Documented an elementary school that implemented student portfolios as port of a comprehensive school reform effort. Findings indicated that portfolios were an important mechanism through which teachers came to deeper understanding of their professional practices. Teachers began to recognize changes in classroom practice and school-wide…

Explores a way to enhance teachers' knowledge in Taiwan. Constructs cases involving episodes and issues from real classroom events as part of a school-based professional development project. Discusses the effects of the process of constructing these cases on teachers' awareness of students' difficulties in learning mathematics, pedagogical content…

Explains a method of reflecting on behavioral incidents that arise in classroom settings in order to improve teachers' responses to troubling student behavior. Suggests that by combining the process of critical reflection with an understanding of how conflict develops, teachers can improve the way they react and respond. (PM)

The article relates one teacher educator's experiences teaching a course in language development to college students in Hawaii's PETOM (Preservice Education for Teaching of Minorities) program. The teacher learned about building on background knowledge, starting with students' experiences, and providing opportunities for dialogs with students. (SM)

Encourages high school physical educators to engage their students in experiences that facilitate the acquisition of critical thinking skills, examining two lessons that highlight the extent of student engagement in critical thinking task demands. Suggestions are provided for planning lessons that include conscious efforts to engage students in…

Documents the experiences of a classroom teacher and his students with drama. Investigates the extent to which context shaped these experiences in a study on drama structure in a junior high social studies classroom. Details interactions and discourse between teacher and students that should add to reflective teaching. Includes a commentary by…

Argues that reflective practice informed by anthropological perspectives can help educators address practice-based puzzlements and improve educational practice in culturally diverse classrooms. Offers examples of how reflective practice, informed by anthropological concepts and methods and illuminated by understanding of different cultures,…

Reports a study that examined the degree to which secondary student teachers' knowledge about their teaching was accelerated by their training in the use of the Low Inference Self-Assessment Measure (in which they analyzed an audiotape of their instruction). The subjects all considered the process beneficial to their teaching. (SM)

A first-grade teacher reflects on a new student in her class one year. The student was from a disadvantaged home and had few appropriate social skills but was very eager to learn and responded to the teacher with great affection. The teacher explains how much the experience affected her. (SM)

This study explored the applicability of Schon's notion of reflective practice for student teachers in practicum settings. Case studies of student teachers in a practicum found 15 reflective themes and up to 4 precipitants per theme, with 47 factors that enhanced or constrained reflection. Four strategies for promoting student teacher reflection…

Changes in preservice teachers' level of reflective thinking over a three-quarter period were explored by analyzing their journal entries on readings and field experiences. Even without specific reflection training, levels of reflection increased significantly due to simply asking preservice teachers to reflect. However, only one participant…

Teachers cannot be members of learning communities without time for regular reflection, research, collaboration, and innovation. A private academy developed a formalized learning process dividing faculty into three groups. Each undergoes an evaluation year, a learning development year (with reduced teaching load), and a consolidation/practice…

The reflective practices of four student teachers in a Canadian suburb were studied as they undertook an extended practicum. The experiences of one of these students illustrate an alternative way of thinking about the nature of knowledge construction. Central to this alternative is the difference between an incidental and a thematic rendering of…

Presents the self reports of Israeli junior high school teachers (N=40). Discusses the conditions and processes of teaching and learning science, and reports that teachers make good use of inquiry in teaching. Contains 20 references. (DDR)

Describes the PEERS (Promoting Educational Excellence Regionally and Statewide) academy, a series of two-week professional development workshops to model best practices in K-12 science and mathematics teaching and to encourage more constructivist teaching approaches. Participants completed program evaluations and a followup study involving…