In this article, the author suggests that visual culture is so much a part of students' lives that it is difficult to ignore. In the art class educators can effectively model democratic concepts, processes, and behaviors, and help students make sense of their world. The arts can heighten perception and critical thinking and help students develop…

This study examined teachers' expressed perceptions of states' provisions for instructional materials and professional development opportunities related to state literacy initiatives for K-6 classroom teachers in ten southeastern states. Approximately 400 teachers responded to a survey instrument which included the topics of materials and…

Pedagogical applications of technology--including digital video, course management systems, online discussion forums, and CD-ROM com-pilations--for development of professional skills were tested in three distinct professional graduate programs. Role-playing, peer review, and self-reflection instructional methods were technologically enhanced by…

Research on new teachers identifies two critical challenges in relation to how novices view their students: practice shock that results in an over focus on controlling students and a cultural mismatch that causes novices to see diversity as a problem. This article explores how mentoring strategies intervene at this critical phase, influencing…

Although there is a fair amount of knowledge on the issue of promoting student-directed learning, research indicates that teachers are not always able to put that knowledge into practice. Therefore, new educational practices related to student-directed learning should be introduced in teacher education. This makes it possible to break the didactic…

This paper highlights how a developing country like the Philippines incarnates a learner-centered approach in its overall education framework. Specifically, key policies and strategies relative to curriculum development, pedagogical issues, educational innovation and evaluation, professional development of teachers and school-community dynamics…

In the primary grades, literacy teachers often face dual and competing challenges. On one hand, they are expected to provide developmentally appropriate practice in a contextually-sensitive manner. On the other hand, they are often charged with using packaged literacy curricula that contains components that are developmentally inappropriate for…

Professionalism is widely thought to be desirable in ELT, and at the same time institutions are taking seriously the need to evaluate their teachers. This article presents a general approach to professionalism focused on the accountability of the professional to the client based on TESOL's (2000) classification of adult ELT within eight general…

In this article, an approach to the final assignment for a seminar class in early childhood education is discussed. The goal of the project was to give practicing teachers a sense that they could make changes in their thinking and therefore their practices, in the present time and in the future, and see themselves more clearly as leaders of their…

Leaders in professional development have called for more learner-centered professional development opportunities for teachers. These approaches allow teachers to have some choice about the content and pedagogies on which they focus during professional development courses. This paper shares case studies of three participants from InterMath, a …

Taking a positive view is a fruitful way to prompt educators to reflect on and to develop their practice. Teachers, teacher educators and children bring a wide range of ideas that provide a powerful basis for developing understanding of the complexities of classroom practice. Using appreciate inquiry the authors show how they developed their…

The study reported in this article is derived from a critical analysis of the work of 28 pre-service teachers enrolled in the course "Teaching elementary language arts" in a Bachelor of Education concurrent program in a southern State university. The pre-service teachers were taught how to use an innovative knowledge-building framework based on…

Today, in the United States of America, preparing accomplished teachers who are committed to equity may be among the most important keys to the survival of their democratic way of life. In a society in which the ability to learn is increasingly essential to individual and societal success, the ability to teach powerfully--that is, to teach in ways…

The Pilot schools Experiential Education Demonstration (PSEED) project was intended to deepen and embed high-quality experiential education within each participating school's academic programs. A continuation of a multiyear set of initiatives by the Barr Foundation, PSEED was an effort to unify the foundation's content area foci on arts,…

Although literacy skills needed to engage in the economy and public life have grown, the literacy skills of many adolescents remain low. One popular approach to improving student literacy is using school-based reading coaches; however, there is little empirical evidence regarding the nature of coaching and its effectiveness in changing teacher…