Teachers find that having close personal relationships with students is deeply rewarding in their work and that they contribute to more effective classrooms. The relationships, which many consider to be part and parcel of good teaching, afford teachers the opportunity to reach students intellectually and emotionally. Still, the relationships can…

This paper explores online instructors' perceptions on teaching experiences occurring in their own countries. The interviewees are instructors who have taught online courses for more than two years. Eleven interview transcripts, obtained from online instructors from six countries (Australia, Canada, China, United Kingdom, United States and Taiwan)…

This study focuses on the question of why student teachers stay in teaching even after a profound "practice shock," i.e., a shock that in itself seems to characterize the complex and emotionally challenging first year of student teaching. Using a line drawing technique, the study investigates student teachers' views of their first year…

A qualitative study was completed to identify and study the content of selected elementary general music teachers' evaluations of their own instruction and the instruction of another elementary general music teacher. Participants represented a variety of educational backgrounds and teaching experience: Teacher A (9 years teaching Grades 4-6 at…

A scarcity of research exists regarding the voices of African American teachers who taught in the rural South. In this study, we report the life experiences, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of three female African American educators as they pertain to their experiences teaching before, during, and after desegregation. Three female African…

This study characterizes the teacher learning that stems from successive enactments of innovative curriculum materials. This study conceptualizes and documents the formation of curriculum-context knowledge (CCK) in three experienced users of a Standards-based mathematics curriculum. I define CCK as the knowledge of how a particular set of…

This paper sheds light onto a poorly presented group of professionals--teachers with dyslexia in Finnish and English further and higher educational settings. The purpose of this qualitative study was, firstly, to discover what teachers with dyslexia could tell us about the manifestation of dyslexia and the challenges they face in the practice of…

Although numerous studies have been conducted on conceptions of teaching, research extending this investigation into conceptions of teaching using eLearning is rare. This study employed a phenomenographic approach to investigate what university teachers think eLearning is good for in their teaching. Four qualitatively different ways of conceiving…

Diversity does not simply mean differences of race or ethnicity but includes the cultural experiences that children bring to school, including language, beliefs, values, norms, family configuration, socioeconomic status, gender, special needs, home and community backgrounds, and learning styles. Yet while the population of children in schools is…

In recent years teacher educators have witnessed an increase in the number of alternative pathways to university-based teacher education for prospective teachers. One option is for second-career teachers to enter post-baccalaureate programs in education; however, the experiences of second-career teachers are largely unexplored in the international…

Background: Faculty acceptance of distance learning plays an important role in its success or failure in higher education. Information about faculty experiences of teaching online can improve understanding about this delivery mode's potential longevity in academe. Exploratory qualitative research has begun to uncover and unpack faculty experiences…

This descriptive research focuses on the teaching experiences of two preservice art education interns and the meanings they attributed to their student teaching field experience. Of interest is how these preservice teacher interns have experientially formulated ideas on what it means to be an art teacher and how their traits of altruism, artistic…

This paper describes a study into the implementation within two Spanish primary schools of an inquiry-based curricular project entitled "Exploring Our World" (ages 6-12). Taking the form of two case studies, it offers a description of the two participating schools and the development of the project within them. Particular attention is…

Drawing on empirical data, this article explores the experiences of newly qualified Roman Catholic teachers in Scotland as they enter the classroom. Set within the context of a longitudinal study that was conducted over a 3-year period tracking the experiences and development needs of Catholics new to the profession, this particular article is…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present what the study of the experiences of beginning teachers and their informal learning says about the process of learning to teach, and to discuss the main emerging themes in relation to a wider literature. Design/methodology/approach: The design of the paper is essentially ethnographic and building of…