Teacher educators are an occupational group who appear to suffer from an identity crisis. They do not seem to be able to agree on what their role or professional learning needs are. This situation has dire consequences for the next generation of teacher educators who enter the field in the same rather haphazard and ad hoc way as the ones before.…

Findings from interviews with mid-career academics in English and Australian universities elucidate how academics interpret and navigate complex institutional contexts in shaping academic jobs. The paper argues that how they do this is a function of what they notice and respond to as well as the mode of reflexivity they employ. Three core areas…

In Western Australia (WA) early learning centres, also referred to as childcare centres, are required by law to employ at least one degree qualified teacher. As such, graduates from early childhood degree programs are able to seek employment as a teacher across the school and childcare sectors. This paper presents research that investigated…

Teacher career trajectory studies have identified a small group of veteran teachers who remain positive and committed to teaching, while others become disenchanted or disengaged. These, and related studies suggest key characteristics of positive veteran teachers revolve around a strong sense of agency and professional identity including: 1) a…

The practicum is an important part of teacher education and has been widely studied from a variety of perspectives, including teacher candidates, associate or cooperating teachers, and supervisors. In this issue of "Studying Teacher Education," each author has written a self-study describing a personal journey of coming to understand…

Student supervision is a key factor underpinning the success of work-integrated learning programs. Supervisory responsibilities can be shared across a number of stakeholders including university staff and host/workplace supervisors. While there have been attempts to understand the roles played by each of these stakeholders, little research has…

The use of mentoring has nowadays become a predominant practice for the professional placement component of pre-service teacher education programs. Research however has identified that being an effective teacher does not make you an effective mentor. The present research investigated the role of professional development in the preparation of…

The arts are an important compulsory subject area in Australian schooling. In 2014, the Australian National Curriculum for the arts is scheduled for implementation. While the arts may be a compulsory subject area and expected to be taught in classrooms by primary school teachers, current perceptions held by teachers may be different to the view…

This paper presents preliminary findings from a research study in Australia, Malaysia and Iran on students' perceptions of the roles of supervisor and student in the production of their thesis and the contribution of their cultural knowledge to thesis development. The 360 respondents who answered an online survey were studying for their Master's…

The conceptualization of teacher role has led to the six-factor Role Dimension Profile Scale. When responses to the scale used with a Likert data collection format are analyzed, the resulting single dimension is interpreted as the teacher's "professional horizon." Implications of these results are discussed. (Author/GSK)

Summary data from teacher and student responses to a checklist describing perceptions of what should (teacher) and does (student) go on in biology classrooms are presented without interpretation. Classes were studying biology in grades 11 and 12 of South Australian high schools. (AL)

A study examined (1) how teachers in England. Australia, New Zealand, and the United States think others expect them to behave and (2) the amount of divergence existing between these expectations and the teacher's own attitudes. A teacher-questionnaire listed 10 teacher activities (derived from an interview phase of the study) representing…

Provides an overview of the Australian adult educator's roles, the primary one being to foster the idea of lifelong learning for as many as possible. Discusses the concept of lifelong learning and the adult educator as organizer of programs, teacher in many different environments, and social reformer. (MF)

Provides a case study of Fixed Role Treatment devised to help change the construct systems underlying classroom problems of two high school English teachers. Their professional self-characterizations were analyzed and they were encouraged to adopt new roles. The nature of the classes and need for change affected improvement. (Author/JAC)

Responses from teachers, subject coordinators and school administrators in 23 Queensland state high schools were analyzed to ascertain the perceived importance of subject coordinators to teacher satisfaction, teacher dissatisfaction, and the learning of students in classrooms. (Author/MLW)