This paper presents findings of a qualitative interview study of the role of emotions in the professional identity of student teachers. Strong positive and negative emotions (mostly related to pupils and supervisors) were expressed about personal teaching experiences. The results confirm that emotions play an important role in social learning and,…

The identification of personal teaching metaphors is a potentially effective means of assisting pre-service teachers to become reflective teachers. However, although metaphors are often viewed as a way to facilitate self-reflection, teacher education programmes have shed little light on effective communication and collaboration that are essential…

In 2009, the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) introduced a revised Code of Conduct and Practice (2009) for registered teachers. The code also applies to all trainee teachers who are provisionally registered with the GTCE and who could be liable to a charge of misconduct during their periods of teaching practice. This paper presents the…

Beliefs are central constructs in every discipline which deals with human behaviour and learning. In addition to learner beliefs about language learning, language teachers themselves may hold certain beliefs about language learning that will have an impact on their instructional practices and that are likely to influence their students' beliefs…

Lifelong learning has become a prominent fixture in educational policy in recent years in many countries around the world. In terms of teacher education, it is now widely accepted that initial teacher education is insufficient for the lifelong professional needs of teachers. From September 2012, initial teacher education in Ireland will be offered…

This study aimed to develop and investigate the validity and reliability of the Mentor Teacher Role Inventory (MTRI). A total of 1843 student teachers in the Distance English Teacher Training Program participated in the study. The 58 items of the Mentor Teacher Role Inventory underwent principal factor analysis, which revealed nine factors…

Despite considerable attention given to mentoring in initial teacher education little is known about mutual perspectives in perceptions of students and mentors regarding assessment and how this affects the quality of the student's teaching. Perceptions of assessment during practicum might impede the learning dialogue during mentoring and affect…

The article is based on an empirical, interview-based research project investigating resources and barriers to creative teaching within three Danish primary and secondary schools. The analysis shows how project-oriented teaching does seem to represent a creativity oasis for both teachers and pupils. Furthermore, the work identifies a distinction…

ICT is meant to be integrated in all subjects in Norwegian schools; nevertheless many teachers are reluctant to use ICT in their own teaching. This paper explores to what extent teachers use ICT in their classroom teaching and what teacher-level factors influence the use of ICT. It draws on an analysis of 10 focus-group interviews with 10 teachers…

The effectiveness of various management strategies has been of central concern in academic and educational debates on the role and nature of classroom discipline. Educational theorists and researchers have put forth a range of different models, each of which incorporates the use of a number of strategies. This article reports on a study that seeks…

This study reports on student teachers' views of portfolios as a learning tool when they are combined with a weekly test conducted at the end of each lesson to help student teachers self-evaluate. Student teachers' written reflections during the process provided data for the study. Analysis of the data showed that a majority of student teachers…

The literature shows that an active exploration of difference between university- and school-based perspectives can provide important opportunities for student teacher learning in initial teacher education. This paper presents a study that looks at the learning opportunities presented to student teachers as they talk about teaching and learning…

This paper explores stakeholders' views on the desirability of collaborative continuing professional development (CPD) and examines potential barriers. It draws on two projects which each explore perceptions of CPD for teachers in Scotland. The data include interviews with key informants and with practising teachers as well as survey data from…

The purpose of this small-scale study is to investigate the outcomes of a brief teacher education programme by exploring student teachers' views. The teacher education programme aimed to provide teachers with the opportunity to develop qualities and skills that facilitate communication and to enhance teachers' competence to apply social and…

This study investigated the longitudinal changes in the attitudes of pre-service primary education teachers towards the teaching profession as they progressed through training. The results indicate that there is a significant difference in pre-service teachers' attitudes towards the profession between their freshman and senior years. Moreover, the…