This "Research Commentary" explores the roles of theoretical and empirical work in the development of productive lines of research by elaborating on 3 main points. First, the dialectic between theory and empirical practice is highly productive for both: Theory is enriched by close attention to data, and one's understanding of empirical issues is…

The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to discover how six community college presidents who were undergraduate English majors construct the stories of their academic and professional journeys. Findings were synthesized using three themes--boundaries, connections, and transformations--as an interpretative framework. The selected presidents…

Teacher professionalization has been focused too strongly on external experts and a one-size-fits-all set of solutions that often fail to distinguish between the needs of different teachers. This article describes a research into teacher networks that might be more successful vehicles for professional development of teachers. The results show that…

This study explored the perceptions of preservice teacher candidates who participated in a pilot partnership between a public teacher education preparation program and Junior Achievement (JA). The partnership was grounded in the premise that providing early field experiences to preservice teacher candidates was a necessary requirement of quality…

To address anti-immigration sentiments revealed by preservice educators, the authors conducted a workshop using a "critical-aesthetic praxis." The purpose of the workshop was to create a praxis (Freire, 1970;1998) of critical aesthetics (Carey, 1998) in which preservice teachers engaged in a series of aesthetically grounded experiences…

Using the work of Judith Butler on gender regulation, Black Feminist Thought (BFT), and autobiographic storytelling, this piece illustrates how essentialist notions of gender, and discourses related to gender create conflict in shaping identity construction for a Black woman academic and single mother (BWA/SM) in the United States. This piece…

The self-efficacy of the 12 teacher candidates in this study was negatively impacted by student discipline and classroom management as evidenced by their concern they will not be able to manage a public school classroom. Pre-practicum conversations and planning sessions showed enthusiasm and excitement at the opportunity to teach lessons and…

Background/Context: In regard to preparing prospective teachers for diverse classrooms, the agenda for teacher education research has been primarily concerned with identifying desired outcomes and promising strategies. Scholarship in multicultural education has been crucial for identifying the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed by teachers to…

The first year experiences of students are viewed as important in contributing to retention, overall academic success and student satisfaction. As such there is an increased focus on students' experiences of their first weeks at university. In this paper we describe some findings from a video-diary project through which bioscience students…

This dissertation is a narrative inquiry research project that focuses on the collegiate experiences of African American students at both historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly white institutions (PWIs). I look at how African American college students who engage in race or culturally specific activities, the degree…

In this study, I explored the personal attitudes toward creativity of students enrolled in digital photography classes at a Southern California community college, and attempted to discover if awareness brought to creativity and participating in a creative process affects these attitudes. Pink (2005) suggested that creativity is a desirable 21st…

As US public schools become increasingly diverse and teachers are expected to teach across cultural differences, teacher educators must consider how different professional development models shape teacher learning and practice. This study explores how a cohort of 55 P-12 teachers experienced and perceived long-term professional development focused…

This study identified the content of educator conversations and determined how social interactions contributed to participant learning. Data sources included videos from face-to-face conversational sessions and individual, video stimulated-recall (SR) interviews conducted virtually. Participants included fifth and sixth-grade teachers from five…

The purpose of this paper is to report on an assessment task designed to provoke pre-service teacher education students to recollect and share experiences of what enabled and frustrated their learning. The assumption underpinning the creation of this task was that: if teacher education students could, through reflection and discussion, recapture…

When working with teacher education students one of our aims is to look at "race" and racism, and the implications that "being white" has for teachers' practice. Hence we develop conversations around who we are as gendered and racialised subjects who occupy specific socio-economic positions. Our students find this…