Although several studies underline the importance of a successful opening of a school lesson to spur students' interest and facilitate learning, we have limited knowledge about how openings are enacted in classrooms. This study contributes to the sparse research by asking: "What characterizes the openings of 58 reading lessons in Norwegian…

In this paper we use novel data to test the direct and indirect paths between teacher self-efficacy and student outcomes. This includes how teacher self-efficacy is linked to student, teacher, and expert rater views of lesson quality. Our results illustrate how the link between teacher self-efficacy and instructional quality is sensitive to how…

Demonstration lessons are used in China to provide models of quality music instruction. However, to date, no research has been done on the quality of demonstration lessons and how this relates to the improvement of school music education in China. This content analysis provides an insight into China's music demonstration lesson implementation and…

Is it possible to identify instructional practices that have an impact on student learning in mathematics? The study described here is part of ongoing efforts to understand and characterize effective instruction. We drew on the work of several recently developed frameworks for understanding teaching effectiveness to develop a protocol for studying…

When gestures occur with speech during math instruction, learning outcomes improve, indicating that gesture has the potential to mitigate educational inequities. One population that could benefit from an instructional tool like gesture is English Language Learners (ELLs). To increase our understanding of gesture's potential benefits for math…

Teachers are constantly involved in the act of decision-making in every moment of the classroom. These decisions are underpinned by pedagogical reasoning, which entails situated knowledge about particular teaching episodes and is reconstructed through teaching practice. The present case study sought to explore the pedagogical reasoning skills that…

With the increase in distance and online teaching for mainstream schooling contexts, the advocacy of using a virtual world as a teaching and learning place has accelerated. Currently, there is no empirical evidence revealing the pedagogical elements defining teacher practices in virtual settings. This article reports on an exploratory study which…

The aim of this study is to investigate both the planning and implementation process of a modelling task by a middle school mathematics teacher. The participant of the study, which was conducted as a single case study, is a middle school mathematics teacher who have knowledge and experience in modelling. The data collecting tools of this study…

The aim of this study is to investigate the Technology Pedagogy and Content Knowledge (TPACK) development of pre-service science teachers (PSTs) who participated in a TPACK Development Course (TPACK-DC) that consisted of three stages: a training course, lesson plans involving the application of micro-teaching, and school application. This study…

The use of video for teacher learning is a useful tool to support reflection and self-analysis. Video records have been successful in supporting teachers in learning to notice student thinking, a strong component in instructional expertise. The use of video provides permanent records of classroom lessons that can be viewed repeatedly (Sherin,…

We describe a new approach to the use of video-based technology for conducting controlled experiments in classroom contexts. Specifically, we describe a process for editing video recordings of live classroom lessons to create multiple versions, such that only one aspect of the lesson is systematically varied. Other aspects of the instruction are…

Reflective practice has become an integral component in teacher education. Many studies have investigated the development of a teacher's reflective practice, but less attention has been paid to novice L2 teacher trainees' development of reflective practice. Similarly, little is known about their concerns, interest, and needs, as they manifest in…

This paper explores affordances in teaching evolution, especially those in which evolution is made relevant to and argued for in a grade 9 biology classroom, thus giving potential answers to the pupils' legitimate question,"'why am I learning evolution?" The aim of the paper is methodological in the sense that it explores whether the…

This study investigates whether lesson structure (LS) matters and which components are important for academic engagement during the first grade of secondary education. Data from videoed lessons of 10 Dutch and 12 Indonesian teachers analyzed using an observation protocol show that six LS components are found, that between class and over…

A key concern for preservice teachers is classroom management, including student behaviour management, which also has been a factor associated with teachers leaving the profession within the first five years. This study investigates the mentoring practices used to guide the mentee's classroom management. Using multiple data sources (e.g., lesson…