As professional development models of teacher education that allow for self-directed, collaborative, inquiry-based learning are increasingly replacing more traditional top-down models, researchers acknowledge the impact of teachers' reflective practices. Although many different types of reflective practices are reported, the differences across…

This one-year case study reports on the effectiveness and value of electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) from the preservice teachers' perspectives. Using surveys and selected interviews, the study explored how 38 preservice teachers' understanding of the e-portfolios evolved as they completed their elementary teacher education program. Respondents…

Despite technological advancements intended to enhance teaching and learning in the 21st century, numerous teacher and school factors continue to impede quality classroom technology use. Determining the effectiveness of educational technology is challenging and requires a detailed understanding of multifaceted, complex, contextual relationships.…

Understanding the interplay among experience, beliefs, and contexts of teaching in preservice and inservice teachers' learning to teach is crucial to improving teacher quality for diverse populations. This study examined the impact of a summer camp English teaching experience in China on the ideas and practice of two White, middle-class female…

This narrative case study of a Black female middle grades mathematics teacher in an urban school provides an in-depth look at one teacher's life story, resilience, and teaching practices in a racialized environment. The study gives particular attention to the factors that contributed to her strength and resilience: family and faith. This view of…

This book seeks to address the educational significance of philosophy as a subject in the K-12 curriculum, and includes a range of issues from the teaching of philosophy to the improvement of thinking, the nature of a community of inquiry, and the educational significance of grade school philosophy. The book is divided into 6 sections with 15…

The concept of reflective practice and teaching people to be reflective practitioners is examined. The document begins with a look at professional knowledge according to three prominent professionals in the educational administration field: Schon, Schein, and Achilles. "Reflective" strategies that could be incorporated into courses and…

The purpose of the original study was to investigate practicum student teachers' reflectivity. This paper describes the use of a revised version of the Reflective Pedagogical Thinking Scale (Sparks-Langer, et al., 1990) to measure reflectivity. The original scale was used by the developers to assess reflectivity through a structured interview. The…

This paper describes a format developed to confront those things that are taken for granted (TFGs) by inservice teachers of grades 2 through 5 as they struggled with learning to improve the teaching of writing in their school through the use of focused, rule-governed reflection on artifacts of practice. In addition to reflection, the participants…

Discusses developmental stages of teachers' careers and corresponding concerns, focusing on consolidation and renewal. Suggests goals relative to the consolidation and renewal stages and notes the importance of developmentally sensitive supervision, including observation, feedback, collaborative strategies, and reflective journals. Recommends that…

A way to foster intentionally thoughtful teachers in preservice education involves critical reflection upon narratives of experienced teachers and those learning to be teachers. (SK)

Identifies the limits of the traditional view of reflection, asserting that reflection is an artifact and a practice embedded in a larger process (teacher learning) and outlining basic notions of a cultural-historical vision of learning as praxis in which reflection is embedded. The paper also asserts that a new vision of critical, situated…

Describes how two middle schools in Hawaii have used a six-step inquiry-based approach to make dramatic improvements in their learning environments. The steps are: (1) inquiry, clarification, goal-setting; (2) examination of alternatives; (3) development of innovation; (4) consideration and adoption; (5) implementation of innovation; and (6)…

Recollects the author's teaching experiences during the attacks of September 11, 2001. Relives the events that took place in his classroom discussing "White Angel," a short story by Michael Cunningham, in light of the fact that they had no idea what was happening in the area until class was over. Notes that the morning's lesson took on…

Addresses issues related to the application of learner-centered psychological principles (LCPs) in higher education, specifically, the promotion of self-regulated learning and the importance of examining preservice teachers' beliefs regarding students, learning, and teaching, suggesting learner-centered instructional practices in teacher education…