Using emerging technologies to connect teacher education programs to K-12 schools has the potential to enhance preservice teachers' understanding of the relationship between theory and practice. The study reported here examined preservice teachers' perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of the use of compressed video to provide a shared field…

Since Fall 2001, the faculty and leaders of the Teacher Education Program (TEP) at the University of California, Los Angeles, have participated in a collaborative inquiry project. This five-year research endeavor provides opportunities for teacher educators, assisted by university researchers, to study their own practice. This paper presents an…

This article offers a description of critical literacy practice and/as professional development as it evolved in a teacher inquiry group investigating critical literacy. The authors describe this professional development experience as an instance of critical literacy in practice. The entirety of this article is a collaborative product in which the…

Multiple sources of influence impact the decisions about what and how teacher educators are expected to operate, including the innovations that are adopted. Some of those sources of influence (such as teacher certification boards) can demand that certain curricula be adopted, specific instructional procedures be utilized, and delineate the…

Learning how to use mathematics curriculum materials to create learning opportunities is an important part of the work of teaching. This paper presents findings from a study involving 15 elementary preservice teachers enrolled in, first, a content and, then, a methods course, and discusses the extent to which three curriculum interventions…

Action Research is used in many teacher education programs to promote reflection, inquiry, and a sense of efficacy in pre-service teachers. As teacher educators working with a cohort of thirty-two teachers in a nine-month program, we decided to incorporate action research into the Teacher Education Seminar, a foundational course addressing general…

In this third of four articles discussing the introduction of action research to a class of pre-service teachers, Julian and Dianne draw upon reflections written by students in their teacher program to examine the degree to which engaging in action research heightens their self-awareness.

The main aim of this article is to explore the ways in which teacher educators can improve levels of reflection in postgraduate student teachers. The author argues that postgraduate student teachers are able to reflect on their practice in schools, and that the insights gained are useful in clarifying their own beliefs about teaching and learning.…

Preservice teachers in elementary teacher education programs for the most part are well trained and prepared in meeting the needs of the students they face in today's classrooms. For many preservice teachers a more traumatic experience is the transition from student teacher to teacher. Due to various time and curricular constraints, the student…

This report of degree curricula in the field of Educational Communications and Technology reflects the influence and significant changes in the field since 1995. The most obvious influence on curricula is that of the computer, which is comparable to the impact of educational television some 50 years ago. Now, the computer is basic to distance…

We share our self-study research of faculty-building a successful collaborative culture and team teaching experience in a unique Master's program for experienced teachers. As part of self-study and reflective practice, this faculty team shared its collaborative experiences with teachers. This transparency had positive effects on the teachers'…

This article examines definitions of "highly qualified" teachers posed by the federal government, the American public, the professionalization agenda in teacher education, and the deregulation movement in teacher education. It focuses on one university's definition in practice: the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. I describe…

Developing reflective practice in pre-service student teachers is a goal of many teacher education programs. This article describes three activities used in a graduate teacher education program that were designed to use an arts focus to provoke deeper reflection about teaching and learning. Clay tiles were used for illustrating personal metaphors…

Current research indicates that new teachers want to be involved in school-level decision-making. Upon entering the profession, many novice teachers are surprised and disillusioned to find they have considerably less involvement and influence than expected. Based on strategies that have been developed, revised, and refined over a number of years…

Interdisciplinary teaming has been described as the pivotal component of blended, interdisciplinary teacher preparation for early childhood. A survey was conducted as a second national examination of the practices of faculty teams in blended teacher preparation programs. A time intensive search using diverse mechanisms and sources led to the…