This paper discusses the increasing imperative for teachers who work in cultural settings other than their own to develop an understanding of their own world-view and the impact their assumptions about teachers, school, students, family and so on have on their teaching practice. The brief narrative of one cultural world-view provides an example of…

The crisis in UK mathematics education, both in schools and universities, has been widely reported. Currently, 24% of full-time mathematics teachers in English secondary education have "weak" or "nil" qualifications in the subject, 31% of secondary mathematics teachers are now over the age of 50, and it is estimated that…

To help ensure that new vocational faculty receive adequate training to teach an increasingly wide range of nontraditional students, Iowa State University (ISU) established the Community College Induction/Mentoring (CCIM) program in 1992. Over 2 academic years, program participants take 14 sequentially designed seminars providing instruction in 43…

The use of technology in training has grown tremendously. Tools commonly being used include computer-based training systems, multimedia systems, electronic performance support systems, and telecommunications systems for distance learning. The use of technology-based delivery systems in training has many potential benefits for organizations, but…

The Share and Take Program is a significant component of the induction year for 80 entry-level teachers in 21 inner-city elementary, middle, and high schools in Houston, Texas. The program seeks to hasten beginning teachers' socialization into the profession by concentrating on the development of critical reflection skills: asking questions,…

At Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) in New York, over 90% of the students are ethnic minorities, and two-thirds are women. Among BMCC freshmen, 70% require some form of remediation. Faculty development efforts at the college emphasize the issues of serving an ethnically diverse student population and of reinforcing the basic skills of…

This regional workshop on teacher education at a distance met to review existing distance education modalities and identify common problems and issues; cooperatively develop innovative strategies and guidelines for meeting the needs of girls, disadvantaged groups, and those in remote areas; review existing networks in distance education for…

Although today's schools are rapidly acquiring computers and increasingly relying on them for instructional purposes, training of teachers to use computers in the classroom has not kept up with this trend. If teachers are to be held accountable for integrating computers into their instructional repertoire, they deserve systematic exposure to…

A report provides summaries of 10 papers presented at a conference about teacher competence and effectiveness. In the first session, two speakers, Nel Noddings and Edward R. Fagan, present an analysis of the prevailing rhetoric in educational discourse and practice. The second session provides historical perspectives on the use of the term…

Using three instances from elementary school teaching experience, the paper examines the ways in which subject matter knowledge influences pedagogical thinking. It is proposed that subject matter knowledge creates two major problems for teachers. First, it results in an explosion of the curricular landscape, for if teachers know subject matter…

The Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) Chinle Agency mainstreamed 85% of its 230 special education students during the 1983-84 school year. A survey of the agency's regular education teachers revealed that many felt inadequately prepared to teach the mainstreamed special education student. Based on this information, the Special Education Office, in…

Verbal learning does not prepare adolescents for a society which expects students to graduate as adults from secondary school. This is obvious when one sees how often adolescents are excluded from adult activities and responsibilities. Experiential learning can provide students with a link between academic content and the self-confidence adulthood…

Though personnel preparation programs for interventionists working with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers focus on the same competencies, there is content which is unique to teaching the infant or toddler in the home and teaching a preschooler in the classroom. Content is suggested for training early interventionists to deliver services to…

It is often both possible and valuable for a teacher to be a researcher in his or her own classroom. This paper describes the nature of cognitive research and focuses on two areas of research that may be of special interest to classroom physics teachers. The first area refers to misconceptions that students bring with them to their physics…

Many new vocational, technical, and adult education (VTAE) teachers have never taught before and perhaps have never taken a professional education course. The Wisconsin Board of VTAE has developed a spiral curriculum for new VTAE teachers, designed to aquaint them with basic procedures for planning and presenting a lesson, supervising student…