The purpose of this paper is to explore teacher motivation and well-being. Our analysis focuses on two central concepts, the notion of a "calling to teach" and of teacher "hopefulness." Data from 205 preservice and inservice teachers were collected to determine teachers' sense of calling and level of hope. Results indicate that overwhelmingly,…

This research examines the level of information literacy skills in high school teachers and the extent of information literacy instruction in the western province of Thessaloniki. A census survey was conducted, which resulted in 500 structured questionnaires that were processed and analysed statistically using multivariate methods. The findings…

An American teacher describes her journey to Ghana, where she worked in the summer of 2009 at the Tuskegee International School. Through recollections of the relationships she established during her time teaching math to students ages 6-16, the author reveals that her most powerful role while there was that of student rather than teacher. Focusing…

This article examines the interconnections between mentoring and teacher collaboration in view of the intergenerational gap between experienced and novice educators in the post-Soviet Ukraine. The conceptual framework utilized a constructive postmodern perspective as an analytical lens and examined mentorship as a collaborative form of teacher…

The author began his first year teaching at an open-enrollment university with the belief that "most students can learn to do intellectual work, if they are only given the opportunity." This belief is inspired by the research on teaching and learning and is rooted in the characteristic idealism of teachers. He had seen the principle borne out in…

This article illustrates the challenges of teaching curriculum within the guidelines of No Child Left Behind. Nine school teachers write and speak about their experiences, what influences their curriculum choices, and how they attempt to incorporate social studies in the elementary classroom. The teachers completed a background survey, wrote about…

The brain-drain caused by imbalanced economic development has produced a lack of qualified teachers in rural China. Short-term volunteer teaching has emerged as a response. Despite the popularity of such programs, little systematic data have been gathered regarding their strengths and weaknesses. A short-term volunteer teaching program was…

Professional development activities are needed to enhance teachers' performance. Likewise, in the Malaysian educational system, teachers are encouraged to go through such activities each year. There is need to study teachers' views on these activities in order to design more appropriate professional development programs. The present study sought…

A coherent view of student-teachers' preparation and the learning experiences to which they are exposed are key to sustaining the relevance of university-based teacher-education programmes. Arguably, such coherence is lacking and the research base to an understanding of the student-teacher experience is still a relatively limited one. This paper…

During the past few years, interest in shifting at least a portion of what teachers are paid away from a reliance on a traditional salary schedule to one that incorporates a pay for performance component has reached a new high. Proponents of the approach view it as a way to improve teacher quality by both motivating teachers and--through higher…

With the growing international market for pre-experience MA in ELT/TESOL programmes, a key curriculum design issue is how to help students develop as learners of teaching through and beyond their formal academic studies. We report here on our attempts at the University of Warwick to address this issue, and consider wider implications for research…

This study examined the role of observed classroom quality in children's task-avoidant behavior and math skills in kindergarten. To investigate this, 1268 children were tested twice on their math skills during their kindergarten year. Kindergarten teachers (N = 137) filled in questionnaires measuring their professional experience and also rated…

Student teaching abroad is becoming increasingly popular in many colleges and universities in the United States. This experience can be highly rewarding in terms of developing pre-service teachers' culture competency, yet can pose challenges for faculty monitoring such placements. Stewart and Kagan (2005) suggest a framework for teacher…

Learning opportunities offered by digital games have become an important research topic in recent years. Language learning is one of the areas in which games could prosper but the question then is whether these should be specialized language-learning games or commercial off-the-shelf games for entertainment. The goal of this paper is to compare…

Mentors need to be proactive in helping the newer teacher to anticipate the critical episodes that inevitably face any teacher. These episodes include the challenge to manage a daunting workload while following habits necessary to stay healthy; to recover from disappointments, errors, and disrespect; to form positive relationships with students,…