This case presents a journey through some of the stages of teacher-led, action-oriented classroom research spurred by a critical reflection of the surrounding educational landscape with the hope of increasing teacher and student agency toward transformation and growth. Pedagogies that are deemed transformative and inclusive were identified through…

This article describes the ways transformative curriculum making led to the creation of an immersive urban classroom ecosystem installation in a second-grade classroom. Both teachers and students engaged in science-based learning experiences through this immersive installation. Students' sensory learning experiences yielded a robust ecological…

Within chemistry education, there are various curricular and pedagogical approaches that aim to improve teaching and learning in chemistry. Efforts to characterize these transformations have primarily focused on student reasoning and performance, and little work has been done to explore student perceptions of curricular and pedagogical…

The study explores the extent to which transformative learning occurs using quantitative and qualitative methods in a human geography course (N = 35) and explores student affect in relation to the learning environment. We used the eight-scale Transformative Learning Environments Survey (TLES) instrument for the quantitative analysis and an aligned…

Despite the worldwide increasing prevalence of students with disabilities (SWD) in the general education environment, pre-service educators (PSE) are still reporting negative attitudes before and after taking coursework regarding SWD. Service-learning may be one method for improving the perceptions of PSEs towards SWD. Prior research has not…

Within the teacher education literature, international teaching experiences are lauded as opportunities for teacher candidates to develop multiple perspectives and cultural awareness. The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of 12 teacher candidates who engaged in an international teaching experience in Costa Rica. This…

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops created a curriculum for Catholic secondary schools that describes "what" adolescents should learn including the importance of developing a religious and moral identity, encounters through service, and a deeper understanding of interreligious dialogue. This study adds the "how" to the…

With an increasing immigrant population in the United States, higher education institutions and community organizations offer a variety of adult English as a second language (ESL) courses. Given that English language learners (ELLs) come from various backgrounds, they face unique challenges. Thus, it is pivotal that adult ESL instructors…

Introduction of Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures as a pedagogy in the Bhutanese Education system has become a key motivation to overcome classroom management problems and enhancing the learning experiences of students. Research shows its positive impact on students' learning ability and classroom engagement. Research also indicates challenges…

With the growth of short-term study abroad programs comes the need to develop impactful curricula and to provide supportive environments for deep learning abroad that is more than "upgraded" tourism but rather focused on educational outcomes. This qualitative case study investigates the experiences of five study abroad participants in…

Previous analyses of transformational learning (TL) focused on rational or nonrational processes such as critical reflection on an uncomfortable personal situation or emotional learning. In this phenomenological study, researchers examined existential dimensions of TL. Individual interviews were analyzed to identify the lived experiences of eight…

Reflection is a high impact practice that develops teacher candidates' learning. Critical reflection requires teacher candidates to continually examine their own thoughts, perspectives, biases, and actions. Reflective practice facilitates the development of new knowledge, skills, and dispositions in teacher candidates by fostering critical…

This study focuses on exploring teacher learning in terms of teachers' professional agency embedded in the classroom. Teachers' sense of professional agency is related to perceiving instruction as a bidirectional process, use of students as a resource for professional learning and continuous reflection on teaching practices. Accordingly, the…

We explore the first four articles in this Special Issue of "Studying Teacher Education" to identify challenges to the self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (S-STEP) methodology, and how this methodology supports the work of teachers and teacher educators working in urban settings. We respond to these articles by…

This three year qualitative study of a university pilot of the edTPA, a performance assessment for preservice teachers, questioned candidates' learning at the nexus of claims that the edTPA serves a dual role as both a formative assessment for candidates' ongoing learning as well as a summative assessment of their readiness to teach. The analysis…