The objective of this self-study is to expand the emerging scholarship on meaningful integration and scaffolding of SNSs and the new literacies requisite for their effective use in higher education environments. As a teacher educator, the first author describes the successes and challenges she experienced introducing Twitter into her college…

This study focuses on the learning of a small group of pre-service teachers in a literacy methods course and their instructor, Cindy, a literacy methods professor. The pre-service teachers in Cindy's literacy methods courses conduct literacy practicum experiences at a local city school that is populated by children from non-dominant…

Teacher knowledge, the sources of that knowledge, and the day-to-day use of that knowledge have become focal points of contemporary research on teacher education. As this body of research has found, a teacher's knowledge base and her subsequent practice is a composite of her beliefs and identities (Britzman, 2003), experiences (Lortie, 1975),…

Minority teacher candidates' capacity to connect with diverse students in preK-12 settings is a driving force behind the demographic imperative to diversify the teaching professions (Achinstein, Ogawa, Sexton, & Freitas, 2010; Banks et al., 2005). Teacher candidates of color have great confidence in their abilities to relate to students…

One of the goals of successful teacher preparation is to develop professionals who are cognizant of their own backgrounds and who critically reflect on those experiences for future practice (Darling-Hammond, 2006). Overall, this study seeks to explore the ways in which blogging provides a space for reflection, interaction, and development of…

This article provides a look into a day in the life of the author, Cheryl Matias, as a Filipina teacher educator teaching White teacher candidates in a White institution. This article focuses on the conceptualization and operationalization of her pedagogy of trauma as a survival mechanism and as a model for other teacher educators of Color who…

By educating pre-service teachers about new pedagogical strategies and techniques, the intention is to address and change ineffective practices in physical education so that children learn to love movement and engage in regular physical activity for their health and wellness. However, as Lortie (1975) suggests, experience is more powerful than…

Encouraged in large part by the work of Schon (1983), teacher education programs have spent the last two decades providing preservice teachers with experiences designed to help them examine their beliefs and develop reflective habits (Roskos et al., 2001; Tsangaridou & Siedentop, 1995; Zeichner & Liston, 1987). The present study…

This article investigates one small aspect of the work of secondary social studies teacher preparation at Michigan State University (and, of course, the surrounding public schools where so much of this preparation actually takes place). The authors have come to see that there cannot be a successful program without having close, warm, collegial…

The aim of this self-study was to critically consider the authors' individual thinking and practices as they worked toward a shared understanding of connecting science and literacy during instruction. As teacher educators from different disciplines, this work required them to carefully and recurrently examine their individual understandings…

The purpose of this study was to answer the following research questions: (1) Do secondary social studies pre-service teachers incorporate literacy strategies in their work samples during student teaching? (2) To what extent and under what conditions do secondary social studies pre-service teachers use higher levels of literacy strategies in their…

This article reports on three stories of what the author calls "eco-narrative" constructions from the data. These stories are rendered in detail to underscore the obstacles student teachers face regularly in becoming multicultural educators, as well as the various and subtle ways supervisors can help them advance their skills by giving…

The general premise of the student teaching abroad experience being that it will provide future teachers with experiences that will enable them to interact effectively and productively with the increasingly diverse student population that comprises U.S. schools (Martines, 2005). It is understood that teacher preparation programs must provide…

The study-abroad internship option for students is one example of a transformational learning opportunity (TLO) that is becoming increasingly popular in programs offered by colleges and universities in the United States (Alfaro, 2008; Cushner & Mahon, 2002). These TLOs often have the potential to broaden, enrich, or augment student learning and…

Research indicates that historical and social backgrounds influence individuals' motivation to teach and their commitment to teaching (Gordon, 2000; Su, Hawkins, Huang & Zhao, 2001). This article reports on a comparative study exploring the motivation to teach and the commitment to teaching among non-local prospective student teachers from…