Discussion of mentoring focuses on professionals in higher education. Topics include organizational issues; processes; training; gender and ethnicity; human resource development, including initiation, peer mentoring to foster reflective practice, and performance enhancement in senior management; and mentoring and the learning organization. (LRW)

Discusses the tendency within Spanish universities to separate linguistic theory from methodology in language teaching. Suggests linguistic theoretical input should not be taught independently of pedagogical considerations. Focuses on overcoming some of the problems based on the existing gap between theoretical input and pedagogical teacher…

Explores the effects of a high-stakes, direct writing test on three teachers and their students. Suggests that an emphasis on test preparation diminished the likelihood of the teachers' engaging in reflective practice that is sensitive to the needs of individual students, and that the high-stakes assessment process discounted the validity of…

Suggests that becoming an expert teacher and judging teaching quality are complex and situational, exploring the use of a conceptual framework for analyzing eight teaching portfolios submitted by new university teachers as an assessment and qualification requirement. The study made a case for analyzing portfolios by asking whether teachers held…

This qualitative multicase study explored the perceptions of three special education teachers of students with learning disabilities who had themselves received special education services for learning disabilities. Specifically, the study focused on how participants' past experiences with receiving special education influenced their current…

Suggests that the agenda and culture of reform in UK medical schools should be underpinned by more interpretive and reflexive research paradigms. Illustrates how the key tensions inherent in the professional socialization of doctors--between "objectifying" and "humanizing"--construct and limit both the capacity to change…

Warns of the limitations of educational reform via standards and standardization as seen in New York, NY. Focuses on "culturally responsive pedagogy," which is needed to build a system sensitive to the backgrounds and contexts of students and schooling. (CMK)

Presents a research project on the development of pre-service teachers' skills and understanding of themselves as pedagogical problem solvers. Argues that by adopting a problem-solving approach to teaching, teachers would be better able to view themselves as competent problem solvers who are able to develop various strategies to deal with change.…

Examines 11 preservice teachers' experiences with action research. Explains the four components of an action-research course: (1) reflection and inquiry; (2) learning about students; (3) learning about content knowledge; and (4) learning about social justice and democracy. Focuses on three teacher candidates' action-research studies. (CMK)

Describes use of a strategy adapted from the American Association for Higher Education's Peer Review of Teaching Project, the "reflective memo," to provide backward and forward view of post-tenure reviews in the chemistry department of the University of Wisconsin (Madison). The approach served as a guide in review of research, teaching,…

In this essay, the author theorizes and illustrates how engaging students in reflective talk can help them change their minds. The essay specifically addresses how patterns for reflective talk can support both the sustained, nonevaluative exploration of difficult material and the self-scrutiny necessary for acknowledging the implication in…

In this paper the author would like to share a small section of text that emerged in the process of analyzing and synthesizing data from her self-study research into her role as a coordinator for special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream infant education in the UK. The section consists of three Imaginative Conjectures in which she re-envisions…

Through a three-stage thematic model this research has examined the evolution of the Senior Practitioner, a term introduced by the UK Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Surestart Unit, which advocates the promotion and recognition of the importance of staff with advanced and specialist skills, knowledge and experience. This status is…

Secondary science methods students' thinking on coteaching practice was studied for the development of conscious elements of practical teacher knowledge supporting the use of structured inquiry. Reflective dialogue on practice in an electronic forum was analyzed for elements of formal learning and biography (past and present) that informed…

This paper explores the process of developing principles that fall into three main categories: Classroom management, maintaining a positive attitude in the classroom, and developing the big picture. The author explores the development of principles which emerge from the exploration of emotional reactions to interpersonal interactions with…