During the course of pre-and in-service teacher education programmes, reflection can happen in a number of ways, for example: reflective journals, personal stories and pair/group co-operative discussions, professional development portfolios, and blogs and electronic portfolios. The aim of this paper is to examine various technologies such as…

Based on the collective case study of two teacher education programs at a normal university in South China, this paper examines the role of curriculum leadership in the development of information and communication technology (ICT) in education competencies of pre-service teachers. The two cases allow comparisons to uncover the complex…

This one-year long ethnographic case study seeks to add to the body of literature on EFL teachers' identities in Colombia by drawing on ethnographic methods and sociocultural theories to examine the identity construction of four EFL teachers at the university level. Specifically, this study explores how EFL teachers' identities shaped and were…

This research inquires into the use of stories by vocational teachers. These stories are of interest because they are a fundamental feature of both the subject content and the social structures of vocational classrooms. The trade experiences of vocational teachers are brought to the classroom through stories. These stories have a secondary effect…

The paper puts forward the argument that critical thinking (and its teaching) should be approached by taking into critical account operations of authority that blunt the reflective disposition toward written texts. The empirical grounds of this argument have been examined by means of a specific study. The study explored in a higher-education…

This paper is a cross-cultural comparative study in education philosophy. A comparative and philosophical approach is used to interpret texts from the Analects of Confucius and to find connections with ideas of critical educators. In comparing Confucius' educational thought with that of Paulo Freire, John Dewey and other theorists in critical…

The aim of this study was to explore the efficacy of two written journal techniques used to encourage teacher candidates' inquiry-based reflection regarding course textbook content. Ninety-six participants were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental conditions, journaling with Questions, Quotes and Reflections (Double Q R) or…

This paper presents and discusses findings from a European project concerning strengthening the teacher's voice in defining professional quality. In the project tools were developed and evaluated to help teachers reflect on their professional quality. Twelve countries participated and twelve tools were tested with help of student teachers,…

Recording technologies have been used in teaching practices. The emphasis on the quality of teachers and teaching in a recent White Paper in England and the need to optimise teaching resources due to the current global recession have prompted a re-assessment of recording technologies in pedagogic practices. In this article, the application of…

In this study we investigated how the use of video records in a literacy methods course supports the development of reflective practitioners when video is a core element of the course design. Specifically, we detail how interns' video-based reflections provide evidence that the use of video records of teaching interns' promotes the development of…

The author explores the reflective components of observation, listening, wondering, and response. Together, these components invite parents to discover who their babies are as well as to understand the importance of nurturing relationships, past and present, to development, growth, and change. Of equal interest, reflective practice offers Infant…

As teachers, we are always reflecting on and refining our craft. In this article, the author shares how her understanding and implementation of comprehension strategy instruction has evolved over the past ten years. These shifts include her current thinking about the gradual release of responsibility instructional model, how content and big ideas…

In the context of an arts-integration course in an elementary education program, preservice teachers used tableaux (i.e. frozen scenes) to portray field experience moments in two ways: (1) as remembered events, and (2) as projected possibilities. Using video and photographs of the tableaux, we traced the students' enactment of activist stances and…

The introspective, cognitive act of reflection is linked with professional growth for teachers (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2010; National Council on Teaching America's Future, 2009; Learning Forward, 2009). However, current federal, state, and local mandates, policies, structures, and procedures in schools do not always…

In art, the idea of pots being circular and cylindrical is an intuitive proposition that defines why potters have, up to the present, made wonderful decorations in the round. It is believed that potters do not want to subvert or break away from their tradition, perhaps because the art started as family craft. In this study, the authors describe…