As a follow on to my earlier research with beginning teachers, in which I investigated their propensity for pedagogical change, when they faced difficult and unfamiliar cultural situations in school, this research was undertaken to test the findings on a larger scale. The research from which this case study is drawn uses a greater number of…

Science standards in the U.S. have shifted to emphasise science and engineering process skills (i.e. specific practices within inquiry) to a greater extent than previous standards' emphases on broad representations of inquiry. This study examined the alignment between second-career science teachers' personal histories with the latter and examined…

This case study focuses on one beginning English teacher's work toward eupraxia, i.e., good practice informed by reflection in a setting in which a degree of free choice is available. The study uses a Vygotskian framework for studying concept development that focuses on the settings of human activity and how ambiguous social concepts are developed…

The purpose of this case study was to examine novice physical education teachers in the first and second year of teaching. Participants included two novice physical education teachers, John in Year 1 and Mark in Year 2. Methodology included observations, semistructured interviews, and documents. Data were analyzed using open coding and constant…

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine preservice and first-year music educators' perspectives on fieldwork activities embedded within a music teacher preparation program. One cohort of students was tracked for 2.5 years as they participated in an elementary teaching practicum, fulfilled the student teaching internship, and…

Teacher retention is an issue in education, and the loss of teachers has a direct affect on student achievement. Schools are battling the attrition of beginning teachers by the use of mentoring programs. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a mentoring program, according to teachers who have served as mentors,…

Retaining teachers is a pressing issue facing many urban middle schools in the southern US. Urban middle schools continually face increased teacher turnover rates in spite of state mandated induction and mentoring programs. Drawing from Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, the purpose of the qualitative case study was to examine urban middle…