Critical friendship is an innovative method used to strengthen an individual's professional skills, including critical reflection, thinking, and problem-solving abilities in educational settings. Critical friendships can occur through one-on-one relationships or in groups known as critical friendship groups (CFGs). Literature on CFGs examines the…

The linguistic diversity in schools is increasing throughout the United States and as state and federal accountability increases in the instruction of English language learners (ELLs), many teachers who never before were asked to work with ELLs are now required to contribute to the education of these students. In some states, all education majors,…

The musical and educational identities of music students are often at odds with one another, and yet teaching plays a role in the working lives of almost all musicians. Similar conflicts arise when music education majors view themselves as either musicians or educators, but not as both. This article reports results from parallel studies in two…

This exploratory paper focuses on applying information and communication technologies (ICT) in educational settings, particularly in higher education. Based on qualitative data studying four courses in detail, the article starts by discussing educators' expectations associated with technological advances. It proceeds to discuss the concept of…

The purpose of this study was to examine similarities and differences in concepts of reflection among American and Japanese pre-service teachers majoring in early childhood education. Pre-service teachers completed a survey asking them to describe approaches and processes of reflection in their daily practice. The quantitative and qualitative data…

This study investigated whether infusing "causal" story elements into mathematical word problems improves student performance. In one experiment in the USA and a second in USA, Finland and Turkey, undergraduate elementary education majors worked word problems in three formats: 1) standard (minimal verbiage), 2) potential causation…

This paper describes the development and dissemination of microteaching methods in Europe and some African countries, with emphasis on the United Kingdom and Germany. A tool for teacher preparation, microteaching trains teaching behaviors and skills in small group settings aided by video-recordings. Consistent with education reform efforts, the…

This volume contains papers submitted to the 12th Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES), held in Sofia and Nessebar, Bulgaria, in June 2014, and papers submitted to the 2nd International Partner Conference, organized by the International Research Centre 'Scientific Cooperation,' Rostov-on-Don,…