This study examined collaborative professional development (PD) as a policy instrument for relating external ideas to present teaching practices. The study interprets the global emphasis policymakers place on collaborative PD as a response to the devolution of responsibility in many school systems, accompanied or followed by increased external…

In this article, we discuss principals' perspectives on the priority given to the place in the curriculum of and the supporting practices related to health and sustainability education in schools in Denmark (for pupils aged 6-16). The study is situated within the discourses about critical health and sustainability education and treats the two…

Curriculum implementation often falls short because of a lack of cultural understanding by curriculum developers and aid organizations. This paper describes a single-case study of a professional development programme for polytechnic Heads of Department in Ghana, which aimed at identifying how curriculum development activities were sensitive to…

This research examines secondary mathematics teachers' use of textbook curriculum materials within "typical" cycles of planning and teaching in a school year. The curriculum use of four teachers from the western US was examined before and after engagement in a form of professional development focused on more purposeful and flexible…

This paper addresses the question: What is the value of an educational excursion for first year students enrolled in a 4 year pre-service professional teacher education degree at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa? The excursion is an integral part of a first year module that focuses on the personal and professional development of…

Teacher action research seeks to bring together action, reflection, theory, and practice; and it is acknowledged as a way to value and honour teachers' practical knowledge. The purpose of this article is to conceptualize teacher action research as "Bildung," applying Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics as a theoretical…

School-based curriculum development has been a highlight of China's new curriculum reform since 1999. This reform introduces a curriculum policy change towards devolving partial power in curriculum decision-making to teachers, and invites their active involvement in transforming their role from being book-knowledge transmitters to curriculum…

Teaching national history in school generates significant public anxiety and political debate--as the various "history wars" around the world reveal. For many school students, however, studying their nation's past is dull and repetitive. Such lack of interest has been confirmed by surveys and research reports that reveal alarmingly low…

We analyse two narratives of teacher-facilitator teams producing elementary science curricula and disseminating them to their peers. We draw on these stories to interpret how teacher-facilitators position themselves with respect to other educators (e.g. peer teachers and development-team members), to real and imagined students and parents, to…

This study examines four case studies of mentors of new teachers who assumed leadership of teacher induction programmes. Using cycles of action research conducted in a teacher induction leadership network, the case-study authors inquired into the features of the mentor curriculum. Cross-case analyses suggest the need for three elements of mentor…

Contemporary teacher education demonstrates the continued use of competency-based, personality-based and inquiry-based approaches. These approaches are commonly regarded as representing alternative paradigms for designing curriculum and pedagogy. From a Vygotskian perspective, characterized by the use of bridging concepts relating individual…

Attempts to construct an account of how teachers acquire their professional identities as a means to informing professional development. Discusses four significant traditions (craft, scientific, moral, and artistic) in education. Considers implications for practice. (CMK)

Observes the changes in public education that occurred along the Wisconsin frontier. As the territory progressed, education changed from a winter-term only enterprise lead by male farmer/teachers to a full term lead by professionally trained women teachers. Identifies professionalization as the greatest influence on the feminization of teaching.…

Describes the role of writing fiction as a mode of inquiry into work experience. Contends that the writing of stories is a way of learning about one's experiences. Proposes a cross-professional group to explore putting into practice such modes of inquiry. (DB)

Explores professionalism, the ideal of service, the professional community, and the epistemology of practice as key dimensions of teacher professionalism. Urges practitioners to consider teaching as an aspiration. Calls for the creation of a community of intellectuals and practitioners in order to develop a basis for practice. (KO)