Current models of initial teacher training (ITT) in England include substantial elements of school-based experience developed in collaborative partnerships with local schools involving university tutors working with experienced classroom teachers. This article focuses on a small-scale research project in which mentor and trainee dialogue is examined. Activity theory analysis was chosen as the methodological framework to be used to identify actions and changes in the organisation of teacher-education partnerships which sought to increase focus on pedagogical content knowledge as part of day-to-day reflection on trainees’ development in the school.

The purpose of this study was to examine the linkages between the four components of pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward children with learning and behavioural difficulties (LBD) and the factors that predict their attitudes. Using a self-report measure that consisted of four scenarios describing students with LBD, the authors investigated the degree to which pre-service teachers’ open-minded thinking dispositions, readiness to learn about students with LBD, beliefs about the role of regular classroom teachers in providing for these students, and emotions in relation to dealing with these students’ difficulties predict their likelihood of engaging in punitive reactions and planned behaviours.

In this article, the authors investigate whether and how recent graduates of an elementary preservice teacher education program enacted social justice curricula. The authors highlight the stories of three beginning teachers. The authors discuss the struggles the teachers faced when enacting social justice curricula. Furthermore, the authors also discuss the tenuous connection they perceived between their conceptions and their practices. The authors conclude with recommendations for ways in which teacher educators can prepare beginning teachers for the uncertain journey of teaching for social justice.

This article reports on a programme in which senior advisers from different regions in Croatia developed action research projects in Croatian schools. The authors wanted to learn: How educational action research might be used by advisers and teachers in Croatia; and how educational action research is understood in this context. The authors found that the concept of action research was thoroughly understood by nearly all the advisers; the principles of action research were produced evidence of practical change, collaboration and mutual understanding.

This study was conducted to reveal teachers' views of the effectiveness of the INSET courses they attended on the new curriculum and to evaluate the courses based on the teachers' views and the effective INSET characteristics reported in the literature.The participants were 20 primary and 18 secondary school teachers. According to the findings, the INSET courses were found to be ineffective, mainly in terms of the quality of the instructors, teaching methods employed, duration of the courses and support after training. The authors conclude with suggestions to conduct effective INSET courses.

This study investigates the attitudes of a sample of English, Maltese and German teachers toward the training they received to teach media education. The study also explores the teachers’ attitudes about whether and how media education should be taught in schools. The sample was consisted of 132 teachers from England, Malta and Germany. The results show that the participants felt least confident teaching television production, radio production, and website design.