A team of secondary school language teachers and a teacher trainer developed a new method for Dutch writing instruction. The principles underlying the method were derived from insights regarding activating instruction and self-directed student learning. The development entailed two phases. In the first phase, the exploration of actual problems in…

This study was designed to elicit concepts and practices of democracy and accountability from education practitioners--graduate students who are teachers and leaders in schools and who are differently positioned as workers in higher education systems. The author's intention was to prompt active and reflective thinking on the part of the students…

This article explores whether using reflective dialogue in action learning sets on a foundation degree (FD) in educational support can develop the capacity for reflective practice of the students. Developing a reflective stance in relation to professional practice is a central theme of the programme, which is reinforced by the work-based learning…

As new technologies promise to be an enduring feature of the landscape of teachers' work, we consider how teachers implicitly bring stories forward into their classroom explorations with new media as a part of their "informal learning". By "stories" is meant specific classroom texts as well as preferred teacher practices with those texts. The…

This paper reports on the students' experiments of using blogs to encourage themselves to do pre-class reading assignment and reflections after class. The sample in the study included five ESL (English as a Second Language) graduate students in a course of teaching methods, and 90 software engineering students in an undergraduate information…

Over the last few years, the helical mirror or "spinner" has become a popular decoration for gardens and elsewhere. Even casual observation reveals intriguing optical properties, so the spinner is a good teaching tool. To facilitate student exploration, we suggest some questions and provide brief explanations.

Dr. Thomas Weidner is the Director of the Athletic Training Education Program and the Research and Education Laboratory at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. In this article he shares his views on what he has come to learn from being an educator in the current era of athletic training education reform. This manuscript is from the…

As a Certified Laban Movement Analyst and a classically trained ballet dancer, I consistently weave the Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals (LMA/BF) theories and philosophies into the ballet class. This integration assists in: (1) Identifying the qualitative movement elements both in the art of ballet and in the students' dancing…

This is the third in a series of Early Years Good Practice conferences provided by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE). The purpose of these is to support early years practitioners from pre-school and the early years of primary school to share ideas and learn from one another about the practical aspects of managing the continuity of…

This study examined the reflective journal entries of 42 trainee teachers who underwent teaching practicum in schools in Malaysia. The study investigated the types of reflections, strategies or stance used, and perceptions of the trainees toward reflective journal writing. The findings of the study indicated that the trainee teachers were engaged…

Reflective practice is an important vehicle for the apprenticeship of tacit and procedure-oriented knowledge. This article explores the development of reflective practice in the teaching of an innovative design course. Starting from a characterization of the "materials of a design situation" (problem-solution duality, methods and tools,…

This article raises questions about three features of musical education that have been explored in the pages of the "British Journal of Music Education" ("BJME") over the last 25 years: the assessment of creative work; the nurturing of an elite among young musicians; the uses of electronics in music classrooms. The article…

The study reported in this article aimed at exploring what teachers know and do about fostering higher-order thinking skills in teaching science, and how they see themselves involved in achieving this end. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 11 teachers experienced in teaching high school physics, which is considered a…

This paper presents the main functions that university plays in society and describes the seminar methodology created at Ramon Llull University. Specifically the article focuses on and explains how seminars help to promote complex knowledge in students. An empirical study with students participating in seminars is designed to assess the…

This paper describes the experiences of two pre-service primary teachers in a teacher education subject focusing on mathematics and learning difficulties. It describes how bibliotherapy was a powerful reflective tool that provided them with the opportunity to respond cognitively and affectively to their own schooling. By analysing readings about…