Section archive - Professional Development

The authors of the article call for increased awareness about child abuse and neglect. Folowinmg a qualitative study of eight teachers and utilizing Grossman's The Making of a teacher: Teacher knowledge and teacher education, findings revealed in the absence of education regarding child abuse and neglect, early childhood teachers implemented knowledge in resourceful ways, adapting early childhood knowledge with personal and professional resources. The study revealed the need for more formal teacher education on this topic.

The article describes a model for skills instruction and implementation of scientific communication. The modular model offers explicit instructions, content integration, contextual practice, and performance tasks. The study explored how science teachers implemented the model for two years. Results sow that teachers customized the program and experienced

The article surveys the history of drug education. The study offers a comparison of the current approach and past 'vice' issues in the history of public schools, such as sex education and temperance education. The author challenges the question of knowledge definition and production as it relates to psychoactive substances.

A study was conducted on the 'minority world' trend in teacher in-service, which tries to develop experts who can assist other teachers raise student achievement. The program was based on teacher knowledge production, but findings revealed that training the teachers negated their prior knowledge, experience and practices. The authors argue that teachers need critical reflection, time to share with other teachers, and a flow of knowledge in all directions.