Section archive - Instruction in Teacher Training

Investigating teachers' beliefs may shed light on their activities in the classroom, and in turn, on the pedagogical process itself. A study involving Q-methodology was conducted in Singaporean preschools to investigate some teachers' perceptions of early literacy development and instruction. The study revealed four viewpoint groups among the 30 preschool teachers who participated in the study, and possible teacher characteristics that distinguish the viewpoints from each other.

The focus of this narrative inquiry was to examine how teachers describe influences on their instructional decisions in mathematics. Using a lens provided by pivotal or prototypical stories teachers told about their past experiences, connections were suggested between these past experiences and their instructional decisions.

In this article, the authors elaborate a conceptualisation of mathematics for teaching as a form of applied mathematics (using Bass's idea of characterising mathematics education as a form of applied mathematics). Furthermore, the authors examine implications of this conceptualisation for the mathematical preparation of teachers.

This qualitative study aimed to explore teacher curriculum approaches and the strategies attached to each approach. The study was grounded in teacher curriculum development, curriculum implementation, teacher development, student cognitive and affective change and constructivism. Working with English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers and mixed-nationality college students, the study reached a teacher curriculum approach classification comprising curriculum-transmission, curriculum-development and curriculum-making. It recommended alternatives for teacher, student and curriculum development, curriculum implementation and teacher training.