentially…

In many teacher training courses, reflection upon practice plays a very important role in learning to teach. A number of strategies have been developed to help student teachers learn to reflect. Current reflection strategies often focus on problematic instead of on positive experiences. Ideas from positive psychology and solution-based therapy…