This paper examines Slovenian physical education (PE) teachers' (n = 85) estimations of their own actual and desired professional competencies with the aim of diagnosing the main needs of practising PE teachers and resolving them within a revised Slovenian Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) curricula and through continued professional…

"Mathematics teacher educator-researcher-mentor" is a mouthful, but an accurate title to describe the range of roles of mathematics teacher educators across the nation and around the world. There is limited research about the professional development of teacher educators and even less research specific to mathematics teacher educators. This…

This article discusses professionalism in early childhood education through the analytical tool of a research-based multi-level perspective that sees this as a cultural, communal, organisational, and individual phenomenon. Starting from an understanding of professionalism derived from a model of professional expertise, the article discusses the…

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is now firmly on government agendas in many countries, including England, and the need to develop a professional workforce is generally agreed. The reform of the children's workforce in England acknowledges that increasing the skills and competence of this workforce is critical to its success. Two new…

I begin by examining the natures of science and religion before looking at the ways in which they relate to one another. I then look at a number of case studies that centre on the relationships between science and religion, including attempts to find mechanisms for divine action in quantum theory and chaos theory, creationism, genetic engineering…

Reform in secondary mathematics education has created changes regarding how to educate teachers. It is time to check the result of such changes. This study provides a snapshot look at the commonalities of ten pre-service teachers in regards to their mathematics knowledge and their attitudes about mathematics and mathematics education. Four themes…

Social work doctoral candidates and others without much or any formal teaching experience or training are frequently invited to teach a variety of graduate-level social work courses. This beginning teaching experience can be quite challenging both personally and professionally. Yet, it is seldom discussed in the literature, especially from a…

This article examines how teachers decide which technologies to use in their classrooms and what they expect to gain from adopting technology. Observation, interviews, and document collection were used to collect data as a part of a research project in a Midwestern state. Subjects were 15 to 25 mathematics professionals participating in the…

During the last four decades, educational researchers and practitioners have intensively engaged in bringing about positive changes in schools. Therefore, the kinds of changes introduced to schools have become complex in nature and overwhelming in number--from improving teacher professional knowledge base and teaching repertoires to developing…

Educational policy debates around the definitions of, and prescriptions for, the development of qualified teachers have long ignored the role that social foundations can play in equipping new teachers for their roles in urban classrooms (Butin, 2005a; 2005b; Cochran-Smith, 2004; Sirotnik, 1990). This article examines the voices of a set of urban…

The foundation of all learning is rooted in the development of language and literacy abilities. Literacy development begins well before children enter school and can accelerate in an early childhood classroom setting. Teacher educators often hear about the importance of literacy development. In particular, the significance of phonological…

This article describes introductory practices used to prepare future urban teachers to implement critical literacy strategies in their classrooms. Based in a teacher education program designed to prepare teachers for urban multicultural settings, the authors provide an overview of critical approaches to literacy instruction, a rationale for why…

Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) is affected by two factors; a rethinking of its knowledge base and instructional practices as a response to changes in our understanding of the nature of SLTE, as well as external pressures resulting from the expanded need for competent language teachers worldwide. The impact of these two factors is seen in…

The need to equip science teachers with knowledge, skills, and habits of mind to face the challenges of teaching science through inquiry informed this study, which analyzed the secondary science intern teachers' beliefs about inquiry before, during, and following a series of 2 consecutive science methods courses in an attempt to document the…

I investigated eight preservice teachers' understandings about culturally responsive pedagogy as they participated in a writing methods course in which they tutored children from different ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds in an afterschool program at a local community center. I also investigated how these preservice…