Teacher voices hold weight for their colleagues. When teachers tell a story of a positive experience with technology (or other teaching tools or strategies), they are showing that it is possible. "Stories, particularly those that are concrete and readily identified with, are particularly powerful for transferring knowledge rich in tacit…

Purpose: A burgeoning literature investigates the importance of student teaching placements for teacher candidate development, but an important perspective that is largely missing from the existing literature is that of the school districts that host student teachers. In this paper, we describe the student teaching process from the perspective of…

This graphic memoir of teaching in urban America is a brilliant reimagining of the classic text by Gregory Michie, "Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students." Michie is joined by illustrator Ryan Alexander-Tanner and 10 artists--most of them young people of color--to bring a fresh, vibrant energy to the original…

In this writing, David Hansen illuminates the aesthetic, moral, and epistemic meaning of bearing witness to teaching and teachers by drawing upon a recently completed field-based endeavor that included extensive school visits. Hansen shows how bearing witness can bring the inquirer close to the truth of teaching. However, the witness must…

I wasn't always the Fresh Professor. At one point I was just another starving actor trying to make a living. But stories change over time, as do professional desires. This is "Part Two" of my story. Enjoy the ride. [For "Part One," see EJ1114154.]

This article recounts my experience of developing as a teacher leader in Philadelphia. When I worked at a traditional high school, a hierarchical leadership structure frustrated my attempts to foster teacher leadership among colleagues. By building networks of teachers outside my own school, I found the relationships and opportunities that helped…

Based on my reflections on "being a foreigner," I explore the boundaries of citizenship education in this essay. I use my foreign identity to articulate how social justice education can perpetuate closed-mindedness in classrooms by moving too quickly to student activism. I situate my experiences and reflections on being a foreigner…

This paper details a multimodal practice of response and transmediation, called a Thought Chronicle, which I employ in my undergraduate work with preservice teachers. I position this intervention in relation to the theoretical discourses of multimodality, social semiotics, and psychoanalytic ideas of dreaming and play.

This paper explores the collective experiences of two academics teaching in Beijing, China. Emphasis is placed on the impact of this experience on personal and professional development. In addition, this paper will provide recommendations for embarking on a professional assignment abroad. Thus, by sharing experiences, challenges, and strategies,…

When he entered the building, the buzz of speculations quickly traveled throughout the halls. Where did he come from? What is wrong with him? What grade is he in? Who is has the lowest number? As everyone secretly hopes the new student deemed a "challenge" won't be placed in their classroom, the tall, thin shadow shuffles past your room…

This article was developed from an earlier invitation to discuss what it was like to teach at a comprehensive arts and science college with a large teacher education program while also trying to conduct and publish applied research. Were there any particular tricks to getting things done that could be handed down to younger professionals working…

This essay poses the question of the role that literary knowledge plays in subject English. It thus engages with current debates, largely prompted by Michael Young's call to 'bring knowledge back in', about the need to restore academic knowledge as the basis of the school curriculum. We take issue with Young's understanding of knowledge, arguing…

This essay recounts the experience of a math teacher as she began to view herself as a teacher leader. The four different schools in which she worked over four school years and in two cities set the stage for reflection and growth that transcend school context. She shares her journey as she focused on reaching students quickly and establishing…

In this article, Carol Ann Tomlinson, an English teacher of 20 years is asked from time to time, what her favorite book is. Her response, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince" (Harcourt, Brace & World, 1943), the story of a little boy who is trying to find his way in a confusing world. At one particularly dismaying moment in…

Faculty recruitment and PhD student placement have become increasingly competitive over the past decade. The emphasis of graduate student training--research above all else--often means a difficult transition into the professoriate, where expectations for faculty are broadened to include teaching and service. In response, we offer a model of an…