Purpose: This article describes an effort to ease the tension between boundary spanning roles for interns participating in a yearlong Professional Development School (PDS) program. In order to do this, the structure of a Social Studies Methods course was revised to mimic a professional learning community (PLC) and assignments were not evaluated…

Background/purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify strengths and deficits of alternative teacher certification programs, with particular emphasis on approaches to strengthening mathematical content knowledge and pedagogy. Materials/methods: Six participants included both teacher candidates enrolled in internship in the…

Within an early childhood methods course, teacher candidates were prepared to spend three weeks in immersive clinical field experience. Early childhood placements were in rural, high poverty areas of central New York State. In addition to readings and authentic project-based undertakings, preparation included interactive activities on culturally…

Against the backdrop of mentor teachers' reasoning about practice, we seek to understand shifts in intern teachers' reasoning about practice during a year in which they take their final methods course in the fall and then do intern teaching in the spring. The data we analyze consist of intern and mentor teacher study group discussions of repeated…

Background: Many alternative curricular models exist in physical education to better meet the needs of students than the multi-activity team sports curriculum that dominates in the USA. These alternative curricular models typically require different content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical CK (PCK) to implement successfully. One of the complexities…

In British social science degree programmes, methods courses have a bad press, and statistics courses in particular are not well-liked by most students. A nationally-coordinated, strategic investment in quantitative skills training, Q-Step, is an attempt to address the issues affecting the shortage of quantitatively trained humanities and social…

For the past two decades, scholars have advocated for reforms in teacher education that emphasize relevant connections between theory and practice in university coursework and focus on clinical experiences. This paper is based on our experiences in designing and implementing an integrated literacy methods course in a field-based teacher education…

The purpose of this study was to investigate middle level preservice teacher self-efficacy beliefs in general, as well as in the domain of reading. The participants were 8 middle school preservice teachers enrolled in a state-mandated reading methods course and student teaching over the course of a year. As part of the yearlong internship, the…

Communities play a critical role in helping teacher candidates understand the social and historical aspects of community and their impact on schools, students and families, particularly in urban communities. Communities should be integral and equal partners in preparing teachers for today's diverse schools. This paper focuses on utilizing the…

The number of candidates seeking and completing online courses and programs in teacher education continues to increase in order to meet the licensing flexibility demands of adults pursuing teacher certification. Using the theoretical constructs of learner-centered instruction and zones of proximal development, this paper provides an overview of…

Describes a social studies teaching methods course which emphasizes laboratory work in local public elementary schools. Lists five activities preservice teachers are expected to fulfill in the course. (KC)

Teacher education students placed in clinical settings for methods coursework need adequate guidance in order to make the most of their experiences. Guidance in terms of teaching, reflections, clinical settings, and other related activities offers these candidates a realistic view of teacher, teaching, and learning. Oftentimes, the clinical…

In lieu of the Curriculum and Instruction course, University of Hawaii education majors may serve as interns at Kailua High School's alternative program, Community Quest (CQ). Interns learn to design, implement, and evaluate curriculum. This article describes the CQ course and presents evaluative comments from some interns. (Author/SJL)

Reviews recent research which indicates the need for a variety of field-based learning experiences which are closely integrated with teacher preparation. Examines a program at the University of Iowa (Ames) in which the social studies methods course was moved to a high school so that students observed high school classes and received instruction…

Prospective teachers spending a year in classrooms... Teachers and professors studying problems that teachers face every day... Teachers co-teaching methods courses with university professors... These are some of the exciting outcomes of university-school teacher education partnerships in North Carolina. Current interest in university-school…