There has been much research conducted into the effects of early career experiences on future practice. The research indicates that early career academics are particularly susceptible to burnout, as they are still developing their professional knowledge base, and are therefore more reliant on their theoretical knowledge or idealism to interpret…

One of the main policy responses to turnover and inadequate preparation among beginning teachers is supporting them with an induction program. Informal or low-intensity teacher induction programs are prevalent and include pairing each new teacher with another full-time teacher without providing training, supplemental materials, or release time for…

The concept of developing teacher collaboration teams continues to be a prevalent problem for teachers and schools. The results of a Saskatchewan study of beginning teachers (Hellsten et al., 2007) was the finding that first and second year teachers perceived "planning and collaboration with other teachers", as well as "professional…

This article draws on the analysis of 26 interviews with newly qualified primary teachers (NQTs) in one multilingual city in England, towards the end of their induction year. Interview analysis focused on three themes: developments in pedagogic practice, collaboration with colleagues, resolutions for change or development. Detailed thematic…

This year-long qualitative case study explores the ways in which one teacher intern reflected upon her knowledge and experiences within two sometimes dichotomous domains: the elementary school classrooms in which she taught and her university coursework. Data collection took place over a period of eight months and consisted of twenty-two weekly…

Continuing professional development (CPD) initiatives for teachers in South Africa take on various forms, ranging from formalised, structured, credit-bearing certification programmes to informal, relatively unstructured, situated learning programmes. While many formal programmes can claim success by measuring throughput rates, there is still much…

One strategy for implementing learner-centered teaching is through the preparation of teachers and their induction into the profession. This article presents case studies of three secondary science teachers that follow them from their science teacher education program that advocated teaching for conceptual change as one approach to…

In this article we focus on two questions: How well do teachers understand their current pension plans, and what do they think about alternative plan structures? The data come from administrative records and a 2006 survey of teachers in Washington State. The results suggest that Washington's teachers are fairly knowledgeable about their pensions,…

In this article, the authors discuss a case study in which beginning teachers interviewed young adolescents as part of structured teacher education coursework designed to challenge teachers' low expectations for young adolescents. Based on pre- and postsurveys, pre- and post-focus group interviews, classroom field notes, and teachers' written…

This study investigates how a small group of teacher leaders and their principals, participating in a teacher leadership program called the teacher connector (TC), understand teacher leadership and its impact on their practice. TCs' responsibilities were typical of teacher leaders; thus, their experiences can provide insights into teacher leaders'…

The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) collects data on key education and civil rights issues in the nation's public schools for use by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), other Department offices, other federal agencies, and by policymakers and researchers outside of the Department. The CRDC collects information about…

Within the context of globalisation, this article problematises some of the literature on teachers' professional identities in which a convergence and homogenisation of the profession is implied. It achieves this by focusing on the early experiences of 32 newly qualified teachers in Norway, Germany, and England. The article explores conceptions of…

Prospective teachers are often found to have difficulty focusing their attention on students in sustained and constructive ways. Instead, in what is sometimes understood as a developmental matter, beginners may seem highly concerned with their own feelings and needs. This article offers a contrary finding. It examines two cases of prospective…

This longitudinal case study follows one high school English teacher's path of concept development over a two-year period encompassing her student teaching and first year of full-time teaching, both at the same rural school in the southeastern United States. The authors use a sociocultural theoretical framework emerging from the work of Vygotsky…

If one knows what to look for, it is not hard to spot a Teach for America (TFA) classroom. Typically, on one wall, a "Big Goal" poster proclaims the class objective: "Students will, on average, achieve 80 percent of their learning goals based on state standards." On another, tracking charts show the progress of individual students toward meeting…