This publication presents a collection of tools that promote instructional coherence. It focuses on the importance of teachers collaborating to develop a deeper understanding of how children learn and exploring relationships between teaching and learning. Coherence leads to improved educational experiences for learners as teachers make their…

Teaching portfolios are making their way into today's classrooms in three important ways: as habits of mind helping teachers define good practice; as processes teachers use for reflecting on their own teaching and learning; and as new teaching strategies mirroring student learning practices. (MLH)

Many faculty enter academia without any formal preparation in pedagogy. This study describes perceptions of ten university professors, from a variety of ranks and disciplines, as they reflect on their development as teachers and the faculty and instructional development services that enabled their development. (Contains 24 reference.) (PGS)

Examines three models of teacher professional development in Israel. One model emphasizes higher academic studies, one is a school-based organizational model that ties faculty development to school reforms, and one emphasizes a teacher-led personal route to professionalism in teachers' own classrooms. The paper examines means of support available…

Presents a continuum of the development and growth toward a scholarship of teaching. Explores whether a scholar of teaching studies teaching as a discipline in itself or whether teaching is studied through another discipline. Suggests how the isolation of the scholarship of teaching from the primary work of the disciplines and of departments might…

This article describes an action-learning project that helped teachers to rethink their approaches to children who challenge. The project enabled and encouraged teachers to reflect critically on why and how particular children challenged them and then to use their critical reflections to strengthen their capacity to work with those children. The…

Background: It is widely claimed that critical reflection upon experience is a valuable process in which all teachers should engage in order to improve their professional practice. Assumptions are made about the benefits of reflection both for the teacher as person and professional; however, there is a lack of in-depth research on the reflective…

A study was undertaken to determine how telecommunications technology affects teacher reflection and collaboration. Study participants, eight teachers currently practicing in both public and private schools, were interviewed several times over the school year. Analysis of the data revealed several important areas of impact regarding use of…

This book shows how learning circles (small groups of learners who come together to support each other in learning) can make great improvements in teaching quality. Teachers can form learning circles based on six key conditions that promote healthy communities of learners and successful professional development. The six conditions are (1) building…

Presents a conceptual framework for studying the relationship between cognition and the instructional practices of preservice secondary mathematics teachers. Describes how the framework was used as the basis for activities in which preservice teachers engaged in structured reflection upon their teaching as a means toward their professional growth…

Presents an evaluation system designed to document and facilitate change in teachers. Implicit in the development and implementation of the system is the goal to model evaluation for teachers. Contains 22 references. (DDR)

Presents five story telling strategies--inspired by the work of Vivian Paley--that teachers can use to discover children's perspectives in a classroom: share the story of our names, share favorite stories from childhood, pass the paper and find the different stories, act out the story with different communication styles, and see our work as making…

Describes a collaborative model in which college instructors work together to support and assess teaching innovations. Basic principles of a clinical-based method of supervision were adapted for the three-phase process (planning conference, classroom observation, feedback conference). Provides examples of collaboration and participants' feedback.…

This study explored how interaction between student teachers and supervisors create professional development opportunities during practicum. Often, student teachers are considered as the "apprentices" and their supervising teachers are the "masters." Is it really true? Do prospective teachers learn everything from their supervising teachers? Or is…

This article draws from the professional literature of two distinct domains of research: computer-based electronic learning and professional development in education. The present paper addresses the recently recognized need for new conceptualizations of teaching in both fields. Questions and dilemmas pertaining to collaborative learning and…