We contend that the notion of critical friend is a legitimate consideration with respect to considering how to most effectively encourage professional relationships that support and enhance professional learning and development (PLD). This paper will firstly consider an overarching framework of professional relationships and define…

Embodying James Baldwin's call to "go for broke" in the face of the current "dangerous time" and ongoing "determined resistances," this article argues for an intersectional social justice praxis for preparing and supporting teacher candidates and novice teachers to work with diverse students. We posit a sustained…

Effective mentor-mentee pairings tend to increase mentees' efficacy and motivation, bolster commitment, enhance instructional quality, and positively enhance student achievement. In response to situations in which school-provided mentoring is not possible or where music mentees receive a school-assigned, non-music mentor, an increasing number of…

This article analyzes critical reflection groups held over the course of a year-long collaborative ethnography between me as researcher and five novice bilingual teachers. Drawing on feminist theories of emotion as knowledge, I argue that coalitional critical consciousness developed in our meetings through emotional expression and acknowledgment…

The new teacher reflections in "The Value of a Teacher's Life" explore the current pressures teachers are under and the importance they have found in self-care while teaching during COVID-19. These are teachers struggling to stay healthy, wondering if teaching is sustainable, staying up late to meet the needs of students, and learning to…

Human-in-the-loop simulation is a valuable tool that can support novice teachers in learning how to lead classroom discussions. We ground our use of simulation in a theory of practice-based teacher education, examining how authenticity is theorized around approximations of practice. We then illustrate the use an approximation of practice approach,…

Most of the instructional workforce within the humanities in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Netherlands comprises non-tenure track appointments. This commentary is a starting point in thinking about what the meaning and consequences are of far-reaching casualization for humanities education. Based on my…

In educational research, there has been much stricture of neoliberalism as a scourge. In the higher education sector, the neoliberal turn has been observed as eroding academic freedom and deprofessionalising academics. Early career academics are often described as victims of neoliberalism. In this paper, we take a positive perspective through a…

Background: In this paper, we will address the question of how physical education teacher education (PETE) matters and suggest one way to explore the potential impact of PETE. A distinguishing feature of the studies of PETE's impact on physical education is that they either include perspectives from preservice teachers involved in PETE courses or…

New teachers entering the profession are said to bring with them enthusiasm, idealism and recent training--a promising combination for innovative teaching. However, these early career teachers are also commonly portrayed as professionals facing exceptional challenges, with fragile identities who leave the career in high proportions. Can these new…

In China, recent social and economic development have resulted in further attention being given to the development of preschool education. Culturally, many Chinese parents have held high expectations of their children's early learning and academic success in later studies. Hence, a high-quality preschool service has become a contentious issue. The…

Since its inception in the early 1960s, English for specific purposes (ESP) has been characterised as a materials-driven and a teacher-led movement. Distinctively separated from general English teaching, ESP teachers often function as designers and implementers in curriculum development. Attaining a certain degree of disciplinary expertise is the…

Since its founding 34 years ago, Teach For America has prepared nearly 70,000 recent college graduates and career-changers to teach in high-poverty schools across the United States. Unlike traditional teacher-preparation programs, it places "corps members" in short-staffed public schools after an intensive summer seminar, before they are…

The 'knowledge turn' in curriculum studies has proved highly influential in the past two decades. But what is meant by knowledge remains both unclear and subject to contestation, particularly in relation to English as a school subject. Two recent books address the knowledge question in very different ways.

The education students deserve starts with great and diverse teachers. But while many states have made impressive progress on diversifying the teacher workforce, that progress could be at risk. This is because school districts commonly use seniority--"Last In, First Out," or LIFO--to determine which teachers to lay off. But LIFO is not…