Teacher education programs continue to search for alternative field experiences for preservice teachers. Whether the public schools are overloaded with interns or a break from certain schools is recommended for various reasons, it is important to identify appropriate alternative practice teaching opportunities prior to student teaching. With the…

This article describes the experiences of two US teacher groups and their lesson study work. Their stories illustrate some of the dynamics and promise of teacher change spurred by lesson study. The first case is primarily about teacher efficacy, as a group of teachers discover through lesson study that their planning and work can have an impact on…

This article describes the authors' experience of teaching conversational English to students in Baotou in Inner Mongolia. Teaching in Baotou confirmed that students do not need to be entertained through the use of computers or theatrics. Intrinsic motivation, particularly that which comes from understanding the value of an education in changing…

Many European American pre-service special education teachers participate in activities and coursework to prepare them to engage with diverse students in urban settings. This qualitative study explores the experience of two teacher candidates taking part in one such program. Specifically, the interactions and perceptions of the participants' first…

Mentoring has been used in many professional-development settings to support individuals new to a profession. In particular, mentors are used in education and nursing to support new professionals who must meet the demands of a new position while managing the stresses of a new environment. When a mentor is asked to support a new professional, the…

A distinguishing characteristic of expert teachers appears to be an excellent memory (Berliner, 1986; Tan, 1997). Possessing an excellent memory aids experts in building a substantial knowledge base relative to teaching and learning. Despite its importance, the memory skills of expert teachers have yet to be investigated. Therefore, the purpose of…

This study examines the experiences of two middle-school teachers as they attempt to acknowledge the ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity of their students in their curriculum and teaching practices. It identifies the complications and challenges they encountered in the process. It presents one curriculum event to explore the ways in which…

This paper explores the issue of culturally responsive music curriculum content in the context of a music course that I taught on three occasions for Nunavut Arctic College's Teacher Education Program (NTEP). The 19 Inuit students who attended the course were working toward achieving certification for teaching in Nunavut schools. One of the…

The results are described of two case studies on the conceptions and classroom practice of two Portuguese physics and chemistry teachers on the role of problem solving in the teaching/learning of science. One of these teachers was a novice and the other had about 20 years of teaching experience. The data were obtained from a questionnaire, a…

Across the country, new and experienced teachers find themselves losing the confidence and energy it takes to challenge an unacceptable status quo. Too often, dynamic educators disappear within systems that are antithetical to what they envisioned when they entered the profession or they leave the profession altogether. This article describes the…

The author was not a great student in high school, yet she had ambitions to succeed as a psychologist. She also had difficulty attaching herself to one friend or a group of friends with which she felt comfortable. She was the only self-identified Native student in her high school, however, and there were no support groups or clubs for Native…

While a variety of alternative careers has emerged for Ph.D. life scientists in industry, business, law, and education in the past two decades, the structure of doctoral training programs in many cases does not provide the flexibility necessary to pursue career experiences not directly related to a research emphasis. Here I describe my efforts to…

Action Research is used in many teacher education programs to promote reflection, inquiry, and a sense of efficacy in pre-service teachers. As teacher educators working with a cohort of thirty-two teachers in a nine-month program, we decided to incorporate action research into the Teacher Education Seminar, a foundational course addressing general…

In this article a teacher/researcher and an academic mentor explore the potency, possibilities and tensions of the mentoring relationship from personal perspectives. The concept of mentoring as described in this article uses the model of mentor/mentee relationship as portrayed in Homer's epic narrative the Odyssey. In the examination of the…

This paper reports the findings of an empirical study that explored whether ESL teachers' use of incidental focus-on-form techniques was influenced by their level of experience. The results showed that experienced ESL teachers used more incidental focus-on-form techniques than inexperienced teachers. A follow-up study investigated whether…