The number of students taking online courses in K-12 has increased exponentially since the inception of virtual schools in 1996. However, K-12 virtual schooling is a relatively new concept for those involved in teacher education. As teacher education departments build pre-service preparation programs, in-service professional development…

This study chronicles a 2-year school wide portfolio initiative in a British elementary school, teacher resistance to the initiative, and factors that contributed to acceptance of the portfolio initiative. Critical components to teacher engagement in this context included teacher ownership of the process and product, a child-centred focus to the…

Explored elementary teachers' conceptions of caring within teaching, discussing the relevance of an ethic of caring. Teacher interviews and drawings suggested that teachers understood caring in many ways (commitment, relatedness, physical care, affection, parenting, and mothering). Both women and men employed an ethic of care when reflecting on…

Discusses how critical others can enhance teachers' roles. Critical events all have a critical agent plus critical others who provide significant input but have no formal role within the institution. They enhance teachers' roles by providing a charismatic quality and contributing toward the authenticity of teachers' work in many ways. (SM)

Potential benefits for learning that the outdoors may hold have been brought into increased focus in the UK by the recent introduction of a manifesto for learning outside the classroom (DfES, "Learning outside the classroom: manifesto"; Nottingham, Department for Education and Skills, 2006). This article draws on two recent studies of…

This article reports on the grouping practices used by a cohort of 10 newly qualified primary teachers for teaching mathematics in different English primary schools. It examines the factors that influence why these teachers group as they do. All the teachers grouped their pupils on the basis of achievement or perceived ability for mathematics. It…

Conducted research projects carried out from 1996 to 1998 to study the role of "Teacher Assessment" (assessments made by teachers) in measuring student achievement under the British National Curriculum. Survey responses from 678 teachers and interviews with 117 teachers and administrators indicated how teachers made their assessments of…

The "Learning How to Learn" project of the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme engaged teachers from primary and secondary schools in the UK in development and research of practice related to "assessment for learning" between 2001 and 2005. As part of the project, we were concerned to discover what factors encouraged…

Notwithstanding over 20 years of propaganda promoting board school teaching as an ideal career for upper-class women, it appears that in the 1890s it was still unusual for "girls of good family" to go in for it. Therefore, it was an eccentric plunge in 1898 when Eglantyne Jebb, an Oxford student from a prosperous land-owning family,…

This paper examines theoretical and empirical evidence related to primary teachers' subject knowledge in mathematics and considers the relevance of an audit of higher-level subject knowledge to the subject knowledge required for teaching primary mathematics. Questionnaires and interviews were carried out to determine the views of generalist…

This paper considers the experiences of teachers in a "progressive" English independent school, in particular with respect to what might loosely be termed job satisfaction. The paper suggests that these teachers have ideals and aspirations in common with many of their colleagues who teach in the state sector. The writers suggest that…

Outlines research undertaken with first year primary preservice teachers at Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK. Studies the influence of preservice teachers' prior educational experience and beliefs about the nature of--and relationship between--science and technology upon their planning for classroom activities incorporating both areas…

Delegates at the 2003 AULRE conference were asked to consider the features of a "religiate" pupil, that is, what would we expect of pupils leaving school with a good religious education. This prompted a consideration of how far trainee primary teachers on a one-year PGCE programme could be considered "religiate". In the…

Reports on the impact of managerialist discourse on the lives of United Kingdom primary school teachers prior to and in the year following Office For Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspections. The study found teachers indicating that, one year after inspection, there has been no lasting impact on what they do in the classroom. (CMK)

From a sample of 438 British primary and 451 secondary schools, 122 and 242 respective responses were received. Compared to a 1988-89 study, attitudes toward business practices were positive, despite concerns about ethics; length of teacher placements in industry was positively associated with their perceived value; and primary teachers were less…