The theory that there are stages in teachers' professional development suggests that those who aim to stimulate or support that growth must be sensitive to the stage each teacher is in. Three stages of development are described: the survival or beginning teacher stage; the middle stage, characterized by an increasing sense of comfort in the…

Ohio's new Teacher Education and Licensure Standards were adopted in 1996 and became effective in 1998. Designed to strengthen Ohio's teacher preparation programs, achieve higher standards, and intensify professional development, the standards require successful performance by beginning teachers. The standards state that the Entry Year (EY)…

Data were collected on attitude changes, perceptions of problems, and instructional behavior of elementary and secondary school teachers as they gained teaching experience. Subjects were chosen when they were student teachers at Western Kentucky University and sampling was continued over six years. Needs of beginning teachers are noted. (PP)

Uses journal entries to trace a student teacher's professional development during her student teaching assignment. These entries address a number of issues, including team teaching, decision making, consistency with students, lesson and curriculum planning, and classroom discipline. Includes a series of suggested poststudent teaching activities.…

A beginning teacher appointed to a remote Aboriginal school in the Northern Territory (Australia) describes experiences that led him to question his worth as a teacher, including social and professional isolation, his idealistic expectations of becoming a teacher, and difficulties in teaching students of various ages and academic levels. (LP)

Analyzes the influence of industrial metaphors in education and teacher education, arguing that education renewal requires new metaphors that represent teacher-student relationships differently from those associated with discipline and management. An approach to preservice education that analyzes teaching metaphors to explore beginning teacher…

Analysis of current Australian educational policy and practice and interviews with 24 teachers newly appointed to small rural schools in Australia indicates a need for specialized training for rural teachers and the development of specific rural staffing policies and selection practices. (LP)

Study compared classroom performance of novice, advanced beginner, and expert teachers, examining subject matter knowledge and delivery, educational connoisseurship, nonverbal behavior, and systematic observation. Results indicate teachers without pedagogical training are less able to keep students on task, provide appropriate feedback, deliver…

Sixteen expert, beginning, and novice teachers, who simultaneously viewed three videotapes showing junior high school science work groups, expressed their thoughts and answered questions about classroom management and instruction. Differences among the groups in terms of perceptions, monitoring, and understanding of classroom events illustrate the…

This case study follows a teacher who moved from context to context as a preservice teacher, substitute teacher, long-term replacement teacher, and beginning teacher within two contexts. The study illuminates ways that particularities of placements influence what is available for teachers to come to know, what is called good teaching, and who is…

Preservice teachers get their first teaching position hoping to take the first step toward becoming professional educators and expecting support from experienced colleagues and administrators, who often serve as their mentors. In this article, the authors present the story of Kristine (a pseudonym), who works at a middle school in a large U.S.…

The purpose of the study reported upon in this paper was to determine what graduates of a teacher education program designed to prepare teachers who will work toward goals of equity and social justice were encountering in their schools and how they felt they were doing with regard to these aims and why. Eleven graduates in their second, fourth or…

This indicator of the month summarizes data from the National Center for Education Statistics School and Staffing Survey, 1993-94 (Teacher Questionnaire) regarding teacher participation in professional development (including seminars offered by schools or school districts and courses affiliated with institutions of higher education). Some findings…

This paper reports the results of a deliberate effort to help preservice science teachers improve their ability to learn from experience and take charge of their own professional development as teachers. The study was conducted by a teacher educator who simultaneously taught a physics methods course and a 12th-grade physics class and thereby…

The induction process for vocational education teachers was examined in a research study. A literature review indicated a growing research base illuminating the induction problems, successes, and needs of beginning teachers and other research proposing a general theory of human development. Major research activities included nominal group…