Local responsibility for school development in Sweden has led to new possibilities for teacher improvement. This paper looks at using the potential of action research generated by the decentralization for the inservice training of teachers. Decentralization offered opportunities for inservice development work through special funding for projects,…

This paper reports on a study of teacher development practices in Turkey, exploring teachers' perceptions of professional development opportunities in the Turkish elementary school, and the extent to which elementary school teachers believe that these opportunities have helped them improve their instructional practices. Of the 500 teachers from 52…

This report summarizes results of three focus groups which examined teachers' ideas and attitudes about the utility of research on the practice of teaching reading to students with learning disabilities and about forms of communication that would make research information more useful. The focus groups were part of a larger project designed to…

This paper shares the development and evolution of a pragmatic-experiential model of teacher education at the University of West Alabama. The model is grounded in the theories and philosophies promoted by Dewey and James. The philosophy of pragmatism encourages testing the authenticity or truth of ideas through experience. Experientialism, an…

The paper takes a critical view of current approaches to training administrators or managers in education in the United Kingdom. Criticisms focus mainly around the hands-on approach whereby the trainee learns the best techniques from colleagues and dismisses most academic studies of management practices. The paper summarizes the thinking behind a…

Existing research reveals little about the availability of internships for graduate students in higher education, and also fails to explain the utilization of these internship offerings. The findings from this study suggest that while a majority of programs in higher education have some type of practice-based offerings in their curricula,…

This paper evaluates how civic education in the United States currently is impacted by the competing theories of individualism ("liberalism") and communitarianism. Each theory's intellectual history and meaning is explained briefly. The implications of the "debate between the defenders of liberalism and their communitarian critics…

This book, which is intended as a resource/reference guide for experienced financial managers and course planners, examines accepted methods and new approaches for using financial information in continuing education. The introduction reviews theory and practice, traditional and new methods, planning and organizational management, and technology.…

This document consists of three papers presented at a symposium on expertise in organizations moderated by Ross Azevedo at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD). "How Individual Expertise May Be Socially Constructed: A Literature Review" (Abney V. Gleespen) looks at the research to determine the…

In response to increasing concern about the mental health of young children, the field of play therapy is expanding rapidly. This book explains the principles of Adlerian therapy and offers step-by-step instructions on how to integrate these concepts and techniques into the practice of play therapy. Ideas are presented on how to build an…

This paper describes a school-oriented teacher education program at the Institute of Education, University of Utrecht (Netherlands). The program prepares teachers for the upper level of secondary education in a one-year post-graduate course that follows a four-year subject matter masters program. Because half of the one-year course is…

When researchers and practitioners in early childhood care and education interact, outcomes are often disappointing to both. It is likely that a new brand of professionals, capable of living in the cultures of both the researcher and the practitioner, will bridge the gap. These professionals will be found mostly in intermediary organizations,…

This document provides papers presented at a conference that focused on the ways in which definitions of quality are translated into practice in early childhood education and on ways to assess the quality of practice. The conference included four keynote lectures, presentation of six papers, and four symposia. The lectures, which are not included…

Student teachers, beginning teachers, and experienced teachers bring with them to the classroom a set of practical theories acquired from many experiences and influences. Because of their nature, practical theories are hard to change. Sets of more permanent practical theories can be considered practical paradigms; they are shared by the school…

A study explored student teachers' adherence, rejection, or modification of their course work-generated (but untested or "idealized") model of reading when faced with the demands of the classroom. Fifty senior education majors enrolled in an integrated elementary and special education program at an urban university wrote reflective essays,…