Since the mid-1990s, the role of the teacher has expanded to include overseeing and intervening in the moral development of students. In Australia, this expectation of teachers was generated largely by the national coalition government, and has been continued by the Labor government. As a result, it is essential that pre-service teacher education courses skill pre-service teachers in appropriat...

Pre-service teachers face many challenges as they learn to teach in ways that are different from their own educational experiences. Pre-service teachers often enter teacher education courses with pre-conceptions about teaching and learning that may or may not be consistent with contemporary learning theory. To build on preservice teachers’ prior knowledge, we need to identify the types of views...

Researchers have identified the importance of understanding language teacher identity in order to understand more about language teacher education (Johnston, Pawan, & Mahan-Taylor, 2005; Varghese, Morgan, Johnston, & Johnson, 2005). The role of previous experience in shaping language teacher identity and beliefs and practices has been commented on by many writers (e.g., Crandall, 2000; Freeman ...

Since the 1960’s there have been calls for reforms in teacher education programs to reflect the growing diversity represented in our nation’s schools. One response is multicultural education courses aimed at addressing attitudes and beliefs about diversity. Such courses have received mixed reviews. Some research has reported that pre-service teacher’s attitudes and beliefs were changed in a pos...

Since the Smith-Hughes Act in the early 1900's, there has been a continuing need to prepare people who possess competence in occupational fields to teach in high schools, technical colleges, and community colleges. Most often these people begin teaching with little teacher education. They are hired first, and later receive in-service teacher education while they are teaching. Originally, most s...

Pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards computers significantly influence their future adoption of integrating computer technology into their teaching. What are the pedagogical strategies that a teacher education instructor or an instructional designer can incorporate to enhance a pre-service teacher’s comfort level in using computers? In this exploratory report, the researcher synthesizes rela...