Within the broad theme of this special issue, the current article describes a turbulent Norwegian teacher education context in which two new teacher educators start work in a university. Like other nations, Norway is affected by international educational trends, some of which have a reductive impact on the teaching profession and on teacher…

This paper describes an initiative, Becoming Teacher Educators (BTE), which is a group for doctoral students who want to become teacher educators. The group is composed of two professors and 12 doctoral students. The various activities in which the group has engaged over the past three years are described. This article brings to light a few key…

This proposed exploratory study represents the largest and first investigation in the USA that will purposefully analyse and track students who have sought disability services over a 10-year span (academic years 2000-2011). Using "ex post-facto" data on a non-probability purposive sample of approximately 6000 undergraduates, the research team will…

This study uses discourse theory to explore the teaching identities of a group of mainland Chinese pre-service teachers of English in a teacher education institute in Hong Kong. Exploring how the teaching identities are discursively constructed, the study reaches two conclusions. First, that the pre-service teachers negotiate their own positions…

This study compares the content and sources of the pedagogical beliefs of 106 pre-service teachers in two teacher education programmes in China and the USA. Qualitative data were collected using an open-ended survey instrument to compare similarities and differences in the content and sources of participants' pedagogical beliefs. The findings…

This study focuses on critical incident analysis in initial teacher education and the part played by the professional learning conversation. A reflection framework was used to identify changes in levels of reflective practice. Conversational skills of the supervising teacher in recognising the "person" in the student teacher, and their management…

The objective of this study was to identify the main qualities of the teacher as a person as perceived by university students in Bahrain and Kuwait. A 25-item questionnaire, which reflected the basic humanistic qualities of the teacher as related to effective teaching, was designed and then administered to a random sample of 520 students enrolled…

Over the course of education's history, there have been four key shifts in the way in which education has been seen and organised. These are identified as Thinking and Acting Individually, Thinking and Acting Locally, Thinking Nationally and Acting Locally, and Thinking Internationally and Acting Locally. Each shift has seen a new set of…

Liberal studies is a new subject in the new senior secondary curriculum in Hong Kong. This study attempted to identify factors that shape liberal studies student teachers' decisions in lesson planning. Based on interview data and lesson plans developed by the student teachers, this article maintains that four factors interacted with the subject…

Using students' diaries as a frame of reference, this research project set out to learn more about how they experience foreign language classes in their first university year, over two semester periods (from September to June of the academic year 2007/08). The diaries were produced by 35 students of English Studies at the Universitat Rovira i…

The present article's aim is to evaluate studies that promote teacher reflection. Through programmes of professional development, teachers are being encouraged to improve their reflective practice. This paper explores the grounding of what is advocated as reflective teaching and looks at possible differences between what is evidenced in research…

This paper reports on a study of pre-service elementary teachers' metaphors of "literacy" and "teaching literacy" at the commencement and conclusion of a year-long literacy methods course at a Midwestern American university. Over a three-year period, a total of 47 participants enrolled in the two-semester literacy methods course with an embedded…

This paper reports on the evaluation of a six-day programme that provided professional learning to middle school teachers with the aim of equipping them to assist their pupils to achieve improved numeracy outcomes. A teacher profiling instrument designed to measure varied aspects of teachers' knowledge for teaching mathematics was administered to…

This paper argues the importance in and for a democratic state and society of discussing controversial issues in education. In particular it analyses two national educational contexts, that of England and South Africa. It considers both whether they provide a suitable framework for teaching controversial issues in school classrooms and if they…

Unprecedented numbers of primary teachers in New Zealand are currently involved in professional learning activities, with practice, in essence, the major focal point. In recent years, however, an increasing trend has emerged for primary teachers to undertake a degree qualification. Although study towards formal tertiary qualifications is…