Evidence suggests that teachers' visions of their ideal teaching may account for some differences in their development and effectiveness. In this study, we investigate the visions of teachers with differing trajectories of change in their practice. The paper describes trends in teachers' visions in the pre-service and in-service years across one…

Since constraints on time, resources, and even energy often come into play in finding opportunities for meaningful discussions about pedagogy between the novice teacher (NT) and the supervisor, post-lesson conversations at the school site can often be brief, superficial, lacking reflective self-analysis, narrow in focus, interrupted, or even…

Drawing on my experiences as a former classroom teacher making the transition to teacher education, this study examines how my vision of teacher education developed over the course of my first three years as a graduate teaching assistant in a social studies education program in the United States. A qualitative self-study methodology was used to…

In this mixed methodology study, the researcher became the research practitioner through Educational Action Research. His personal practice of training adult Bible teachers was examined by measuring the self-perceived changes of a group of adult Bible teachers as they were trained to change from their traditional mode of primarily teaching the…

This paper reports a qualitative study in response to the growing research interest in teacher learning. Informed by a sociocultural perspective, teacher learning is considered as a process of identity construction in the paper. This paper taps into the development of teacher identity embedded in teacher learning and views reflection as a social…

Mentoring has become an important part of teacher education, as an element in both the enhancement of reflective practice and the professional development of schools. Yet the concept remains confused. Problematic issues such as the elements of power and control, and the danger of dependence and intimacy are seldom heard when mentoring is…

Portfolios have a long tradition in teacher education and now these are available in electronic form. At the same time, there are increasing demands for primary teachers to be technologically capable and confident in classrooms. When teacher educators wish to respond through the introduction of new technologies such as e-portfolios, there are…

"Tell me your story" is a phrase popularly being promoted in the business setting during recent years. The power of storytelling can be utilized in student teacher reflection as a strategy for making connections between theory and practice in authentic classroom environments and enabling preservice teachers to actively develop plans for growth. A…

The field of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices, like a number of other areas of inquiry, appears negligent in paying intellectual debt to Joseph Schwab who revolutionalized the fields of curriculum and teaching in the 1970s with his ideas about the practical. In this article, I trace my personal journey of coming to know…

Student teachers' potential to change and reflect on their activities can be positively influenced by the opportunities created in teacher education programs. This paper explores an educative opportunity with the researcher and his practicum advisees by facilitating a continuum of reflective school-based activities through a dialogical…

The concept of "wicked issues", originally developed in the field of urban planning, has been taken up by design educators, architects and public health academics where the means for handling "wicked issues" has been developed through "reflective practice". In the education of teachers, whilst reflective practice has…

This article, written in narrative form, represents a data-based analysis of what I have learned about myself as a teacher of prospective teachers and as a teacher education researcher from Fall 2000 through Fall 2008 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The data for this analysis consist of three related data sets: notes on 13…

This article looks at a research partnership between a high school English teacher and a university teacher educator, focusing on the impact of their work of co-teaching two integrated courses in the university's teacher education program. Findings from a study conducted during their third year of working together were used to revise the course…

This article presents a new notion of teacher "quality" and defines the progressive outcomes upon which urban teacher preparation might be founded. The paper includes a description of the masters licensure program with which the authors are involved and the program's portfolio system that assesses future urban teachers' integration of this social…

Teaching is a complex profession that involves grappling with a variety of management styles; federal, state, and local mandates; local policies and agendas; and informed curriculum practices that affect pedagogy. Teachers work in increasingly diverse schools, and they must be reflective practitioners to deal with the many social and educational…