Do teachers spend more time on actual teaching and learning in a typical lesson compared to previous years? Do they feel prepared to teach when they start teaching? What sort of continuous professional development programmes do they participate in and how does it impact their practice? This report looks first at how teachers apply their knowledge…

This book reviews literature and research linked to early childhood education and care (ECEC). This educational level is fundamental for acquiring key competencies for school entry and establishing the physical, cognitive, and emotional bases for lifelong learning. Preschool education should promote student autonomy as the ability of a child to…

Based on my 5 years' experience that spanned the period 2002--2007 as an academic developer responsible for students and staff development, I realised that creativity was generally marginalised in undergraduate studies. In 2008, I enrolled for my PhD with the purpose of finding out whether advanced undergraduate classrooms supported students'…

How can countries prepare teachers to face the diverse challenges in today's schools? The OECD "Teaching and Learning International Survey" (TALIS) helps answer this question by asking teachers and school leaders about their working conditions and the learning environments at their schools. TALIS aims to provide valid, timely and…

Many teachers enter the profession with a desire to "make a difference." But given who most teachers are, where they come from, and what pressure they feel to comply with existing school policies, how can they take up this charge? "Practice What You Teach" follows three different groups of educators to explore the challenges of developing and…

"Politics and the Primary Teacher" is an accessible introduction to some of the thorniest aspects of a primary teacher's role. It aims to support your understanding of the constant changes in education policy, give you confidence to engage critically with current political debates, and consider how you might shape your response accordingly.…

The No Child Left Behind legislation, by legitimizing a stark, one-size-fits-all, industrial model of education, has denied the inherent complexity and richness of what teachers do. Discussing teaching in terms of Chaos Theory, Chapin explains that while excellent teaching may occur at the edge of chaos, it is not chaotic. There are patterns…

As a consequence of the federal "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law, there is tremendous pressure on school principals, teachers, school superintendents, district staff, state departments of education and governors to maximize the increase in student achievement that is obtained with every dollar of expenditure. Currently, teachers are…

Exemplary Middle Grades Research: Evidence-Based Studies Linking Theory to Practice features research published throughout 2009 in MGRJ that has been identified by the Information Age Publishing's review board as the most useful in terms of assisting educators with making practical applications from evidence-based studies to classroom and school…

This book is designed to help early childhood teachers deal with common problems that arise in all aspects of their work. Part one addresses daily dilemmas such as schedule planning, meal and nap times, art, and outdoor play. Part two covers classroom concerns such as the physical environment, curriculum, individual student needs, field trips,…

This book examines the effects of reforms in some countries' national education systems, noting that far from improving education, they have often made it more difficult for teachers to do a good job in the classroom. It focuses on how teaching has changed and continues to change in England's educational reform climate. The book argues that many…

This book is based on research focusing on "creative teaching" in the British National Curriculum. The aim has been to test and fill out the concept of creative teaching in a wider range of schools and with teachers working in markedly different circumstances than before the 1988 Education Reform Act, which established a National…

Teachers are the "lone rangers" of education. They are sequestered in their classrooms, unable to see what their colleagues are doing. All too often, good teachers have few, if any, opportunities to share their teaching techniques with others in their profession. Based on the development of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and…

Building on an international survey including nearly 10,500 teachers and 200,000 students in 32 countries, this booklet presents empirical data relevant to the controversial issue of how children should be taught to read. The booklet examines a broad spectrum of teaching conditions, teacher characteristics, and instructional practices and relates…

This book is about teachers, teaching, and learners in poor environments in four Latin American countries: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Venezuela. Using ethnographic research methods, the study observed rural and urban schools at different periods during the school year. What emerged from the investigation is a vivid picture of teaching styles,…