The highly complex demands of the profession often overwhelm new teachers. Burnout and attrition are known consequences of inadequate preparation, burdening the education system with costly turnover and schools with disproportionate numbers of inexperienced teachers, including special educators. Many teacher preparation programs embed field…

Two departments in a secondary school in England participated in "lesson study" projects over a five-month period to explore its usefulness as a vehicle for professional development. Through a cycle of two research lessons, conducted separately in each department, teachers identified challenges that inhibited the learning of their…

This article discusses some issues related to the professional development of Religious Education (RE) student teachers in initial teacher education based on empirical results on the development of the pedagogical thinking of Finnish RE student teachers during their teacher education. The article begins by describing the concept of professionalism…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the discourse patterns characterizing individual special education teachers as they participated in a collaborative professional development (PD) group, and how these individual discourse patterns influenced other group members' opportunities to learn about reading instruction for upper elementary…

To implement cooperative learning successfully in practice, teachers require knowledge of cooperative learning, its features and terms, and how it functions in classrooms. This qualitative study examined 12 Australian generalist primary teachers', understandings of cooperative learning and perceived factors affecting its implementation. Using…

This article advances a continuing line of inquiry into the potential of digital educative curriculum materials to support teachers' development of professional teaching knowledge. Instead of standalone levers of change, the educative curricula in this study were featured resources within a novel professional development approach. The qualitative,…

The aim of this study was to determine pre-service social studies teachers' skills to plan and apply the activity-based teaching and contribute to their development of these skills. In the study, the action research design of qualitative research was used. The sample of the study consisted of 6 pre-service teachers who were 4th year students at…

The purpose of this study was to examine Turkish prospective primary teachers' self-efficacy beliefs and readiness for their future roles and responsibilities as inclusive classroom teachers. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate how these roles and responsibilities relate to future teaching practices. In addition, this study examined…

This paper reports on a research study of 28 literacy teacher educators (LTE) in four countries: Canada, the USA, England and Australia. It identifies three main forms of professional development: informal, formal and communities of practice and four spheres of knowledge: research; pedagogy of higher education; literacy and literacy teaching; and…

This paper explores the professional development of 11 newly qualified foreign language teachers. It draws on a qualitative longitudinal study conducted at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland between 2002 and 2009. The paper concentrates on the personal side of teacher development by analysing participants' discourses concerning language…

Hispanic and Latino students are regarded as one of the most uneducated and educationally at-risk and disadvantaged groups in the United States, yet few studies have focused on teaching and learning in classrooms where they are making significant academic gains due to high quality teachers. Current research in this area lacks strong theoretical…

There is a growing awareness that an engineering presence within the K-12 curriculum provides an authentic contextual base for mathematics and science concepts. One large scale initiative focused on pre-college engineering is the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) funded through the National Science Foundations' (NSF)…

Researchers have identified best instructional strategies for diverse learners; however, some rural school districts lack funding and resources to train mainstream teachers in language learning and cultural responsiveness. Given the rapid increase of limited English proficient (LEP) students in rural areas, the purpose of this inquiry was to…

This study offers an analysis of the learning of practicing teachers as they acquire a deeper knowledge of mathematics. While some professional developers have shifted part of their focus to helping practicing teachers acquire a deeper knowledge of mathematics (e.g., Stein & Silver, 1996), the results from studies often describe what translates…

The new IDEIA (2004) mandates regarding the implementation of Response-to-Intervention (RtI) present challenges for general education teachers. The law dictates the implementation of Response-to-Intervention, which requires the application of a pyramid of interventions for students failing to make adequate yearly progress in response to general…