In this article, I argue that the social studies methods course is an appropriate place to practice and reflect upon doing democracy. I review the literature on kinds of citizens the methods course might support. I consider pre-service teachers' prior and present experiences with doing democracy. I pose a framework for doing democracy centered on…

An integrated mathematics and science methods course was designed to focus on the knowledge, skills, and beliefs of teacher candidates. Teacher candidates were involved in experiences that would prompt them to consider the influence of their experiences on their beliefs, the influence of their beliefs on their instructional decisions and the…

Research undertaken during a six week mountaineering expedition to Iceland in July 2003 set out to investigate approaches to facilitating the reflective process in 20 participants aged between 14 and 18. A number of models were examined to help determine the educational philosophy underpinning the expedition. The research methods involved…

As the number of off-shore content-based courses presented by Western universities increases, the issue as to the suitability of elements of constructivist pedagogy arises. This paper reports on mainland Chinese student views of two different types of collaborative work conducted bilingually within a Master of Education program specializing in…

The conversation between myself and Professor Lederman took place in Malmö, Sweden on August 25, 2007. The purpose of the conversation was to elaborate on the past, present and future of nature of science research and also to provide insights for beginning researchers. In this text I am providing the questions about which we talked and my…

Practice-as-inquiry refers to the blending of instructional practice with systematic curricular inquiry. College and university teachers, while experts in their disciplines, typically are not specialists in instructional practice. Practice-as-inquiry (also referred to as teacher-as-researcher) may function as a mechanism of continuous teaching…

The purpose of this collective case study was to understand the nature of planning and the influences on planning among intern and novice teachers in Illinois. Sixteen intern teachers and 15 novice teachers participated in reflections, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. In regard to the nature of planning, both intern and novice…

After 12 years, the long overdue translation of Derrida's "Du droit a la philosophie" has just been made available in English. It is a collection of essays, interviews, and conferences produced by Derrida between 1974 and 1990. They focus on questions of education and research, in schools and universities, with a critical reflection on academic…

The development of both reflective critical practice and innovative or creative approaches in English teaching have been key elements of the PGCE English training courses which have evolved over the last fifty years. However the deluge of documentation and initiatives continually pouring out from government agencies means that the professional…

Engineering students in technical universities in Sweden, as probably in many other countries, tend to treat mathematics as a mechanical subject in which you do calculations and manipulations and there is very little explanation. In order to create deeper understanding, verbal or written explanations by students can be beneficial. In our study we…

This paper draws on a research study of elementary- and secondary-route preservice teachers in a two-year, after-degree teacher preparation programme. The paper includes excerpts of classroom data, taken from the author's own university classroom, demonstrating preservice teachers' responses to carefully selected video extracts of children…

This paper discusses the creation of essential conditions in schools and school jurisdictions in order to support the inclusion of the diverse range of learning preferences and needs found in today's classrooms. In order for inclusion to be successful educators need to work towards an educational climate and set of practices which include the…

If the modern conservatorium is to prosper in a rapidly changing cultural and economic landscape, it will need to provide a learning experience that produces multi-skilled and adaptable graduates who are self-monitoring and self-directing. By implication, teaching practices that have dominated in the past will need to be re-thought, and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically examine an assessment task, undertaken by pre-service science teachers, that integrates the use of technology (in this case digital video-recorders and video-editing software) whilst scaffolding skill development. The embedding of technology into the assessment task is purposeful, aiming to…

This paper discusses the basic concepts of reflection and its related concepts in optics. It aims at providing examples on how to apply the principle of reflection in geometry. Explorations of the concepts involved via dynamic geometry software are also included.