Based on the writing and oral reports of a group of 15 students in a graduate course focused on autobiographic writing and professional development, I address the question of how graduate study in education might sustain teachers in their work. For the course in question, the students studied recent research on teacher learning and devoted time to…

This study analyzes the methods that teachers employ in written feedback to student writing and how the policies of the program and the teachers' embodied histories influence the strategies used. Data were gathered from 2 novice teachers as they taught their first graduate-level ESL writing course and consist of the teachers' feedback in addition…

As the new English Language Arts Common Core State Standards take hold across the United States, the need grows for pre-service and in-service teachers to be ready to develop curriculum and instruction that addresses their requirements. This timely, thoughtful, and comprehensive text directly meets this need. It delineates a literacy practices and…

"Improving Your Reflective Practice through Stories of Practitioner Research" shows how research has informed and created effective and valuable reflective practice in early years education, and offers depth to the arguments for a research-orientated stance to this vital field of study. This thought-provoking text explores and documents a variety…

Reflective practice in practice settings can enhance practice knowledge, self-assessment and lifelong learning, develop future practice capability and professional identity, and critically appraise practice traditions rather than reproduce them. The inherent power imbalance between student and educator runs the risk for the reflective practice…

The aim of this article is to respond to Kevin O'Grady's critique (in "BJRE", 27, 2005, pp. 227-37) of my interpretation and assessment of Ninian Smart's contribution to religious education. I begin by dealing with a range of issues that lend themselves to fairly summary discussion and then address two further aspects of his critique in more…

While the number of linguistically diverse students (LDS) grows steadily in the U.S., schools, research and practice to support their education lag behind (Lucas & Grinberg, 2008). Research that describes the attitudes and practices of teachers who serve LDS and how those attitudes and practice intersect with language and special education is…

Prompted by calls for research on technology-focused professional development, this article investigates how learning communities influence secondary English teachers' use of digital tools. Findings from this year-long study in the United States indicate that the ways in which technology is integrated within the English curriculum are still very…

This article reviews current scholarship about how to promote change in instructional practices used in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. The review is based on 191 conceptual and empirical journal articles published between 1995 and 2008. Four broad categories of change strategies were developed to…

In the pseudo-documentary "The Age of Stupid" (Armstrong 2009), a historian from 2055 scans the remnants of civilization and asks why, in the early twenty-first century, people did not save themselves when they had the chance. The film serves as a motif for issues raised in this article. Why do people continue to believe that education plays an…

In this paper, the author seeks to initiate a conversation about the discomfort that can emerge and the violence that might possibly take place in the "critical", dialogic, and justice-oriented Foundations of Education classroom between students and instructors when all are invited to negotiate "the necessary conditions" for learning. Believing…

Critical reflection is defined as an educational imagination that allows candidates to look at themselves and their situations with new eyes, and in the process, become conscious of the multiple ways they can interpret, critique, challenge, confront, and reconstruct teaching. This study examines the effectiveness of using explicit instruction in…

Improving teacher retention and resiliency are key educational problems. In this article, we share findings from case studies of six educators who, for over 200 combined years, worked in urban, high-poverty schools and highlight what teachers need to remain in such contexts. We argue that developing "professional resilience" is a process…

The aim of this self-study research was to deepen my understanding of pedagogy for teacher education and the factors that enhanced and hindered my confidence and competence as a teacher educator. I recorded my impressions and descriptions of events, discussions, and interpretations as a result of studying my practice in an electronic journal.…

This paper describes how a cluster of nine secondary science teachers and lecturers from five schools and colleges in the United Kingdom designed and undertook small-scale action research projects as an approach to their own continuing professional development. The participating teachers identified a range of topics for investigation such as:…