Examines survey responses from 218 U.S. and Canadian sociology departments on the nature of teacher training for graduate students. Reveals that teacher training is consistently subordinated to research skills instruction. Posits a concurring devaluation of teaching among sociologists. Includes survey instrument, schools queried, and statistical…

To explore why teachers rejected videotaping as an observation and coaching method, researchers interviewed 29 teachers enrolled in teacher supervision classes to determine the human and the technical issues involved. About one-quarter of the problems were technical malfunctions and limitations, and the rest resulted from human responses to…

Challenges educators to embrace the spiritual aspects of life in their image of education, suggesting the importance of including spirituality in one's approach to life and letting that sense of life infuse one's teaching. An alternative image of some of the basic principles of curriculum and instruction is sketched. (SM)

Emphasizes the importance of helping students develop a sense of moral and spiritual value, undoing the violence that they have been taught in schools over the years and teaching them in a creative, rigorous manner about peace and the lives and works of prophets, peacemakers, feminists, and earth keepers. (SM)

Describes NASA's Learning Technologies Project at the Glenn Research Center (Cleveland, Ohio) that conducts research into enhancing elementary and secondary school science and mathematics classrooms through videoconferencing technology. Discusses teachers' professional development videoconferences; distance learning; student videoconferences;…

Ethnographic study describes the professional development of seven unlicensed or nonqualified teachers involved in a community teacher education project in two informal settlement community schools near Johannesburg, South Africa. Data from observations and interviews highlight the teachers' initiative in pursuing their own professional…

Discusses how co-teaching is useful for teaching important aspects of teaching to preservice educators, presenting an episode of masterful questioning from a study about teaching and learning in a science classroom co-taught by an experienced science teacher and a preservice teacher completing an internship. Their work suggests that preservice…

Describes Connecticut's ongoing school reform efforts, which began around 1985. The reform process involves creating, supporting, and revising a coherent set of policies for improving teacher learning that are also aligned with standards for students. Planning includes state department staff in collaboration with teachers and principals. The state…

We studied the outcome of a professional development opportunity that consisted of 2-week-long resident institutes for teams consisting of a secondary science teacher and two students. The science content of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded professional development institute was monarch butterfly ecology. The first institute took place…

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a much debated and studied construct. In this article, we adopt an all-embracing view of PCK to examine the development of one elementary science teacher's knowledge over a 10-year period. We portray this teacher's knowledge at three critical points in her career--as a student teacher, beginning teacher, and…

Teacher quality, however defined, is usually seen as the responsibility of schools of education. Rarely is it viewed as the responsibility of academic departments in the arts and sciences--that part of college or university where prospective teachers study the academic content they will draw on as teachers. Only recently has teacher quality come…

Reflection and professional development are two key practices that characterize an effective teacher and that are frequently overlooked in preservice training (Bowles, 2003; Halen-Faber, 1997; Patrick & Reinhartz, 1999). Reflection can be defined as the type of thinking that serves to challenge notions of prior learning (Halen-Faber, 1997), and…

A report recently released by the Center on Education Policy reveals that the four-year-old No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has indeed served to shine a light on the importance of professional development for K-12 educators. Beyond that basic fact, though, any real broad-based impact on the training of educators remains inconclusive. While the…

Discusses the need for minority teachers to be role models and counselors if Black and other minority students are to achieve academically. Proposes the following solutions: (1) hire and promote more minority teachers on the basis of potential rather than experience; and (2) improve the image and effectiveness of teachers, regardless of…

Discusses the reasons for the lack of interest in science of students and the general public in Mexico. Explains efforts and programs conducted to assist in enhancing the image of science. Relates that talk should be minimized and student involvement and demonstrations maximized. (RT)