Having specialists in schools providing guidance for classroom teachers and addressing students' literacy issues is widely accepted. The roles these educators fulfill have changed over the years and the expectations of the role differ among professionals providing and receiving services. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of…

The purpose of this study was to shed light on mentor teachers' perceptions of their roles and responsibilities and to contrast their understandings with a normative view of mentoring (Goldsberry, 1998; Hawkey, 1997). We hypothesized that the mentor teachers' perceptions would likely differ from established conceptions of this construct, a…

Purpose: This study aimed to estimate the impact of collective, or shared, leadership on key teacher variables and on student achievement. As well, it inquired about the relative contribution of different sources of such leadership and whether differences among patterns of collective leadership were related to differences in student achievement.…

The authors of this article state that, as literacy coaches negotiate complex tasks in their work with teachers, they assume dual roles. The authors review the evolution of International Reading Association (IRA) standards, paying particular attention to the roles of literacy coach and literacy coordinator. The authors then present data on the…

There have been a number of papers written about the academic-allied staff divide within educational institutions in the Western world. This paper considers one particular institution to ascertain whether there is evidence of a divide and, if there is, whether there are other factors that influence the perception of a divide; for example, length…

The establishment of positive relationships between home and school has long been recognised as a desirable state which can have a significant bearing upon the success of students both academically and socially. By contrast, when relationships between schools and parents or carers falter, the consequences can be detrimental to all parties and in…

The author reads with great interest Rhoda Bernard's (2005) article "Making Music, Making Selves." Bernard's concerns about the multiple identities that she holds, and people's tendency to compartmentalize their various identities according to audience and role are issues for the author as she designs and teaches within music teacher education…

This paper explores a middle school teacher's and his students' perceptions of the differences between online synchronous literature discussions and face-to-face literature discussions. Each member of this literature group participated in two face-to-face and two online literature discussions. Participants were interviewed twice to discuss their…

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is now firmly on government agendas in many countries, including England, and the need to develop a professional workforce is generally agreed. The reform of the children's workforce in England acknowledges that increasing the skills and competence of this workforce is critical to its success. Two new…

The intent of this article is to generate thought and discussion about Alberta Education's Daily Physical Activity (DPA) initiative. Compelling reasons as to why the implementation process may be considered problematic are presented as the role and influence of institutional discourse in the implementation of new programming is explored. Through a…

This article explores the changing career trajectories of teaching assistants who graduated from a university in the northwest of England with a Foundation degree in Supporting Teaching and Learning. It begins with a consideration of the changing policy context in England in relation to the role of support staff in schools. This context informed…

What a teacher's self-concept should be is discussed. (DB)

The purpose of this study was to investigate how adjunct professors who were fulfilling educational leadership roles at the building and district levels perceived how their role as educational leaders impacted their course instruction. The qualitative study was conducted during the fall semester of 2006 and the spring semester of 2007. Twenty-one…

The study reported in this article explores conceptions of the research-teaching relationship held by faculty members in two research-intensive universities. To elaborate a model for research-intensive teaching that can be considered in faculty development, a total of 16 members from 4 different disciplines were interviewed. The rich diversity in…