This article focuses on in-service teacher training in Cyprus and points to the necessity for reorganisation of existing practices and reformulation of national policies within the framework of continuous professional development. Examination of this issue results from the need of the educational system to respond to the challenges of the European…

Teaching practicum requires a philosophy to give directions to values and actions. The philosophy proposed here aims for the development of a reflective and reflexive learner who learns through situational analyzing, theorizing, hypothesis testing, inquiring, experimenting, and justifying. Such development has to be built around the searching and…

Recruiting Educators through Alternative Licensure (Project REAL) is funded through the Transition to Teaching grant initiative. Project REAL is designed to enable university faculty and classroom teachers to work collaboratively within a professional development school model in order to provide secondary pre-service teachers with a high quality,…

To assess own actions and define individual learning needs is fundamental for professional development. The development of self-assessment skills requires practice and feedback during the course of studies. The "Interactive Examination" is a methodology aiming to assist students developing their self-assessment skills. The present study…

This paper explores whether a professional development weblog could support work-based learning in a TAFE Library. The paper includes both a literature review of material dealing with work-based learning in the VET sector, weblogs and their possible use as a professional development tool and an evaluation of a weblog project devised to support…

The study examined an ESL writing class, which consisted of 36 students, at a community college of Hong Kong. The students took part in three online collaborative writing tasks by sending drafts to peers who gave them suggestions and comments for improvement and working together on the completion of the writing tasks via email. The 36 students…

Although self-regulated learning is considered as a characteristic of individual students, the question may be raised as to whether a community of learners with its emphasis on inquiry learning in teams of students provides an appropriate environment to acquire and develop active and dynamic self-regulation strategies. Two cases of communities of…

This descriptive study investigated the benefits and costs of using electronic portfolios (EPs) in preservice teacher education. Grounded within change theory, the study examined the perspectives of faculty in six programs in which EPs have been used on a large scale for two or more years. Benefits identified include increased opportunities for…

This paper is informed by Deweyean pragmatism, critical pedagogy, Marxist humanism and social constructivism, all of which see teacher professional learning as a process of constructing knowledge and identity through critical interdependence. In addition to presenting the philosophical root of the reflective approach to teaching and the structure…

"Notes & Reflections" offers practical information--ideas, strategies, tools, and resources--about topics of special interest to professional developers who are working to improve school performance. Today, professional development services to schools are provided by variety of people: teacher leaders; principals; and district, regional, and state…

The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to share a story of self-reflection and deliberations about issues of ethics, values, social justice, and educational leadership. It begins as a story of reflections about one College of Education team's struggle for authenticity in the development of a new educational leadership program. However, the story…

Sixteen preservice teachers participated in a service-learning project to build tolerance in the community as a result of their desire to do something or to make a difference after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Student reflection papers revealed an increase in student tolerance and feelings of competence after participating in the…

This article details how an action research/reflective practitioner approach added value to the efforts of participants who were engaged in developing their practice and working together within a New Labour area-based policy initiative. The process of reflecting and learning together in the project supported practitioners in thinking, learning…

The primary objective of this paper is to apply the educational theories of Kolb's experiential learning and Bloom's educational taxonomy in restructuring the course "Renewable energy engineering". The steps of the research procedure investigate the application of learning theories to the restructuring of the course and the introduction of…

Supervision is an activity that, when effective, contributes significantly to service delivery and the ongoing learning and development of staff. Conversely, an organisation dedicating considerable time to an activity that is not benefiting practitioners and clients actually detracts from direct service provision. A national supervision project…