Uses principles of validation as a conceptual framework for critiquing validity-invalidity evidence and arguments related to student ratings of teachers (SRTs). Also explores the utility of SRTs. (SLD)

Summarizes how a series of articles use a range of perspectives to present developmentally appropriate content progressions, pedagogically sound practices, and assessments that have the potential to strengthen the way elementary teachers implement net/wall games, focusing on: common features for modifying net/wall games for elementary children;…

Analyzes four teacher educator communities in different contexts and entry points across the career lifespan, making the case that the education of teacher educators is substantially enriched when inquiry is a stance on the overall enterprise of teaching, schooling, and teacher education. The four illustrations are: unlearning racism, reinventing…

Investigated Dutch teacher educators' views of teaching and learning and how they expressed these views in practice. Interview and observation data indicated that teacher educators did not always "teach as they preached," particularly on aspects that distinguished the profession of teacher educators from the profession of teachers. The article…

Suggests that the role of mentors versus cooperating teachers is increasingly viewed as important in guiding student teachers' work in the field, explaining mentoring as a relationship rather than a role involving preconceived duties. It conceives mentoring as a journey that describes a unique relationship between mentors and student teachers and…

Compared two models of student teaching (traditional versus peer teaching in which two student teachers worked with one cooperating teacher). Case study data indicated that while peer teaching involved some trade-offs, it had a positive impact on children and offered such advantages to student teachers as increased support, ongoing conversation…

Examined a Chinese middle school beginning teachers' experiences developing a public mathematics lesson for special observation. Data collected from the project, Induction of Middle Grades Mathematics and Science Teachers in Select Countries, indicated that she developed a lesson that engaged students in discovering mathematics ideas and making…

Examined the role that support from the school and colleagues played as one teacher developed during his first year as a secondary English as a Second Language teacher in Singapore. Data from observations and interviews indicated that the teacher considered collegial support the most important school-based support during that first year. The paper…

Characterized intrapsychic conflicts experienced by a French preservice teacher during interactions with secondary school physical education students. Data from observations and interviews indicated that she experienced intrapsychic conflict characterized by the competition of possible actions: to present a problem to the students and let them…

Examined the use of online discussion as a medium for learning in an elementary teacher education program. As part of an Education Studies course, students engaged in discussions of issues related to technology and equity in schools. Through the online activity, distinctive sets of writing practices were created, which enabled students to make…

Investigated the impact of a collaborative inquiry involving diverse teams of teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents. The teams collected and analyzed local data to make data-based decisions about improving teaching and learning. The collaboration helped teachers engage in a continuous improvement process that allowed them to…

After a description of home education, Lave and Wenger's (1991) theory of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP) is applied to the situation of home educators who join a neighbourhood home education group, a community of practice. Then, it is argued that the theory of LPP, with suitable modification, can also apply to and illuminate the…

The utility and limitations of Lave and Wenger's social theory of learning can be evaluated through specific case studies which enhance our understanding of how education proceeds in diverse contexts. Here I provide an ethnographic case study of the training of Caribbean-born Hindu "pandits" ("priests") living and working in Queens, New York.…

"Capoeira", the Brazilian dance and martial art, is taught across the world. Learners acquire vital knowledge and are socialised as "capoeiristas" through legitimate peripheral participation, in particular when watching games in the "roda". The "roda", the circle within which the "capoeira" game is played, is a classic place for learning by…

By examining the role of conflict in learning how to "be" a skateboarder at a skate park in the United States, this article illustrates how conflicts constitute key aspects of learning and teaching within communities of practice. Specifically, this article demonstrates how the practices of "snaking" and "heckling" are used by a group of…