Effective communication with teachers is a critical element of any successful professional development. Teachers are the foundational component of any educational system. It is vital that adequate attention is focused on appropriate and effective training of these teachers. Ideally, professional development offers a means of collaborative support…

This article examines two constructs--ritual and intellectual integrity--as they might unfold in early childhood settings. The authors use the popular practices of closed-ended crafts, calendar exercises, and worksheets to highlight the difference between learning experiences that have become formulaic habits and those that reflect rich and potent…

This article is located within the wider European context of teacher development and is specifically concerned with the needs of those supporting novice teachers during the early stages in their professional career. Currently, induction systems across Europe are largely fragmented, locally based and with little transference of best practice. There…

Evidence suggests that teachers' visions of their ideal teaching may account for some differences in their development and effectiveness. In this study, we investigate the visions of teachers with differing trajectories of change in their practice. The paper describes trends in teachers' visions in the pre-service and in-service years across one…

The organization is often the overlooked level in social work's ecological perspective. However, organizational realities exert a profound influence on human development and well-being as well as the nature and quality of social work practice. This article describes a model of teaching organization theory and practice which requires master's…

Since constraints on time, resources, and even energy often come into play in finding opportunities for meaningful discussions about pedagogy between the novice teacher (NT) and the supervisor, post-lesson conversations at the school site can often be brief, superficial, lacking reflective self-analysis, narrow in focus, interrupted, or even…

A collaborative research project between Sheffield Hallam University and Nottingham Trent University in the UK investigated the use of blogs with trainee teachers as an alternative to reflective paper-based diaries. An action research case study, involving focus groups of post-graduate (secondary) trainee teachers (one group from each University)…

Drawing on my experiences as a former classroom teacher making the transition to teacher education, this study examines how my vision of teacher education developed over the course of my first three years as a graduate teaching assistant in a social studies education program in the United States. A qualitative self-study methodology was used to…

Informal classroom assessments remain essential tools for improving the instruction of students, even in an age of accountability testing. This article focuses specifically on Informal Reading Inventories (IRIs). Even though the growing number of commercially available IRIs has made choosing the ones most suitable for students' and teachers' needs…

Donald Schon's theory of reflective practice has been extensively referred to and has had enormous impact in education and related fields. Nonetheless, there continues to be tremendous conceptual and practical confusion surrounding interpretations of reflective practice and philosophical assumptions underlying the theory. In this paper, I argue…

"Debates in Music Teaching" encourages student and practising teachers to engage with contemporary issues and developments in music education. It aims to introduce a critical approach to the central concepts and practices that have influenced major interventions and initiatives in music teaching, and supports the development of new ways of looking…

Learning Analytics can provide powerful tools for teachers in order to support them in the iterative process of improving the effectiveness of their courses and to collaterally enhance their students' performance. In this paper, we present the theoretical background, design, implementation, and evaluation details of eLAT, a Learning Analytics…

A significant challenge for all participants in the autism spectrum disorder participatory action research (ASD PAR) project, including the Ministry of Education, the local project teams (LPT) and mentors, was the lack of availability of a single ethics approval process for the project in its entirety and, in particular, one that could accommodate…

This empirical study, conducted in a Canadian university, argues that the objective knowledge growth framework (OKGF), a self-directed reflective approach, can contribute to the professional development of pre-service teachers in dealing with the complexities of teaching. The paper seeks to answer the following research question: How do…

Students' understanding of science develops through everyday experiences. As a result, they come to the science classroom with their own notions of how the world works. As teachers, we often must help students overcome their prior naive notions and move them toward a more scientific understanding. This process, known as conceptual change, is…