As a part of the Ready2Teach teacher education redesign of the Tennessee Board of Regents, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) has been implemented in the Foundations of Education courses of some universities. PBLs require teacher candidates to work in groups to research best practices and strategies that they would use to deal with real-world situations…

When faced with a multitude of tasks, any opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone" is welcome. Drama has always excited the author: as a child performing in plays, later as a student and now as a teacher directing performances and improvising within lessons. The author was lucky enough to have inspirational teachers during his…

As new approaches have emerged in art education, teacher preparation programs in higher education have revised existing courses or created new ones that reflect those new approaches. At the university where the author teaches, one such course is Diversity, Pedagogy, and Visual Culture (A ED 225). A ED 225 is intended to offer preservice art…

This paper describes the use of a three-circle Venn diagram as a vehicle for introducing pre-service elementary teachers to pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Each circle of the diagram represents pedagogy, content and context individually. The overlap of any two circles represents the interaction between the circles. For example, the overlap of…

For many years, the notion of "diversity" was a code word for talking simply about race and ethnicity. To say one had a diverse class was to say one was not teaching European-American students. Much of the literature, curriculum materials, and instructional practices was geared toward teaching particular groups of students--African Americans,…

In this article, I present my experience with integrating an alternate reality gaming (ARG) framework into a pre-service science teacher education course. My goal is to provide an account of my experiences that can inform other science education practitioners at the tertiary and secondary levels that wish to adopt a similar approach in their…

While it is reasonable to surmise that the vast majority of leaders, regardless of whether they are educators in the broad sense of that term, exercise their leadership in accord with sound ethical principles, the regular instances of exceptions to this rule highlight the importance of incorporating the study of ethics in leadership programs.…

In this article we describe the evolution of an elective course designed specifically for undergraduate students in our pre-service teacher education program. This course is intended to prepare these undergraduate students as future teachers--helping them to make effective and creative uses of technology in learning settings. This course…

For 16 years, a university teacher educator has been teaching a course on adolescent development using novels, memoirs, and case studies instead of the customary college textbook. Novels have included such award-winning works as Angelou's (1969) "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", Wolff's (1989) "This Boy's Life: A Memoir", Salinger's (1979)…

As intercultural competence among young people is one of the educational missions at European schools, teachers should themselves be able to deal constructively with cultural diversity, as well as encouraging and shaping intercultural learning processes in their classes. This article focuses on the intercultural competence of physical education…

This four-part story is about one teacher educator's attempt to embody praxis as a form of academic work, emphasizing the importance of the corporeal in learning and teaching. I describe the inter-related context (1) of my embodied self, the teacher education course I constructed, and theory employed in mediating course practices. Evidence of…

The realisation of plurilingualism requires a more open and inclusive approach to language teaching and one which takes account of various factors involved in working with learners who have a background in the target language and culture. This article seeks to identify these factors within the context of a set of broader principles for second…

Preservice art teachers often reflect about their classroom observations and art teaching experiences through papers, journaling, and blogging. Zines, or "Do It Yourself" (DIY) magazines offer preservice teachers a unique and unconventional format to reflect on issues relevant to teaching art. This article discusses the definition of zines, their…

How teachers view the nature of scientific knowledge is crucial to their understanding of science content and how it can be taught. This book presents an overview of the dynamics of scientific progress and its relationship to the history and philosophy of science, and then explores their methodological and educational implications and develops…

Outdoor and adventure education has been shown to result in positive psychological outcomes. This paper connects positive psychology--specifically, strengths-based education--to important outcomes in outdoor and adventure education. Strengths-based education encourages participants to intentionally use their talents to achieve success in the…