For adult English language learners, the English language classroom provides a space for students to examine cultural as well other identities. However, discussions often center on racial, rather than sexual identities. In addition, attention to how adult English language instructors engage in classroom practices that focus on sexual identities is…

This study surveyed post-secondary instructors in 15 countries regarding their experiences using the virtual world Second Life as a teaching tool. Qualitative analysis of responses to open-ended questions suggests that Second Life offers a great deal of potential in realizing Grabinger and Dunlap's (2000) attributes of a rich environment for…

Every few years, there is a breakthrough in information technology, introducing a new concept that becomes widely used. This paper deals with the challenges IT (information technology) instructors face due to these rapid developments in the IT industry. More specifically, we are interested in the challenges instructors of the introductory IT…

Quality arts education can produce positive learning outcomes, such as creating positive attitudes to learning, developing a greater sense of personal and cultural identity, and fostering more creative and imaginative ways of thinking in young children (Bamford, 2006; Eisner, 2002; Robinson, 2001). Arts-based processes allow children the…

Compelling evidence points to the need for higher education, and especially teacher education, to become better informed about the concerns of Aboriginal peoples and to be more responsive to their needs. With this focus in mind, we had conversations with 30 beginning First Nations teachers, graduates of a teacher education program in Saskatchewan,…

The article is a comparative analysis of the policy and practice of professional learning communities (PLCs) in primary schools in England and Finland. The concept of PLC has become a globally fashionable one and has been explicitly advocated in policy documents in both countries. Drawing from a database of qualitative semi-structured interviews…

The study described in this article was conducted to elicit beginning teachers' reflections on successes and struggles in practice. An understanding of these issues can be used to determine how teacher education and district induction programs might create additional support systems during the transition from preservice to experienced teacher.…

This article explores two beginning Canadian teachers' experiences of professional development in literacy education. Differences and parallel tensions between the Canadian teachers' and my own experiences as a teacher and teacher educator in Pakistan were identified through narrative inquiry. The significance of this article is found in the…

The paper discusses the value of peer observation followed by professional learning conversations for the professional development of teacher educators. The authors Analise their shared learning experiences and articulate what challenged them in these experiences. They discuss the ways in which their perceptions of this process differed or were…

This study examines 1) how Korean elementary teachers implement curriculum integration in their teaching practice and 2) what Korean elementary teachers experience in implementing curriculum integration. Several issues evolved from the analysis of three teachers' experiences: firstly, the teachers' lack of theoretical frameworks for curriculum…

Social work doctoral candidates and others without much or any formal teaching experience or training are frequently invited to teach a variety of graduate-level social work courses. This beginning teaching experience can be quite challenging both personally and professionally. Yet, it is seldom discussed in the literature, especially from a…

This article explores the 1st-year teaching experience of five Latino paraeducators. Through interviews, they discussed their challenges and successes, how their experience as paraeducators influenced their teaching experience, and what suggestions they have for schools and colleges to help ease new teachers into the profession. The study suggests…

The set of two case studies examines the supports for instructional improvement in two school districts through the experience of individual teachers who are trying to change their practice in accordance with the district's reform work. Our overarching research question for these case studies was: What supports this teacher in changing his or her…

Alternative certification programs were designed to recruit individuals with work experiences into the teaching profession. This article synthesizes two studies of teachers and teacher candidates who circumvented the alternative certification process. The teachers who participated in the quantitative portion of the study were neither mature in…

Sandholtz, Ringstaff, & Dwyer (1996) list five stages in the "evolution" of a teacher's capacity for computer-based instruction--entry, adoption, adaptation, appropriation and invention--which hereafter will be called the teacher's computer-based instructional evolution. In this study of approximately six hundred junior high school…