A comprehensive medical school faculty-development program should include four elements (professional socialization, particularly for new faculty; instructional development skill-building; leadership development; and organizational development) to empower faculty to excel as educators and to create vibrant academic communities that value teaching…

Explores the need for teacher leadership in the context of national trends in teacher education, portraying the teachers-as-leaders concept as a natural outgrowth of the convergence of several forces in educational change. The article describes two professional education programs at Johns Hopkins University that prepare teachers for new roles as…

Conveys the power and value of collaborative conversation among a small group of language teacher educators who meet regularly to discuss practice. Excerpts from a discussion are presented to show a sample of real issues the teachers face and illustrate how the conversations allow ongoing feedback about real dilemmas from a supportive community of…

Describes VaCIE-CEMP, a faculty/staff exchange program between the Virginia Community College System and schools in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the Netherlands. States that participants pair up with their overseas equivalent and exchange houses, keeping costs to a minimum. Reports that during the two-week visits,…

Discusses the transition for faculty from teaching traditional classes to online courses, including new pedagogical approaches, assessment practices, group interaction, and student/teacher dialog. Describes a systems change approach being implemented at Southern Cross University (Australia) that includes a collaborative action learning model for…

Because technology is changing rapidly, teachers must keep up with new developments. This article recommends that teachers be proactive, creating their own staff development options and asking questions in order to get started. Suggestions for resources and options are provided, including attending conferences, using video training, and bringing…

Discusses how writing and analysis of life histories, identification and analysis of personal teaching metaphors, and action research can be powerful means for encouraging professional development in teachers. Recommends that teacher educators engage in self-study and life-history analysis to encourage students to do the same. (SM)

One college teacher's narrative of events and interactions within her classroom, focusing on differing perceptions of racial issues and ethnicity, is used to illustrate the value of narrative as a means of reflecting on teaching practice. It is argued that narrative allows the storyteller to explore self-identity by configuring personal events…

Describes the Teacher-as-Ethnographer inservice training program, an anthropological model for training Israeli educators to diagnose and cater to the learning needs of culturally diverse students. Participants, including teachers of all levels and other school staff, learned and used ethnographic methods of data collection and analysis to conduct…

Staff developers used data-gathering tools to help one high school community deal with decision making for improving programs, organizational climate, and student learning. The school/university collaboration involved collecting data about how the organization and the people within it worked, then using the data to change the organization. (SM)

To monitor a statewide systemic initiative (SSI) for reform of mathematics and science, students were asked such questions as what their teachers did in science and what they themselves did in their classes. Responses were analyzed by race and gender. Different types of teaching and learning activities occurred in classes taught by teachers who…

Discussion of new educational information technology applications focuses on faculty use and the gap between expectations and available time and resources. Highlights include the library's role; academic support; and faculty training in using criteria for evaluating new instructional options and using them to meet educational goals that support…

Describes the Technology-Based Teacher Education (TBTE) Program at Lehigh University. Discusses the Seminar in Elementary and Secondary Education, in which preservice teachers regularly work in classrooms with inservice teachers, and the partnership with a K-12 independent school--which addresses the needs of both inservice and preservice…

Describes how simulations, role plays, and other experiential exercises can be used in educational settings to reduce resistance and encourage discourse on equity issues. These techniques can bring new insights into professional development in multicultural education, raising awareness of hidden biases so teachers feel more comfortable in the…

A study of 203 community health center preceptors who attended workshops on educational planning, teaching styles, evaluation, and feedback found that participants showed significant increases in use of five of seven teaching concepts while analyzing a role-play interaction; increased familiarity with, and retained for three months, nine of 11…