The lessons learned by this book's authors, who observed literacy events in third- and fourth-grade classrooms, altered their vision of teaching and learning. The book shares their observations of how students engage in literacy events and construct meaning within these events, focusing on three factors that significantly influence the…

A research study conducted by a classroom teacher explored the question of to what extent increased parent involvement through increased parent-teacher communication will act as a motivating factor for students in a seventh-grade reading classroom and whether this will relate positively to student success in reading. Parents and children took…

This paper highlights a project aimed at devising an appropriate training scheme for foreign language teaching assistants in Britain and encouraging as many universities as possible to adapt the scheme to their own institutional settings. The scheme entitled DOPLA (Development of Postgraduate and Language Assistants) originated at the University…

This paper examines the role of developmental psychology in reflective practice, using examples from the Department of Psychology at the University of Turin, Italy, and from a regional institute that deals with continuous teacher training. After introducing the topic and discussing the need for continuous teacher training, the paper presents…

This is a continuation study of the use of the achieving styles framework as an instigator for self-reflection among education students. The purpose of the research was to find whether the personal results of taking an achieving styles inventory could provide a means of promoting self-reflection (in this case, for undergraduate teacher education…

A substantial body of research elaborates and documents how practicing teachers support the writing development of young children (Atwell, 1987; Avery, 1993; Calkins, 1986, 1994; Graves, 1981; Lensmire, 1994; Routman, 2000). Yet, there is limited research about how preservice teachers learn about children's writing (Dahl and Farnan, 1998) or about…

This digest describes the implementation of a successful district-wide elementary school foreign language (FLES) program that resulted from the superintendent's vision to have all students in the district study a common foreign language throughout their schooling. This vision was based on the superintendent's belief that American secondary school…

Recently, the topic of reflection and the development of reflective practitioners have received a great deal of attention. Four elements are central to critical reflection: assumption analysis, contextual awareness, imaginative speculation, and reflective skepticism. Definitions of critical reflection often reveal differing theoretical…

This paper reports findings in a study of an e-mail discussion activity in an undergraduate methods course. Students were asked to contribute an e-mail message to the class discussion at least once every two weeks; they could write on any topic suggested by their field experiences or related class discussions and readings. Critical interpretative…

A teacher educator, engaged in ongoing practitioner inquiry to explore self as well as program, examines her evolution as a teacher of teachers through reflection, systematic inquiry, and collaboration. Relating autobiographically, she conjures up her professional stories and listens to her voice in an effort to define and refine her role, reflect…

Three essays on second-language instruction are presented. One describes a letter exchange between teachers as a means of exploring and understanding classroom and instructional issues; another (in French) describes a teacher's reflective examination of the immersion teaching experience; and a third reports on a classroom study of the…

Videotaped six groups of preservice teachers, each of which was solving the same mathematical problem but with different sets of materials, to determine whether videotape could be used as a reflective tool in elementary mathematics education courses. Found that using videotape influenced preservice teachers' conceptualizations of the effect of…

Reports a study that examined the use of story in an adolescent development course, reviewing the methodology employed, the problematics of storytelling in teaching, and the three patterns of storytelling that emerged. The discussion highlights the role of storytelling as a way of expanding experience and the analysis of experience for beginning…

Discusses how preservice and experienced teachers can utilize professional teaching portfolios. Explains three types of portfolios: (1) process-folios; (2) product-folios, and (3) process/product-folios. Also explains the procedures for creating a professional portfolio and what is included in a portfolio. Includes a table called "Common…

Examines the use of the case method to reform physical education teacher education. Reviews research on the use of cases in other professional preparation programs, and on multicultural education and case method, and technology-based cases. Offers suggestions on possibilities and pitfalls in using case method. (SM)