Section archive - Instruction in Teacher Training

This article describes the complexity of the preservice secondary school mathematics teachers' experiences in their use of action research as a tool provided for them in the teacher education program. It also examines what do the teacher educators learn about their repertoires and those of their students as they develop the research project within and across the disciplines. The findings show that the participants built trust overtime, which helped them to share their challenges with their instructors. The instructors realized that there needed to be a stronger connection between the PSSM teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. The participants had hands-on experience and they are more confident to continue doing action research and become more reflective in their own classrooms. Furthermore, they enhanced their skills for students’ mathematics learning context.

The current study examined the impact of a deeper approach to learning on pre-service teachers’ critical thinking and metacognitive skills. The study also examined the impact on student learning outcomes within a project based module with a significant design element. The findings reveal that the quality of students’ reflections through peer feedback and overall satisfaction with the module remained high despite students’ citing a preference for instructor feedback.

The purpose of this study was to integrate the ideas of community of practice and participatory action research. This integration formed by the synergy between a natural history museum and a university department of pre-school education, which undertook participatory action research aimed at the creation of innovative museum programmes for young children. Data analysis and the evaluation of the research process show that the community was able to bring its situated knowledge into question and interrogate propositional knowledge. The authors conclude that both communities of educational practice and participatory action research can help participants develop the shared vision that is necessary for the development of a rigorous and better practice.

This article explores the experiences of secondary teachers in four London schools. These teachers participated in Teacher Learning Communities, defined as meetings in which professional learning was supported as they learned about Assessment for Learning (AfL). The author concludes that both AfL and Teacher Learning Communities rely for their success on sustained critical reflection among their participants, which can be inhibited where the above limitations apply.