It is generally accepted that intrinsic student motivation is a critical requirement for effective learning but formal learning in school places a huge reliance on extrinsic motivation to focus the learner. This reliance on extrinsic motivation is driven by the pressure on formal schooling to "deliver to the test." The experience of the…

This case study examines the PreK-16 schooling experiences of nine McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program Scholars from a large, urban university in the southeast with respect to culturally relevant teaching. This study highlights the experiences of the McNair Scholars in an effort to assist educators in creating spaces that allow…

The purpose of this article is to describe a collaborative effort among five teacher preparation programs to create a conceptual tool designed to put clinical experiences at the center of our programs. The authors refer to the resulting product as a clinical curriculum. The clinical curriculum describes a developmental sequence of clinical…

The "creativity gap" is a distressing discrepancy between the ostensible value educators place on creativity and its absence in schools. How do teachers take on the attributes and skills of a creative practitioner? What struggles do they face in doing so? This case study examines the practices of six early elementary teachers who…

The purpose of this study is to compare changes in attitudes of students about their study of biology in the classes thought by five biology teachers who experienced an Iowa Chautauqua workshop with and two non-Chautauqua teachers who had no experience with any professional development program. The results indicated that there are significant…

In this study we highlight the five elements of a transfer receptive culture and its connection to the Summer Transfer Enrichment Program (STEP) administered by the Community College Outreach Center (CCOC) at Best Coast University (all pseudonyms). A quantitative and qualitative study was conducted focusing on five years of STEP, consisting of 87…

Approached as an epistemology, implementing a constructivist workshop approach to literacy can challenge the traditional paradigm of teacher-focused instruction and transform to one where students construct knowledge together and learn through active engagement in authentic reading and writing. This study illustrated how two third-grade teachers…

Attempts to address global pressure to achieve Education for All have been hampered by two fundamental challenges in developing countries, namely an acute shortage of teachers and large rural populations in these countries. In addition, qualified, competent teachers shun working in rural settings. While recruitment of professionally unqualified…

This research examines how the use of the CAT (Critical thinking Assessment Test) and involvement in CAT-Apps (CAT Applications within the discipline) training can serve as an important part of a faculty development model that assists faculty in the assessment of students' critical thinking skills and in the development of these skills within…

Professional development workshops are one of the primary mechanisms used to help faculty improve their teaching, and draw in many STEM instructors every year. Although workshops serve a critical role in changing instructional practices within our community, we rarely assess workshops through careful consideration of how they engage faculty.…

Accounts of how teacher educators begin to plan, develop, and support action research programmes for language teachers are rare, as are descriptions of the responses of the teachers who participate. This article documents and analyses the initial processes of introducing and supporting a new programme of action research for language teachers at…

The current study presents findings from an acceptance and commitment therapy-based intervention for family carers of children who have an intellectual/developmental disability and display high levels of challenging behaviour. The parent well-being workshops consist of two workshops incorporating acceptance and mindfulness-based exercises and…

In acknowledging the privilege that we as Montessorians are given, "the privilege of being present as children construct themselves," Mary Caroline Parker proposes that parents also should be given that same privilege. Parker created an "Art of Observation" workshop for the parents at her school. She walks us through the…

The question of how schools can help parents experience joy in observing their children led to a quest to identify experiences that can contribute to the awakening of consciousness. Workshops, surveys, discussion, and interviews yielded data that led to some unexpected conclusions about sources of personal transformation. [Reprinted from "AMI…

Peer-to-peer (P2P) learning within two distinct groups of disadvantaged adults was studied during a two-hour computer skills workshop. Of interest was whether or not P2P learning with this population was a viable method for increasing performance and confidence. Two qualified instructors at two locations taught the same introductory…