Followed an elementary teacher during her transition from preservice to inservice teaching, examining influences on her science teaching efficacy beliefs. Data from teacher interviews, observations, and journal writings indicated that mastery experience and verbal and other forms of social persuasion were the major sources of influence for…

Describes how to teach rock climbing to elementary school students using balance dome cones, which are small, cylindrical- shaped cones that are rounded at the top, seven inches in diameter, and four inches high. Students step on the cones as they explore and discover their balance limits in various unnatural movement positions. Individual and…

Introduces a collection of articles that address the following issues: authority and morality in classroom discourse; becoming experienced in teaching and learning; first-year teaching success; teachers' roles in preservice education; student teacher cohorts; theories of language learning and teaching; and metaphors as blueprints of thinking about…

Examines the complex relationships among authority, power, and morality in classroom discourse, illustrating this concept by analyzing an extract from a third-grade writer's chair activity, focusing on two dilemmas of authority the teacher faced in this activity. The paper suggests that these dilemmas can best be conceptualized in terms of…

Examines the ontological meaning of experience in teacher education, highlighting a fifth-grade art lesson taught by a student teacher. Based on Dewey's view of experience, the article argues that practical wisdom is a dynamic process, and teacher education's task is to enable prospective teachers to be open to experience and aware of the…

Examined success in first-year teaching, using observations and interviews conducted over a school year, to describe a new physical education teacher's experiences. Results revealed several factors which impacted success, some related to preservice preparation, others to school context, and others to the new teacher taking an active role in the…

Examines difficulties caused by the two-context nature of preservice teacher education, describing a Scottish program in which classroom teachers collaborate with university faculty to plan and present university classes. Interviews with participating teachers indicate that teachers feel confident about their role and believe they could share a…

Evaluated the effects on student teachers of a preservice program that grouped them into cohorts and emphasized community- building. Interview, observation, and questionnaire data highlighted positive effects (high participation levels in group activities, greater awareness of the value of collaboration, and greater willingness to take risks in…

This questionnaire study examined the beliefs of undergraduate and graduate preservice teachers of English as a Second Language about language learning. Although students tended to denigrate the value of theory in their preparation program, many of their expressed beliefs changed significantly during their theoretical courses on second language…

Spanish researchers compared the types of metaphors for teaching and learning generated by experienced and preservice teachers. Analysis of the metaphors indicated that few teachers conceived of teaching and learning as a social process. Behaviorist metaphors predominated among experienced teachers, while preservice teachers had a high number of…

Presents a conceptual framework for debating the ethics of pedagogy. The concepts of procedural, retributive, remedial, and distributive justice are presented as a means of incorporating many of the key ethical challenges that confront lecturers new to higher education. Recommends this justice framework as a means of encouraging practitioners to…

Traces growth of the Teaching Community model at Australia's Monash and Swinburne universities; the model uses group meetings to encourage professional development of teaching staff. Elaborates on the model's successes and why it has been powerful in bringing about change in an area known for resistance, and proposes conditions required for this…

Describes a course called "Varieties of Speaking and Writing" at Anglia Polytechnic University; the course teaches language skills through study of extracts from literary and non-literary writing. Addresses fundamental pedagogical issues: how to improve undergraduate writing skills, how to train and assess speaking skills, and how to ensure this…

Describes an approach to engineering mathematics instruction that uses case studies, not as illustrations of applications after a mathematical topic has been discussed, but in a fully integrated, central role as vehicles for whole group discussion from which students discover the necessary mathematics, which is subsequently taught. Discusses…

Discusses why experiential learning is often implemented incompletely in higher education and asserts that the case study approach is an effective way to involve students in all four phases of Kolb's experiential learning cycle. Drawing on previous studies, proposes that experiential learning fosters higher-level learning, such as critical…