Teacher praise can undermine the development of fundamental democratic values. This article presents styles of teacher talk in line with the principles and goals of democratic leadership and interactive teaching. Advocated discourse patterns encourage self-evaluation and self-reflection, enabling students to develop standards for judging their own…

Describes the importance of thoughtful lesson planning, which will create better lessons and enhance learning and teacher effectiveness, providing an updated lesson plan format that can be used effectively in any teaching situation. The lesson plan format is a direct and pragmatic way to help preservice teachers design learning experiences and to…

Analyzes emotional, linguistic, and cultural issues facing new African immigrants attending American schools, providing strategies for preparing teachers to welcome these students into their classrooms and develop effective intercultural communications with both the students and their parents (e.g., learn how to correctly pronounce their names,…

Presents the job applicant's perspective of the job search process in teacher education, offering four general guidelines: thinking should precede leaping; if one needs to know something, one must ask; great expectations regarding the search committee can produce much frustration; and bright stars on the search committee are sometimes obscured…

Provides advice to teacher educators who are first-time grant writers about how to ensure that their proposals are competitive, noting common pitfalls frequently seen by those reviewing and evaluating grant proposals (e.g., waiting until the last minute to write, writing poorly, and not stating specific outcomes). A list of federal grant resources…

Current discourse in education regarding modernism and postmodernism requires the inclusion of technology and teacher education. Such a shift in thinking could create a deconstructing of the purposes of education to cope with the multiple perspectives. Suggestions are provided regarding technology and teacher education in order to meet the needs…

Examines skills and understandings that preservice teachers need to create caring classroom communities, noting the supportive conditions they need, both as student teachers and as teachers, to make positive contributions to students' character development. Discusses why it is necessary to create caring environments, how to teach the various…

Discusses seven issues related to character education: the relationship between character and virtue; the nature of character education; the goals of character education; the psychological components of character; the content of character; the components of a comprehensive approach to character education; and how schools of education can prepare…

Public school teachers need adequate preservice preparation for character and citizenship education. This preparation should promote ethical and moral development through liberal-arts coursework and other college experiences, and it should integrate various elements of character education into the existing teacher-education program. This paper…

Presents a four-phase model that could help infuse constructivist practice into preservice teacher education courses. The phases include engagement (grounding the course in students' beliefs and experiences), connection (developing students' expertise for resolving later ambiguities), application (applying students' reconstructed understanding of…

Presents a model for developing teacher educators who are interprofessional clinical professors. Collaboratively planned by campus, public school, and human service professionals, the model delivers field-based services to future teachers, extending expertise across a spectrum of areas to prepare teachers to respond effectively to diverse student…

Examines how general education interns and mentors can use collaborative teaching in professional development school settings. Focusing on special education literature on collaboration, the paper discusses the use of complementary, parallel, station, alternative, and team teaching. Examples of how these models work in elementary and secondary…

Presents a contemporary leadership model comprised of three elements necessary to successfully recognize and promote teacher leaders. The elements include establishing an appropriate school culture, recognizing teacher leaders, and inspiring teachers' confidence. The three elements, along with enabled teacher leadership, create positive cultural…

This paper reviews the current status of technology use in education, identifies future needs, and offers guidelines for meeting those needs. It notes that teacher educators who are comfortable with technology will graduate technological leaders for schools that hire them. (SM)

This paper demonstrates how to guide the responsible construction of individual student teacher portfolios, including examples of how students integrate their understandings of learning, teaching, and schools as they are coached through the portfolio creation process. The need for student control of content is emphasized. (Author/SM)