Abstract: Teaching is at its heart an emotional endeavor, yet the role of emotions in learning to teach is not often explored. Drawing upon the work of Robert Solomon, the authors offer a conception of emotions as evaluative judgments about incidents or objects in the world, and distinguish between emotion and mood. The study paints a picture of the emotional life of 16 intern teachers in their 1st year of teaching. Three sets of emotions, love, anger and contempt, and guilt are examined, leading to a description of a mood of vulnerability woven through the teaching lives of the interns. Implications for those who mentor beginning teachers are presented.

Abstract: This article describes the experiences encountered by a first year teacher. The focus is on her stories from the field, and investigates the beginning teacher experience from eagerness and hope to frustration, despair and attrition. Narratives of the beginning teachers' experiences and acknowledgment of their personal and professional knowledge provide a framework for advocacy and implications for induction programmes. Advocacy for beginning teachers is situated in relationships with supportive administrators and teachers. As activists, experienced teachers and school principals are visible models of excellent practice, as well as of hope. Listening to the stories of beginners may provoke veteran educators to advocate for the next generation of teachers and reform professional practice.

Abstract: This article considers the development of training programmes for new lecturers since the Dearing Committee in the United Kingdom recommended that all new full-time academic staff with teaching responsibility should achieve at least associate membership of the ILT (Institute for Learning and Teaching; now ILTHE, Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education), for the successful completion of probation. Comparisons are made with similar recommendations made by the Robbins (1963) and Hale (1964) reports. A survey undertaken in more than 90 higher education institutions found that most institutions now provide training leading to ILT membership for their new lecturers, and training is linked to probationary requirements. The devil is in the detail, however: rather than uniformity of provision, the diversity of values and purposes in different types of institution is reflected in a diversity of attitudes and approaches to training: the size of course, and the levels of support among senior ...

Abstract: Education is not alone in becoming the focus of attention and anxiety about the quality of its activities and outputs, although it is perhaps unique in the degree to which it has been publicly and conspicuously subject to scrutiny and castigation for its ‘failings’. Certainly, public education throughout the Western world has been under attack and scrutiny for its perceived ‘low standards’ and the ‘crisis’ said to characterise it (although this crisis is, to many, a ‘manufactured’ one; Berliner & Biddle, 1995). Power (1994) contends that the tensions and contradictions of high modernity explain the widespread adoption of a model of ‘quality assurance’ based upon ‘the audit’, originally a financial phenomenon. The favoured style of auditing – ‘Style A’ – has as its characteristics long distance control, usually by external agencies, quantitative measures, low trust and ex-post control. These important features are linked: for instance, the involvement of outside bodies of experts in the oversight ...

Abstract: The nature of the role assumed by the teacher is crucial in the promotion of successful learning and collaboration in Information and Communication Technologybased (ICT-based) environments. The aim of this study was to examine how teachers with different conceptions of their teacher roles use different types of instructional scaffolding while working in an innovative learning environment. Our further aim was finding out how instructional scaffolding is related to learning activities of different kinds. The study was carried out at two secondary schools with a shared network-based learning environment. The results showed that teachers with different conceptions of the teacher's role demonstrated clear differences in the nature of their instructional activities. The article describes how the different instructional scaffolding interacts with the students’ learning activities and what this implies for the development of ICT as a teacher's tool for monitoring students’ learning processes.

Abstract: Making sense of what it means to teach is an increasingly challenging task as teachers' work becomes progressively more ambiguous and demanding. This is a problem for both the person who teaches and the people who teach about teaching. This article draws on a teacher's story to illustrate how creative, non-linear forms of representation, such as visual imagery and writing, together with narrative reporting, can be catalysts for revealing meanings for actions, for eliciting self-awareness, and the products and processes of reflection. Artful representations can make visible the way conceptions of teaching, and self-as-teacher are constructed and re-constructed. Attending to these ways of knowing can focus reflection on what meanings have been internalized and how these enter practice. Artful representations can also help the field more generally, nourishing efforts to convey a sense of what it means to teach and providing supportive scaffolding for making connections with the knowledge that guides...

Abstract: Teacher recruitment and retention are a major concern. Recruitment to Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses (PGCE), whilst improving in some subject areas, remains problematic in others; potential teachers are leaving in larger numbers than has formerly been the case. Since 1996-97, initial teacher education providers have been losing about 11% of their intake when previously they had experienced an annual withdrawal rate of 5-6%. This article describes research funded by the Teacher Training Agency which examined the question of PGCE (secondary) student withdrawal from eight higher education institutions in England. Data were obtained from both the students and from the schools in which they were working at the time of withdrawal. The main findings relate to three major concerns: the mentor/student relationship, the workload expected of students and the image of the profession as perceived by the students in schools.

Abstract: Teacher educators have long been concerned about the emotional well-being of their students, but the current focus on violence, bullying, substance abuse and distress in schools makes it imperative that teachers better develop student social and emotional literacy skills. Recent research on emotion has influenced the growth of special school programs to enhance social and emotional competencies. It is time to implement a social/emotional literacy curriculum in teacher education. This article describes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of emotional literacy that should become components of teacher education programs; further, the article suggests several ways of implementing these curriculum revisions.

Abstract: This article traces the development of national teaching standards, the introduction of compulsory teaching qualifications, and other recent policy initiatives for improving the quality of teaching in further education (FE) colleges in England. The article argues that the significance of these developments is that hitherto the FE college sector has been unregulated by Government with no statutory requirement for teaching qualifications or standards of professional practice. The article critically analyses the change from a local, voluntarist and unregulated FE sector to a much more nationally regulated one. I argue that although these developments represent a significant effort to raise the quality of teaching in FE colleges, there are contradictions between the growing regulation on the one hand and growing diversity of learners and learning contexts on the other. Furthermore, I suggest that in the absence of any clear professional identity and culture among FE college teachers, there is a dange...

Abstract: A practitioner's living theory can make valid contributions to educational knowledge (Whitehead, 1989). However, in Whitehead's original conception living theories are largely individual products. A contribution is made to the debate on facilitating teaching-research partnerships by suggesting that the staff and pupils in a school can share a living theory as a form of learning and teaching policy. How a school staff came to develop such a policy is described. The policy is compared with features of living theories to substantiate this claim. The testing of the shared living theory takes place through the normal development processes of the school. A model is also presented showing how this may facilitate closer, two-way relations between academic theory and practitioner theory. Using this model facilitates cooperation between teachers and researchers in working together to support teacher and school development while also sharing the task of increasing educational knowledge.

Abstract: This article describes the impact of a curriculum reform on the professional lives of two teachers in a school that experienced rapid change, which is characterised in terms of four phases. Although they taught in the same school, their professional development followed different paths as, given their different positions in the hierarchy, they experienced the same events in different ways. Both teachers became more active during the course of the reform and influenced the reform effort, but for different reasons and in very different ways.

Abstract: The problem of teacher shortages in many industrialized countries has been the catalyst for the provision of induction programs. The guiding purpose for these programs is to ease the transition from novice to professional and in turn encourage teachers to remain in the profession. This article explores the status of one science-focused induction program in the United States, with particular attention to the expectation that induction programs can help retain beginning teachers. The authors present the context for US induction programs and describe their development. They then examine the cases of eight beginning secondary science teachers who participated in the program but nevertheless chose to leave teaching. Findings indicate that teachers left because they were either out of place in the profession, or they had lost patience with their working conditions. The study broadens our understanding of reasonable expectations for induction programs and, through content analysis and cross-case compari...

Abstract: There are many sources of professional development. This article considers the experience of parenting as a source of personal and professional development in Scotland. Nias (1989), in her work on teacher identity, stresses the importance of the personal dimension in effective teaching. Becoming a parent has been identified as a significant transition in adult life. Such a major influence on personal development seems likely to impinge on how teachers play their professional roles. Some of this influence would be expected to relate to the effect of having increased family and domestic commitments, which compete with limited time. Sikes (1997) explores the impact of parenthood on teachers' definitions of their job. In contrast to the emphasis on problems associated with being a parent teacher, Sikes identified a productive link between parenting and teaching, with parent teachers reporting increased tolerance and understanding. This article reinforces and clarifies this link: identifying the impac...

Abstract: This article is based on a case study of a large primary school placed in special measures as a result of an inspection by Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education). It examines the processes of school improvement and focuses on the leadership and management roles of the head teacher and deputy head teacher. It addresses approaches to improving the quality of teaching through systematic professional development cycles set up to support teachers. The role of senior staff in facilitating these cycles and the implications with regard to classroom observation, feedback to colleagues and action planning are significant themes. Data cover the perspectives of teachers, senior managers, Local Education Authority advisers and governors. The case study provides insights into school self-evaluation and its relationship to external scrutiny by Ofsted. External inspection may be an appropriate instrument for judging school performance, but cannot, on its own, lead to improvement (Lee & Fitz, 1998). This arti...

Abstract: This article reports on the experiences of nine new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) teachers in the United Kingdom after their second year of teaching. It builds on earlier papers in which beginner and new ICT teachers are tracked during their training and first years in post. The teachers in this study continued to be positive about their decision to teach and saw relationships with students as the source of their professional satisfaction. All felt they were better teachers in their second year; for example, they were confident in their subject knowledge and better able to plan and manage pupils' learning. Five of the group felt the start of the second year represented a ‘step change’, a significant jump in their confidence and performance. The biggest source of dissatisfaction shared by all members of the group was work overload provoked by the demands of managing students' coursework. The key finding in the research is that members of the group became more relaxed as teachers ...

Abstract: As two teacher-educators, the authors advocate for democratic practices in classrooms. They describe how, in their Masters programme for veteran teachers, they have grappled to undercut conventions of schooling, which thwart teacher activism. They look critically at how market-driven notions such as efficiency, clarity and outside expertise constrain how teachers think and go about their work, entrenching generic, rather than tailored responses to individual students. The writers describe how they attempt to undermine these forces and they trace the difficulties they encounter along the way. They offer a description of an arts-based curriculum that challenges teachers to surface, revisit, and rethink the ideologies and assumptions that guide their thinking and practices. Such an approach to curriculum, the authors claim, can awaken the critical consciousness of teachers, and motivate them to more creative and empowering practices, practices that provide a freeing context for students to pursue th...

Abstract: The effects of legislated change on teacher professionalism were researched with members of the Association for the Study of Primary Education (ASPE). Results from a survey and semi-structured interview suggest that many higher education tutors, school practitioners, Local Education Authority (LEA) advisers and inspectors take different stances on teacher professionalism while judging items of legislation in a more pragmatic manner. Supporters and critics of educational ‘reform’ are thought not so far apart in their judgments and opinions as might otherwise be imagined.

Abstract: This study investigated changes in 22 secondary school mathematics teachers' self-perceived and observed teaching practices during their involvement in a three-year professional development program. Data were collected over four years and analyzed for changes over time. Sources included a survey given at the beginning and end of the program that addressed the teachers' perception of their practice, a classroom observation instrument, interviews, and participants' written reflections. Both teachers' self-perceived and observed practices were found to move towards the targeted goals, although not necessarily at the same rate. As the teachers' practice approached exemplary, the discrepancy between observed and self-perceptions decreased. When discrepancies did exist, the teachers tended to perceive themselves as being closer to exemplary than was supported by observation.

Abstract: This study explored the experiences of six pre-service teachers who participated as intern teachers in a professional development school program between a research university and a public school district in Northeastern United States. This research offers a substantive-level theory of learning to teach in the context of a schooluniversity partnership. The research question driving this study was: How do intern teachers experience learning to teach in the context of a professional development school? Congruent with the qualitative methodology of grounded theory, a model of context-appropriation theory is presented, that was generated from the findings of this study. Two central categories are illustrated – learning about teaching and how to teach, and learning how to be a teacher. Additionally, strategies and states of intern development are described with examples of evidence, happenings, and instances. Five assertions were amassed from this model of learning about teaching and how to teach, and ...

Abstract: This research was undertaken through the field of teaching and learning. It identified students' cultural, social, motivational and communication characteristics, which intertwined, and assisted or hindered adult East Asian students learning in Australian classrooms. A questionnaire (Stage 1) was distributed to students in three sectors within the Australian educational post-school system: universities, public technical and further education (TAFE) sector, and the private TAFE sector. Stage 2 identified further issues and explanations of characteristics of these students, through interviews with teachers and students and observations in four selected classes. The conclusions from this research have been able to identify and describe classroom contexts; motivational, cultural, communication, and social characteristics; and broad teaching and learning approaches of the targeted students. Subsequently, recommendations for teachers, students and organisations have been developed, and when implemented...

Abstract: Three middle school teachers and a performing artist/activist collaborated on a poetry workshop that lasted 5 weeks. The goal of the workshop was to help students build a repertoire of skills that facilitated their ability to identify the characters in poems, and then perform the poems using the voice and physicality of the people they created. In a series of classes that were co-planned by the artist, who describes herself as an ‘inspector’, and the teachers, a five-step lesson plan evolved that included warm-up, showing, joint practice and demonstration. This lesson plan outline for the workshop allowed the teachers to create activities that were age-appropriate and relevant. The teachers, encouraged to participate in the activities, found themselves being challenged to commit their imaginations and emotions to the creation of characters from the poems that they chose to perform. They also found that students who had previously shown very little interest in classroom activities began to partici...

Abstract: It is widely accepted in the literature that follow-up is critical to effective professional development, particularly in developing countries. However, very little empirical research has been conducted which supports this view, illuminates the follow-up processes used or demonstrates the effectiveness of particular follow-up strategies. This article begins to address this gap. It emerged from a three-year research study of a professional development programme for mainly unqualified Namibian primary teachers. The article begins with a summary of this programme and its role within the newly reformed Namibian education system. It summarises the associated research study and discusses the literature relevant to follow-up. It then explores and illuminates effective follow-up strategies used within the professional development programme. They are divided into two broad areas: trainer follow-up strategies and teacher follow-up strategies. The trainer strategies were lesson observation, learner assessme...