Explores what constitutes an explanation for a science teaching event, noting conceptual-analysis-of-teaching and task-analysis approaches. Examples of various categories and distinctions are provided, drawing on data from pre- and postlesson discussions of an experienced teacher's seventh grade science lesson. The Science Teacher Thinking…

Describes efforts in the reform of science education, noting the importance of changing preservice and in-service teacher education. The article examines three national systemic reform efforts and discusses implementation efforts in Iowa. It also discusses Iowa's teacher preparation and offers assessment information arising from Iowa's efforts.…

The research agenda of Ohio State University's National Center for Science Teaching and Learning focuses on five external influences on science teaching and learning and notes intellectual predispositions that guide its work. The article emphasizes the need for true intellectual interaction between educators, scientists, and policymakers. (SM)

Describes a secondary science and mathematics teacher education course at Cornell University which encourages students to think reflectively about their understanding of subject matter and question common schooling practices contributing to poor understanding of science. The course requires significant amounts of involvement through writing,…

Describes a mathematics and science course designed to inspire early childhood education preservice teachers. They learn to interest young children by engaging in the kinds of science and math activities used with young children. These activities arouse feelings, stimulate curiosity, and offer opportunity for engagement. (SM)

Describes a course, "History and Philosophy of Science for Science Teachers," at the University of New South Wales which focuses on the seventeenth-century scientific revolution and the nineteenth-century Darwinian revolution. The object is to provide background knowledge and promote an interest in the subject. (SM)

The use of constructivism and its various manifestations in education has been a topic of much interest in recent years. Inquiry into this theoretical framework has resulted in teacher educators' attempts to help their teacher candidates apply constructivist pedagogy in university classrooms, field experiences and student teaching at two US…

This paper discusses the role of teacher educators in contexts of social and economic change, the "standards" agenda, teachers' work and the academic-teacher divide. It suggests that the kinds of relationships that preservice and inservice teacher educators must develop with teachers need to extend beyond the current narrow range of course…

Teacher education programs are being encouraged to collaborate with K-12 partners to develop and implement contextually rich field experiences that integrate methods course instruction with public school practices. As a result, we outline four models of integrating methods instruction and field experiences and raise the question "How does the…

Early childhood education does not exist in isolation from the broader world. The political, social and economic reality that shapes Australian life has a powerful influence on the ways in which curriculum, pedagogy and policy are constructed. At the University of Western Sydney, in accordance with the university's goals and commitments to equity…

This paper describes how collaboration emerged in a school district-university partnership designed to foster teacher development in the context of elementary science education. The Teachers Researching Inquiry-Based Science project involved four elementary teachers, a school district science mentoring teacher, a school district science…

For well over 12 years the Human Sexuality Program within Social Work Services of the Toronto District School Board has been serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) students, teachers, parents and their families. Alongside individual, family and group support to the LGBT communities in the board, the program has also been…

Placing issues of homophobia and anti-lesbianism on the agenda of teacher education programmes often meets with resistance from some students, and others. Such resistance is indicative of broader attempts to maintain the straight face of schooling. However, one way in which it is possible to place such issues on the agenda in schooling and teacher…

This paper explores the problem of student refusals in a rural Australian teacher education programme as a problem located in particular spatialised social relations. Drawing upon teacher educator reflections and student online discussions, the paper documents a situated approach to anti-homophobia teacher education: one in which student…

This paper describes a series of attempts by a novice teacher educator to foster reflective talk among interns in a weekly seminar. Drawing on Dewey's dilemma of bridging the child's inclinations with the demands of the curriculum, the paper explores the challenge of connecting interns' needs with teacher educators' goals. The paper advocates the…