Social practice professionals' stubborn application of the quantitative paradigm of science in social contexts has created and perpetuated the current state of affairs such as high unemployment and rampant crime. The goal is to replace the traditional quantitative beliefs and assumptions with alternatives that create and perpetuate a more…

The author, who is an award winning college professor, is often asked about her philosophy of teaching. She reflects upon her own undergraduate experiences when she considers what makes an effective course. In this article, the author shares and discusses five principles of teaching that define her teaching philosophy: (1) Be approachable; (2) Use…

A summative evaluation was conducted at the Ohio State University during the Spring of 1979 to assess selected anticipated outcomes associated with engagement in Reflective Teaching (RT), an instructional teacher education program that features peer teaching and evaluation. Fifty-five students were exposed to Reflective Teaching while forty-six…

Universities and colleges accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education are facing the prospects of measuring dispositions related to teaching. Dispositions selected for teacher candidates at the University of West Alabama are characteristics desirable in N-12 candidates. This pilot study was designed to assess…

This publication identifies a set of recognized skills and knowledge areas possessed by effective professional development (PD) coordinators. It is designed to enable PD staff and their supervisors to think reflectively about their PD system, to identify how the system builds on the strengths of the coordinator and the PD staff, to identify where…

This collection of papers presents essays by German scholars and practitioners writing from within the German Didaktik tradition and interpretive essays by U.S. scholars. After an introduction, "Starting a Dialogue: A Beginning Conversation between Didaktik and the Curriculum Traditions" (Stefan Hopmann and Kurt Riquarts), there are 18…

This collection of readings is intended to provide a source book on best practices in staff development in higher education within a British context. The 13 papers are grouped into three parts: part 1 presents the educational development tradition which has focused on development of staff as teachers; part 2 considers development of staff in…

An experiment with reflective teaching methods was conducted with six undergraduate and seven graduate student teachers majoring in applied linguistics and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teaching and minoring in education. The student teachers were placed in urban elementary, middle, and high schools in a variety of ESL program types and with…

This paper documents one university's use of action research to encourage preservice teachers' ongoing critical reflection as they negotiated diversity and community in their classrooms. Several supervisors developed a self-study research plan, meeting over 1 year to study several strategies for engaging preservice teachers in critical reflection.…

This document provides the framework for six other related documents in a series that focuses on diversity in the classroom. Section 1, "Introduction," explains that children in any Canadian classroom are not homogeneous, and such diversity presents teachers with challenges and obligations. The chapter reviews the subjects addressed in…

This study examined the Model Education Center (MEC) Professional Development School (PDS), formed by San Diego State University and a nearby school district in 1984. The study investigated whether core beliefs embedded in the PDS had a lasting effect on the teachers it graduated. Participants included teachers at three target schools; teachers…

An action research project emphasized the centrality of teachers' values in teaching decisions. After identifying grading papers as a source of tension, a teacher opened decisions about grading to democratic decision making, resulting in more positive professor-student relationships, more emphasis on learning, and improved student evaluations of…

This paper presents an overview of the inservice model used by the National Science Foundation supported Project INLAB (Integrating Laboratory Instruction and Assessment) to challenge and change science teachers' laboratory instruction and assessment practice. The framework that guides the instructional strategies and activities of INLAB is based…

A teacher education conceptual model, Teachers Reflecting, Engaging, and Collaborating (TREC), is presented that guides an innovative teacher education program's goals, processes, outcomes, and evaluation. The model, which presents the teacher as a reflective practitioner, is not an instructional sequence model, but rather a conceptual model that…

This study focused on the experiences of cooperating teachers beyond their immediate work with student teachers. The study was a major part of a collaborative action research project in which 172 cooperating teachers experienced the new role of "University Associate" as part of the University of California-Irvine Professional Development…