In this book, Robert Hess promotes teacher leadership as the critical component to achieving breakthrough results in school improvement. Developed from conversations and stories of dozens of teacher leaders and administrators, this book advocates that all teachers can and should take on leadership roles in their school. It contains many stories of…

This study assessed the influence of a 3-year professional development program on elementary teachers' views of nature of science (NOS), instructional practice to promote students' appropriate NOS views, and the influence of participants' instruction on elementary student NOS views. Using the VNOS-B and associated interviews the researchers…

In this article Vicki Lind reports the findings of a case study investigation of the use of electronic portfolios in a music education program. The project focused specifically on the use of electronic portfolios as a tool to document the work of preservice teachers as they prepared for the teaching profession. Two research questions framed this…

Objective: To explore and evaluate the use of two methods (1) experiential learning workshops and (2) reflective practice within post-graduate health promotion education, with a view to providing a foundation in professional practice based on health promotion principles and critical thinking. Design: This is an empirical study exploring the…

This article presents the results of research into the relationships between lessons on the primary instrument and individual practice in conservatoire education. Six cases were extensively investigated through observation, questionnaires, logbooks, and interviews. Regarding the lessons on the primary instrument, we examined aims, topics,…

Background: Research about sport pedagogy has recently emerged as a significant interest in student reflective practice within the PE teaching/learning system. This learning process is considered as a type of knowledge of co-construction in action. This epistemological assumption postulates that the "knowledge-in-action" is the result of an active…

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative case study of the benefits for teachers undertaking the role of mentor/supervisor in pre-service teacher education programmes. The research has a particular focus on school-based teacher educators working in rural and/or isolated communities and uncovers the role of reflection associated with…

In a one-week voluntary summer course, students aged twelve to seventeen eagerly take ownership of their composing processes, learning to connect terms such as focus and point of view to the visual and verbal acts of photography and writing. High school teacher Mike Stracco grapples with how to channel the vitality of his summer course into…

The research objectives were to identify the middle level mathematics teachers' conceptions of mathematics teaching and learning and ascertain changes in their conceptions and instructional behavior at the end of a three-year professional development (PD) project. These changes were studied through the qualitative analysis of their reflective…

Powerful learning is the premise that the type of education provided for gifted children works well for all children. This long-range study examined the usefulness of elements from a more aggressive approach to powerful learning than the one implicit in the accelerated schools model--specifically a teacher checklist, collegial coaching, reflective…

What is the nature and role of reflection for teachers? How is teacher reflection influenced by environmental/situational factors? Examination of stated beliefs and observed practices of four 7th and 8th grade mathematics classroom teachers were used as evidential sources to help answer these questions in this interpretive investigation. Multiple…

This paper explains how teachers can set up good research problems to study in their classrooms. The purpose of the research is to provide teachers with a tool for reflection, change, learning, and renewal in student-centered classrooms. Teacher-researchers learn to ask critical questions, collect data, document findings, and share results with…

Research has shown that close ties between early childhood teachers and parents are helpful for children, but many teachers have mixed feelings about, or feel unprepared for, such relationships. This study, drawn from a larger study of preservice and beginning teachers, used narrative inquiry to trace the development of an early childhood…

Reflective journals have been used widely in teacher education programs to promote reflective thinking (Freidus, 1998; Carter & Francis, 2000; Yost, Senter & Forlenzo-Bailey, 2000). Smyth (1992) advocated that posing a series of questions to be answered in written journals could enhance reflective thinking. It was for this reason that…

As part of a larger project on effective numeracy teaching practice a number of teachers took turns to teach a small group of students in front of their peers who were located on the other side of a one-way window. Observing teachers were asked to comment on what they noticed "in-the-moment" and suggest labels or metaphors that captured the…