Introduces an issue devoted to teaching portfolios in teacher education. The articles present initial research and reflections on the use of portfolios and share lessons learned through practice. They address such issues as the purposes of portfolios in teacher education; portfolio organization, management, and evaluation; and strengths and…

Presents an overview of teaching portfolios in teacher education, defining and describing the strengths and limitations of three portfolio models (the learning portfolio, the assessment portfolio, and the employment portfolio). The article emphasizes that portfolios can serve a variety of purposes and take many forms and notes the relationship…

The practicum addressed the problem of student teachers' inadequacy in managing out-of-control children in the elementary classroom. The objectives were to conduct: (1) an in-service program on six factors that contribute to out-of-control behavior; and (2) an in-service program on the techniques for managing the out-of-control child. Techniques…

Discusses decisions that must be addressed when using repertory grid techniques to study teacher thinking, suggesting there is an art and a science to conducting constructivist research. The article illustrates the use of the repertory grid, snake, and self-characterization sketch to help student teachers consider their views on teacher…

Provides a rationale for using developmental portfolios in preservice teacher education, describing how portfolios have been used in teacher education programs and discussing contributions portfolios can make in helping candidates reflect on the pre-student teaching segment of the program and make the transition from student to student teacher and…

An educator reflects on preservice teachers in his class who were concerned with issues of interpersonal relations and classroom dynamics but not with socioeconomic, intercultural, and political contexts of education. Nevertheless, there were some faculty and students involved in urban schools bringing reconstructionist ideas of education for…

Documents the learning constructed by two preservice teachers. One illustrates how preservice teachers interpret children's literature to help them understand and apply academic theory. The other highlights how preservice teachers generate their own theories about the nature of teaching, learning, and classrooms while interpreting children's…

The Teacher Learning Center at Arizona State University attempts to assist teacher candidates with significant physical, personal, or pedagogical problems. The Professional Attributes and Instructional Development Scales, classroom teacher and supervisor recommendations, and student self-referrals are used to identity those in need of counseling…

At Ruskin College full-time students take teaching methods courses and teach part-time adult students. Focus on critical adult education fosters skills connecting education and democracy to create a more just and participatory society. (SK)

Uses action theory to examine the role of student teachers as culture and change brokers in Nigeria. Demonstrates how student teachers control symbols of power by making themselves indispensable middlepersons in triadic relationships and by reinterpreting cultural symbols to members of the various groups that they link. (Author/GC)

Condon, a community of approximately 950 people in central Oregon, opened its high school to 15 undergraduate secondary education students from the University of Oregon and provided them with perhaps the richest experience of their preprofessional training. (Author/BR)

Student teachers' learning in the field experience is seen as being at the heart of their professional training in initial teacher education. This paper reports a qualitative case study of preservice student teachers' learning experiences in school placements in Hong Kong. A multi-case study was conducted in a concurrent teacher education…

Reviewing and rethinking the 'knowledge base' for teacher education has become a particularly critical issue in recent times, given profound social and cultural shifts and changes and the emergence of new epistemological, political and technological conditions and contexts. This paper takes up the question of what are the key conceptual and…

At the Institute of Education in Singapore, two disjunctions in teacher preparation were identified. The first was the gap between theoretical knowledge propounded in teacher education programs and the experience of students in the practicum. The second was the gap between both the theoretical and experiential learning of the students and the real…

Describes how a team of college instructors framed a humanities methods course within the concept of classroom community-building to address issues relevant to preservice teachers in such areas as moral commitment, professionalism, caring, and concern, providing examples of how the community was built, discussing strengths and limitations of that…