The research reported here was part of a large study of the impact of age, disability, race and sex on the teaching profession in England. The basic question asked in this research was how do these factors interact with career aspirations and achievements of class teachers, promoted teachers and head teachers? There were three different data…

The first part of this paper describes the rationale for and process of engaging student teachers in action research during the fourth and final year of their teacher education, which is also their first year as teachers (induction year). During this year the novice teachers are engaged in an action research project as a compulsory assignment in…

Any attempt to upgrade the status of a profession will focus on the qualification required and acquired by those who practice it. The technical teacher profession is no exception. This paper provides an analysis of trends and concerns associated with the initial training of technical teachers in Greece. The tone for the discussion is set by…

The focus of this paper is the analysis of data from case studies of mentor meetings derived from an action research project on "The professional development of subject induction tutors". Developing practice as a reflective teacher involves both reflection and action and a reflective teacher compares a teaching and learning situation with his or…

This study compared the effects of four electronic portfolio curricula on pre-service and beginning teachers' self-ratings of their professional development (n =207), using a 34 item electronic Portfolio Assessment Scale (ePAS). Three formative portfolios, A, C and D, had teacher development as a primary objective and used participants' narrative…

This study was designed to examine the current trend and pattern of teachers' concerns about technology integration. Eighty-six in-service teachers in a graduate course participated in the study at a midwestern state university during the summer semester of 2002. The Stages of Concerns (SoC) Questionnaire was used to assess teachers' seven stages…

This article draws on research involving 28 teacher educators in the first 3 years of their careers in the English higher education sector. It discusses the areas of tension they found in making the transition from teaching in the school sector to working in universities, the priorities they identified for their induction and the induction…

It has now become a commonplace to state that foreign language learning should be viewed from an intercultural perspective. Teachers are now required to teach intercultural communicative competence instead of mere communicative competence. It follows that new professional demands are made on teachers. The assumption seems to be that teachers are…

Although there is a fair amount of knowledge on the issue of promoting student-directed learning, research indicates that teachers are not always able to put that knowledge into practice. Therefore, new educational practices related to student-directed learning should be introduced in teacher education. This makes it possible to break the didactic…

In view of the increasing demand for in-service training in Greece, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki launched English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher training courses, offered for the first time by a Greek state university. This paper discusses issues regarding the design and running of the courses as well as briefly presenting trainee…

Over the last decade, Malta has been moving away from a highly centralized and bureaucratic system to one that encourages broader involvement in policy-making and more collaboration among stakeholders. As a result, educators and schools have greater responsibilities to determine the way forward and to develop schools as learning communities.…

In this paper the writer outlines a case study (in which he was involved) which demonstrates the relationship between leadership and learning in an 11-16 secondary school. It will be clearly demonstrated that effective improvement can take place through the identification of key players and focused professional development. Evidence of the…

The concept of life-long learning has become a frequently used term in political and educational parlance. The final aim of schools has to be the development of the self-directed learner by developing the students' life-long learning competences. To realize this goal schools have to change from institutions that transfer knowledge into learning…

Many US teacher education programmes have developed learning environments in partnership with local school districts. A professional development school (PDS) is a learning organization formed through the collaboration of a university-based teacher education programme with its K-12 school partners. The resulting organization focuses simultaneously…

The following five core ideas explain how learning organizations function as wholes. The core ideas are central when school is examined as a learning organization. Personal mastery, mental models, team learning, shared visions and system thinking offer different angles to examine the organization. (1) Personal mastery. Without personal commitment,…