Investigates teacher education methods for teacher development as constructivist science instructors. Explains a typical day in a classroom using the traditional teaching approach and makes recommendations for promoting scientific thinking and problem solving. (YDS)

Humor and fun, although essential factors to emotional health, are two of the most neglected aspects of human service practice and education. This article is an attempt to provide human service professionals and educators with an understanding of and some practical guidelines for the uses of humor and fun. (Author/BF)

Examines the collaborative discourse practices of the Red River Writing Project Teacher Research Group as well as the processes by which this diverse group of classroom teachers, most with only limited experience in conducting research, developed into a discourse community of teacher researchers. Argues that the inquiry-oriented context fostered…

Presents 36 annotations of journal articles (published between January and June, 2001) dealing with assessment, bilingual/foreign language education, literacy, professional development, reading, teaching and learning of literature, teaching and learning of writing, and technology and literacy. (SG)

The "Teachers' Learning Project" (1999), by John Smythe and colleagues, is pitched at Australian teachers, but is adaptable to England and elsewhere. Rather than prescribing theories and practices, this publication supports critical reflection by providing suggestions and structures for gathering evidence, discussing practice, and…

The goals of the National Assistive Technology Research Institute are discussed, as well as ongoing research projects that address the status of school-based assistive technology (AT), AT policies and procedures, AT decisions made by Individualized Education Program teams, integration of AT into learning environments, effectiveness of AT, and…

Accountability has become synonymous with standardized testing in many Western countries such as Canada, the United States, Great Britain and New Zealand. Schools and districts are increasingly ranked based on their students' performance on standardized tests. Unfortunately, standardized testing measures possess a number of limitations that…

One of the most crucial roles of the school leader is to develop and maintain the professional level of the staff which he/she supervises. It is generally agreed upon that the desired school culture is one in which the focus is on the development of a community of learners. Consequently, intellectual growth can never happen for children unless it…

Alternative routes to teacher certification have evolved over the last 20 years as a response to real and perceived shortages of qualified teachers. This study examined successful alternatively certified teachers' motivations to leave other successful careers in order to teach and how they approached learning how to teach in the absence of a…

This article describes a 2-year study that examined the influence of collaborative inquiry on the professional growth of beginning teachers. Participants include 10 novice teachers and 2 university faculty members. Using qualitative methods, the university faculty collected data during the first 2 years of the group's progress in order to…

The provision of a professional development programme for distance tutors can be problematic because of the need for flexibility to cater for a variety of working practices, or to overcome the hurdles imposed by geographical remoteness. At the UK Open University, online networks are widely in use for teaching and learning, and we are actively…

When a state makes the decision to award a small number of high-dollar grants, the stakes are considerable. For North Carolina's IMPACT Model School Grant applicants, professional development started long before a single dollar was ever awarded. In light of these conditions, the state decided to issue a high-dollar, highly prescriptive grant, the…

Technology is a tool that has the potential to empower educational leaders at all levels--whether they are superintendents, principals, teachers, board members or state officials--as well as to redefine what education means in the 21st century. Technology provides more accurate information and advanced communication capabilities. Technology can be…

This article describes some of the conclusions reached from an experiment using portfolios for art external assessment at the end of secondary education (age 17+) conducted in five Portuguese schools in 2001-2003. Several positive outcomes were found. Students found portfolios to be motivating and fostering constructive learning, dialogue and…

The Digital Education Enhancement Project (DEEP) is investigating the ways in which new technologies can improve the teaching of literacy, numeracy and science in primary schools in Egypt and South Africa. Forty-eight primary teachers (24 in each country) have been carrying out a sequence of classroom-focused professional development activities,…