Service-learning provides community service as well as authentic, curriculum-driven learning experiences (Furco & Root, 2010) and has been an effective component of teacher education courses (García, Arias, Murri, & Surna, 2010; Mitton-Kukner, Nelson, & Descrochers, 2010; Spencer, Cox-Petersen, & Crawford, 2005). With these…

In this essay, the author employs psychoanalytic inquiry (Britzman, 1998; Felman, 1992; Lacan, 1988) to think about the relationships between pedagogy, trauma, and crisis in the contexts of social studies and teacher education. The paper explores a potential space in social studies education that can acknowledge the psychic consequences of…

Research repeatedly documents that teachers are underprepared to teach mathematics effectively in diverse classrooms. A critical aspect of learning to be an effective mathematics teacher for diverse learners is developing knowledge, dispositions, and practices that support building on children's mathematical thinking, as well as their cultural,…

Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify the nature and the interrelatedness of pre-service teachers' misconceptions and scientific concepts for explaining dissolving before, during, and after a 5E learning cycle lesson on dissolving, the intervention. Sample, design, and methods: Guided by Vygotsky's…

Mathematics teacher education has been criticized, both internally and externally, for failing to identify shared practices and goals within teacher preparation programs. Work has begun to address this criticism at the elementary level but less exists at the secondary level. This paper reports on a national survey with responses from 116 secondary…

New accreditation standards for teacher preparation programs call for more seamless and effective connections between methods courses, clinical experiences, and school-based mentoring. Intentional clinical experiences and intermediate instructional strategies can foster collaboration between teacher preparation programs and teacher leaders in K-12…

This study explores the outcomes of reflective journaling among novice Graduate Teaching Assistants during the initial stages of their professional development. It seeks to establish whether there were common concerns addressed in their journals and if different levels of reflection were achieved. By means of content analysis of 177 entries, nine…

In this article, the authors explore prospective elementary teachers' engagement with and reflection on activities they conducted to learn about a single child from their practicum classroom. Through these activities, prospective teachers learned about their child's mathematical thinking and the interests, competencies, and resources she or he…

Opportunities for teacher candidates to investigate and enact the work of teaching in settings of reduced complexity--what are called "approximations of practice"--offer a promising path toward preparing more ambitious and equitable mathematics teachers. However, these approaches face the risk of not preparing individuals to continue…

This paper focuses on results from a study conducted with two cohorts of pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a video case-based mathematics methods course at a large Midwestern university in the US. The motivation for this study was to look beyond whether or not PSTs pay attention to mathematical thinking of students, as shown by previous studies when…

Since the beginning of the reform movement in science education, there has been concern that elementary teachers lack the science content knowledge (SCK) needed to engage students in authentic scientific inquiry. This study included 19 preservice elementary teachers and examined the development of their SCK within the context of a uniquely…

Science educators at all levels continuously struggle to keep pace with the rapidly developing understanding of the causes and potential solutions to current environmental issues while also trying to enthuse a new generation of passionate and knowledgeable scientists. However, how can future science teachers make science education more attractive…

The current high-stakes educational context compels many schools and school systems to encourage teachers to use restrictive literacy teaching practices, which are unlikely to meet students' diverse needs. These restrictions typically fall on novice teachers, who enter the field through various preparation routes, because they often work in…

The increasing popularity and accessibility of affordable computer-mediated communication is rapidly advancing alternative forms of message transmission into market sectors, such as education. The focus of this article is an exploratory multi-case study of rich learning experiences of Windows into Teaching and Learning (WiTL) participants enrolled…

This article details the self-study of a beginning teacher educator in her first experience in teaching a mathematics methods course. The transition from teacher to teacher educator is explored through the experience of a course focused on inquiry. Inquiry is embedded within the course from two perspectives: mathematical inquiry and teaching as…