Drawing on qualitative case study research in four small schools, this paper explores the relationship between the professional contexts of schools--specifically supports for: (1) collaboration focused on improving instruction; (2) professional development and teacher learning opportunities; and (3) the degree to which teachers have authority and…

The case of two middle school science teachers engaged in a long-term professional learning project is used to complicate the story of teacher change and agency and the presumed relationships between teacher knowledge and practice. Becky and Kelly were highly participatory in all aspects of a multi-year professional learning project, yet, when…

This study determines perceptions of middle school students' inquiry learning skills towards science change according to different variables. In line with purpose, it aims to realize what should be done to develop this perception by questioning the factors that affect students' perceptions of science-related inquiry skills and contribute to the…

Clinical practice has long been an integral component of teacher education. In the past two decades, however, the call has intensified for more purposeful, inclusive, integrated, and reflective clinical experiences for teacher candidates learning how to teach and, more broadly, what it means to be a teacher. This article aims to offer a conceptual…

Animal biology is fascinating for its incredible diversity in life strategies. These strategies amaze scientists and can also fire the enthusiasm of science students. One group of animals impressive in this way is the phylum "Cnidaria," containing some 10,000 invertebrate species that include jellyfish, corals, sea anemones, hydroids,…

Nanoscience development affects almost every discipline of science, engineering, and technology. Not surprisingly, "the science of small" is also finding its way into science classrooms. In general, "nano" refers to a billionth of a meter--about 1/50,000 the width of a hair follicle. The term "nanoparticle" usually…

Practice-based research and supervising students' research has become an important task for higher vocational institutes, including the teacher education departments. However, conducting practice-based research is not always common practice for a great number of teacher educators. Therefore, professional development activities are undertaken to…

This article addresses mapmaking as a multimodal method and lens for place-based ethnographic inquiry. I describe three contexts drawn from my research on and teaching of mapmaking. Drawing from my own sense-making of mapping as an embodied phenomenon, I discuss how the fields of sensory and materialist studies might expand the interpretive…

Academics have a hard time talking about the role of "love" in social research, and the lack of a working definition for its meaning only partly explains our difficulty. The more substantial barrier is our tendency to think about "research" not as a careful exploration of specific social, intellectual, or methodological…

The use of method of imitational modeling to study forming the empirical knowledge in pupil's consciousness is discussed. The offered model is based on division of the physical facts into three categories: 1) the facts established in everyday life; 2) the facts, which the pupil can experimentally establish at a physics lesson; 3) the facts which…

Researchers continue to investigate and understand leadership in higher education. However, leadership does not stand alone; it is part of an interactive dyad with followers. Building on a previous study that aimed to unpack academics' experiences of leadership in higher education with a view to enhancing leadership practices, this paper…

In November 2015 the House of Commons Education Committee launched an enquiry into the purpose and quality of education in England. Among the written submissions was one from this author on behalf of the Cambridge Primary Review Trust. At the request of "FORUM" an edited version appears in the journal. The submission's centrepiece was…

This article presents findings from a research project into multiliteracies pedagogy in Aotearoa New Zealand. In one phase of the multilayered project, participating teachers conducted an investigation of the in- and out-of-school literacy practices of one of their students using an ethnographic approach. In this article, the authors share themes…

Elementary teachers can maximize instructional time by interweaving social studies disciplines while fostering inquiry and promoting literacy development.

Teachers' inquiry-based mathematics teaching (IBMT) competence is often acquired and developed through participation in professional development programs (PDPs), but researchers have not established an effective method of assessing teachers' performance in this area. Moreover, the definition of IBMT, and the relationship between teachers'…