The theoretical justification for enactivist approaches to learning is just beginning to emerge, and remains largely theoretical. Enactivism conceptualized as play brings us closer to the heart of the question about how play-based social studies might look. Recent research in simulations and games--forms of play--help to reveal some of the…

To provide a shared vision of effective mentoring and language for practice, Schwille developed a temporal framework depicting mentoring practices referred to as "inside" and "outside" the action of teaching. "Inside" mentoring occurs when teachers are working with students (e.g. co-teaching and demonstration…

Exemplary middle schools use interdisciplinary teaming that often involves some level of co-planning, coteaching, and co-assessing. In addition to this collaborative foundation, federal mandates for supporting students have led to frequent co-teaching between special educators, bilingual/bicultural specialists, and regular classroom teachers.…

The impetus for this study occurred when the principal of a secondary Professional Development School (PDS) questioned the traditional teacher education model utilized by the university partner. This principal asked the university to consider a model that better utilized both the teacher candidate and supervising teacher collaboratively to promote…

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine the impact co-teaching professional development has had on teacher attitude and classroom practices in a secondary, middle school setting. Methodology: This qualitative case study design included the use of best practice checklists and personal interviews. Educators from a middle…

In a Georgia middle school, general and special education teachers expressed concerns about the challenges of working collaboratively in the inclusive classroom. Effective teacher collaboration is pivotal to ensure academic success of all students. The purpose of this qualitative bounded instrumental case study was to explore middle school…

The purpose of this collective case study was to explore the resultant effects of vertical team teaching and collaborative inquiry on elementary (Grade 8) and secondary (Grade 9) educators' literacy instructional and assessment practices. Key elements of the program included collaborative inquiry and vertical team teaching. The findings of this…

The instruction of Natural Science subject in junior high schools, as regulated by 2013 Curriculum, is to be taught in an integrated way, combining Biology, Physics, and Chemistry subjects. The assessment of which is called authentic assessment. This current study described the instructional system especially the assessment system of Natural…

Special education teachers leave the field at a rate that outpaces their general education teacher counterparts, with special education teaching positions unfilled at a rate 5.5 times greater than general education positions (Boe, 2006). This study identified perceptions of risk and resilience in nine first year special education teachers in order…

This paper examines data from the novel use of Lesson Study (LS), an internationally known strategy for professional development, to improve the teaching of students (11-14 years old) with moderate learning difficulties (MLD). The paper aims to use a systematic qualitative analytic approach to identify variations in LS practice in a development…

Co-teaching is a model of inclusive instruction that has become increasingly popular throughout schools as a way to meet the needs of students with disabilities in general education settings. Despite being the focus of significant educational research for more than two decades, traditional deficit discourses of disability persist in educational…

A qualitative study of the impact of a school-university partnership in which eight teacher candidates from a two-year graduate program were placed together in a poverty level middle school was conducted. Teacher candidates in this particular program receive a master's degree, as well as a teaching license in their content area and special…

Students' knowledge about a profession influences their future decisions about careers. Research indicates that students tend to hold stereotypical views of engineers, which would hinder engineering as a career choice. The purpose of this study was to measure how participating in a week long engineering summer camp affected middle school students'…

This article reports on a middle school literacy intervention implemented during a yearlong teacher-researcher collaboration. The purpose of this collaboration was to combine and adjust commonly recommended pedagogical approaches to address the literacy needs of a heterogeneous group of seventh graders attending an urban school. University…

While there is considerable research concerning co-teaching among special educators and regular classroom teachers, little work has been published regarding co-teaching that involves teacher candidates and their cooperating teachers. During the last three years, two middle level education faculty members involved in their University's Professional…