Undergraduate college "science partners" provided content knowledge and a supportive atmosphere for K-5 teachers in a university-school professional development partnership program in science instruction. The Elementary Science Education Partners program, a Local Systemic Change initiative supported by the National Science Foundation,…

Research on team-based schools suggests the importance of teacher empowerment as a factor in the school revitalization and reform equation and as a critical element in redefining schools as collaborative workplaces. In this study, the authors inquire into potential associations between teamwork skills and teacher team empowerment. Research…

This paper examines recent education and teacher education reforms in the USA and Namibia and analyzes two tensions that have been a central part of debates about teacher quality and teacher education in many parts of the world: whether we should prepare teachers as technicians or as reflective practitioners; and whether we should prepare teachers…

This article reports on Ontario's way of school improvement which focuses less on test-score results and more on engaging teachers and principals. Like the United States, the Canadian province of Ontario has committed itself to reaching key numeric targets: at least 75 percent of 6th graders able to read, write, and do mathematics at the…

The idea of collective decision making in schools has been a popular democratic educational reform model. One of its claims is that participation in school decision making empowers teachers and improves teaching. This research investigates this claim by exploring seven teachers' experiences with a unique democratic school reform in Porto Alegre,…

Hierarchical educational structures employ a standards-driven decision-making atmosphere that challenges teachers' autonomy. This situation represents a critical issue for teacher educators who must consider how they will teach candidates to respond to these settings. We argue that teacher empowerment represents a moral issue that teacher…

Teacher leadership is "hard." Many of the reasons are obvious: Teaching is a highly labor-intensive profession to begin with, leaving little downtime for work with other adults. School schedules are notoriously stingy with space for adult collaboration. Teachers are rarely paid to exercise leadership; when they are, they are never paid…

Beginning in the 1990s, the education departments of Hong Kong and Shanghai began to actively initiate reform with a focus on the quality of education. In reviewing the implementation of educational reform in these two societies, we found that Hong Kong teachers tended to only adopt those policies which they felt were beneficial for students'…

This book seeks to raise the discussion of globalisation's effects on teacher education, development and work, and its reforms and institutions, to a more theoretical and analytical level, and to provide specific examples in the comparative tradition to illustrate teacher policy in the context of education systems' widespread variability and…

Policy-makers' conceptions of teacher professionalism currently differ markedly in England and Finland. In England they are shaped by agendas associated with the drive to raise standards and "commercialized professionalism" whilst in Finland they are influenced by notions of "teacher empowerment". This article analyses findings…

Since 1994 when the General Law of Education was issued, educational authorities have been claiming that Colombia has embarked on an "educational revolution" [""La revolucion educativa"" (n.d.). From the Colombian Ministry of Education website: http://www.mineducacion.gov.co. Retrieved 23 Nov 2004] where schools have…

This article describes the meaning of empowerment and collaboration, how they can be instituted, and the benefits that can result from them. Empowerment of teachers is a necessary ingredient of school improvement. Administrators who empower teachers grant them "the autonomy to make decisions about curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment." In this…

Between 1994 and 2002, Guinea implemented an ambitious program designed to enable teams of primary school teachers to become full partners in the mobilization of the educational system by initiating and carrying out their own professional development and school improvement projects. Known by its French acronym PPSE, this program was not originally…

The countries of Central America have made great educational strides in recent years. More children are now attending school and more finish primary school; however, there is still a long way to go. We still need to ensure that the children who go to school learn effectively and can use their education to develop useful life and work skills. This…

Social, economic and technological changes on a global scale are challenging traditional forms of knowledge and educational practice. In response, educators worldwide are finding ways to forge new roles, identities and relationships. This paper recognises pressures on the teaching force in a global climate of educational reform. Drawing on data…