International Perspectives On Teacher Research

Teacher research is recognized, in ELT and education more generally, as a powerful transformative strategy for teacher development and school improvement. This volume provides original insights into this issue by focusing on the processes involved in becoming and being a teacher researcher.

This book is the latest volume in the Research on Stress and Coping in Education series. The authors present original research and current theory regarding the realities of coping with the stresses of teaching. The chapters highlight working conditions for teachers around the globe and the processes and strategies that teachers use to survive and thrive in their daily work with students, families, and educational administrators. Both stress researchers and educational policy makers will find the chapters offer insights into sources of stress for teachers, strategies for stress prevention and coping, and the negative consequences that stress can have on teacher retention. Researchers from Norway, Turkey, Greece, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Italy, and China illustrate through a variety of research methods both the centrality of cultural context and the commonalities of teacher experiences around the world.

This book reviews the Teacher Education and Development Study: Learning to Teach Mathematics, which tested 23,000 primary and secondary level math teachers from 16 countries on content knowledge and asked their opinions on beliefs and opportunities to learn.

The renowned and highly experienced editors of this book bring together the leading voices in contemporary English education under the banner of the International Federation for the Teaching of English (IFTE). The collected chapters here represent the very best of international writing on the teaching of English in the past decade. The key issues and debates surrounding English teaching across the globe are discussed and analysed accessibly, and incorporate wide-ranging topics including: • The impact of high stakes testing on teaching and learning; • Addressing the needs of minority groups; • The digitization of literature and new conceptions of text; • Rewriting the canon; • Dealing with curriculum change; • "Best practices" in the teaching of English; • The tension between ‘literacy’ and ‘English’; • English and bilingual education; • The impact of digital technologies on teaching and learning; • Conceptions of English as a subject [secondary and tertiary]; • Bringing the critical into the English/Literacy classroom; • The future of subject English; • Empowering voices on the margins; • Pre-service teacher education; • The social networking English classroom. This text looks at the changing face of subject English from the differing perspectives of policy makers, teacher educators, teachers and their students. It tackles some of the hard questions posed by technological advances in a global society, challenges conventional approaches to teaching and points to the emerging possibilities for a traditional school subject such as English in the face of rapid change and increasing societal expectations. Despite all of the converging political and technological threats, the authors of this engaging and insightful text portray an immense confidence in the ultimate worth of teaching and learning subject English.

There has been an explosion of interest in teaching excellence in higher education. Once labelled the ‘poor relation’ of the research/teaching divide, teaching is now firmly on the policy agenda; pressure on institutions to improve the quality of teaching has never been greater and significant funding seeks to promote teaching excellence in higher education institutions. This book constitutes the first serious scrutiny of how and why it should be achieved. International perspectives from educational researchers, award winning teachers, practitioners and educational developers consider key topics, including: policy initiatives research-led teaching teaching excellence and scholarship the significance of academic disciplines research into teaching excellence rewarding through promotion inclusive learning and ICT. Teaching Excellence in Higher Education provides a guide for all those supporting, promoting and trying to achieve teaching excellence in higher education and sets the scene for teaching excellence as a field for serious investigation and critical enquiry.

This edited book offers culturally-situated, critical accounts of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approaches in diverse educational settings, showcasing authentic examples of how CLIL can be applied to different educational levels from primary to tertiary. The contributors offer a research-based, critical view of CLIL opportunities, challenges and implications in the following areas: teacher education, continuing professional development, assessment, teacher-student dialogue, translanguaging, coursebooks, bilingual education, authenticity, language development and thinking skills. This wide-ranging volume will appeal to students and scholars of English Language Teaching (ELT), language policy and planning, bi- and multilingualism, and applied linguistics more broadly.

In the continuing global call for educational reforms and change, the contributors in this edited collection address the critical issue of teacher learning from diverse national contexts and perspectives. They define "teacher learning that matters" as it shapes and directs pedagogical practices with the goal of improving student learning. This book weaves together major studies, research findings and theoretical orientations to represent a globalized network of inquiries into the what, how and why of teacher learning that shapes teacher skill and knowledge. Teacher learning matters on an international scale because teachers are the portals through which any initiative for change and reform is realized. Recognizing that a highly skilled teaching force is instrumental to improving student achievement adds import to generating interactive dialogue on teacher learning around the globe.

The preparation of suitably qualified teachers is vital for political, social and economic growth in developing countries. Some major problems have been caused by the enormous growth in primary enrolment and by the need to train more teachers without reducing standards, exacerbated by the fact that in many cases the structure of teacher education is still in its formative stages. However, these problems can lead to innovative options and solutions. Originally published in 1988, this book reports on research and practice in teacher education around the world. It examines, for example, what happens to teacher education at times of great social change or political unrest, as in South Africa or Cyprus, how programmes in, for example, Nigeria or China approach minority education and how teachers are prepared for the teaching of indigenous populations such as the Saskatchevan Indians in Canada. These examples of international teacher education practice are presented within a specific national, regional and cultural context and provide important perspectives on the traditional views of how teachers are and should be prepared and professionally maintained. The book will be of interest to all involved in teacher education, adult education and curriculum design as well as to students of development studies.