This study examines teachers' attitudes toward pedagogical changes regarding various teaching strategies concerning students, content, and the teacher's educational orientation. Teachers' attitudes toward such changes are examined at different stages of their professional development. The research question is: To what extent do teachers at…

This conceptual paper examines a tug-of-war between state and national authorities in the United States for control of teacher recruitment, preparation, licensing, and professional development policy-making. A discussion of policy problems and instruments grounds analysis of each governing body's policy-activity since 1980. The analysis reveals…

In this study, it is assumed that "a will to learn" must be present before teachers engage in actual learning activities. In order to explore teachers' will to learn in workplace situations, a small-scale qualitative study was conducted using a semi-structured interview, observation, a retrospective interview, and a phenomenographic approach to…

This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal study of the literacy teaching of two teachers who were involved in a large-scale government initiative to change the way literacy is taught. These two teachers were identified at the outset of the study as being very different in ways in which they thought about the teaching of reading and…

Models play an important role in science education. However, previous research has revealed that science teachers' content knowledge, curricular knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge on models and modelling are often incomplete or inadequate. From this perspective, a research project was designed which aimed at the development of beginning…

The findings of a small-scale study concerning entry into teacher education are presented. Data were collected over four years by questionnaires completed by a total of 140 participants attending Teaching Taster Courses run annually by Brunel University from 1999 to 2002 for prospective students in secondary shortage subjects. The study took place…

Increasingly, graduates across a range of professions are required to possess the ability to critically evaluate information, solve problems and participate in collaborative group work. Problem Based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach to learning that emphasises student centred engagement with real problems or situations, involving learners…

This article uses a global model to analyse empirically how the personal and professional development of educators (personal mastery) facilitates the creation of a series of basic shared values (shared vision) and of team learning by the members of the educational centre, these inter-related strategic factors favouring, in turn, educational…

This research explores and compares primary student teachers' attitudes, subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in physics in two institutions in England and Finland, using a practical physics activity and questionnaire. Teaching of physics activities was rated unpopular both in Finland and England, although English students…

In this study, we explore the following questions: (a) How do Cyprus universities that educate teachers respond to the challenge of inclusive education? Are the programmes of these institutions designed on the basis of the principles of inclusive education? What are the barriers that prevent student teachers to develop inclusive practices? How…

Graham Nuthall was drawn to social constructivist theories but relatively pessimistic about the feasibility of social constructivist approaches to teaching, except in rather narrowly specified situations. This article summarizes Nuthall's views on these issues and the research findings that shaped them, drawing in particular on a chapter in which…

Graham Nuthall described research findings from his recent classroom studies as educationally transformative, analogous to the shift to a Copernican universe. In honouring this assertion, we focus on two aspects of Graham's work: the role of theory in his scholarship, and the relationship between his scholarship and the pursuit of educational…

Graham Nuthall's work cuts across methodological and conceptual divides that have worked against the development of a theory of learning and teaching that is at once predictive and practical. The micro-genetic approach to research on learning in classrooms that he developed with Adrienne Alton-Lee successfully transcends the unhelpful dichotomy…

Nuthall's exceptional quantitative and qualitative analyses provide us with an illuminating picture of the cognitive and emotional struggles of low-scoring students. His poignant portrayals leave us to consider the types of classroom modifications and settings that will best help these students. The second section explores some apparent…

In this article I consider what teacher educators might learn about our own teaching practice from Nuthall's work on learning in elementary school classrooms. Using key ideas from Nuthall's theory of student learning applied to data from two prior studies of my own teacher education practice, I illustrate how his work might provide a productive…