This book introduces the concept of leadership as the facilitation of constructivist reciprocal processes among participants in an educational community. Chapter 1, "Learning and Leading Theory: A Century in the Making," (Deborah Walker and Linda Lambert) traces the dynamic history of learning and leading during this century, concluding…

Long used in the professional fields of business and law, cases and case methods of teaching represent a relatively new and promising approach in the education of teachers. This digest, organized into two sections, presents definitions of cases and case methods, explores the purposes of using case studies, and suggests avenues for further research…

Although college mission statements related to promoting a sense of responsibility in students, fostering the desire to learn, and promoting critical thinking sound good, few people actually think about what the words mean or help teachers understand what practices might actually achieve those goals. Thinking skills taught in classrooms can vary…

The level of reflection achieved by preservice teachers (N=21) at the end of their Master of Education program is analyzed in this exploratory study. Data were collected from class sessions and field experiences during three quarters. Subjects engaged in reflection by writing in journals about readings, class discussions, and field or student…

This study examined whether expert-novice differences exist in the ability to engage in self-analysis, a form of reflection about one's own teaching performance. Expert (N=6) and novice (N=5) sixth-grade teachers were videotaped while teaching and were interviewed after viewing their own lessons. Expert teachers, in comparison to novices,…

This study compares the reflections of preservice teachers when they are considering pedagogical issues in general methods courses versus content knowledge combined with pedagogy in social studies methods courses. The paper presents a theoretical framework for the study conducted among 44 Master of Education preservice teachers of a large…

This paper addresses the importance of the preparation of qualified bilingual teachers and the need for certified, qualified, well-trained bilingual special education teachers. Specifically, it identifies and discusses competencies needed by bilingual special education teachers, discusses the need for reflective practice in the preparation of…

This paper presents a reflection on how the research program conducted in the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP) informs the evaluation of the project. Three sections present an overview of the MCTP and the MCTP research program, a review of the literature on evaluation and research, and reflections on the use of MCTP research…

This paper elaborates upon the idea of pedagogical content knowledge through close examination of a teacher's learning in science and addresses a question derived from Shulman's (1986) original work on teacher knowledge: "What is learning for teaching?" Pedagogical knowing is viewed as the practice of seeing into the subject matter through the…

The opening section of this paper describes the author's first experience with collegial attempts at curriculum reform through practical inquiry, illustrating a process in which ideas are tested and developed in action. It is pointed out that this form of teacher-based practical inquiry is a characteristic feature of a certain kind of curriculum…

The study examined the reform outcome of reflective teaching introduced by the Faculty of Education among the student teachers in a Nigerian University during the 2002\2003 teaching practice exercise. Three hundred and four students who were in the final and penultimate years of graduation comprised the sample for the study. Six research questions…

This paper discusses email journaling for those hoping to become a teacher. The author discusses an innovative format she designed for journal entries that revolutionized her field experience supervision practices and those of other supervisors with whom she has shared this format. It has vastly improved the quality of the teacher-candidate's…

A major reason for the use of cases in teacher education is based on the assumption that preservice teachers, via discussion of cases, will reflect on how educational theory can inform practice and when these students enter the classroom they will be better prepared for the realities of the classroom and will critically analyze their practices to…

This paper links the problem of questioning and answering in student teacher supervision with teachers' pedagogical thinking. The first section discusses whether asking the right questions or giving the right answers is more important and what is actually involved when the questions and answers are correct. The second section discusses the…

Ongoing efforts to include social contextual dynamics in research on mathematics education require theoretical frameworks that allow researchers to zoom their focus out to include the social sphere (Lerman, 1998). This is especially important when studying teacher development, as teachers learn in a wide variety of social contexts. Here we…