Beginning teachers need strong support systems. In addition to adjusting to the demands of the teaching profession, beginning teachers are often required to teach heavy classloads, manage the most challenging classrooms, and take on non-teaching responsibilities in addition to their regular teaching assignments. Although beginning teachers face…

Despite evidence of promise, the adoption of culturally relevant educational (CRE) approaches to teaching and learning remains sporadic and underwhelming. In this chapter, we question this state of affairs by investigating teacher resistance to CRE. Through our examination of the literature, we have come to understand teacher resistance to CRE as…

There has been a growing interest in and research on the construction of teachers' professional identity and parameters of practice among researchers worldwide. This piece examines the nature of teachers' perceptions about their professionalism and practice. It also explores teacher isolation stemming from assumptions related to…

Why teachers in remote and rural schools do not remain longer in their posts is a central concern in Australian education. In particular, the lack of mathematics and science teachers in regional areas has reached critical levels endangering the adequate delivery of the curriculum to thousands of school students. While many teachers' personal…

The following note is that a review of existing literature pertaining to servant leadership and faculty development. Specifically, this work discussed delivering servant leadership to online faculty through the utilization of a faculty development program. The idea for this literature review stemmed from the author asking how an online academic…

The data discussed in this paper derive from post-lesson and end-of-year interviews with 17 teachers in their second year of teaching. They form part of a longitudinal study which first tracked these teachers through their initial postgraduate teacher education programme and induction year. In the light of earlier analysis, which had highlighted…

The provision and maintenance of quality teachers is a matter of priority for the profession. Moreover, teacher attrition is costly to the profession, to the community and to those teachers who leave feeling disillusioned. There is a need to investigate the experiences of early career teachers to consider how these issues contribute to decisions…

One of the ironies of teaching is that it is one of the most social occupations, but it is also one of the most isolating professions. Most schools are organized in an eggcrate manner, making professional collaborations difficult. In what other business would a professional not have easy access to a telephone? What other professional lives are…

Studying one's profession, especially when done in community with others, where the learning is richer and deeper, has not been the norm in the education community. Educators typically have been physically isolated from each other because of the structure of school facilities and the schedules that dominate the school day. This physical isolation…

A long-standing problem for rural school districts is recruiting and retaining quality teachers for their classrooms. The lack of resources, low salary and incentives, and personal and professional isolation are some reasons why fewer good teachers choose to work in rural schools. In order to address the challenges facing rural schools, states and…

Distance education is generally seen as a very isolating experience for students, but one often forgets that it can be an equally isolating experience for teaching staff who oftentimes work in isolation from colleagues. This study examines the experiences of nine tutors at the Reading and Writing Centres of one of the 10 biggest universities in…

Advocates development of a campus culture in which faculty can be colleagues to each other in teaching by sharing what they know, critiquing each other's work, assisting each other to improve, and creating conditions for recognition and reward of teaching. Covers the role of peer review and briefly describes some institutions' efforts. (JB)