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The current paper investigates, both theoretically and empirically, the political dimensions of teacher learning. The authors examine this issue through a theoretical work on teacher professional vision, and an empirical study of video-based teacher professional development.

This paper describes the logistics and process to conduct a play-based assessment (PBA) within the context of an early childhood special education (ECSE) assessment course required for early childhood education (ECE) and ECSE students. The paper describes the characteristics of the participating students and PBA children and families. The article also elaborates the three components of the PBA process: assessing, teaming and reflecting. Furthermore, the article addresses the difficulties along with possible solutions for each of these three components.

In this article, the author was interested to learn more about how 1st-year mathematics teachers use questioning strategies as a method for improving student engagement in whole-class discussions. The author observed two new mathematics teacher whom he mentored in the university. The data reveal that during each of their midterm observations, the two teachers were presenting lessons that exceeded 50% of the total class period . Therefore, they spent less time on engaging students in mathematics discussions. After each midterm conversation, both teachers increase the amount of time that students were discussing mathematics.

This article describes the process that five graduate students interviewed 11 community members about their memories of racial desegregation in southern Illinois. The researchers used these stories to develop instructional materials and a supplementary website (Beyond a Story Well Told) for a middle school classroom. The article concludes that the researchers' use of oral histories about segregation in Carbondale gives students the unique opportunity to witness how a national event was and is relevant to their own community.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence a yearlong inquiry professional development program had on chemistry teachers’ beliefs and use of inquiry-based teaching practices. The participants in this study were seven high school chemistry teachers who took part in a professional development program for science teachers. In conclusion, this PD program succeeded to change the ways teachers perceived their role in the classroom by the positive experiences in learning through an inquiry approach which engaged teachers to reconstruct their own chemistry content knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges and discuss the opportunities of incorporating digital video technology into the research on preservice science teacher education. The authors conclude that the incorporation of digital video technology and coding software packages into research focused on improving the quality of science teacher education provides a number of methodological advantages for researchers and numerous benefits for preservice education faculty and students. However, the use of digital video research methods can pose serious threats to the validity of any investigation. The article also discusses future directions for DVT applications.

Creative teaching is necessary to meet the complex needs of students and society. The current article reviews 12 Canadian case studies of creative teaching conducted by a creative teaching research group. The findings reveal that Canadian creative teachers are distinctive using intrapersonal awareness in service of their teaching. Furthermore, Canadian teachers base creative instructional choices on their values, emphasizing community.

In this article, the author argues that a socially just and effective citizenship education means including and understanding the historical and political contexts of Indigenous Americans. The author also maintains that schools and teachers have the responsibility for students' exposure to and understanding of the complexity of the United States', politically based past and present relationship with and responsibility to tribal nations and their citizens is exposed.

In this article, three students teachers reflected and wrote about their student-teaching experiences. The group chose to examine common concerns of student teachers not often addressed in classes, with the idea that these reflections could be useful for teacher candidates just entering student teaching. These vignettes were presented to pre-student teaching candidates in the semester just before their student-teaching experience and at the end of the semester. The authors stated the value in grooming student teachers toward the habit of reflection to help them gain insights to their identities as teachers and to make the shift from self-absorbed novices to student-centered teachers.

The current paper explores how educators use film to promote critical thinking and develop citizens of character through values analysis. This article provides a model for using film to teach students to be citizens of character are provided for teachers interested in incorporating this approach into their classroom instruction. The authors conclude that teaching students to critically examine and analyze films will empower them to rationalize and defend their values, and allow students to deeply think about what it means to be an effective citizen in the 21st century.

This study compared three teacher preparation programs at a Midwestern university. The purpose of the study was to examine how the teachers from the three programs perceived the impact of the programs and how employers perceived their teaching competencies. The teachers from the three teacher education programs at the Midwestern university held positive attitudes about the impact of their programs on their competencies. Their positive views were confirmed by the perceptions of their employers, who provided high ratings of their teachers' competencies in all three programs.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the participants’ perceptions and experiences about the concepts of ‘mentor’ and ‘mentoring’. Six English Language Teaching Department (ELT) students, who were in the final year of their training and one English teacher who was the subject mentor of the students at the practice school participated in the study. The findings demonstrate that the students found mentoring useful, particularly in putting theory into practice, and working in an authentic teaching environment. However, the students obviously needed more critical, constructive, structured, and immediate assistance and feedback for their survival stage of teaching, which is an important responsibility of a mentor.

This article examines the ways to implement citizenship education in educational settings for individuals with cognitive disabilities. For their successful integration into society as contributing citizens, individuals with cognitive disabilities need self-determination skills such as autonomy, making choices, and self-regulation to be infused throughout their curriculum, and they should begin learning such skills as early as possible.

This article explores the experiences of two arts educators, both of who are described as early career researchers at the university level. Furthermore, the paper investigates the events, personal and social conditions, places, and the subsequent joys and challenges they encountered in their progression from secondary school teachers to arts educators. The authors conclude with a number of recommendations concerning the transition from school teaching to becoming a novice university academic in the field of education