Inclusive education is increasingly common in K-12 schools, yet teacher preparation for inclusive education has been lagging. In the present study, interviews of teacher candidates, mentor teachers, university faculty, and fieldwork supervisors were completed to determine experiences of, and preparation for, inclusive education. Results indicate…

Universities need to assess student learning in order to determine if they are reaching the needs of the students, linking learning to course objectives, and determining if their courses have academic rigor. While many courses focus on the immediate course learning objectives, the use of final program projects and program assessments are becoming…

This study reports on research into the use of Slowmation in a general science methods program in teacher education as a productive way of teaching student teachers how to recognize and respond to students' alternative conceptions in science. The preservice teachers first experienced Slowmation themselves as modelled by their lecturers in their…

This is a longitudinal study aimed at revealing the beliefs of prospective science teachers in the College of Education at Sultan Qaboos University/Sultanate of Oman about science teaching. To achieve this aim a Draw-A-Science-Teacher-Test Checklist (DASTT-C) tool was used. The study sample consisted of (45) prospective science teachers in the…

Nathalie's experience of becoming a teacher demonstrates how a counter-narrative contributes to negotiating dominant discourses that propagate stories of uniformity and reinforce the status quo within the teaching profession. By offering an alternate perspective of teacher culture as a liminal space, uncertainty symbolizes Nathalie's transition to…

Across the world, the work of teacher educators in universities is subject to contradictory discourses of, on the one hand, globalisation and standardisation and, on the other, innovation in both teaching and research. This article is a critical account of a particular experience of an Australian teacher educator leading an international teaching…

We present findings from interviews with 17 first-year MSWs assigned to gerontological placements undertaken before beginning--and again as they neared completion--of practicum. All respondents, even those most positive and negative at beginning of placement, report a reduction in stereotypes, improved appreciation of older adults' capacities and…

The practicum is an integral component of teacher education courses, but culturally and linguistically diverse pre-service teachers can face particular struggles in meeting assessment requirements on the practicum in early childhood settings. This paper reports from a small, exploratory study of early childhood practicum handbooks from four…

We report on a study of preservice teachers who tutored adults learning English in a free evening class while simultaneously taking a course titled Community Literacy. Exploring their participation, we wondered in what ways pedagogy developed within this context. Drawing on a close discourse analysis of preservice teachers' written work, we found…

Feedback on school practicum is of utmost importance for student teachers to help them to develop their pedagogical and teaching skills. This paper attempts to collect data from both student teachers and their mentors in an ELT teacher training programme in Oman to answer the questions which are raised by this study: 1) What kind of feedback do…

Students who qualify for special education services are at risk for being bullied because of their cognitive, emotional, behavioral, or physical differences. Currently, teachers are not effective enough in reducing bullying; better preservice teacher preparation in this area may help to alleviate the problem. The current study explored the effects…

This paper reports findings from an ongoing study exploring how the Content Representation (CoRe) design can be used as a tool to help chemistry student teachers begin acquiring the professional knowledge required to become expert chemistry teachers. Phase 2 of the study, reported in this paper, investigated how collaboration with school-based…

Students enter their practicum experience with the assumption that they will learn the skills needed to help clients. However, growth in counseling can be bidirectional; both the client and the student-counselor can benefit. The purpose of this article is to describe a creative arts assignment that helps students express how a client changed them,…

The purpose of this study was to field-test several conferencing technologies in regional schools to determine whether the technologies are appropriate for the needs of the university supervisor, trainee teachers and supervising teachers in practicum placements. The study also explored the potential of technology for other related purposes. Four…

This article reports the investigation of change in preservice teachers' conceptions of effective history teaching across a secondary history methods course in a postgraduate diploma of education program. Using concept mapping to plot shifts in their expressed reflections, data were obtained that indicate personal constructs of effective history…