Offers brief excerpts from oral history interviews with eight National Council of Teachers of English leaders on a variety of topics, including: formative years; becoming interested in teaching; experiences as a beginning teacher; teaching writing; being an African American teacher; literature and humanness. (SR)

In this article, the authors show how two first year teachers a continent apart--Kim in the village of Tununak on the Bering Sea in Alaska and Chris in Beaufort, South Carolina, on the Atlantic Ocean--were able to take inquiry stances on their classrooms. In particular, through analysis of e-mails written in Chris' and Kim's first years of…

Drafted by representatives of the teaching profession along with personnel from 17 state education agencies, the performance-based standards in this document represent a common core of teaching knowledge and skills. The standards were developed to be compatible with the advanced certification standards of the National Board for Professional…

A freshman writing director's first year of teaching was worse than anything she had experienced as a graduate student, although she was trying to be exactly the same kind of teacher she had been as a graduate teaching assistant. Her realization was that she needed to know more about the abilities of her students and adjust her standards or…

Three stages of teacher education are examined: preservice; the induction phase, defined as the first few years prior to the tenure decision; and inservice training. It is noted that there is often an incongruity between the real purpose of preservice students and that of their teachers in a teacher education system. Preservice students going…

An approach to beginning legal scholarship proposes that (1) producing several smaller works building in scope and difficulty is appropriate at the outset and (2) the creative writing process is not characterized by bursts of genius but by a more methodical routine within the ability of all new teachers. (MSE)

This paper discusses strategies related to the challenge of program accountability for subject matter knowledge and competency among beginning teachers. It focuses on reaching common understandings of three key concepts (accountability, subject matter knowledge, and competence), presenting them from the perspective of the state of Florida. Florida…

Discusses how preservice and experienced teachers can utilize professional teaching portfolios. Explains three types of portfolios: (1) process-folios; (2) product-folios, and (3) process/product-folios. Also explains the procedures for creating a professional portfolio and what is included in a portfolio. Includes a table called "Common…

Discusses the importance of teaching teachers to value the spirit of caring in classroom management and conflict resolution. The paper notes the advantages of including case studies and narrative teaching methods in teacher education programs and presents a narrative account based on an actual incident of classroom conflict. (SM)

Through an exchange of letters, a veteran public school teacher advises a doubting beginning teacher (her former student) to remain in the classroom. The letters reveal both women's innermost thoughts about the difficult, demanding, and rewarding profession of teaching. (SM)

D. M. Kagan's (1992) developmental learning-to-teach model reflects her emphasis on mastery of procedural routines and highlights only one sector of the teacher education community. Kagan's claim that research supports a developmental model misrepresents the full body of research on professional growth among preservice teachers. (RLC)

Describes the experiences with collaborative partnership, of a novice elementary teacher who was teaching writing and a university researcher, arguing for the intentional collaboration of such partners as a form of staff development. The article lists benefits of collaborative inquiry and presents guidelines for developing collaborative…

Describes a year in which new teachers reflected upon their own formation as learners and teachers. Portrays the transformation and social change that characterize the year in relation to their ideas about English as a school subject and about what constitutes the knowledge they want their pupils to acquire. (PA)

Observes that mentoring programs for new faculty have grown in recent years. Argues that such programs, although having laudable goals, may have unintended, undesirable consequences. Discusses several possible problems associated with formal mentoring programs and suggests that emphasis would be better placed on improving the graduate training of…

In this article, the author discusses the advantages of using the interactive engagement instructional method. A model of interactive engagement (IE) instructional method involves questioning students by challenging them to think deeply about a problem or complex question. Essential to this process is frequent and thoughtful interaction with the…