Teaching portfolios are making their way into today's classrooms in three important ways: as habits of mind helping teachers define good practice; as processes teachers use for reflecting on their own teaching and learning; and as new teaching strategies mirroring student learning practices. (MLH)

Examines liberatory pedagogy in the context of helping beginning teachers become open to liberatory ideas as they construct themselves as teachers and begin to develop their practice. The paper considers practice and prospective teachers as learners of practice, then examines what this suggests for the construction of opportunities for prospective…

One requirement of reflective conceptual change by teachers is the need to map classroom situations onto situations that are subjected to educational research. A classification of instructional-learning episodes is presented as an instrument to facilitate this mapping. Using the instrument in teacher training and educational research is discussed.…

Use of a competency-based framework for initial teacher training in Britain was studied in one institution. Students felt that both competency-based training and reflection on practice generated self-assessment and monitoring. However, time pressures in implementing competence frameworks sometimes limited opportunities for reflection. (SK)

Describes the value to the author of taking notes on students at work in her third-grade classroom. Uses the analogy of "Footprints In The Snow" (from her daily morning walk) as a way of thinking about the importance of note-taking in teacher research. (SR)

Shares the author's systematic observations and reflections on students' learning in her first-grade classroom as a means of opening a conversation about what counts as teacher research. (SR)

Illustrates one way in which the process of reflection can be operationalized in the context of continuing professional development in the field of early education. Examines the perceived value of this approach to practitioners themselves. Focuses on the way practitioners perceive the children in their care, using the "Repertory Grid"…

Reports on an instrument that has been shown to be useful in helping novice teachers reflect on and change their science teaching praxis. The instrument provides a readily accessible model of instruction that aligns with student-centered models of instruction advocated by national science standards documents. Contains 35 references. (Author/WRM)

Describes an action-research collaboration between a middle school mathematics teacher and a mathematics teacher educator in which the teacher wrote a narrative description of the collaboration and the changes she made in her instructional practice as a result of the collaboration. Contains 34 references. (Author/ASK)

Study of reflective teaching must consider the individual being, subject, and actor. This paper addresses questions to contemporary sociology about competencies of social actors and examines reflectivity which is based on the action itself, concluding that teachers must become conscious of themselves as social actors in a critical society and…

Presents a professional-development template to help increase teachers' growth, satisfaction, and motivation. Programs should offer small, significant doses of user-friendly, high- challenge, low-threat, and hands-on activities that encourage teachers to construct their own knowledge, reflect on their practices, and try new approaches. (MLH)

Considers the importance of teachers changing their practice from the traditional norm. Offers insights into how this change can be achieved. Discusses conditions necessary for supporting improvisation and change. (PA)

Reflections of an enterprise-based literacy teacher highlights three focal areas of workplace learning: (1) critical thinking/reflection/problem solving; (2) contextualized learning; and (3) attitudinal. A workplace teacher must have knowledge and understanding of culture gained through action, feedback, reflection, and theorizing. (SK)

Discusses ethical dilemmas and value conflicts arising from the collision of experiential education and corporate America. Suggests that practitioners self-monitor their own reactions to these issues through conscious decision making, ego awareness, multiple options, and goal consistency. Addresses the question of whether to work for morally…

Presents a complex dimension of teacher to student relationships that should be treated with some necessary personal depth. Relates the interactions of two very different students with their composition instructor. Considers how the issue of mother as teacher (and, by extension, woman as nearly everyone's first teacher) has abided with humans…