This paper tests the utility of a new sociocognitive frame for analysing the development of teachers' knowledge--the knowledge integration perspective (Linn, Eylon, & Davis, in press; Linn & Hsi, 2000). In doing so, the paper describes one prospective elementary teacher's developing knowledge and highlights its complexity. The prospective teacher…

To date, the professional development school (PDS) preservice teacher preparation literature base is long on attitudinal analysis and short on comparative analysis of outcome variables. This article reports on a 2-year study comparing the lesson planning, teaching effectiveness, postlesson reflectivity, and content retention of professional…

The current movement in spirituality is extending into both K-12 and higher education. There is discussion at both levels of the need for the spiritual (not religion) to be a recognized part of the curriculum, to enable individuals to find personal meaning in the curriculum. This essay explores two themes--first, the importance of educators having…

The concept of education "for" the environment is well documented in the literature but is apparently less common in practice. Some of the reasons provided for this rhetoric-reality gap include: the controversial and political nature of the subject, the difficulty of empowering students into meaningful action, the challenge of using…

Student achievement and attitudes toward mathematics are influenced by the teacher, emphasizing the importance of quality teacher preparation. This study explored different preparations and the impact on pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge. The sample included 96 pre-service teachers enrolled in a math course at one Midwestern…

Emphasizing subject matter content standards in teacher education can improve early childhood education and yield long-term benefits for the development and learning of the whole child. The author discusses in depth his five recommendations to teacher educators for learning content standards and incorporating them into teaching. These are: (1)…

It is in general considered self-evident that those people who will later transfer the educational content of culture to children and youth should themselves have first assimilated intensively as much of this culture as possible. They will then be able to pass on their education to others because they will know how such processes are gotten under…

In the past, autobiographical writing was often used in teacher education courses simply as a way to identify the concerns of pre-service teachers, to bring those concerns forward so that they might better be addressed. Increasingly, teacher educators have recognized the importance of the individual's lived experience as relevant to the…

Environmental educators often maintain that primary school education should endeavour to improve and protect the environment through producing an "environmentally informed, committed and active citizenry," yet existing research shows that the implementation of environmental education in primary schools is problematic and has had limited…

States have fashioned wildly different ways of judging whether teachers already in the classroom meet the federal standard of "highly qualified," raising the possibility that teachers in some states will not face the high hurdle that Congress intended. However, to be deemed highly qualified under the federal law, teachers must hold a…

This article describes the use of a lesson study approach to collaborative professional growth in an elementary science methods course. Preservice candidates designed and taught integrated science-mathematics lessons during the semester before their student teaching. Working in 8 teams of 3 student teachers, participants per team designed a common…

Guided by Shulman, 1986 and Shulman, 1987 tripartate model of teacher expertise [subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and general pedagogical knowledge (GPK)], the present study examined 162 U.S. and Chinese 3rd grade mathematics teachers' expertise in teaching fractions. Results show that U.S. teachers lag…

The purpose of this article is to examine the levels of preparation of teachers who work in elementary schools in Turkey. This study aimed at determining the levels of readiness of teachers on subdimensions of learning organizations, such as participation in decision making, professional and same-level teacher meetings, improving the sense of…

This paper concludes our report of an investigation of two beginning teacher educators making the transition from classroom teacher to university-based teacher educator. The authors combined case study and self-study of teacher education practices to investigate features of the institutional context they encountered, the knowledge they employed in…

This report presents a literature review of elementary science and design technology education research. The review is intended to provide direction to the elementary science working groups charged with the responsibility to revise the "Alberta Elementary Science Program" (1996) by reflecting current ideas reported in research…