Contemplating one's teaching is an essential part of teacher education. As instructors of a methods course with a tutoring component, we asked education majors in the class to author weekly e-mail reflections about their teaching experiences. However, they had difficulty considering their lessons. The authors knew poetry stimulated introspections.…

Prospective teachers in early field placements may gradually develop more mature concerns for pupils if they are given opportunities to reflect upon classroom experience. This study provides information concerning a reflective inquiry model compatible with early field placement. Participants were 12 student teachers engaged in classroom teaching…

This paper presents information regarding two university field programs in two elementary schools in New Orleans (Louisiana), serving culturally diverse children, and it attempts to reveal the influences of each school context on preservice teachers' acquisition of pedagogical content knowledge, their concerns and dilemmas, and their frames of…

This study investigated common themes in preservice teachers' case writing, noting how the thematic content diversified since teacher educators first added case writing to the course agenda. The study examined contributing factors that influenced expansions in preservice teachers' case writing perspectives and theme variations in preservice…

The qualitative inquiry reported here describes the particular sociocultural aspects of an urban elementary school serving as the context for an award-winning reading/language arts early field experience, and takes a close look at how the sociocultural factors of this urban elementary school contribute to the professional development of the…

This 9-month intrinsic case study followed 2 preservice teachers as they learned to teach literacy in 2 consecutive, field-based methods courses. Analysis of data from surveys, dialogue journals, observations, conversations, e-mail notes, and telephone conversations showed a recursive yet distinct hierarchical progression in the preservice…

Study examined the relationship between future teachers' reflections and growth in their teaching abilities in an early field placement. Analysis of data gathered over one semester from reflective journals and multiple observations indicated teacher preparation programs should foster reflective thinking as an important facet of growth in teaching…

This study of student teachers' reflective abilities defines reflecting about teaching as the capability and willingness of prospective teachers to question and critically analyze their teaching and teaching experiences. In discussing differences between student teachers in psychological and personal dimensions, the characteristics examined were:…

This paper describes challenges associated with preparing preservice teachers in the 21st century to accept responsibility for devising and presenting lessons that link reading and writing with multiple sign and symbol systems, such as drama, musical composing, film, visual art, and computer technology. It proposes the portal school concept as a…

This case study looked at one preservice teacher during field experiences prior to her student teaching as she addressed the complexities of supporting the literacy learning of students in a class for students with learning disabilities and in a regular class setting. The preservice teachers' lessons emphasized multiple literacies. Data were…

A qualitative inquiry describes the sociocultural aspects of an urban elementary school serving as the context for a reading/language arts early field experience and examines how the sociocultural factors of this school contribute to the professional development of the preservice teachers who work there and their three supervising teachers. (SLD)

The influences of elementary school context were studied with 88 preservice teachers student teaching in 2 different university field programs. Data support the benefits of pluralistic school experiences for future teachers and suggest that contextual conditions unique to a particular school may influence preservice teachers' learning and…