Teacher beliefs have a profound impact on instructional practice. According to Pajares (1992), beliefs determine how much effort a teacher puts forth and how long he or she will persist in the face of adversity. Many beliefs can be traced back to experiences teachers had when they were in school. Those early recollections of school events tend to…

In this article about her early career development and the experiences that shaped her life as a scholar and researcher, the author describes the work lives of university-based teacher educators and what it means to compose a research life in this field. This article draws on the author's 30 years as a university-based teacher educator. In it, she…

This study focuses on aspects of the Changing Academic Profession survey of 2007-08 that describe the place of faculty in their institutions. The authors examine the following aspects of institutional life: (1) the faculty role in institutional governance; (2) who evaluates their teaching and research; (3) the locus of their loyalties as between…

In early 2009, Education International conducted a study amongst its member organisations on education in correctional settings in their respective countries. Findings reveal that education in correctional settings and the conditions of teachers working in them vary greatly between regions. Generally speaking, in most regions, but specifically in…

Organizational transformation, rather than improvement, is fast becoming the focus as dynamic and energetic leaders open new frontiers in work life and productivity. Schools can move beyond tinkering with structures and processes by creating a vision of school greatness. Florida's and Minnesota's experiments with professional partnerships are…

Debunks notion that someone can teach for nine months and then start learning in a two-week summer institute. Describes a Seattle project that is demolishing teaching/learning barriers by allowing English and history teachers to meet monthly for an entire day to read and discuss literary and historical works and plan an interdisciplinary…

This article is a first person's account of working in a rural district affected by drought, economic recession and poor levels of services. It is a facto-fictional narrative describing a typical working day in the life of Peggy, the acting CEO of quality teaching, in what is locally referred to as an NIDA district (where everyone is acting).…

The role of research in an applied field can be seen in terms of its relevance and use to practitioners. However, it can seem that much, or at least some, educational research currently being undertaken has become focused on the agenda and expressed in the terms of the ideology of governmental department and agencies. Specifically, how meaningful…

Faculty and their work are the heart, and thus determine the health, of every college and university and have a lasting impact on the many lives they touch. Well over a million faculty members now teach about 15 million students at over 4,000 colleges and universities in this country. The continued vitality of the academic profession is therefore…

This study, begun in October 1987, was conducted to explore the effect of particular contexts of schooling on educational outcomes and to provide a comprehensive look at what and how context conditions affect teaching and learning. The study design integrates 3 years of field research in 16 public and private high schools in 2 states and analyses…

Examines the occupational, managerial, and personal factors contributing to teacher burnout. Briefly reviews the relevant literature covering key characteristics and definitions. Includes a discussion of active and passive coping strategies. (MJP)

Maintains that many psychologists employed outside of research institutions are unfamiliar with traditional career strategies utilized at smaller colleges. Offers representative strategies from the traditional areas of faculty performance and evaluation: teaching, scholarship, service, and working with students. (MJP)

Paints a discouraging picture of the teaching conditions in higher education in the Ukraine. Salaries are about one-quarter of their previous levels, and often are not paid for months at a time, workers in science and education rank forty-fifth out of forty-eight pay categories, and publishing opportunities have declined. (MJP)

Presents a theory of workplace control in American high schools based on the assumption that school workplaces contain potent systems that control the everyday work attitudes and conduct of teachers. Posits the formation of teacher types, each comprising distinctive attitudes toward work, as the link between control systems and behavior. (MJP)

Account of one woman's climb to full professorship after over 20 years of teaching. Greeted with an icy reception at a midsize southern college, this Ivy League graduate was reluctantly hired in 1973. Recounts various specific instances of sex discrimination endured by the only full-time female professional in the music department. (LSR)