This article examines distance education (DE) in the context to which is most frequently applied, i.e., higher education, and from the perspective of some of its most important actors, i.e., teachers. This study, of a qualitative nature, was conducted at a public university in Brazil. Data were collected by means of unstructured interviews,…

In this article, the author explores one issue that he believes is central to the preparation of teachers to teach in democratic societies: the question of who should prepare teachers to do this important work. Currently, there are basically two general approaches to the preservice education of teachers in the United States despite all the program…

Written lesson appraisals (WLAs) by mentors (n = 30) of pre-service teachers experiencing two different mentoring regimes in an English university teacher education programme were selected for analysis. The WLAs were analysed for their length and content using professional knowledge categories derived from pre-service teacher perceptions of the…

The construction of a pedagogy of teacher education requires a sustained, systematic, and careful inquiry into one's own practice, predicated on the understanding that teaching is a discipline. This article begins by arguing that it is more appropriate to speak of a basis for knowing, rather than a knowledge base, for thinking about teaching and…

In this paper, we describe a model for systematically improving the mathematics preparation of elementary teachers, one lesson at a time. We begin by identifying a serious obstacle for teacher educators: the absence of mechanisms for developing a shareable knowledge base for teacher preparation. We propose our model as a way to address this…

This study is a survey and interpretation of professional development literature related to professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools. Current K 12 trade publications focusing on PLCs were analyzed against four different theoretical models of professionalism. Each model encourages and legitimates a different understanding of the…

The study reported in this article is part of a research project which intended to attain a more comprehensive understanding of the growth and transformations of the professional identity and knowledge of a group of four future language teachers, as they expanded their awareness about plurilingualism and intercomprehension. Based on a central…

Populations of minority students the United States have increased steadily over the past few decades to 42 percent of public school enrollment (Echevarria, 2011). English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing population of students enrolled in public schools across the United States. Nationally, if an ELL speaks English with difficulty,…

There is currently a substantial body of research on second language (L2) learning and this body of knowledge is constantly growing. There are also many attempts in most teacher education programs around the world to inform practicing and prospective L2 teachers about second language acquisition (SLA) research and its findings. However, an…

As the concept of "inclusive education" has gained currency, students who would previously have been referred to specialist forms of provision, having been judged "less able", are now believed to belong in mainstream classrooms. However, it is often argued that teachers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to work with such students in…

Background: The international science competitions show that students from different countries perform differently in subjects such as mathematics, physics and chemistry. In the literature comparative empirical studies tried to address the reasons for cross-national students' differences in performance from different perspectives such as teaching…

While teaching in New York City public schools, the author began planning collaboratively with a team of mathematics teachers. Collaborative planning enabled them to consider a range of issues that may not have emerged had they been planning independently. In this article, the author first describes their work through excerpts of conversations…

Over the past decade, many states have increased their investment in prekindergarten (pre-K) school programs that serve 3- and 4-year-old children. This increase has raised questions about what constitutes a well-qualified early childhood teacher. Similar questions were raised in the late part of the nineteenth century when states began investing…

The requirement in the USA of the No Child Left Behind Act (2002) that every classroom has a highly qualified teacher, coupled with the current high-stakes testing environment, creates the need for all principals to be knowledgeable about quality staff development systems. One aspect of effective staff development is whether teachers adopt the…

This article explores the restructuring of education in England and Spain. Against a presumably homogeneous global streamlining of educational systems according to competition-driven goals, the comparison of teachers' work-lives and professional knowledge evidences a variety of experiences under-represented in discourses on global restructuring.…