Teacher educators arguably fulfil several roles in their professional context: they can be seen as role models or teachers of teachers, and have additionally been characterised as researchers, mentors, gatekeepers, brokers, and curriculum developers. To address a perceived gap in the literature on the latter role, a quantitative and qualitative…

Four narrative fragments involving research disseminated globally -- namely, United States, Israel, The Netherlands, The People's Republic of China -- are used to instantiate the phenomenon of teachers teaching their best-loved selves, without becoming the curriculum themselves. Next, the development of the best-loved self-conceptualization as it…

An international comparative research project was carried out in the Netherlands, Wales, Germany and Finland to understand how trainee teachers reflect upon play. Data was collected among 31 Dutch, 37 Welsh, 40 German and 19 Finnish teacher trainees. They watched four videotaped sequences of preschoolers engaged in an activity. Next, they answered…

This study concentrated on the theory-practice problem in mathematics teacher education. We examined 13 student teachers' use of theory when they reflected on teaching practice in a class specifically designed to optimize the chance for theory use. We developed a Reflection Analysis Instrument with which the student teachers' use of theory could…

Every now and then the feminisation of the teaching force is put forth as a barrier to reduce educational equality between the sexes. The feminisation of education is supposed to have a negative impact on boys' achievement, causing educational as well as behavioural problems. It is not just boys who allegedly suffer; over the years, the…

Several years ago the authors, a professor from The Netherlands and another professor from the United States, met over coffee and discussions about teacher education at an international conference. With mutual interests in the role of teacher educators' development of their professional identity, the authors developed an intellectual relationship…

This literature study deals with the issue of how to conceptualize the supervisory behaviour of mentor teachers in mentoring dialogues by systematically examining empirical literature on key aspects of mentor teachers' behaviour during dialogues with prospective teachers. From the findings a model is derived which can be used to study mentor…

This study explores educators' reflections on professional childcare practice in different national contexts. The data were collected by showing video clips of classroom activities in Japanese, Dutch and German pre-schools to experienced German and Dutch pre-school teachers. The clips were used to elicit their opinions on playing and learning in…

Examines the growth of computer usage in Dutch primary and secondary schools from 1989-92 based on statistics from the international "Computers in Education" study. Highlights include availability of hardware; availability of courseware; use in various subject areas; teacher training; and the effect of information policy versus teachers'…

A seminar was held in Reykjavik, Iceland for the purposes of disseminating results of the Council of Europe's Council for Cultural Cooperation's (CDCC) Project 8, Innovation in Primary Education (IPE), and exploring issues in educational reform in Iceland, particularly the revision of the core curriculum. Participants were civil servants of the…