Reports on the third year of a research project to document and evaluate an innovative foreign language in elementary schools (FLES) program in Japanese for Grades K-5. Findings indicate that the children progressed considerably in foreign language proficiency and developed positive attitudes toward language learning. (28 references) (Author/CK)

Contends that, in the last decade, there has been increased respect for teachers' practical theories about teaching and learning. Discusses preservice art teacher education and aspects of reflective teaching. Describes the use of student journals in an art methods course and presents quotes from the journals. (CFR)

This article discusses the value of professional portfolios, describes how they are used in a five-year Canadian teacher preparation program, and includes criteria for assessing student teacher portfolios. Findings from two surveys of superintendents indicate that, overall, including a portfolio among an applicant's credentials can enhance the…

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to assess whether faculty writing workshops could facilitate writing in heterogeneous disciplines by linking specific, workaday writing activities (Tschudi, 1986) with Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives (1974). Multi-disciplinary faculty participating in writing-across-the-curriculum workshops…

Interviews with two college faculty in linguistics and two in Spanish over three years probed attitudes about the nature of pedagogical content knowledge of new faculty. In each discipline, a core concept around which knowledge of teaching revolved was found: in linguistics, argumentation; in Spanish, production. It also emerged that direct…

A successful professional development school (PDS) project, established by four elementary schools and a university, has four components: student teacher cohorts, close link between coursework and field experiences, close collaboration between university instructional team and PDS site personnel, and entire staff commitment to student teacher…

This article describes research with schoolteachers using participatory methods and reflective practice. These approaches have been used to enable teachers to establish their practice needs in relation to education for sustainability (EfS) and also maintain the integrity of their subject disciplines. The participatory methods are derived from…

As a profession language educators are paying more attention to teacher-driven research to help clarify and explain those phenomena occurring in our classrooms. The purpose of this paper is to explore the following question: What happens when teachers apply a teacher action research (TAR) strategy for improving their classroom practice? I will…

The purpose of my qualitative, action study was to gain a better understanding of the effects of an experimental college course in computer applications. This inquiry was made concerning both the teacher's and learners' points of view. A holistic, arts-based approach was used by the researcher/teacher in order to design, develop and facilitate a…

School-based professional development has been promoted by the government in England through its Continuing Professional Development Strategy (DfEE, 2001), however, the context and culture of the school in which the learning takes place is highly influential. Particularly important in teachers' professional development within secondary education…

This article is aimed at educators who find themselves facing the need to develop their e-teaching skills, with little or no formal training or institutional support. It explores how this can be achieved using the notion of "teacher autonomy" in combination with standard professional development measures for language teachers. The…

Reflective thinking is important to young adolescents as they develop their thinking skills. Various instructional methods have been recommended to support reflective thinking, yet the nature of the underlying factors in these methods is unclear. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factors prompting reflective thinking. Results…

This paper reports on the learning outcomes described by experienced teachers attending a program designed to enable them to come together to engage in professional development through structured and systematic reflective practice. In the first part of the paper, we look briefly at some of the challenges of defining "reflective…

This study explored how preservice elementary teachers experienced coursework and field experiences that fostered commitment to socially and pedagogically progressive teaching, especially development of against-the-grain perspectives. Interviews and observations indicated that against-the-grain perspectives evolved from complex interactions of…

Discusses the process of making change in teacher education, examining a second-language teacher education program and noting the importance of reflective thinking. The program encourages learners to explore alternatives in order to enrich teaching and learning and make teaching and learning an integrative process. The university-school…