The literature on preparing teachers for urban schools provides a rationale for helping candidates understand the particular cultures of students. However, research has not sufficiently "unpacked" features of the setting that programs can address; nor has it discussed how programs tailor teaching approaches to their specific contexts.…

Engineering design activities can help educators to apply concepts and processes from within and across STEM domains. To facilitate these connections, there is a need for sustained, job-embedded, and collegial professional development that brings together teachers from across STEM domains to engage in design-based activities. These activities can…

The current generation of urban pre-service teachers attended K-12 schools under the increasing influence of a testing and standards-based, market-driven education, a trend that has been growing since the 1990s (Ravitch, 2010). Because of this, I argue here that exposing these pre-service teachers to an inquiry-driven learning experience, in this…

As the US continues to strive toward building capacity for a workforce in STEM fields (NSF, 2006), educational organizations and researchers have constructed frameworks that focus on increasing competencies in creativity in order to achieve this goal (ISTE, 2007; Karoly & Panis, 2004; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007). Despite these…

The number of individuals being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased over the past 10 years. As the incidences of this disorder continue to increase, so does the need for general education teachers to understand the benefit of implementing visual inclusive teaching strategies for students with autism. A qualitative…

Inquiry is essentially a process in which research questions are asked and an attempt is made to find the answers. However, the formulation of operational research questions of the sort used in authentic scientific inquiry is not a trivial task. Here, we set out to explore the possible influence of separating the research question from the…

To help preservice teachers learn about teaching with technology--specifically, technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK)--the researchers designed and implemented a Live Dual Modeling strategy involving both live behavior modeling and cognitive modeling in this study. Using qualitative research methods, the researchers investigated…

Using the Delphi technique, agriculture teachers with significant experience teaching welding were asked to help determine the critical skills beginning agriculture teachers need to successfully teach welding. The study's objectives sought to (1) identify the knowledge and technical skill competencies that beginning agriculture teachers need to…

After the launch of the new curriculum reforms at the beginning of the new millennia, teachers were expected to transform their conceptions of education by absorbing ideas such as "dual subjectivity," "democratic equality," "scientific inquiry," "collaborative learning," and so on. What sorts of conceptions…

This paper aims to (re)engage ESL with the broader literacy debate, by calling for a better recognition of what literacy means for second language learners within contemporary Australian education systems, and acknowledging the specialist professional knowledge that ESL teachers bring to the mainstream. The literacy debate that has shaped so much…

The "purpose" of this article is to illustrate how potential learning is related to hegemonic speech genres. This we do through examples from two religious education (RE) classrooms, one Norwegian and one Swedish. By presenting important dimensions of speech genres used in RE classrooms, the article also contributes to developing theory.…

The writers describe how apparently ordinary decisions about what to say when talking with children can have substantial effects on their learning and development. The language we use with children influences, among other things, who they think they are, what they think they're doing, the relationships they have with others, the strategic…

In this study, the question of what kind of qualifications an ideal social studies teacher has tried to be investigated. For this purpose, freshman social studies preservice teachers' perceptions about the concept of "ideal teacher" were explored. This study was designed with document analysis, one of the methods of qualitative approach.…

Researchers have advocated building a knowledge base for teacher education based on practitioner knowledge. In this article, the authors, two teacher educators, present knowledge gained from their systematic study of two lessons to help prospective teachers learn to study teaching. They offer a detailed look at the lessons' successes and…

This article looks at shifts in pedagogy used to prepare school leaders. "Leaders for America's Schools" is the focus around which the authors build their case, beginning with a recap of the early phases of administrator training. Next, the authors examine "A Nation at Risk" and the impact the educational reform movement had on administration…