We live in dangerous times when educational policies and practices are debated largely in terms of how they fit with the needs of the free market. This volume is a collection of writing by teacher-educators that draws on their unique biographies, experiences and perspectives to denounce these misguided norms. It explores what it means-practically and intellectually-to teach for social justice in conservative times. In a globalised world where the power of capital holds sway, the purposes of social institutions such as universities and schools is being refashioned in ways that are markedly instrumental and technicist in nature. The consequence is that teachers' work is increasingly constrained by regimes of control such as standardised testing, accountability, transparency, and national curricula. In the meantime, large numbers of students and teachers are disengaging physically, emotionally and intellectually from learning.

The contributors to this edited volume present both a powerful critique of these developments and a counter-hegemonic vision of teacher education founded on the principles and values of social justice, democracy and critical inquiry. Teacher education, they argue, involves a commitment to critical intellectual work that subjects some deeply entrenched assumptions, beliefs, habits, routines and practices to closer scrutiny. The contributing authors expose how ideology and power operate in seemingly blameless, rational ways to perpetuate social hierarchies based on class, gender, sexuality, race and culture.

This volume offers a critical examination of a variety of conceptual approaches to teaching and learning chemistry in the school classroom. Presenting up-to-date research and theory and featuring contributions by respected academics on several continents, it explores ways of making knowledge meaningful and relevant to students as well as strategies for effectively communicating the core concepts essential for developing a robust understanding of the subject.

Structured in three sections, the contents deal first with teaching and learning chemistry, discussing general issues and pedagogical strategies using macro, sub-micro and symbolic representations of chemical concepts. Researchers also describe new and productive teaching strategies. The second section examines specific approaches that foster learning with understanding, focusing on techniques such as cooperative learning, presentations, laboratory activities, multimedia simulations and role-playing in forensic chemistry classes. The final part of the book details learner-centered active chemistry learning methods, active computer-aided learning and trainee chemistry teachers use of student-centered learning during their pre-service education. Comprehensive and highly relevant, this new publication makes a significant contribution to the continuing task of making chemistry classes engaging and effective.

How do successful teacher education programmes deal with social, cultural and individual differences found within and between students, faculty and administrators? The aim of this work is to implicitly and explicitly explore these and related questions from an international perspective.

This text seeks to revisit major theories of motivation and learning in order to evaluate the relevance of each theory to our complex educational environments. The chapters are written by the renowned authors of theories, or authors who have critiqued theories.

This volume builds a conceptual basis for assessment promoting learning in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms and proposes practical assessment approaches and activities that CLIL teachers can apply in the classroom. CLIL as an educational context is unique, as language and content learning happen simultaneously. The efficacy of such instruction has been studied extensively, but assessment in CLIL classrooms has drawn much less attention. The present volume aims to fill this gap. Arranged based on different ways that content and language are integrated in CLIL, the chapters in this book together build a solid theoretical basis for assessment promoting learning in CLIL classrooms. The authors discuss how assessment eliciting this integration yields insights into learners' abilities, but more importantly, how these insights are used to promote learning. The contributors to the volume together build the understanding of classroom-based assessment as cyclic, of teaching, learning, and assessment as inter-related, and of content and language in CLIL classrooms as a dialectical unity. This volume will spark interest in and discussion of classroom-based assessment in CLIL among CLIL educators and researchers, enable reflection of classroom assessment practices, and foster collaboration between CLIL teachers and researchers. The assessment approaches and activities discussed in the volume, in turn, will help educators understand the scope of applications of assessment and inspire them to adapt these to their own classrooms.

This edited book is on the theory and practice of teacher education from the most distinguished and experienced scholars in the field around the world. In this book, they explored the most urgent and significant issues in teacher education in this globalized time. The dealing of these issues can directly impact the quality of teacher education and education in general. How to improve the quality of teacher education is a global issue that many countries, no matter developed or developing, face. This book provides multiple perspectives to address the challenges and possibilities for improving teacher quality. A point needs to further highlight in this book is that the researchers pay more attention to the inner landscape of teachers, such as the issue of identity, sense of person, etc. In this book, the readers can learn the insights and multiple perspectives of the best scholars in teacher education.

In this in-depth examination of self-study as a research methodology, an international selection of physical education scholars share their ideas and experiences and consider the value of self-study as a vector for highlighting the emerging conflicts, dilemmas, and debates currently developing in teaching and teacher education pedagogies. A vital new addition to Springer s series Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices, the volume is divided into three sections assessing the significance of the approach itself, offering detailed subject-relevant case studies, and exploring the nuances and controversies attending the evolution of the methodology.

The contributors show how self-study enables reflexivity in pedagogical practice, a notable lacuna in current critical research, and at the same time they make the technique accessible to scholars of physical education wanting a practicable introduction to the subject. The analysis also explores the implications of applying self-study to pedagogy itself, to the curriculum, and to human movement and educational practice more generally. By embracing more organic, emergent notions of research practice and learning, the book achieves a broader and more inclusive survey of pedagogical work in physical education teacher education that fully acknowledges the complexities of the field."

Informed by the most up-to-date research from around the world, as well as examples of good practice, this handbook analyzes values education in the context of a range of school-based measures associated with student wellbeing. These include social, emotional, moral and spiritual growth - elements that seem to be present where intellectual advancement and academic achievement are being maximized. This text comes as 'values education' widens in scope from being concerned with morality, ethics, civics and citizenship to a broader definition synonymous with a holistic approach to education in general. This expanded purview is frequently described as pedagogy relating to 'values' and 'wellbeing'.

This contemporary understanding of values education, or values and wellbeing pedagogy, fits well with recent neuroscience research. This has shown that notions of cognition, or intellect, are far more intertwined with social and emotional growth than earlier educational paradigms have allowed for. In other words, the best laid plans about the technical aspects of pedagogy are bound to fail unless the growth of the whole person - social, emotional, moral, spiritual and intellectual, is the pedagogical target. Teachers and educationalists will find that this handbook provides evidence, culled from both research and practice, of the beneficial effects of such a 'values and wellbeing' pedagogy.

Research on the preparation and continued development of mathematics teachers is becoming an increasingly important subset of mathematics education research. Such research explores the attributes, knowledge, skills and beliefs of mathematics teachers as well as methods for assessing and developing these critical aspects of teachers and influences on teaching.

"Research Trends in Mathematics Teacher Education" focuses on three major themes in current mathematics teacher education research: mathematical knowledge for teaching, teacher beliefs and identities, and tools and techniques to support teacher learning. Through careful reports of individual research studies and cross-study syntheses of the state of research in these areas, the book provides insights into teachers' learning processes and how these processes can be harnessed to develop effective teachers. Chapters investigate bedrock skills needed for working with primary and secondary learners (writing relevant problems, planning lessons, being attentive to student learning) and illustrate how knowledge can be accessed, assessed, and nurtured over the course of a teaching career. Commentaries provide context for current research while identifying areas deserving future study. Included among the topics: Teachers' curricular knowledgeTeachers' personal and classroom mathematicsTeachers' learning journeys toward reasoning and sense-makingTeachers' transitions in noticingTeachers' uses of a learning trajectory as a tool for mathematics lesson planning

A unique and timely set of perspectives on the professional development of mathematics teachers at all stages of their careers, "Research Trends in Mathematics Teacher Education" brings clarity and practical advice to researchers as well as practitioners in this increasingly critical arena."

Most would agree that a learning community of practice cultivates social and intellectual development in educational settings but what are the other benefits and what does a learning community actually look like in practice? This book explores such questions as: "Are learning communities essential in education?" "How are they designed and developed?" "What difference do they make in learning?" The book contains contributions of educators who share their research and practice in designing and implementing learning communities in school, university, and professional network settings. It presents their experiences, and the "how to" of these educators who are passionate about building and sustaining learning communities to make a real difference for students, teachers, faculty, and communities. Combining scholarly and practitioner research, the book offers practical information to teachers, school and university administrators, teacher educators, and community educators.

Lily Orland-Barak offers us a breathtaking work of science ?ction. Or perhaps I should say 'science and ?ction. ' The science side of the equation employs sophisticated technique for observing and describing interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics among professionals in education. Both dramatic and seemingly ordinary episodes in the lives of teachers in relational tension with one another are analyzed with scienti?c care, precision, and insight. The scienti?c study of mentoring is like the scienti?c study of soap bubbles - their formation, growth, and sudden exit from the visible world with a nearly soundless 'pop ' Scienti?c and intellectual tools can be used to describe and predict the behavior of soap bubbles, to study their colors, shapes, surface tension, and tiny mass. The same is true of the study of mentoring. But in both cases, the greatest care must be taken to avoid popping the almost m- ically elegant form - to avoid destroying the delicate relationship by rushing in, by heavy attempts at control, or by premature dissection, or even by paying attention too intensely to a private, personal relationship. Mentoring is best studied by being still, by listening with authentic interest, and by using our peripheral vision. The science and the scientist have done their best work here. The ?ction side of this ?ne book gives life to telling examples of mentoring in action.

Science Education: A Global Perspective is 'global' both in content and authorship. Its 17 chapters by an assemblage of seasoned and knowledgeable science educators from many parts of the world seek to bring to the fore current developments in science education and their implications. The book thus covers a wide range of topics in science education from various national and international perspectives. These include the nature of science, science and religion, evolution, curriculum and pedagogy, context-based teaching and learning, science and national development, socially-responsible science education, equitable access for women and girls in science and technology education, and the benefits of science education research. It ends on an optimistic note by looking at science education in 50 years' time with a recommendation, among others, for stakeholders to take the responsibility of preparing children towards a blossoming science education sector in an anticipated future world. This book is suitable for use by discerning researchers, teachers, undergraduate and postgraduate students in science education, and policy makers at all levels of education. Other educationalists and personnel in science and technology vocations will also find it interesting and useful as the reader-motivated approach has guided the presentation of ideas. Science Education: A Global Perspective is a rich compendium of the components of science education in context, practice, and delivery. Dr Bulent Cavas, Professor of Science Education, Dokuz Eylul Univerity, Buca-Izmir, Turkey/President-Elect, International Council of Associations for Science Education (ICASE) This book will be of immense relevance for current and future global strides in training and research in science education. Surinder K. Ghai, Chairman, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India This book provides a refreshing insight into the current status and future direction of science education. It will be very useful to researchers, those pursuing undergraduate and post-graduate courses in science education, and all other personnel involved in the policy and practice of science education. Dr. Bennoit Sossou, Director/Country Representative, UNESCO Regional Office in Abuja, Nigeria

Teachers' knowledge of the subjects they teach has been of enduring interest to governments, the profession and the wider society. In this book, Viv Ellis traces the development of three beginning teachers thinking about their subject knowledge in the context of Standards-based teacher education and the practice of auditing student teachers' subject knowledge. Ellis puts forward a theory of subject knowledge development that moves on from the objectivist and individualistic epistemologies associated with Standards and the practices of auditing to more a contextualist and sociocultural understanding of teachers' cognition and learning. An important implication of this study is that if teacher education wishes to have greater impact on the development of beginning teachers, teacher educators need to pay greater attention to the schools and subject department settings in which these beginning teachers learn.

This book includes more than twenty computer games and simulations for use in teacher training. Each of these simulations is innovative and presents an opportunity for pre-service teachers to have hands-on experience in an area of need prior to teaching in the classroom. Information on the simulation origins, including theoretical underpinnings, goals, characteristics, relevant research/program evaluation results, discussion of benefits and limitations as well as dissemination, recommended use, scope of practice, etc. of each game or simulation are included. Pre-service and new teachers will gain a number of useful skills through completion of these simulations and higher education faculty and administrators will gain a plethora of research-based and effective training tools for use in their teacher training programs.

This volume examines the present status and future trends of textbook studies. Cutting-edge essays by leading experts and emerging scholars explore the field's theories, methodologies, and topics with the goal of generating debate and providing new perspectives. The Georg Eckert Institute's unique transdisciplinary focus on international textbook research has shaped this handbook, which explores the history of the discipline, the production processes and contexts that influence textbooks, the concepts they incorporate, how this medium itself is received and future trends. The book maps and discusses approaches based in cultural studies as well as in the social and educational sciences in addition to contemporary methodologies used in the field. The book aims to become the central interdisciplinary reference for textbook researchers, students, and educational practitioners.

In the worldwide movements of educational reform, educators are forging new roles, identities and relationships. Leadership is vital, but must be rooted in the capacity for learning. This volume responds to the tensions and paradoxes brought by educational reforms, presenting a critical discourse on teachers as learners. The contributions bring an array of cultural settings and methodological orientations, and reveal contextual burdens that teachers should not carry in isolation. Teachers' learning demands collective engagement to turn challenges into opportunities in a sustainable quest for higher goals. The discourse concludes with a vision for a new relationship among educational workers as a joint force of learners in a cross-boundary endeavor for moral commitment to education.

This proposed book will be part of the new international series Educating the Young Child. It will focus on transitions that young children make to early care and education settings, along with the issues that surround this very important time in their lives. The theme is timely and important because children transitions are a universal rite of passage encountered by children worldwide. The diverse experiences, traits, and needs exhibited by young children provide early childhood educators with what may be a potentially challenging role. New experiences, such as the start of formal schooling, mark important and exciting events that also evoke different reactions from both parents and children.

With an international focus, the purpose of this book is to communicate an enlarged view of the currently constraining deficit-based American focus on readiness for the transition to formal school. By broadening this narrow view, the book will appreciate and honor the promise and potential of all children worldwide. The insights shared in this book have the potential to inform both practice and policy.

The book will provide a plethora of practices and strategies for promoting successful transitions for children in a variety of social and cultural contexts. As a resource for teacher education programs, along with in-service early childhood professionals, and university faculty, the book will also provide a theoretical and research background. This edited book will showcase the views of a variety of authors who have demonstrated experience in topics related to transitions in early childhood education. One of these noted authors is Nancy Balaban, who has published two significant works in this area.

As a former kindergarten teacher, I view the book as a resource that will assist educators to promote successful transitions for the students they serve. It has been my experience that student teachers who are placed in early childhood classrooms in the fall semester have an "edge" over those who student teach in the spring semester, due to the many practices that they observe as the transition process unfolds. For those who do not have the opportunity to prepare for teaching in this way, the book will help fill the gap between theory and practice and be a resource for teachers as they support their students transitions to new educational experiences.

To prepare an effectively organized book, a review of literature was conducted on the topic of transition to formal school. As the co-editor, I have also written on this subject and have researched international practices for promoting successful transitions. Authors who have previously published books and articles on this topic were researched and a tentative table of contents was developed based on previous work that was done in this area. The goal for the proposed book is to provide early childhood educators with a resource that is a compilation of research-based strategies and pertinent information that addresses issues related to the transition to formal school experiences, according to noted researchers who have already published in this area. Their expertise will be compiled into this book and address issues that include attachment and separation; meeting the needs of children with exceptionalities; children living in poverty; family relationships; and strategies for promoting successful transitions.

The targeted market for this book will benefit from the information contained in the book because of the universality of the transitions that children experience, yet the diverse needs that exist. When educators are familiar with current, research-based practices for addressing children s transition needs, their students and their families will ultimately benefit. It is essential that early childhood educators are aware of the practices that exist that can help with this very important milestone in their students lives."

Science teacher educators prepare and provide professional development for teachers at all grade levels. They seek to improve conditions in classroom teaching and learning, professional development, and teacher recruitment and retention. Science Teacher Educators as K-12 Teachers: Practicing What We Teach tells the story of sixteen teacher educators who stepped away from their traditional role and entered the classroom to teach children and adolescents in public schools and informal settings. It details the practical and theoretical insights that these members of the Association of Science Teacher Educators (ASTE) earned from experiences ranging from periodic guest teaching to full-time engagement in the teaching role. Science Teacher Educators as K-12 Teachers shows science teacher educators as professionals engaged in reflective analysis of their beliefs about and experiences with teaching children or adolescents science. With their ideas about instruction and learning challenged, these educators became more aware of the circumstances today's teachers face. Their honest accounts reveal that through teaching children and adolescents, teacher educators can also renew themselves and expand their identities as well as their understanding of themselves in the profession and in relation to others. Science Teacher Educators as K-12 Teachers will appeal to all those with an interest in science education, from teacher educators to science teachers, as well as teacher educators in other disciplines. Its narratives and insights may even inspire more teacher educators to envision new opportunities to serve teachers, K-12 learners and the local community through a variety of teaching arrangements in public schools and informal education settings.

How important is it to be a reflective practitioner in education today? Is reflection viewed as subjective, a 'shape-shifting' approach to truth-seeking - or a critical developmental process leading to emancipated thinking? While many believe reflective practice promotes development, critics have questioned its effectiveness and validity in learning. Using practice-based research, this book examines the reflective practitioner role and the scope of reflective activities in professional practice, revealing that critical thinking is rooted in a philosophical debate about notions of truth linked to differing learning approaches. The Reflective Practitioner in Professional Education considers how a dominant scientific learning approach influences the reflective practitioner role and related reflective activities. Emerging ideas present an argument for an inclusive reflective practitioner role within an applied learning approach.

This book critically explores urgent questions that researchers, educators, and policy makers need to consider and address in order to better our understanding and capacity to transform education. Focusing on areas that underpin the empirical, theoretical, and strategic research of the Pedagogy, Education and Praxis (PEP) International Research Network, it discusses the following topics: the nature of educational praxis; research approaches that facilitate praxis and praxis development; changing cultural, social, political and material conditions affecting the educational practices of teachers; and how good professional practice in teaching, leading, and professional learning are understood and experienced. Presenting findings emerging from the Pedagogy, Education and Praxis research, the book raises new questions and offers new ways of thinking about the identified issues and themes in light of current educational concerns and the prevalence of neoliberal conditions being experienced in educational settings around the globe. It provides supporting evidence and illustrative examples to help readers understand important concepts, situations, and concerns, and brings together intellectual and cultural-historical traditions that, when considered in relation to each other, open up critical opportunities and ideas orienting readers towards future educational transformation.

The book investigates interest groups and various learning circles, Reading Circles (RCs) learning opportunity in particular, as a mode of in-class and beyond class autonomous learning in the context of English Language Teaching (ELT) at tertiary level in Oman, and in similar contexts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This investigation presents learners' positive perceptions of learner autonomy and their readiness to adopt related practices. Building on findings from these RCs, the book introduces collaborative learner autonomy (CLA) as a novel concept of learner autonomy for use in educational contexts in the MENA region. As a concept of gradual development of learner autonomy, the CLA represents a new dynamic learner autonomy development process consisting of individual, competitive, collaborative, and autonomous stages. The CLA advocated in the book emphasizes the constructive role of teachers and educational institutions can play with other stakeholders in developing autonomy in their learners. The book also suggests that it is a shared responsibility that students, teachers, educational establishments, families, society and the educational systems should assume in a spirit of partnership.

This book examines new trends and developments in research related to the mathematical education of pre-service elementary teachers, and explores the implications of these research advances for theory and practice in teacher education. The book is organized around the following four overarching themes: pre-service teachers' mathematics content and mathematics-specific pedagogical preparation; professional growth through activities and assessment tools used in mathematics teacher preparation programs; pre-service mathematics teachers' knowledge and beliefs; and perspectives on noticing in the preparation of elementary mathematics teachers. Including contributions from researchers working in 11 different countries, the book offers a forum for discussing and debating the state of the art regarding the mathematical preparation of pre-service elementary teachers. By presenting and discussing the findings of research conducted in different countries, the book offers also opportunities to readers to learn about varying teacher education practices around the world, such as: innovative practices in advancing or assessing teachers' knowledge and beliefs, similarities and differences in the formal mathematics education of teachers, types of and routes in teacher education, and factors that can influence similarities or differences.

The school principalship is one of the most demanding and misunderstood jobs in American education. As the person in charge of the daily operation of a particular school, the principal is vested with enormous responsibility for the education of students, the supervision of personnel, and the adherence to numerous laws and policies. This professional reference provides practical information for K-12 principals about how to conduct their jobs in the most effective manner. The practical information in the book is informed by a solid discussion of the history of the principalship and the characteristics of effective schools. The bulk of the volume provides valuable information on the legal and business concerns of the principal, the effective management of personnel, the importance of systems theory to effective planning, and the relationship between the school and the community. Throughout the volume, the authors stress that the principal is a leader and a visionary who empowers, rather than merely a manager who oversees tasks.

This edited book aims to provide a global perspective on socioscientific issues (SSI), responsible citizenship and the relevance of science, with an emphasis on science teacher education. The volume, with more than twenty-five contributors from Africa, North and South America, Asia, Australasia and Europe, focuses on examples from in- and pre-service teacher training. The contributors expand on issues related to teachers' beliefs about teaching SSI, teachers' challenges when designing and implementing SSI-related activities, the role of professional development, both in pre- and in-service teacher training, in promoting SSI, the role of the nature of science when teaching SSI, promoting scientific practices through SSI in pre-service teaching, and the role of indigenous knowledge in SSI teaching. Finally, the book discusses new perspectives for addressing SSI in teacher education through the lens of relevance and responsible citizenship.

This volume presents different conceptual and theoretical frameworks as well as research methods that have helped educational researchers to study emotions. It includes innovative approaches that push the methodological boundaries that have served educational researchers until now and proposes new ways of researching emotions in educational contexts. In particular, this edited volume provides a historical frame for studying emotions. It connects theoretical/epistemological views with choice of research methods and describes specific methods helpful in doing research on emotions as they are grounded in different theoretical and disciplinary traditions such as psychology, philosophy, sociology, history, political science, cultural studies, and feminist studies. Finally, it appreciates the contextual and international dimensions of studying emotions in education and contributes to ongoing debates about the implications of our methodological choices for understanding emotion in education. This combination of variety, timeliness, potential for transformation of the field, and uniqueness make this a very valuable resource to introduce new scholars in the field alongside established scholars.