By statutory mandate, all first-year teachers in Kentucky receive support and assistance that develop a strong, lifelong career foundation. Legislation in 1985 established a collegial team to induct new professionals and establish a culture of continuing growth for the profession. Internships with meaningful mentoring are keys to success. (MLH)

Relates the experience of a middle school reading teacher who also teaches a weekly general equivalency diploma (GED) class to adult learners. Describes two of her most memorable adult students, and notes how working with adult learners has helped the author appreciate their persistence and desire to learn, and has helped her with her middle…

Anecdotes about adventure experiences illustrate how an "artist"-facilitator seamlessly applies scientific methods while in the moment to best enhance student learning. Adventure educators can be artists by creatively framing, constructing, and debriefing the experience while not being central to the experience themselves, thereby…

Vivian Gussin Paley, teacher-researcher and author of "White Teacher" and "The Girl with the Brown Crayon," discusses her role as teacher, her elimination of the use of teaching guides, her use of tape recorders to collect classroom data, her unique teaching practices that connect children's play and stories with their…

Describes the implementation and evaluation of a constructivist course for science teachers in which teachers are inducted into "critical constructivism" through their own action-research projects. Illustrates the induction process and professional development of one biology teacher of 13- to 15-year olds in Brazil. Contains 23…

Presents an autobiographical analysis of a seven-year period of work as a science educator. Describes the situation as a feminist character who is influenced by feminist pedagogical and philosophical underpinnings as well as by disciplinary and institutional contexts. Contains 66 references. (Author/WRM)

Describes positive experiences in teaching about floating and sinking with second-grade students. (WRM)

Describes a project that uses videotaped segments of best-practice teaching methods with freshman practicum students, presenting the rationale, process of collecting teaching segments, and preliminary use of two tapes. Initial response suggests that using videotaped teaching segments with preservice students is a positive approach to introducing…

Describes an interactive multimedia program designed to promote reflective teaching of preservice teachers specializing in the teaching of French as a second language. Presents a formative evaluation of the conception of the use of multimedia. (Author/VWL)

This article explores common issues facing beginning special educators and discusses ways to support the transition from prospective teacher to professional teacher based on responses by 13 such teachers to a survey about induction and support programs, professional challenges, coping strategies, and advice for others. (Contains references.) (DB)

Maintains that professional portfolios can provide preservice teachers an opportunity for self-reflection and offer prospective employers an enhanced view of their skills, knowledge, and educational philosophy. Explains that portfolios should capture the teacher's growth over time and content-area knowledge. Discusses the necessary content and…

Presents a model for knowledge bases for teaching that will act as a mental map for understanding the complexity of teachers' professional knowledge. Describes the sources and evolution of the model, explains how the model functions in practice, and provides an illustration using an example of teaching in history. (CMK)

Demonstrates that the ways people reflect individually are shared across cultures, but the ways they reflect collaboratively are structured differently among cultures, examining cultural differences in communication and discussion methods and concluding that these differences have implications for teacher education. Teacher educators must be…

Examines limitations and possibilities of reflection in teacher learning and change, discussing choices regarding its purposes and processes and arguing that if it is to succeed, teachers must engage in partnerships with colleagues from inside or outside the school in order to confront thinking and practice; a necessary process if the outcome of…

One preservice teacher's images and metaphors about teaching and learning were used to investigate his difficulties in the classroom. Data from journal entries, observations, and interviews indicated that examination of metaphors and images encouraged him to reflect on his beliefs, assumptions, and approaches to teaching, providing a language that…