This article explores the nature of the reflective learning undertaken by pre-service trainee teachers training to teach in the lifelong learning sector in the UK. The argument made is that reflecting on the student voice can support novice teacher's boundary-crossing and legitimate peripheral participation (Lave and Wenger, 1991; Heggen, 2008).…

A significant body of literacy and language research over the last two decades has been informed by a sociocultural perspective and an associated qualitative design, which are often seen as valuable and appropriate for researching literacy. As an emergent researcher, whose understanding of language education was mostly informed by individualistic…

Among the most critical professional characteristics of teacher educators is that of reflectivity. The ability to self-judge our own practice context, capability, and performance against the broader professional contexts of practice by teacher educators has been noted by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The…

This paper profiles the experiences of seven teacher educators who engaged in a 9-month collaborative self-study focused on exploring the text "Developing a Pedagogy of Teacher Education: Understanding, Teaching and Learning about Teaching" (Loughran, 2006). In this paper we illustrate how we developed shared understandings of our dilemmas as…

This paper engages general debates about the production of knowledge and, within that, more specific debates about the place of the researcher in the research process. There are two main objectives: one is a theoretical interest that involves examining the issue of subjectivity and how intersubjective negotiations take shape in research…

This article provides an inside look at Barbara Knighton's classroom teaching. She uses big ideas to guide her planning and instruction and gives other teachers suggestions for adopting the big idea approach and ways for making the approach easier. This article also represents a "small slice" of a dozen years of collaborative research,…

This paper outlines the connection between qualitative research methods in education and teacher reflective practices as they relate to Valli's ("Reflective teacher education: cases and critiques." State University of New York Press, Albany, 1992; "Peabody J Educ" 72(1): 67-88, 1997) model of reflection. Using the authors' own experiences in…

How can school librarians know about other teachers' professional development experiences? School librarians need time to talk with fellow teachers about the wide range of issues and challenges present in schools. A collaborative mission gives precious time to create learning opportunities for students; but does it give enough time for reflective…

Many students struggle with fractions and must understand them before learning higher-level math. Veteran educator David B. Spangler provides research-based tools that are aligned with NCTM and Common Core State Standards. He outlines powerful diagnostic methods for analyzing student work and providing timely, specific, and meaningful…

If practicing teachers are expected to be reflective practitioners, as teacher standards require, they must understand what reflection means. The problem addressed in this research study concerns the confusion about the meaning of the term reflection in education. The purpose of the study was to develop substantive theory about the relationship…

This narrative study will allow my reader a glimpse into real situations I have faced as an asynchronous online instructor in hopes to help me and my audience better understand how I, as a self-directed online practitioner, utilized action research recorded in a journal as a method to build capacity for continuous professional development to…

This essay presents a model of reflective use of writing technologies, one that provides a means of more fully exploiting the possibilities of these tools for transforming writing activity. Derived from the work of computer designer Douglas Engelbart, the "bootstrapping" model of reflective use extends current arguments in the field…

This article details a professional development process with a group of teachers and educational psychologists in the UK, at a school for children identified as having social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. The project focused on how teachers use conversation to include children within dialogue and incorporate children's ideas within the…

One seventh-grade English language arts teacher engaged in teacher research in order to become a more understanding, responsive, and confident instructor. Systematic inquiry into her own practice revealed a conflict between what students perceived as their literacy needs and desires (discrete reading skills) with what she perceived to be important…

Police educators, that is, police and non-police teachers involved in recruit education and training, have traditionally suffered from a lack of organisational focus on developing their teaching and learning practices. The New South Wales (NSW) Police College, which is currently implementing Problem Based Learning (PBL), has begun to take a more…