The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to obtain perceptions of preservice primary teachers regarding their readiness to teach reading to primary grade children in order to address the declining reading levels of children. Literacy levels affect personal, educational, and professional pursuits. Parents, educators, and employers…

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…

Currently many children in early childhood education cannot be accommodated in provincial department schools. Consequently, different non-governmental institutions offer Grade R programmes in an attempt to support the DBE. Pre-primary schools that traditionally took responsibility for early childhood education also offer Grade R education. The…

After the launch of the new curriculum reforms at the beginning of the new millennia, teachers were expected to transform their conceptions of education by absorbing ideas such as "dual subjectivity," "democratic equality," "scientific inquiry," "collaborative learning," and so on. What sorts of conceptions…

In this article the authors report on research into how an ePortfolio (eP) process can address the critique that teacher education programs offer fragmented course experiences and too often focus on narrow instrumentalist approaches emphasising the "how to" and the "what works"--implying that learning how to teach is about stitching together…

Background: Deliberative mode of curriculum development has been hailed as one effective way of developing school-based curriculum. Its participatory, egalitarian and discursive characteristics have helped to generate the much-needed synergy and ownership feeling among the curriculum team members that lead to curriculum success. Nevertheless there…

The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective mathematics teachers' knowledge of common conceptions and misconceptions that sixth and seventh grade students had about multiplication of fractions. In addition, prospective teachers' knowledge of the sources of these misconceptions and strategies they knew to overcome these misconceptions…

This study examined pre-service teachers' development of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) over their final year in a university based teacher education program. This was done through analyzing written reflections, focus group interviews, individual interviews, teaching observations, and post-observation interviews as well as through the…

The needs of academically advanced/high-ability students may not be met in today's schools. When educational needs are not met, students may not reach full potential, may lose intrinsic motivation for learning, and may develop poor work and study habits. The rural school district involved in this study lacks a formal gifted and talented program.…

Uses in-depth interviews to explore the understanding of a non-random sample of 12 practicing primary school teachers in four areas: (1) biodiversity; (2) the carbon cycle; (3) ozone; and (4) global warming. Identifies those underpinning science concepts that were well understood, and those which were not so well understood. (Author/SAH)

Learning how to teach depends on the dynamic inter-relationships among many parts and people; however, research on learning how to teach has typically focused on confined aspects of teacher education (e.g., a specific methods course) over short periods of time (such as one semester). In response, Wideen, Mayer-Smith, and Moon (1998), in their…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the problems facing primary teachers in implementing the 5-14 guidelines for science and technology and the extent to which these problems are related to teachers' knowledge and understanding of the subject matter in Scotland. Data collection methods included questionnaires and interviews. A key finding…

This study attempted to explore the relationship between elementary teacher candidates' conceptions of the nature of science and their consequent conceptions of teaching science. In order to measure patterns and trends in how elementary teacher candidates define the nature of science and the teaching of science, an open-ended qualitative…

Partnering for Elementary Environmental Science, a professional development program developed to enhance teachers' skills and content knowledge in science education, pairs classroom teachers with resource professionals for one year of collaborative instruction. This paper reports part of the evaluation and research related to the program.…

This study reports on an effort to improve the teaching and learning of physical science for prospective elementary teachers. As part of the effort, a new constructivist science curriculum model was introduced for field testing at a large midwestern university. The purpose of the study was to build a research base to guide future science teaching…