Despite the celebrated history of social workers engaging in the political realm for the purposes of fostering social change, students sometimes seem ambivalent regarding the essential nature of their political engagement while also doubting their ability to make a difference through these efforts. How can social work educators combat feelings of…

Induced by a literature review, this paper presents a framework of dimensions and indicators highlighting the underpinning aspects and values of social learning within teacher groups. Notions of social networks, communities of practice and learning teams were taken as the main perspectives to influence this social learning framework. The review…

The importance of reflection in supporting the continued professional learning of preservice practitioners is well recognised. This study examines one aspect of the outcomes of preservice teachers' reflection: the development of their own self-image as a teacher. In making the transition from student to teacher, preservice teachers create their…

This study reports on an investigation on the use of electronic journals to support beginning teachers in developing reflection on teaching within peer support networks. The study takes place within the context of the ongoing Pilot Project on Teacher Induction in post-primary schools in Ireland. A pilot study using web logs (blogs) was initiated…

Using the theories of critical reflection and community of practice, the aim of this paper was to explore the use of blogs as a reflective platform in the training processes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers, who were learning to teach English for future employment in Taiwan. They made use of blogs as a platform to critically…

This article sets out to identify key competencies which language tutors need to develop in order to manage synchronous online teaching. In order to aptly monitor interactions with distant learners, it is proposed that three types of regulation pertaining to socio-affective, pedagogical and multimedia aspects are required. On the one hand, this…