Mathematical competence of teachers continues to be an issue of great interest to mathematics educators within tertiary institutions and it is often thought of simultaneously with the notion of mathematics anxiety. While there has been considerable recent research into the latter, no clear conclusions have been able to be drawn about many aspects…

South African schools have been confronted with educational reform since the mid-nineties and the process is still continuing. The concomitant changes put a very high demand on physical sciences teachers and also have an impact on teacher behaviour. The purpose of this study was to probe whether teachers could be considered equipped to teach the…

This article presents results from a case study analyzing the process of change for early childhood educators as they engage in a semester-long professional development (PD) experience focused on developing a teacher research agenda related to mathematics instruction. During this PD experience, 11 participants (5 second-grade and 6 third-grade…

In the field of teacher knowledge, "beliefs" is a large term narrowly constructed. The beliefs theorized, researched, and discussed are beliefs about technique, methodology, curriculum, classroom management, professional development, and similarly. Spiritual and religious beliefs are for the most part omitted. This study argues that they should be…

Too often, early elementary teachers enter the classroom unprepared for the particular challenges of teaching children in grades 3 and under. Many were trained in programs that focused on older elementary grades, even though their license qualifies them to teach children as young as kindergarten. Teachers who obtained their certification through a…

While there is a growing interest in infusing engineering into elementary classrooms, very little is known about how well positioned elementary teachers are to teach engineering. This study examined elementary teachers' perceptions of and familiarity with design,engineering, and technology (DET). We collected data from 192 elementary teachers…

Every preschool age child in Finland has the right to day care and the expertise of educators is multidimensional. The aim of this article is to clarify the expertise of those early childhood educators, who have the competence of kindergarten teachers (n = 80). The data consisted of the early educators' stories of their growth towards expertise.…

Based on a major international teacher education research project--the Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century Study (MT21)--this book investigates the pre-service preparation of middle school mathematics teachers in the United States, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Bulgaria, and Mexico. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and…

In the decade since September 11, 2001, much that affects almost every American has changed: Memorials have been built and visited. Ceremonies and commemorations have been held. Osama bin Laden has been taken out. Further acts of terrorism have been perpetrated and more (as far as everyone knows) have been fended off. Yet some things haven't…

The nature of literacy is an issue of global debate. When the National Literacy Strategy [NLS] was introduced into UK schools it was arguably the most ambitious educational reform programme in the world, and the controversy necessarily intensified. How can the impact of such reforms be assessed? In its ten year history the NLS affected every…

Since the 1997 publication of "New Skills for New Schools" by Harvard Family Research Project, the education reform landscape has changed dramatically, making it necessary to align teacher preparation and professional learning for family engagement with the goals of a twenty-first century education. Harvard Family Research Project is currently…

Teaching computer science (CS) in high schools, rather than just programming or even computer literacy, is important as a means of introducing students to the true nature of CS, and enhancing their problem-solving skills. Since teachers are the key to the success of any high school educational initiative, any discussion of high school programs…

Background: Deliberative mode of curriculum development has been hailed as one effective way of developing school-based curriculum. Its participatory, egalitarian and discursive characteristics have helped to generate the much-needed synergy and ownership feeling among the curriculum team members that lead to curriculum success. Nevertheless there…

In modern world, advances and changes experienced in social, political, and economic domains cannot be effective in diminishing the unwanted behaviors displayed by individuals in a society. This underpins the need for creating a peace culture based on equality, justice, democracy, human rights, tolerance, and solidarity in a society. The purpose…

In typical short-term teacher development workshops, experts model instructional practices for teachers so that teachers can then adapt the model to their own situation. Such workshops are often ineffective because of the lack of adjustment before modeling and the overreliance on teacher adaptation of existing practices. In this article, we argue…