Although much is known about the benefits of student teaching in developing preservice teachers, less is known about preservice teachers' earlier field experiences at the freshman and sophomore academic levels. This study examined a student-led educational organization that provided an early, whole-school immersive field experience through the…

The Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) held its first annual meeting in February 1920 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the 100 years since its inception, ATE has led advocacy in issues related to teacher education. The leaders of today continue to be on the cutting edge of other major issues in research and practice in teaching and teacher…

Despite the documented role of physical activity (PA) in the overall health and links to academic achievement for young children, students' recess time has decreased nationally over the last several decades. Accordingly, teacher education programs largely overlook the importance of PA and related pedagogy, including oversight of recess by academic…

Teacher reflection has been at the core of teacher development efforts for almost 100 years, yet inconsistency in the literature results from a lack of clarity on how reflection is conceptualized--from its purpose to processes, and how they relate to refining teacher practice. This article draws from research in cognitive science to explain how…

Developing preservice and inservice teachers' sociopolitical consciousness remains an important part of supporting the success of P-12 student experiences. The authors recognize that one way to enhance the sociopolitical consciousness aspect of culturally responsive pedagogy/teaching is through experiential opportunities that support teacher…

Methods for teaching early childhood mathematics and science are often addressed in a single, dual-content course. Approaches to teaching this type of course include integrating the content and the pedagogy of both subjects, or keeping the subject areas distinct. In this article, the authors discuss and illustrate their approach to such a combined…

The public education system in the United States continues to struggle in educating children of diverse backgrounds. Many have addressed this issue by documenting how certain practices teach children particular types of knowledge and skills. This developmental focus on what should be happening to children of diverse backgrounds tends to ignore the…

In this article, the authors use an explanatory narrative of participation and transformation across two consecutive early childhood communities of practice to chronicle the evolution of a teacher leader, Michelle. This narrative illustrates how the continuity of experience spawned her development from apprentice toward an agentic teacher leader,…

Although the importance of field experience is supported and attended to by teacher education programs across the United States, there have been numerous national reports and research findings stressing the need for major improvements in the preparation of teachers with an emphasis on more authentic experiences. Quality field experiences have the…