Collaboration and reflection are critical to effective teaching and student progress in reading. Responding to the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students who struggle in reading is a persistent challenge for teachers, especially those in urban settings. Conversations between literacy coaches and teachers in urban settings provide…

This report outlines a study which examined certain approaches to- and practices of peer observation of teaching. Participants observed and free-form evaluated the effectiveness of two different teaching scenarios. These were evaluated both before and after identifying their own dominant perspective on teaching and attending a workshop which…

The roles and responsibilities of special educators in both special and regular school settings are changing rapidly. More than two decades ago the move towards more inclusive practices disrupted the traditional, niche separatism of special educators to the extent that they are now an integral part of the regular school teaching staff. Today the…

Although classroom-oriented instructional development (ID) models have the potential to help teachers think and plan for effective instruction with technology, research studies have shown that they are not widely employed. Many of these models have not factored in the complexities that teachers faced when planning for instruction in…

This case-study investigates the impact of personal school experience and initial teacher education on the work of six beginning language teachers. Insights into the thinking and acting of the subjects are gained through an interpretative analysis of their interviews. The findings indicate that one's own school experience has an important role in…

This article is located within the wider European context of teacher development and is specifically concerned with the needs of those supporting novice teachers during the early stages in their professional career. Currently, induction systems across Europe are largely fragmented, locally based and with little transference of best practice. There…

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…

This essay tells the story of one person's transformation from ineffective to effective teacher. While ostensibly a narrative of personal revelation and growth, the author reveals that re-envisioning who he is as a teacher required critical reflection on the social forces that shape people. He shows the link between his early discomforts and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the professional impact of the National Board Certification from the perspective of teachers who have achieved National Board Certification, which is granted through the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. This phenomenological study involved interviews with 10 National Board Certified…

The purpose of this study was to rethink the conceptualization of pedagogical content knowledge based on our descriptive research findings and to show how this new conceptualization helps us to understand teachers as professionals. This study was a multiple case study grounded in a social constructivist framework. Data were collected from multiple…

Preservice teachers (PTs) tend to enter teacher education programs with naive understandings of the nature of teaching. In order to enhance their development of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to be an effective educator, I designed an innovative Educational Psychology assignment in the practice of teaching. PTs (N=48) formed…

With the enactment of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," administrators have faced extreme pressure to provide professional development to teachers to enhance their skill and knowledge base, make school improvements, and increase student achievement. Research indicated that critical reflection leads to lasting school change and…

This article calls for renewed emphasis on the use of on-campus microteaching to facilitate simultaneously preservice teachers' performance of effective teaching skills and their capability to reflect meaningfully on their emergent teaching actions. In making a case for greater focus on the implementation of microteaching in preservice teacher…

As a part of the United States Department of Education Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants (TQE) program, a professional development project was conducted to support selected urban teachers from a Professional Development School to think reflectively about their teaching and learning. The 24 survey items were developed based on the three domains of…

This paper reports on the effectiveness of a professional partnership approach to preparing pre-service primary teachers to teach science. The study involved final year BEd pre-service primary teachers at the University of Tasmania, each working in the class of a volunteer colleague teacher. The programme provided an authentic science teaching…