This book examines the relationship between teacher theorizing and teacher action as illustrated by the curricular and instructional practices of teachers. The authors show that all teaching is guided by theory developed by the teachers. Teachers could not begin to practice without some knowledge of the context of their practice and without ideas about what can and should be done in those circumstances. In this sense, teachers are guided by personal, practical theories that structure their activities and guide them in making decisions. This literature is very significant in explaining and interpreting many phenomena of schooling such as why teachers alter curriculum documents and other policies, how inservice education can be improved, how supervisors can help teachers to improve their practices, and how administrators can become leaders to improve education. This perspective has broad and specific implications for every facet of education. Those interested in teacher education and development, in supervision, in curriculum, and in administration will find it especially relevant.
This book examines the relationship between teacher theorizing and teacher action as illustrated by the curricular and instructional practices of teachers. The authors show that all teaching is guided by theory developed by the teachers. Teachers could not begin to practice without some knowledge of the context of their practice and without ideas about what can and should be done in those circumstances. In this sense, teachers are guided by personal, practical theories that structure their activities and guide them in making decisions. This literature is very significant in explaining and interpreting many phenomena of schooling such as why teachers alter curriculum documents and other policies, how inservice education can be improved, how supervisors can help teachers to improve their practices, and how administrators can become leaders to improve education. This perspective has broad and specific implications for every facet of education. Those interested in teacher education and development, in supervision, in curriculum, and in administration will find it especially relevant.
This updated third edition contains new chapters on important issues—including race, gender, sexuality, and multiculturalism—affecting social studies education.
Teacher beliefs play a fundamental role in the education landscape. Nevertheless, most educational researchers only allude to teacher beliefs as part of a study on other subjects. This book fills a necessary gap by identifying the importance of research on teacher beliefs and providing a comprehensive overview of the topic. It provides novices and experts alike a single volume with which to understand a complex research landscape. Including a review of the historical foundations of the field, this book identifies current research trends, and summarizes the current knowledge base regarding teachers’ specific beliefs about content, instruction, students, and learning. For its innumerable applications within the field, this handbook is a necessity for anyone interested in educational research.
Theory has been used widely in the field of second language writing. Second language writing specialists—teachers, researchers, and administrators—have yet to have an open and sustained conversation about what theory is, how it works, and, more important, how to practice theory. Practicing Theory in Second Language Writing features fourteen essays by distinguished scholars in second language writing who explore various aspects of theoretical work that goes on in the field.
Attending graduate school presents a wide variety of challenges to both American and international students at U.S. universities. Learning the Literacy Practices of Graduate School explores many of those challenges in depth, addressing the textual features and conventions that characterize and underlie the advanced literacy practices at graduate school and examining the unwritten rules and expectations of participation and interpersonal relationships between advisors and advisees and among peers. It also delves into the impact of enculturation and interaction on student and faculty identity. Many disciplines are covered, including those related to second and foreign language learners. This volume brings to light the textual, social, and political dimensions of graduate study that tend not to be spoken or written about elsewhere. Learning the Literacy Practices of Graduate School is an inspirational resource book for graduate students and those serving as mentors for graduate students. It is indispensable for faculty members and advisors who are teaching classes that introduce students to graduate study.
Teachers are often reluctant to change their practices in response to each new staff development workshop that appears on the horizon. What then compels a teacher to explore teaching and learning in his or her own classroom and then implement change that affects the life of that classroom? What is the nature of the collaborative process that can engender teacher research leading to subsequent change? How can educational leaders facilitate this process? These are central questions addressed in Teachers Doing Research. The process and application of developing, implementing, and evaluating teacher action research in collaborative group settings is explored. A practical approach to doing teacher research -- including descriptive analysis of initiating the inquiry, gathering data, analyzing results, and evaluating the project -- is set within the larger context of qualitative research, and draws on the research and literature of teacher as researcher coupled with that on staff development in school and university settings. In this text: * chapters providing the conceptual framework and process descriptions are interwoven with nine teacher researchers' narratives of their classroom research in a variety of grade levels and school contexts; * concrete connections are made to curriculum development approaches and instructional decision making; * the important role that students may play in classroom inquiry is recognized, with numerous examples given of how young people can be co-researchers to enhance their own learning; and * "Practical Possibilities" sections provide activities, questions, and writing opportunities designed to contribute to teachers' professional development.
Imagining a Renaissance Teacher in Education encompasses a wide swath of topics ranging from the need to discuss the psychic rewards ofteaching and adding care to the vision of education to the revamping of particular courses and apprising student teachers of their legal rights before placing them in schools. With chapters written by internationally acclaimed teacher educators and with the voices of teachers, children, and principals are threaded throughtout, this book offers principles of teacher education practice that have been gleaned over time from an international meta-analysis.
