No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This study collected information from 100 student teachers participating in programs at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst between 2001–2004. The data was gathered by using a combination of surveys, interviews, and notes from seminar discussions. The information about the experiences of these new teacher candidates in the schools was used to determine the critical decisions that student teachers must make each day. The responses have been separated into five areas or spheres of influence. These five spheres are teacher education, school setting, educational policy, teen culture, and individual experience/personality . Each critical decision or choice made by these new teacher candidates was influenced by one or more of these spheres of influence. Based on the study's findings, five critical choices have been determined, the consideration of which may help student teachers prepare for their experience. Five critical choices. (1) How to successfully implement classroom management strategies and teaching methods together in the classroom. (2) How to address “high stakes” tests and other standardized testing concerns. (3) How to build productive working relationships with a cooperating teacher and other school colleagues. (4) How to motivate and relate to adolescents. (5) How to manage the stress and uncertainty of the student teaching experience. Listed below are some additional findings from this study that could impact teacher education. (A) Combining classroom management and lesson planning proved to be crucial to successful lessons and to a successful student teaching experience. (B) Understanding one's lesson planning role as it applies to assessment and preparation for standardized tests has become an important component to successful teaching. (C) Nearly all new teacher candidates stated that establishing relationships with students was the most rewarding aspect of their student teaching experience. (D) The majority of new teacher candidates reported that managing stress (combining teaching, college obligations, and a job search) was one of the most difficult aspects of student teaching. It is hoped that with additional research, teacher education programs can continue to determine how to best prepare new teacher candidates to make the best decisions when faced with these critical choices.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how 16 secondary school physical educators working in three different schools described and made sense of the place in which they worked. Three broad views of the school as a workplace were identified in the literature: (a) the physical setting of the school, (b) how the school is organized, and (c) the culture in which teachers do their work. Teachers were asked to take pictures of their school as a workplace and then to describe their pictures. A minimum of three weeks was spent at each school. Field notes were taken during job shadowing and observations and transcripts of informal and formal interviews were generated. School profiles were developed to describe the physical, organizational, and cultural characteristics of each school. Although the profiles represent the job of teaching physical education in secondary schools, they represent three distinctly different work environments in which the job of teaching occurs. There were also broad similarities identified among the three schools. These similarities are represented in the form of the following themes: (a) teachers feel ambivalent about the effects of isolation, (b) teachers lack control over significant aspects of their daily work lives, (c) teachers seek rewards for activities other than physical education instruction, (d) teachers feel a vacuum in department leadership: like a boat without a rudder, (e) teachers are influenced more by students than by any other aspect of their workplace, (f) teachers' finite time and energy are drawn away from instruction toward other responsibilities. This study found that school context has a significant impact on teachers, their work and their behavior in the workplace and that schools have a strong role in defining the job of teaching physical education. Although the construct of teaching implies work that is common and well-known, work in schools varies in relation to the specific context of each school. Cultural variation among these schools defined their most important differences.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This study documented the process of designing, implementing, and evaluating a low-cost, school-based, researcher-conducted staff development program for four voluntary Black seventh and eighth grade science and social studies teachers at Roosevelt Junior Senior High School, New York, during 1987-88. The underlying purpose was to learn more about effective school improvement in low-income school districts. Staff development efforts aimed to expand teachers' teaching styles to accord more closely with urban Black students' diverse learning styles in four homogeneously grouped classes with the intent of (a) improving students' academic achievement, (b) increasing attendance to class, and (c) improving attitudes about school. Five collaboratively planned workshops on teaching styles and learning styles provided opportunities for teachers (a) to expand their repertoire of teaching styles, (b) to recognize students' learning styles, (c) to develop problem-solving techniques for their classes, (d) to work cooperatively with other teachers, and (e) to enhance their professional growth. Based on observations, discussions, interviews, and self-reports, the researcher concluded that teachers (a) utilized different teaching strategies in their classes to address more students' learning styles, (b) provided more opportunities for students to work cooperatively in class, (c) shared ideas with other teachers, (d) planned their lessons with other teachers, (e) incorporated students' suggestions into lessons, (f) utilized a larger variety of teaching aids and materials, and (g) praised their students more often. Their students (a) displayed less inappropriate behavior in class, (b) worked cooperatively with their classmates, (c) offered teachers suggestions to make classes more interesting, and (d) complained less often of boredom. Evidence of positive gains suggests that staff development is feasible in low-income school districts when staff are encouraged to seek support and ideas from students, parents, teachers, and administrators about issues considered important in their setting. Collaborative planning fosters a climate that encourages a variety of school improvement efforts to flourish over time.