In the Netherlands, and in many other countries, teacher policy and teacher education are strongly focused on ensuring that teachers meet certain minimum standards. As all student teachers need to meet these standards, teacher education programmes might put the main emphasis on the ‘average’ student …

The aim of this dissertation was to investigate conditions that may affect students’ reflective learning specifically in small groups and professional practice. Conclusion.Small groups are beneficial for reflective learning for which teachers need specific competencies. Teachers need to be trained in …

In 1996 innovative, double major teacher education programs for Physics & Mathematics and Physics & Chemistry were initiated at the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines. Both programs require 4 years of study. From the outset the focus was on making a difference in the quality of Science and …

Concept cartoons (Naylor & Keogh, 1999; Naylor et al, 2007) are a popular means to stimulate reasoning with science concepts among children from the age of 8 – 18. The concept cartoons also provide a natural context for children to design their own experiments. Show children a concept cartoon, have some …

A cappuccino is prepared by adding about 50 mL frothing, foaming milk to a cup of espresso. Whole milk is best for foaming and the ideal milk temperature when adding it to the espresso is 65 °C. The espresso itself may be warmer than that. During the heating the milk should not burn, as that would spoil …

The paper describes the development and evaluation of a curriculum unit in which 3rd semester preservice students in pairs developed and tried out a series of IBSE lessons in primary schools. The preservice students were especially selected for a university-based course whereas until recently all primary …

This study examines how the contemporary European policy debate addresses the further development of the quality of teacher educators. A classification framework based on the literature on professionalism was used to compare European and Member State policy actions and measures on the quality of teacher …

As part of a government-initiated programme based on the concept of professional development schools, three secondary schools in Amsterdam decided to facilitate teachers in their schools to engage in practice research. This was based on the assumption that research conducted by teachers contributes both …

This article focuses on the teaching profession against the background of educationalisation in the Netherlands in the sense that Dutch schools are increasingly regarded as focal points at which to address and solve social issues. Our research project concentrated on the extent to which teachers, being …

School-university research networks aim at closer integration of research and practice by means of teacher research. Such practice-oriented research can enhance teachers' professional knowledge development, and can benefit both schools and university. This paper reports on 21 participants of a school-university …