This article proposes a Greek elementary teacher education curriculum, which includes a four-semester, four-level practicum component. The overall program objective is preparation of reflective teachers through interweaving theory and practice in the curriculum. International trends in practicums, clinical schools, and use of technology-rich…

This book is an autobiographical effort to understand life as a person and as a high school English teacher, and how those two lives have intertwined. The text examines how the author, trained in certain ways, thinks of herself as a professional person. In addition to the subject of the teaching of reading and writing, the author explores how her…

Based on the view that the group orientation to multicultural education reinforces group stereotyping and seldom allows acknowledgement of diverse children's unique capabilities and differences or helps children build self-identity while learning to appreciate others, this paper presents and discusses contemporary cultures of young children's…

Current concepts of critical thinking need to be reconstrued into the much broader concept of "critical being" and applied to higher education. Under this construct, critical persons (students) become more than just critical thinkers; they engage critically with the world and with themselves; they not only reflect critically on…

This book redefines teaching as a profession with pronounced service and moral dimensions, then shows how this new paradigm can be instilled in both teacher education programs and teaching practice. The book argues that teaching practice requires much more than knowledge and technical competence. It calls for reflection and inquiry, a dedication…

This annual journal issue contains 17 papers on issues of faculty development, instructional improvement, faculty collaboration and collegiability, students, and educational practices in higher education. Many of the papers were developed for the annual conference of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education…

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…

This report explores the connections among diversity, democratic aspirations and goals for student learning in higher education contrasting old ways of thinking and habits with new alternatives. The introduction discusses how the "special" programs and emerging fields, such as American Indian Studies and Deaf Studies, influence…

To succeed in 21st-century schools, teachers must dynamically respond to the ever-changing environment through a continually reflexive stance. Centered teachers are flexible and active participants in school decision making. They develop personal missions and participate in school missions, resolve conflict in appropriate ways, and use effective…

The experiences, attitudes, and needs of three literacy learners and one paid literacy teacher in Melbourne, Australia, were examined. The analysis was framed by the following principles: (1) literacy is a feminist issue; (2) adult literacy education is best defined as broad, general education that is grounded in language and fosters depth and…

An ecological framework for predicting citizen participation in grassroots community organizations and predicting community disorder problems (such as crime and fear) was developed and tested. The framework, which is called an ecological framework for sustainable community learning and development, delineates the relevant economic, political,…

The issue of how the outcomes of research on vocational education and training (VET) are influenced by categories that frame thinking about research and learning was explored. Special attention was paid to the following issues: (1) the role of researchers' culture and race in identification of adult learning principles; (2) the need for…

We reflect on methodological issues arising in two of our own research projects as a form of practice, as a way of engaging in a praxis of project research. The projects chosen for this purpose are themselves concerned with teacher education and curriculum development in environmental education: they include participatory "reflective…

This book, consisting of 17 chapters written by different authors, traces the progress that has been made in developing lifelong learning policies over the past 30 years and examines current challenges to lifelong learning policymakers. Focusing on a global agenda, the book is organized in six parts with thematic chapters following an introductory…