This study assessed, and identified factors in participants' learning ecologies that mediated, the effectiveness of an explicit reflective instructional approach that satisfied conditions for learning as conceptual change on preservice elementary teachers' views of nature of science (NOS). Participants were 28 undergraduate students enrolled in an…

The aim of this study was to explore preservice classroom teacher reflection in a physical education teaching and learning environment and to describe how the teachers' reflections related to their practices. Two preservice classroom teachers voluntarily participated in the study. Data were collected using observations, journals, documents, and…

Reflecting on one's teaching practice is often an implicit goal for faculty development programs. Yet very little has been documented on how programs for diverse groups of university teachers actually engage faculty in such reflection. This paper examines how theoretical constructs of reflective practice were applied in the context of an 8-month…

This paper reports on a 2-year-long research conducted under a qualitative research design. The study investigated the effectiveness of an immersion course that followed a realistic approach on preservice teachers' deconstruction of negative and preconceived notions held about culturally and linguistically diverse students. Specifically, the study…

Teachers from an urban public high school and from a preK-12 private school in one metropolitan area discussed selections from John Dewey's works on education, art, and experience, in small study groups between 1996 and 1998. I facilitated these study groups as a joint inquiry with teachers about connections between Dewey's aesthetics and thinking…

This 4-week case study followed a kindergarten teacher (the first author of the report) moving from a conventional teaching approach to one drawing from the philosophies of the preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The teacher kept a journal in order to document her reflective practice, and to describe, reflect, and analyze shifts in her beliefs and…

This study examined the relationship between training in Cognitive Coaching and a number of qualitative and quantitative components of teacher cognition and behavior hypothesized to be positively impacted by such training. Cognitive Coaching involves a planning conference between coach and teacher, classroom observation, and a reflecting…

This study examined the relationship between formal program statements and actual practices in one sophomore class in a preservice teacher education program. Specifically, the study evaluated: possible inconsistencies between what is explicitly stated and what is actually done; whether such inconsistencies are intentional or unintentional,…

The preservice teachers who participated in this study were first semester seniors in a Social Studies Methods class. The study took place in the second year of a university/public school partnership program between the elementary education faculty at Indiana University South Bend and teachers at six schools within the South Bend Community School…

This study was designed to explore an expert teacher's model of thinking and teaching as it occurred within the social and cultural context of the classroom. The model was then compared with instructional systems design (ISD) to identify similarities and differences between them. To accomplish these goals, the study focused on the process and…

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between teacher participation in a teacher collaboration program and teaching-learning outcomes. The consultation approaches promoted collegial interactions of teachers on a professional level and emphasized self-examination and development of classroom behaviors from the individual…

An interpretive field study examined how beginning teachers with a whole language perspective went about manifesting their beliefs. Using the methods of purposeful sampling, four student teachers who were both committed and knowledgeable concerning the tenets of whole language were observed and interviewed during the student teaching experience.…

This study explored secondary preservice science teachers' attempts to implement a constructivist approach to science teaching in a practicum setting. Described is the secondary science education program at St. Francis Xavier University. Interview excerpts are presented as data. Results indicated: (1) student teachers went through two…

This paper outlines some of the issues that emerged from guiding student teachers through the experience of conducting action research. Action research was used a a way of working toward a student teaching experience that would provide opportunities and structures to facilitate and enhance the students' development as reflective teachers. Several…

One method of determining teachers' beliefs about teaching is through investigation of their personal teaching metaphors. Delaware health and physical education teachers (N=391) were surveyed with 104 responding (26.6 percent) to "A teacher is like...". Additionally, two factors were also explored: grade level taught and accumulated teaching…