Informed by a conceptual framework on boundary crossing, this qualitative case study explored how a student teacher engaged in professional learning through recursive boundary crossing between her field school and the university programme in a U.S. context. The findings revealed the power of boundary crossing as a cyclical, intense, and…

This study investigates meaningful events that student teachers identified from video recordings of their teaching practice that were used to improve their knowledge base. Data were collected from 21 student teachers at an Estonian university using a guided reflection procedure. Deductive qualitative content analysis was performed on meaningful…

The landscape of teacher education is undergoing significant change in many countries and this is often associated with a move towards greater school involvement in the preparation of teachers. One aspect of teaching expertise that is particularly challenging for primary student-teachers is the development of subject knowledge across a wide range…

The relative contributions of higher education and schools, and hence the conceptual and practical aspects of ITE, to student teachers' professional learning have been an issue of concern in teacher education. This article reports a mixed-methods study showing the relationship between student teachers' engagement with the practical and conceptual…

Conceptions of theory within initial teacher education in England are adjusting to new conditions where most learning how to teach is school-based. Student teachers on a programme situated primarily in an employing school were monitored within a practitioner enquiry by their university programme tutors according to how they progressively…

How mentors in their role as assessors appraise practice teaching lessons may strongly influence their student teachers' learning of how to teach. It can be contended that an assessment for learning (AfL) perspective on process and criteria of appraisal will support a shared valuation of student teachers' practice teaching and acceptance of…

Teacher educators seem to agree that, to be able to support their student teachers' learning, they themselves should be good models of the kind of teaching they are trying to promote. However, it is clear from the literature that this "congruent teaching" is not self-evident in teacher education. In the present article, we describe a small…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of student-teachers' learning practices in primary school chemistry classroom contexts. Its theoretical approach is based on the sociocultural view of learning and development, which holds a conception of the learner as a cultural and historical subject, embedded within and constituted by a…

In many teacher training courses, reflection upon practice plays a very important role in learning to teach. A number of strategies have been developed to help student teachers learn to reflect. Current reflection strategies often focus on problematic instead of on positive experiences. Ideas from positive psychology and solution-based therapy…

The research described in this paper concerns the acquaintance of student teachers with the educational and wider pastoral experiences of children and young people who are or have been "looked after" and who they may well teach at some point, together with the familiarisation of student teachers with the "looked after" system…

This paper draws on data collected in a one-year research project focusing on elucidating theory/practice relations in learning to teach. As a teacher educator I grapple with the nature and role of teaching methodology. The notion of method, with its implied order and certainty, is confronted alongside prospective teachers throughout their…

In 1999, all student teachers at secondary I level at the University of Bern who had to undertake an internship were asked to participate in a study on learning processes during practicum: 150 students and their mentors in three types of practicum participated--introductory practicum (after the first half-year of studies), intermediate practicum…

This paper considers ways in which trainee teachers can be helped to develop their ability to engage in reflection on their practice. The context for the research is a Block School Experience developed by tutors in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of Sunderland. An exploration of the nature of reflective practice…