This essay, drawn from theory, research, and the author's practitioner research as a teacher educator, proposes a framework to inform teacher educators' conceptualization and implementation of socially just teaching. The framework suggests that building on dispositions of fairness and the belief that all children can learn, a socially just teacher…

A characteristic of expert educators is their ability to interpret classroom activities critically, to identify and solve problems regarding their teaching practice, and to make thoughtful or reflective instructional and classroom management decisions that are conducive to learning. For educators to be efficacious, they should be active…

This study examines one professional development program, The Next Educational Wave ("NEW") Teachers' Collaborative, and its effect on a self-selected group of five first-year teachers. Unlike standard induction programs based on traditional professional development models, the "NEW" program assumes that beginning teachers, like more established…

This paper grapples with the notion of "autobiography as performance", specifically in relation to classroom narratives around Lather's "ontological stammering" and Cavarero's "the necessary other" played out under the practitioner-researcher's gaze. The paper interrogates the shifting landscape of higher education (HE), fraught with tensions as…

This case study demonstrates how the Osborne-Parnes Creative Problem-solving Model (CPS) can be used to enhance teacher creativity through the collaborative and inviting processes found within Invitational Education, which counter the individualistic and product-oriented enterprises often associated with creative endeavors. Conclusions indicate…

This paper explores the nature of a critical friendship between two education advisers within a nation-wide New Zealand Ministry of Education (MOE, 2006-2008) research and development project. Over 18 months the relationship developed through evolving phases. This paper identifies and discusses the factors, circumstances, conditions and analytical…

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…

This paper reports on an initiative to introduce, not the Philosophy for Children (P4C) programme itself, but its principles and some of its practices, into South African schools. The paper points out the conceptual links between P4C and the understanding of human development that underpins the new South African curriculum, and provides a brief…

From the information literacy educator's perspective, librarians have the potential to play important roles in strengthening information literacy elements within curricula learning scaffolds. While there needs to be an increased awareness amongst academics about the forms of assistance teaching librarians can provide teachers as integrated…

In the phenomenological study from which this theoretical article derives, 18 middle school teachers were asked--during an unstructured interview or by writing a lived-experience description--to describe moments when they "recognized and responded to a student who did not understand something during an instructional activity." Based on my analysis…

This article explores teacher training by the alternation of classroom work and work analysis using an approach based on a social conception of meaning and action. The advantage of this approach is that it allows the development of professional activity in preservice teachers (PTs) to be assessed by tracking how the reflective tools acquired in…

Preservice teachers enrolled in a middle level endorsement block provided evidence of their professional, affective, and collaborative dispositions as they reflected upon their conception of early adolescents, appropriate instruction practice, and the empowerment of teachers and students. Research indicates that empowering future teachers as…

Experiential learning is making meaning from direct experience. Experiential learning is used in workplace training (Silberman, 2007), and is the theoretical foundation for all practicum and co-op program learning. Supported by findings on expert/novice learning styles (Boshuizen, Bromme, and Gruber, H., 2004), this essay reflects on the practice…

The use of simulation games in business courses is a popular method for providing undergraduate students with experiences similar to those they might encounter in the business world. As such, in 2003 the authors were pleased to find a classroom simulation tool that combined the decision-making and team experiences of a senior management group with…

Becoming a culturally responsive educator has been at the forefront of the movement to reduce inappropriate referrals to special education and disproportionate representation of students of color within special education. However, for many educators, working with a diverse student population can be more difficult when the student comes from a…