This article suggests additional possibilities for reconceptualist thought, which is characterized by an experimental bent and a disdain for orthodoxy, as well as new venues for action. Possible contributions by reconceptualists to issues of curricular reform, experimental schools, education courses and preservice teacher education are discussed.…

The paper highlights the importance of professors of education being committed to using portfolio assessment of their students to teach those students appropriate educational behavior. One professor's variety of portfolio assessment techniques and related teaching methods are shared, emphasizing his use of ongoing teacher-student dialog. (SM)

Describes a three-year effort by two professors to integrate technology into their teacher education courses. The exploratory case studies used reflective narratives, questionnaires, interviews, observations, and review of related materials documenting technology use in the classroom. Results indicate that many impediments to technology use have…

Surveyed superintendents, principals, teachers, and preservice teachers about computer literacy. Results support computer literacy as a component of teacher training. Programing was not perceived as an important skill for teachers. Strong indication that teachers need to be able to use the computer as a management and instructional tool. (KS)

Describes a program to provide undergraduate sport pedagogy majors with more practice teaching opportunities before they begin student teaching. The students conduct classroom observations of core courses and teacher interviews to document effective classroom techniques and outline instructional profiles to implement in their own teaching. (MDM)

The purpose of this paper is to explore curricular (re)visions made over the span of two semesters to a required secondary teacher education course. Specifically, we focus on our trials and triumphs in implementing the revised curricula. Our work is guided by the following question: in what ways do preservice teachers deem the diversity-focused…

In this article, I examine my teaching within a social foundations teacher educations course. Using the tenets of culturally relevant teaching and the concept of the teacher as transformative intellectual as both conceptual frame and instructional guide, this self-study delineates my attempt to match my beliefs about socially just forms of…

Many early childhood professionals recommend the use of learning centers in classrooms for young children (Kostelnik, Soderman, & Whiren, 2004). Centers provide children with opportunities for making choices, working with others, being involved in hands-on activities, and becoming fully engaged in learning. In contrast, traditional classroom…

This article is concerned with the different ways in which teacher education pedagogic discourse is structured, and the potential of different types of structure to successfully induct student teachers as effective practitioners. The article uses Bernstein's concepts of classification and framing as axes of variation in describing different types…

McConaghy suggests that improving quality learning outcomes for students in NSW rural and remote schools requires "bold pedagogical solutions ... developed in and for the specific contexts of rural NSW schooling" (2002, p.3). This paper seeks to identify elements of this pedagogical solution that could be incorporated into pre-service…

The context of this paper is a university-based teacher education course in Melbourne, Australia. The assumption underpinning the course is that it is crucial for trainee teachers to examine the lenses they typically use in terms of common-sense understandings of children and adolescents. We point to the 18th century Western enlightenment period…

Teacher education programs that want their future teachers to embrace and employee constructivist principles must strive to provide opportunities for teacher candidates to develop an understanding of constructivism. The paper presents a structure for embedding constructivist principles into early childhood and elementary teacher education courses…

This study was conducted to assess and improve an introductory multicultural-designated course in an urban teacher preparation program. The course aimed to promote candidates' positive response to multiculturalism, especially White/Caucasian candidates. Results suggest that this approach effectively laid the foundation for almost all candidates'…

This manuscript describes the efforts of several instructors who incorporated videoconferencing in their teacher education courses at two large universities in the southeastern United States. Professors preparing teachers to teach elementary and middle school examined their interactive videoconference experiences linking preservice teachers with…

The powerful role of prior experiences and cultural schemata in guiding novice teachers' conceptions of how to teach is hardly contested. We report on a "reflective practicum" at the very beginning of a pre-service teacher education course that interconnects prior beliefs, reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action and that, in principle,…