Shaking the “Magic 8 Ball”: Reflections of a First-Time Teacher

Social work doctoral candidates and others without much or any formal teaching experience or training are frequently invited to teach a variety of graduate-level social work courses. This beginning teaching experience can be quite challenging both personally and professionally. Yet, it is seldom discussed in the literature, especially from a personal perspective. This paper seeks to address that gap by providing a narrative account of the author's first-time experience teaching an Advanced Clinical Practice course to fifteen second year social work masters students. Included is an examination of influences on the experience of teaching, with particular attention to the importance of attending to student needs, teaching techniques, and to who the “self” is that one brings to teaching. Implications of the author's experience, including an appended “list” of what might have been done differently is presented as a general guide for other new social work educators as well as for those who mentor them.     

Culturalizing Science Instruction: What Is It,What Does It Look Like and Why Do We Need It?

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Educational policy and teacher education

This article stresses the importance of teacher training in implementing changes in educational policy. It considers some of the ‘hidden’ implications of educational change and suggests that in order to reduce such undesirable consequences, teacher trainers should be more involved in educational policy-making, especially in regard to curriculum development.