The study examines the use of the shadow study technique in determining student engagement in learning. The students and teachers who comprise the subjects for this study were randomly chosen from a large metropolitan midwestern school district. The students were randomly selected from a list of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students provided by the district. Teachers were also randomly selected from a list of tenured teachers provided by the district. The shadow study, a quasi ethnographic data collection technique, was used to gather data for this study. Observations were recorded every five to seven minutes over the course of a school day. Fifty-eight students and twenty-two teachers were shadowed. Fifty-eight volunteer observers shadowed the students, and twenty-two shadowed the teachers. Data were grouped by grade level, first impressions were recorded, and responses to lists of topics for student and teacher behavior were noted. These impressions and notes were then coded and tabulated. Teacher behavior included initial impressions, instructional techniques, teacher-teacher interactions, student engagement, and teacher student interactions. Student behavior included initial impressions, instructional techniques, teacher-student interactions, and student-student interactions. These data were compared to topics described in the literature as positively influencing student engagement in learning. Topics included: authentic instruction, small group instruction, the use of computers, project based learning, individualized instruction, hands-on learning, and small group and whole class discussions. The study found the predominant instructional techniques in these classrooms to be very traditional. Teacher lecturing and student note taking and the use of worksheets prevailed. Students in these schools were actively engaged in learning about thirty percent of the time. Conversely, students were passively engaged or disengaged about seventy percent of the time. The shadow study technique, while inefficient, is an effective method to examine student engagement in learning.

The following study addresses the present theories on reflection in teaching, and attempts to locate this reflection in practice. Through analysis of "bumpy moments" in teaching, the study describes teacher reflection as it actually occurs in the classroom context. The following research questions were designed to examine practicing and preservice teachers' perceptions and reflections on "bumpy moments" in teaching and determine the similarities and differences between the two: (1) What do teachers and preservice teachers consider to be "bumpy moments" in their teaching or observation of teaching? (2) What do teachers and preservice teachers think about when faced with a "bumpy moment" in teaching? (3) What kinds of knowledge or beliefs do teachers and preservice teachers bring to the "bumpy moments," and where did they come from? (4) How does the teacher resolve the difficult task of making decisions instantaneously within the classroom context; and what did the preservice teacher observe the teacher doing? and (5) What are the implications of each "bumpy moment" on a teacher's or preservice teacher's thinking about future decisions and teaching practice? These research questions were addressed through the identification of "bumpy moments" during a specific period of teaching, and a comparison of the moments identified by both the practicing teacher and the preservice teacher. Interviews were conducted to gain insight into the factors, thoughts, understandings, knowledge, actions, and possible impact of each "bumpy moment" identified. Through an analysis of the "bumpy moments" identified by both the practicing and preservice teachers, several important findings emerged about the similarities and differences in the types of "bumpy moments" shared by the two groups of participants. Further, differences in the practicing and preservice teachers' thoughts, knowledge and beliefs brought to each moment give further insight into how teachers at varying stages of their development might experience these classroom events. Increased understanding of how preservice teachers interpret these moments may provide Teacher Educators with insights for developing programs that encourage teacher reflection.

The purpose of this research study is to analyze Colombian teachers' knowledge of literacy learning in Spanish and in English revealed in their narratives and in their practice through a teacher education program. The research questions addressed in this study aim to answer the following: (1) How do teachers in the literacy program perceive reading and writing as revealed through their personal literacy histories? (2) What knowledge of literacy learning in Spanish and in English do teachers in the literacy program reveal as presented in their self-selected classroom literacy project? (3) How is teachers' knowledge of literacy learning in Spanish and in English expressed in their practice? This study draws upon data collected during a year-long inquiry I conducted with public school teachers in Bogota, Colombia during March 1998 and April 1999. The 42 teachers who participated in this research project had an average of 10 years teaching. Their knowledge statements found in the data collected served as the unit of analysis from which six categories emerged. Additional information represented in classroom observation, interviews and videotapes was collected of three exemplar cases of elementary school teachers. The conclusions that I arrived at from the analysis of Colombian teachers' knowledge of literacy learning are the following: First, that writing and sharing the literacy histories contributed to transforming traditional pedagogical practices into innovative pedagogical practices of reading and writing. Second, the class sessions, readings, seminars attended, and the sharing of experiences with their peers permitted the generation of new knowledge on literacy learning by teachers. Third, the new knowledge of literacy learning generated by teachers was revealed in the innovations presented in their classroom literacy project. Finally, the conference on literacy contributed to exchanging knowledge and generating more questions for further investigation.

Nationally, teacher preparation programs are calling for an increased level of diversity awareness, and therefore teacher preparation programs have answered with various courses and integrated attempts to prepare preservice teachers to work effectively with an increasingly diverse student population. Although there are certain agreed upon elements of successful teacher preparation for diverse settings, much is unknown about teaching across cultures. There is also a need to document the process of preparing teachers for cultural diversity. In this study, qualitative case study methodology was used to understand the experiences of one preservice teacher as she considered and enacted culturally relevant teaching. The study took place in culturally diverse middle school classrooms located in an urban area in the Southwest. The participant in the sample was a white, female, secondary language arts student enrolled in her final year of a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program. The participant was enrolled in a cohort program that places students in carefully selected classrooms for a year of observation and student teaching. Data were collected over a six-month period using academic work, interviews, collaborative conversations, teaching cases, reflective journals, and observations designed to help examine cultural issues in the classroom. Constant comparison and analytic induction were used to analyze data. Major emerging themes in the data include the areas of interaction, opportunity, accommodation, and ownership. These characteristics support the work of Ladson-Billings (1984) and Nieto (1999) in that they were identified and described as elements necessary for culturally responsive teaching. Also of interest were the "simplification strategies" the participant employed to enact her beliefs of culturally relevant teaching. Implications for teacher education can be found for initial teacher preparation program, teacher educators, and those interested in curriculum and pedagogy as this intensive study of an instructive case offers insights into challenges preservice teachers encounter in moving their philosophy into practice.

This narrative study focuses on the stories of two bilingual elementary teachers. The teachers participated in a series of in-depth phenomenological interviews examining the relationship between their stories of becoming bilingual teachers and their current bilingual teaching practices. The stories were analyzed and represented in two ways, first in terms of story structure and second for themal coherence. The analysis of story structure was based on the work of William Labov (1972, 1982) and revealed ways in which these story tellers crafted complex narratives using specific, general, and hypothetical stories, as well as embedding stories Within stories. In addition, the stories were analyzed for themes that created threads of themal coherence (Agar & Hobbs, 1982, 1985) woven through all three interviews. The analysis of themal coherence revealed that issues that emerge in teachers' life stories also appear in their narratives of classroom practice. In addition, the study underscores the complexity of narrative research in terms of issues such as ownership, authority and representation.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine if first graders could learn how to write while writing to learn. An inquiry cycle was developed to guide the students as they learn content area material. Writing to learn activities were selected that promote, or facilitate, the thinking process of the inquiry cycle. The writing to learn activities are: freewriting, brainstorming, questioning, graphic organizers, review writing, and elaboration writing. Twenty-five first graders learned about our solar system and plans by engaging in these writing to learn activities. Finding. The writing to learn activities provided the students with opportunities to go through the steps in the writing process of composition, as well as provide opportunities to go through the steps in the inquiry cycle to learn new information about the topic. In addition to writing and concept development, the writing to learn activities encouraged collaborative learning and reflective teaching practices.

The study sought to advance knowledge between leadership style and teacher's use of technology. This quantitative research study investigated the relationship between principal leadership style determined by the MLQ (Bass & Avolio, 1989) and the perceived Role Messages (Katz & Kahn, 1978) teachers' receive about the use of technology in English and Mathematics. The Role Messages teachers receive from the principal influence the teachers' use of technology. A qualitative instrument, The Role Message Perception Interview for Administrator (RMPI-A) was used to confirm principal's leadership style in the transformation, transactional, and passive/avoidant areas.A transformational leader builds trust, inspires teachers, acts with integrity, encourages innovative thinking, and coaches people to move the teachers to a higher level of commitment. A transactional leader is more concerned with monitoring for mistakes and rewarding achievement. A passive/avoidant leader chooses to use his time dealing with crises and avoids involvement (Bass & Avolio, 1994). Sixty-three teachers of Mathematics and English at each of the five urban high schools responded to the Perceived Role Message Survey for Teachers (RMPS-T), a 56-question survey about the use of technology. The principal's leadership style was compared to their teachers' perception among the five high schools. The responses by teachers on the RMPS-T for the transformational sub-section showed significant differences among teacher responses on school culture (p = 0.0159), there were no other significant differences among transformational sub-sections. On the transactional sub-section showed significant differences among teacher responses on evaluator monitors (p = 0.122), and differences among the my principal rewards me sub-section, but not significant (p = 0.009). On the passive/avoidant the sub-section there were no significant differences.The study sought to show connection between teachers' gender, age, subject taught, the number of college credits earned, and the number of hours of professional development when compared to the number of uses of technology. The findings showed a difference among teacher responses based on gender, but not significant. There were no other significant differences. The results will assist high school principals in understanding how leadership style can impact the use of technology.

<p>Effective teacher training and preparation is widely recognized as key in raising student achievement. This historical study examined the influence of the normal school movement, one of the first concrete approaches to the preparation and training of public school teachers in the nineteenth century in the United States. Specifically, this study investigated the influence of the vision of teaching and learning of Nicholas Tillinghast, the first principal of Bridgewater State Normal School between 1840 and 1853, and of the &ldquo;sons of Bridgewater,&rdquo; the students of Tillinghast who became normal school principals across the United States. Primary source and archived documents such as personal correspondence, diaries, conference records, and newsletters, and photographs were used to conduct this study. As a result of this study, normal schools, which were regionally impacted as they were established across the United States, emerged as an unrecognized, yet significant factor in the evolution of teacher training programs. The work of Nicholas Tillinghast and the sons of Bridgewater during the nineteenth century made a significant impact on the spread and evolution of the normal school movement and played an important role in the professionalization of teaching. </p>

Although preservice teacher education comprises only a small part of student teachers' socialization into the teaching profession, it nevertheless has an important impact of student teachers imagination through an educative world it renders both possible and the intelligible. Anchored in a secondary social studies methods course at the University of British Columbia, and following six of its student teacher participants through their university- and practicum-based experiences, this year-long ethnographic study explores the production of knowledge and knowing in presevice teacher education. As such, it examines how particular versions and visions of education, teaching, and learning are made possible as well as on what they, in turn, make possible for prospective social studies teachers learning to teach. Exploring how teachers' ways of being are dependent, in part, on student teachers' ways of becoming, this study examines what happens to student teachers during their preservice education and, as a result, what they make happen because of what happens to them. Examining the complex relationship between the knowledge student teachers are given and the knowledge they themselves produce, this dissertation considers not only what student teachers choose to say and do but also what structures their choices. Disturbing the practice of teacher education by examining how discourses use and are used and what, in the process, gets covered over, silenced, and ignored, this dissertation attempts to extend the traditional exploration of how prospective social studies student teachers learn to manage ideas and theories in the teacher education classrooms to the examination of how the use of ideas and theories in those very classrooms manages those who attempt to engage them. Organized as a multivocal text in which the running narrative is interrupted and interrogated by the researcher's own reflexive comments about the impossibilities of knowing and those of the participants about the study and its textualization, this dissertation focuses on the problematics and possibilities in the process of learning to teach, highlighting and publicly engaging them in order to bring more of what we do in university-based teacher education classrooms into the fold of the discussion both about and in teacher education