Reflective essays are a common way to develop higher education students' reflection ability. Researchers frequently analyse reflective essays based on quantitative content analysis procedures (QCA). However, the quality criteria that should be met in QCA are not straightforward. This article aims to: (1) develop a framework of quality requirements…

This article focuses on the theoretical frame of action research and the teacher as researcher, working through a Norwegian Research Council-funded project in a school that explored learning strategies for pupils' subject and social development. Action research is here called research and development (R&D) work as the term envisages that…

This paper provides a reflective focus on the concept of change to the professional identity of FE lecturers. Traditional perceptions of FE staff as vocational specialists are contested and the emergence of a new professional with an extended professionality is discussed. The changes analysed deal with the emergence of the HE in FE sector and the…

A characteristic of expert educators is their ability to interpret classroom activities critically, to identify and solve problems regarding their teaching practice, and to make thoughtful or reflective instructional and classroom management decisions that are conducive to learning. For educators to be efficacious, they should be active…

The idea of teachers and teacher educators engaging in research is not, in itself, new, but in recent years the propagation of this idea seems to have become really popular. This growing popularity brings the risk that practitioner research will degenerate into an increasingly vague and obscure "container concept". The aim of this article is to…

Reflection is an appropriate way of accounting for professional practice and is a standard way in which one can "become better acquainted with one's own story". Defining "subjectivity" as "the quality of an investigator that affects the results of observational investigation", Peshkin highlights the requirement for…

Teachers, parents, policymakers, and others interested in researching what is best for teaching children literacy skills will find literally thousands of resources purporting to be "best practices." This book suggests examining real classrooms--teachers and students actively involved in literacy learning--to determine what works in…

Describes the "Book Club Plus Inquiry Group," a group of classroom teachers and university teacher educators in Michigan involved in practitioner research. Offers perspectives from the group on the question of what counts as teacher research. Concludes with a model of their conception. (SR)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose an electronic support tool that can be used by teacher educators and novice teachers to foster habits of reflective, systematic instructional planning. Design/methodology/approach: The authors provide a rationale for their work, present a theoretical framework, propose a unique instructional design…

Based on the experience of two early childhood teachers in a research-based collaborative effort to join a preschool class with a first-second grade class for various learning projects, this book offers a model for an approach to early childhood curriculum. The curriculum integrates art, science, gardening, celebrations, intergenerational program…

This paper reviews the background of and compares three particular approaches to reflective professional development, specifically as used by Far West Laboratory: case methods, the Peer Assisted Leadership process, in which peer partners observe each other, conduct reflective interviews, construct leadership models, and explore alternate ways to…

This yearbook addresses the nation's need to train and retain good teachers, exploring exemplary practices in teacher education. There are four sections divided into 12 chapters. The book begins with a forward, "Research on Effective Models for Teacher Education: Powerful Teacher Education Programs" (E.M. Guyton). Section 1, "Models for Enhancing…

This document contains nine papers from a systematic, classroom-based study of multiple intelligences (MI) theory in different adult learning contexts during which adult educators from rural and urban areas throughout the United States conducted independent inquiries into the question of how MI theory can support instruction and assessment in…