This paper represents an earnest attempt to identify specific pedagogical roles for blogs in language learning. After briefly describing various types of blogs and defining their purposes (Herring "et al.", 2005) we attempt to accommodate their position and application within language teaching (Thorne & Scott Payne, 2005), relating evidence from…

In this article we review the notion of teacher knowledge from four metaphorical standpoints--teacher knowledge as "computer", as "craft", as "complexity" and as "change". We employ each of these metaphors to examine and analyse the work of one teacher of science. We draw implications from our analysis for teacher education, teacher development…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the extent to which the programme for principal preparation in Scotland relates to what is expected of principals once they are in post and what it is that they actually do. Design/methodology/approach: The paper analyses the professional experience of five relatively new elementary school principals reported in…

Collapsing the Fear of Mathematics: A Study of the Effects of Navajo Culture on Navajo Student Performance in Mathematics by Henry H Fowler Abstract American schools are in a state of "mediocrity" because of the low expectations in math (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983; No Child Left Behind Act of 2001; Duncan,…

This action research paper dealt with how to increase motivation towards writing in English through blogs and Gmail docs in a private school in Medellín, Colombia. It was necessary to explore the concepts of "social interaction," "motivation" and "reasons for writing" to understand how blogs and Gmail docs favored…

Background: The literature contains very few studies that focused on evaluating the impact of professional development activities on student learning. And, many of these studies failed to determine whether the professional development activities met their primary goal--to improve the learning process. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use…

This study investigates journal keeping as an example of successful reflective leadership and management practice among administrators in government, business and education. Twelve participants were identified through peer nomination as effective senior level administrators. Onsite observations and indepth interviews were conducted. Participants…

Offers 10 suggestions for more varied and creative use of learning logs. (ARH)

Learning-in-action must be accompanied by reflection in and on action. Journals are a personal, self-consciously interactive method of communicating reflection to oneself and others, although they manifest a tension between the public and private aspects of learning-in-action. (SK)

Explores the author's experiences with freewriting. Argues that freewriting has gradually given the author a profoundly different experience of and relationship to writing. Concludes that freewriting is at the root of the author's sense of his progress in writing. (RS)

Suggests that relationships among anachronisms, schema theory, and thinking skills can be combined to produce useful classroom tools, and that teachers can easily construct materials to enhance thinking skills. (RS)

These practical guidelines incorporate methods nurses already use to examine their actions. The format allows deeper reflection where time permits and as skills develop, with emphasis on the outcomes of reflection. (SK)

Journal writing promotes reflection on experience on three occasions: in anticipation of events, in the midst of action, and after events. Inhibitors of reflective journal writing include anticipation of the prospective audience and concerns about formal assessment in educational settings. (SK)

Reviews the special issue on journal writing and identifies remaining issues: lack of empirical research, missing accounts of journals and spirituality and of cyberjournals, and lack of information on the use of journals in critically reflective practice. (SK)

Structural approaches to journal writing enable learners to manage subjectivity while seeking "objective truth." Holistic approaches attempt to synthesize ways of learning, giving a false sense of completion and inclusion. Poststructuralism places journal text in the context of discourses; through reflection and deconstruction, the…