Achieving meaningful life work is a process that involves aligning one's work with one's true essence or core self. It is an ongoing process that involves self-reflection to discover the deep passions within and then exploration of how to bring those passions or interests to bear in meaningful ways at work. In response to the need to address the…

This paper examines a Midwestern site of the National Writing Project for teachers, a professional development summer institute that fosters collaborative learning, increases teacher confidence and enthusiasm, and promotes reflection. The examination involves observations of and interviews with 19 Midwestern Writing Project (MWP) participants and…

This paper compares the professional beliefs and teaching behaviors of traditional and nontraditional/adult teacher candidates during their student teaching experience. Data for the study came from 45 elementary student teachers' structured, weekly autobiographical critical reflections written during their student teaching. Participants were…

A computer-mediated communication (CMC) device, Virtual Classroom & Virtual Corporation System (VICTORY) was developed and integrated into a Taiwan higher education classroom with the aim of providing a constructive learning environment where high-quality instructional interactions and true collaboration existed among learners. Individual…

Multicultural education is a metadiscipline, a field of study designed to increase educational equity for all students. It incorporates concepts, principles, theories, and models from history, from the social and behavioral sciences, and from ethnic and women's studies in particular. This handbook assembles in one volume the major research and…

Contextual teaching and learning (CTL), which is still being designed and implemented, is a conception of teaching and learning that helps teachers relate subject matter content to real-world situation, and motivates students to make connections between knowledge and its applications to their lives as family members, citizens, and workers.…

A qualitative interpretivist study analyzed interrelationships among professional practice, knowledge gained in continuing professional education (CPE) programs, and context of employment. Eighty semi-structured, tape-recorded interviews were conducted with social workers, lawyers, adult educators, and nurses who had attended continuing education…

Reflecting upon and learning from one's working experiences in order to inform future practice is a mark of any professional. The dynamic structure of the early childhood classroom with its focus on the child within the broader context of the family and community makes the reflective process essential for all staff. This paper reports the outcomes…

Explicates a multicultural approach to art education that enhances critical thinking. Grounds this approach in the philosophical principles of constructivism that emphasize the student's construction of meaning rather than the passive transmission of knowledge from a teacher. Discusses the possibility of multicultural reasoning and its…

Examines how constructivist endeavors in teacher education have increased experiential opportunities for preservice teachers. The paper highlights a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages teacher preparation program where constructivist practices have increased students' opportunities for immersion in fieldwork, interdisciplinary…

The goal of the Teacher Education Program Consortium is to develop a network of preservice and inservice teacher education programs that share an experiential/constructivist learning philosophy. A survey of 84 selected teacher education programs examined program scope, structure, and financial resources; educational philosophy; and program…

American Indian students have had inadequate opportunities for success in school, particularly in mathematics and science, because of how they are typically taught. The article identifies sources of the problem, discussing education reform, assumptions about mathematics and science, culture-based variations in ways of knowing, and methods of…

Describes a study that evaluated implementing a constructivist process approach to learning information skills in school library media programs. Training institutes for media specialists, a longitudinal case study, and the identification of inhibitors and enablers of successful programs are discussed. (Contains 13 references.) (EAM)

Examples from related case studies illustrate possible consequences of a social constructivist approach to learning and teaching mathematics. Discusses student tasks that promote flexibility in mathematizing subject matter; constructive versus Euclidean geometry approaches; working with real-life mathematics problems; and product versus process…

Examined Australian year-10 students (n=110) for the effects of an instructional sequence in physics on their subsequent physics achievement and their perceived value of instruction aimed at conceptual change in year 11. An appendix outlines the year-10 instruction. (Contains 24 references.) (MDH)