Initial teacher education (ITE) has attracted the attention of many researchers worldwide aiming at discussing its curriculum and rationale, but essentially its impact on the education and professional socialisation of pre-service teachers. This paper looks at the major trends in the recent ITE curriculum in the Portuguese context, as a…

This paper reports on a study that investigated the alternative conceptions of students in a biology and geology teacher education course regarding plant nutrition. Data were collected from first year and final year students using a questionnaire that had both multiple choice and descriptive items. Findings indicate common features related to the…

After a period of teacher shortages, Portugal now faces teacher surpluses. Due to concern for quality and regulation, a national accreditation board was created in 1998. Currently, teacher education is conceived in a more holistic, systemic way, with increasingly more teachers having access to further education and becoming involved in research…

Examines teacher education policy in Portugal and Brazil over the past decade, discussing implications for teacher professionalization and professionalism; identifying the emergence of competing discourses arising from policy texts and other formal documents; and asserting that the intertwined concepts of professionalization and professionalism,…

Reflects on a collection of papers that examined the Association for Teacher Education in Europe's scenario model, suggesting that they indicated a trend toward a more pragmatic and individualistic approach in society that influences teacher education. However, these two trends (pragmatism and idealism) were not always strongly connected in the…

Reviews the development of teacher education in Portugal since the 1974 revolution, which brought the country to democracy. Using the Association for Teacher Education in Europe's scenario model, the paper describes the hidden philosophies underlying changes that are occurring and shows how teacher education has evolved from a romantic, idealistic…

Presents the case of a year long course based on fieldwork activities provided to secondary school mathematics preservice teachers just before their student teaching practicum. Argues that fieldwork experiences may help prospective teachers in developing a professional discourse and in assuming a professional identity. (Author/MM)

Analyzes laws and relevant issues as they affect education in Portugal, noting the main issues for Portugal's teacher education development in the 1990s. Describes the impact of recent legal documents, the educational environment in Portugal, and new trends in teacher education. (SM)

Investigated the influence of, and interplay between, biographical and contextual factors in Portuguese teachers' professional learning and development during their first teaching years. Teacher interviews and surveys highlighted the powerful influence of prior experiences as students, the low impact of preservice education on socialization, and…

Discusses the objectives and design of a five-year degree program leading qualified people to teach in Portugese secondary schools, focusing on integration of educational and subject matter courses and curriculum and course organization. Includes brief comments on evaluation and development of the program. (SK)

Expectancy-valence models are used most in the field of motivational psychology. However, teachers' motivation had not been studied by these models and only limited research exists assessing the expectancy and the valence constructs. This study's aim was to examine preservice teachers' and practicing teachers' motivation by the expectancy-valence…

This book explores the development of critical cultural awareness through the process of teaching and learning about foreign cultures. It draws upon theoretical foundations relating to inter- and intra-cultural communication from contemporary philosophical movements, namely critical theory and postmodernism. The study adopts critical pedagogy as…

The Integrated Centre for Teacher Education at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) is a teaching and research unit designed to train teachers for the preprimary, basic, and secondary schools and to foster educational research. The objectives and characteristics of the Centre and its programs are described. Problems which emerged during its…

This investigation, using Nuttin Motivation Relational Theory (1985), was designed to analyze the main motivational objectives responsible for the university and professional fulfillment of teachers and future teachers. It also analyzed how those objectives are distributed in both intrinsic and extrinsic terms, as well as the relation between…

This document contains the second volume of the proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Conference presentations are centered around the theme "Mathematics at the Centre." This volume features 60 research reports by presenters with last names beginning between Abr…