Meaningful and effective training and professional development programs for teachers are key to the improvement of teaching practices in our schools. In this paper, the authors offer a meta-synthesis of the literature on the role of reflection for mathematics and science teachers within the context of professional development. The authors frame…

This article explores the use of protocol-structured dialogue in promoting reflective practices and shared theories of action within a district leadership team. Protocols have been used to make individuals' theories of action visible and subject to evaluation. This is important for leaders trying to establish coherence across a system; in…

The core of the Senate Bill 2042 (1998) was designed to provide the guidelines needed to prepare teachers who can meet the needs of a diverse K-12 student population in California. Following the guidelines marked by this bill, faculty working in Teacher Credential Programs across California are designing activities to prepare candidates with a…

This paper examines the experience of an action research "Study Day" to investigate development of a culture of reflective practice among educators. Shared recognition of the importance of reflective practice in education is now a well-established part of both pre-service preparation and in-service work experience for educators. Osterman…

Reflection is not a new concept in the teaching of higher education and is often an important component of many disciplinary courses. Despite this, past research shows that while there are examples of rich reflective strategies used in some areas of higher education, most approaches to, and conceptualisations of, reflective learning and assessment…

This research studies teachers' experience with the concept of "flow." Flow can be described as a state of being in which one is fully engrossed in the activity. When activities are in "flow," there is a sense of immersion, high energy, joy, and focus. In an analysis of fifteen teachers' reflections of flow…

The aim of this paper is to show connections between a teacher's conceptions about the teaching and learning mathematics reflected in the planning designed by a secondary level mathematics teacher, and the specialised knowledge deployed both at the design stage and in the teacher's reflections after the lesson. The research method followed was an…

The focus of the action research reported here is on how leaders and teachers used teamwork in developing a professional learning community in a new compulsory school in Iceland. Collaboration is a critical issue in schools as it can improve practice that supports student achievement. Results from the TALIS 2008 study show that Icelandic teachers…

This article describes the development, implementation, and systematic evaluation of a public health pedagogy course for first-time graduate student instructors in a Health Behavior doctoral program at a Midwestern School of Public Health. The pedagogy course focused on intensive pedagogical training in the first 8 weeks of a 16-week semester and…

Using critical constructivism as the theoretical lens, the teacher educator-researcher used practitioner research to systematically examine the experience of PreK-12 teachers in his district-based teacher research professional development course, while also examining his development as a teacher educator. The results of this study showed that, as…

This essay addresses the persistence of monolingual tendencies in composition pedagogy and the critical efforts needed to dissolve them. Approaching language difference from a distinctly pedagogical perspective, this essay draws on the authors' teaching experiences and reflective writing in an effort to theorize the reflective practices key to…

In this article, the author reports on a participant-observation case study that explored how alternatively certified, middle school teachers' expectations of tracked students affect their ability to learn to teach in ways that promote students' mathematical struggle and participation in productive mathematical discussions. Two teachers--one…

The understanding of complex, dynamic and animate systems has a special standing in education for sustainable development and biology. Thus one important role of science teacher education is to promote student teachers' Content Related Knowledge (CRK) for teaching systems thinking, consisting of extensive Content Knowledge (CK) and well formed…

Conceptual models can fulfil important educative roles, particularly in fields where there are few such models and where constructs are confused, as in research into teachers' self-efficacy beliefs. In this area, one model developed in the late twentieth century subsequently became dominant, but seems flawed. This article addresses criticisms of…

This paper examines the implementation practices of a 6th grade middle school teacher enacting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) teaching in his classroom after participating in a 45-hour STEAM professional development. Case study is used to detail the process, successes, and challenges. Project-based learning, technology…