Many educators have suggested that teachers hold the authority, and thus the responsibility, for initiating the curricular and instructional changes made within their own classrooms. One implication of this suggestion is that teachers be reflective about their practice. Yet, reflection is a difficult process that requires critical thought,…

Introduction: Evaluating competencies required for professional practice is a matter of particular current interest. Its importance lies in improvements that can be made in both preparatory and ongoing training and development processes. This paper summarizes results obtained from a recent investigation regarding this issue. Method: A total of 76…

This research study examined the role of instructional design knowledge in the development of teaching expertise for university teaching assistants (TAs). ID theoretically supports the development of systematic and meaningful patterns of cognitive organization that characterize teaching expertise. Therefore, it should support TAs in developing…

Over the past twenty years American education has seen many changes, and most notable have been those related to accountability and assessment. One aspect of these changes has been the movement toward more specified student learning outcomes. In discipline after discipline content standards have been developed outlining that which students should…

Professional development schools (PDSs) are collaborative partnerships between teacher education programs and K-12 schools that provide educational opportunities for teachers and students alike. Such school-university partnerships are an important part of current educational reform. The body of empirical research examining PDS partnerships is…

Public education stakeholders are becoming aware of the new and challenging problems encountered by principals and other school administrators. Despite a growing awareness of the importance and challenges of school principals, there is limited research on the in-service training needs of school principals in developing countries. Specifically,…

A review of United States-based two-year (82), four-year (38), and graduate (68) addictions professional preparation programs indicated that the discipline lacks consistency regarding name, whether preparation has a science or arts academic foundation, whether preparation has an academic or technical base, and what department or academic unit…

A two-year qualitative study of mathematics and English teachers in two urban comprehensive high schools investigated how teacher community serves as resource for teacher development and school reform. A school engaged in whole-school reform sustained high teacher commitment and school-level community by constituting professional community…

Both the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future and the Holmes Group suggest that the solution to improving student learning is through formal university-school collaborations, or Professional Development Schools (PDSs). As the research base on PDS partnerships grows, so does the evidence that PDSs improve the quality of teaching in…

Since 1995, the author has been the university music educator responsible to a professional development partnership. Over an 8-year span, she has collected narratives of experience from approximately 100 pre-service music teachers, following, to some extent, the research model of Connelly and Clandinin. In developing their notion of "personal…

The main objective of this project was to provide a Web-based tool that included practical resources for faculty in education at one Canadian university who were seeking ways to make effective use of learning technologies to enhance learning environments. The site includes online tools and resources and integrates ideas from people in the faculty…

What role can online communities play in meeting the informal learning needs of a professional association? This article presents the results of an interpretive study of the experiences of coordinators of Alberta Community Adult Learning Councils who participated in an online community of practice designed to support informal workplace learning.…

In recent years the arts have been introduced into many pre-service and in-service professional development programs for general education teachers. At the same time, pressure for immediate test-score improvement and standardization of curriculum has limited the creativity and autonomy of teachers. This study, the qualitative part of a…

This article analyses the nature of learning in three long-term professional development approaches from different disciplines--teacher research as used in educational contexts, action learning as used in business contexts, and problem-based learning as used in medical contexts. The lens used for analysis focuses on three dimensions or influences…

New arrangements for the induction of teachers in Scottish schools were introduced for school session 2002/03. Those completing initial teacher education (ITE) are now entitled to a one-year training post with a 70% workload, 30% of working time for professional development and 10% of an experienced teacher's time for support. Such inductees must…