The time, effort, and frustration spent in the publication arena is documented as one of most difficult challenges faced by practitioners moving into the higher education arena. Yet, consistently there is an outcry for expertise from field to enter college and university classrooms. The dilemma, then, rests on how to attract experts from the field…

The challenges facing those who seek to prepare mathematics teachers are well established in the literature. Most of the research to date has focused on the perceptions and understandings of pre-service teachers, but not on the perceptions and understandings of teacher educators. In this study, we explore how four teacher educators understand…

Becoming a teacher requires not only the development of a professional identity but the construction of professional knowledge and practice through continued professional learning. This study tracked a sample group of 16 early career teachers through their first year of teaching. The participants were encouraged to write about their experiences in…

This article argues that developing a team-based approach to teaching and learning provides the basis for building commitment and continuous professional development in teaching practice among staff in higher education. A team approach that is grounded in practice leads to open communication and opportunities for formal and informal professional…

Inside High School Reform: Making Changes that Matter (WestEd) shares the critical lessons and compelling successes of 28 California Academic Partnership Program school reform efforts. In this interview, lead author Jordan Horowitz, WestEd's senior project director in evaluation research, recently shared some of the book's findings, and answered…

During the past decade, the arts have been increasingly included in professional development programs for general education teachers in the United States. Little is known, however, about teachers' attitudes toward the arts in education or the applications of arts processes in their teaching practice. In this mixed-methods study, data collected…

Teacher preparation requires exemplary teaching that illustrates the systematic reflection encouraged among preservice teachers. This article provides an investigation of an innovative model for integrating action research into a preservice teacher education program. Through a self-study, one teacher educator presents reflections on action…

This qualitative study is part of an ongoing, systematic self-study examining preservice teachers' growth from student to teacher. In this phase, the authors specifically explored student teacher growth and development in the context of a constructivist, developmental, and standards-based program. Research questions were: (1) How did a group of…

We are thesis examiners within the Australian academic system who formed a community of practice to try to resolve some of the issues we were facing. Stories of examiners reflecting on and examining their own practice are a notable silence in the higher degree research literature. In this study we have adopted a storytelling inquiry method that…

Over the course of the past five decades, we have embarked on the path toward educational equity that is strewn with obstacles and roadblocks, forcing us onto a winding path with the end not yet in sight. In order to fulfill the legacy of "Brown," attention should be applied to the reconceptualization of multicultural education as an…

Teacher preparation has been called the "bete noire" of geography education in the United States (Boehm et al., 1994). Despite progress in other areas of geography, teacher education remains a significant issue affecting the quality of geography instruction nationwide. It is a multifaceted, multidimensional problem tied inextricably to…

Intercultural language learning is developing as a key direction in languages education both in Australia and elsewhere. The teaching of culture in language classes is, however, not new to language teaching, and rationales for language teaching have regularly included issues related to cultural understanding (Liddicoat, 2004). However, culture has…

Views about the nature of culture and its relationship to language are constantly changing, and in relation to language learning, recent thinking has culminated in what is being termed "intercultural language learning." This orientation towards the teaching and learning of languages requires engagement with increasingly sophisticated…

The field of youth development is evolving, with growing attention being paid to the professional development opportunities afforded those who work with and on behalf of young people. Formal coursework for youth workers must be relevant and useful and meet the needs of diverse audiences, including both front-line workers and the managers and…

Professional development has moved from the periphery of teachers' professional lives to center stage, clearly recognized today as one of the key factors that shape teachers' ability to reach and teach all students successfully. To be effective, any professional development program must pay close attention to changes in teacher classroom…