This study explored how preservice elementary teachers experienced coursework and field experiences that fostered commitment to socially and pedagogically progressive teaching, especially development of against-the-grain perspectives. Interviews and observations indicated that against-the-grain perspectives evolved from complex interactions of…

Discusses the process of making change in teacher education, examining a second-language teacher education program and noting the importance of reflective thinking. The program encourages learners to explore alternatives in order to enrich teaching and learning and make teaching and learning an integrative process. The university-school…

This case study investigates the development of the understanding of constructivist theory among students in a Masters level elementary teacher education program within a particular course. The focus of the study is a seminar entitled "Advanced Seminar in Child Development". The questions explored include: How do students' ideas of…

This teacher-researcher case study examines the use of digital storytelling in a teacher assisting seminar. During the field placement, students composed a digital story of a teaching hour. Combining reflection with classroom footage, students exhibited their work for their colleagues. Digital stories added to the written narratives from the…

Reflection and professional development are two key practices that characterize an effective teacher and that are frequently overlooked in preservice training (Bowles, 2003; Halen-Faber, 1997; Patrick & Reinhartz, 1999). Reflection can be defined as the type of thinking that serves to challenge notions of prior learning (Halen-Faber, 1997), and…

This report explores the connections among diversity, democratic aspirations and goals for student learning in higher education contrasting old ways of thinking and habits with new alternatives. The introduction discusses how the "special" programs and emerging fields, such as American Indian Studies and Deaf Studies, influence…

This study examined the perceptions of cooperating teachers who are coaching student teachers within Professional Development School (PDS) models in two cultures. Part of an action research project conducted by the University of California-Irvine (UCI) and Beit Berl College (Israel), the study examined: (1) what contributions the cooperating…

This book grew out of the experiences of three teachers as they learned to document young children's work in their respective schools. Part I of this book enables readers to learn about documentation. Chapter 1 provides the rationale for the study of documentation, and chapter 2 explains the windows framework that guided the teachers in thinking…

This study investigated instructional practices in a literacy methods course in a teacher education program that was developing a reflective and integrated approach to university courses and school experiences. Along with coursework, students plan and teach lessons for children in a partnership school in which teachers have begun the process of…

This publication presents 11 standards, which represent a professional consensus on the characteristics of accomplished practice and provide a profile of the accomplished health education teacher. The standards are organized around student learning and divided into three categories. The first category, "Preparing for Student Learning,"…

Addressed primarily to those involving in teaching 3- to 5-year-olds, this book focuses on the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are the heart of effective nursery teaching. The book emphasizes the climate of change within which the nursery teacher in Great Britain operates, and the ways in which teachers need to work with their teams to…

This book provides 91 key strategies for improving and re-energizing classroom practice. Combining theory, research, and practical suggestions, each strategy includes: a description of the strategy; a discussion of research supporting use of the strategy; descriptions of how to apply the strategy in instructional settings; tips on avoiding…

Chapters in this volume include the following: "Innovations in TESOL Teacher Education: A Quiet Revolution" (Karen E. Johnson); "Building Bridges among University, School, and Community" (Donald F. Hones); "Sustainable Strategies for Professional Development in Education Reform" (Nancy Clair, Carolyn Temple Adger); "Developing Professionals:…

To succeed in 21st-century schools, teachers must dynamically respond to the ever-changing environment through a continually reflexive stance. Centered teachers are flexible and active participants in school decision making. They develop personal missions and participate in school missions, resolve conflict in appropriate ways, and use effective…

Many disadvantaged students show incipient excellence underlying perceived errors in literacy performance. The paper examines research on helping teachers think more generatively about increasingly diverse student populations. Preservice teachers can be taught to handle multicultural classrooms by interpreting problematic student performance in…