In this article, Boyd Potter describes teacher education faculty as both artisans and architects. As artisans, it is not only their products that enrich us; it is the art of the craft itself that shapes their work. An artisan is valued for the creative endeavor, and not solely the masterpiece. Preparing a quality teacher is not easy work, while…

In this plenary I reflect on the research I have shared over the past many years of participating and presenting in PME and PME-NA conferences to identify three intellectual divides that continually challenge and motivate my scholarship. I discuss how these intellectual borders (mathematics/education; expert/novice; research/teaching) create…

The policy reforms over the past 15 years have placed all the responsibility for reading achievement on teachers, with little, if any, support. What many have achieved is declining achievement in comparison with other countries. Moreover, there are increasing teacher shortages, as promising individuals choose other careers and teachers leave the…

This essay seeks to establish a metaphor of the professional practice of teaching to the attributes and training of an offensive lineman in the game of American football. Effective classroom instruction does not rely exclusively on a rare set of talents but rather rests on the commitment to the work of teaching. Like the position of offensive…

Kristen Weatherby is a senior policy analyst at OECD in the education directorate. She runs the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) and is author or co-author of publications and blog posts on TALIS and teachers. She started her career as a classroom teacher in the United States before working in education in the private sector in…

Authentic learning normally focuses on a "real-world" or complex problem and solution activities that emphasize the cultivating of 'transferable skills' entry-level practitioners in any discipline require or have difficulty acquiring on their own. The learning environments created are often multidisciplinary and allow for intellectual…

This essay invites reflection on the phenomena of time as it impacts the day-to-day life of teachers. It also explores assumptions about time and teaching in three areas: first, beliefs about the force of time and the teacher's struggle to control it; second, beliefs about the potential of time and the benefits of its passing for teachers and…

Being an educator is not a job. It is a calling. Educators cannot teach children if they cannot reach children. In this reflection, the author, a RAP trainer, describes the transformation that occurs as youth professionals discover the power of connecting with challenging students. (Contains 1 photo.)

Purpose: Professional health science educational programs have utilized numerous learning strategies including journals, practice patterns, problem-based learning (PBL), case-studies, and hypothesis-oriented algorithm for clinicians (HOAC) (Shepard et al., 2002). While, these learning strategies have found a place in the health science educational…

In this paper I'll share a personal overview of pedagogy in general. This will include a listing of my personal choices of the major events, from about 1950 onwards, that have had an impact on how I try to facilitate learning. The events occurred in Canada, the United States, UK and Australia. Some were publications; some were local,…

This article describes the feelings of faculty members required to annually design an assessment project for each semester and report to the director of assessment the objectives and results of that project on a standardized form. What is misunderstood is that true assessment is part of the very "fiber of being" for many faculty members.…

In the early childhood education field, the way children are conceptualised has substantially shifted in recent times. Child development theory has been unsettled as the single canon of early childhood practice. This has in turn challenged constructions of educators as keepers of a universal knowledge base, and as apolitical, non-interventionist…

Carol Pilgrim received her PhD from the University of Florida in 1987 with a specialization in the experimental analysis of behavior. She is currently Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. She has been honored with a Distinguished Teaching Professorship, the…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to critique the strengths and weaknesses of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). The primary purpose of the NCSL is to improve student attainment levels through enhancement of leadership capacity within England's government schools. The critique aims to include the issues of strategic…

This article seeks to examine central aspects of the relationship between ethics and education in the beginning of the twenty-first century. Since both ethics and education are practical disciplines that are bound to deal with and are challenged by human predicaments, cultural ills and social evils, it seems that in examining the relations between…