Examines the training and development of early childhood professionals around most states and territories of Australia. Outlines the nomenclature used in each area to provide the context for issues raised. Examines new and existing courses, staffing, employment prospects, and career paths. Discusses what is unique about those who work with young…

An education course for prospective teachers was designed to include a field experience that challenged students' underlying beliefs about teaching and learning. This article describes and discusses prospective teachers' reactions to encounters with an unconventional third grade teacher's approach to teaching negative numbers. (IAH)

Supports Tozer's general themes in defining the social foundations of education (SFE) but raises questions about limitations in his analysis. After presenting a historical and contemporary basis for a definition of SFE, the article offers a revised definition of SFE and presents three purposes of the study of SFE. (SM)

This response to Tozer's position paper on the social foundations of education (SFE) suggests that, to realize SFE's distinctive contribution to effective teaching, social foundations educators need a common discourse. SFE is a distinctive field of study within education that utilizes a distinctive methodology and emphasizes a distinctive content.…

Describes the Instruction and Technology course in Portland State University's Graduate Teacher Education Program, a course required for Oregon teacher certification. Discusses computer and Internet skills taught in the course, their use in instructional design and management, the new emphasis on such skills in the hiring process, and one student…

Considers the principal shortcomings in the teaching of psychological disciplines for future teachers and what to do with the system of psychological training. Offers an alternative way to renovate the psychological training of future teachers. Aims at refocusing attention on what kind of knowledge of psychology these teachers should acquire. (CMK)

The quality of teaching in schools is directly linked to the quality of preservice preparation that teachers receive. This is particularly important in the area of music teacher education, given the unique challenges that classroom music teachers commonly face. This paper reports on research designed to investigate the knowledge and skills that…

Focus in recent times on realistic pedagogy implies that we can no longer depend on a transmission model of training, either for teachers or learners. We need to develop strategies that will help teachers and learners to be co-participators in the learning process. Mental modelling is one technique suggested in this article. It is a technique…

This research investigated expertise development among instructional designers by tracking novice designers' unfolding perceptions of instructional design (ID), design-related self-perceptions, and other individual differences. It examined development toward ID expertise from multiple aspects: processes, product, and cognition, through a case…

This paper discusses how a postgraduate certificate course in third-level learning and teaching for academic staff in the Republic of Ireland has adopted a particular approach in teacher education. An important aspect of the successful integration and use of learning technology is the way in which it effectively reflects and articulates a given…

Teaching, to a large degree, depends on more than just technical skills. The demands of classroom teaching require interpersonal skills and dispositions that are often ignored when determining a preservice teacher's fitness to teach. This article provides an example of how one university addresses the challenge of evaluating students' skills and…

This third edition, now published by Pine Forge Press, features original readings and article excerpts by leaders in the area of Sociology of Education. With a wide array of theoretical perspectives, a broad range of respected sources, and inclusion of both classic and contemporary studies, this comprehensive, integrated text addresses key issues…

The aim of this article is to describe and analyze the undergraduate Social Foundations course I taught at an urban, inclusive university that attempted to provide students with, among other things, a forum for them to develop both a self-confident personal voice and a view of self as potential change agent of schools. In brief, with what I term…

This paper explores the extent to which students and teachers are able to acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of a shift in the approach to teaching and learning from a traditional, teacher-centred perspective towards project- and learner-centred education. It reports on a case study aimed at exploring students' and teachers' perceptions of a…

A first-year seminar general education course provides a good opportunity to search for mathematical topics associated with the popular culture represented in the course's required films and readings. We discuss mathematical connections to several books, including "Life of Pi" and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," and to the…