This article describes the types of discourse seven high school teachers used during cooperative leaning. One classroom lesson where students worked in cooperating groups was audiotaped and fully transcribed for each teacher and a vignette of two of the teachers and one of the groups in his or her room are also provided. The data from the…

This research study explores teachers' specific emotions and the reconstruction of teachers' professional self-understanding during a comprehensive school reform initiative. Through interviews and archival material, this study seeks to examine teachers' specific emotions during critical incidents that occurred during the period of reform and to…

This study examined teachers' satisfaction with various aspects of their job through multilevel analyses of national surveys conducted in the United States. The data came from the National Center for Education Statistics Schools and Staffing Survey for 1999-2000 and Teacher Follow-up Survey for 2000-2001. We found that teachers were least…

Policymakers recently have targeted teacher quality, and school systems have increased their attention to instructional reform through professional development. The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' views about the change process and professional development that supports change. Semi-structured focus-group data were gathered from 41…

The emphasis placed on the individualistic and universal nature of cognitive development in some cognitive development models has resulted in the neglect of the cultural context in the development of cognitive abilities. Consequences of this approach for cognitive development are the strong emphasis which is placed on age-dependent patterns of…

This paper describes the findings of a study of general and special educators' perceptions of co-teaching in elementary and middle school classrooms. A total of 85 students, 20 general education, and 11 special education teachers participated in this investigation in which student drawings were used as both data and as tools to spark teacher…

After an overview of the characteristics of professional learning communities (PLCs), this manuscript presents a review of 10 American studies and one English study on the impact of PLCs on teaching practices and student learning. Although, few studies move beyond self-reports of positive impact, a small number of empirical studies explore the…

In exploring the potential for mentoring to support novice teachers' use of effective teaching practices, we conducted a grounded theory analysis about change potential. Themes emerging from cross-case analysis of survey, interview, and observation data from six beginning primary teachers in the US and their mentors revealed factors, other than…

Discusses educational computer advertising developed by information and communications technology (ICT) firms in the United Kingdom, arguing that such advertisements present a disempowering view of teachers, which may well impact teacher use of instructional technology. The paper highlights four dominant themes: ICT as problematic and problem…

Analyzed the relationships between elementary teachers' instructional perspectives and their use of technology in instruction, examining the types of software they used. Surveys of teachers in 418 schools indicated that views about effective computer-based pedagogy related to types of software they reported using with their students. Two…

Discusses the interaction among school and university contexts, instruction, and individual practice that occurs as telecommunications technology is integrated into teacher education programs. Data from a series of studies of such integration within one university are presented. The paper describes how the studies contributed to the development of…

Uses data from American, British, and Chinese mentor teachers to explore the relationship between mentoring contexts and mentoring practice. Three instructional contexts shaped differences across programs and countries: structure of school curriculum and assessment, organization of teaching and mentoring, and student population. Mentors'…

Describes one mentor teacher's development in understanding the influence of instructional context on her ability to successfully mentor, comparing patterns identified to novice teachers' developmental stages. Results reveal that learning to mentor is a conscious process of induction into a different teaching context and does not emerge naturally…

Studied six intern teachers' reflections on past and future teaching experiences, noting the need for more emphasis on reflection to help prospective teachers look ahead as well as back. Themes emerging from interns' graphical and verbal descriptions of their internships were: discrepancy between anticipated and actual experience; reliance on…

Portfolio construction is a complex social practice with intentions, rules, and standards. This definition is not typically found in teacher education literature and has implications for evaluating students' portfolios. The paper examines teacher education students' recollections of creating portfolios in one Canadian program and argues that…