This study explored Wyoming school leaders’ perceptions about the traits of incompetent teachers, strategies used to work with incompetent teachers, and the barriers to their dismissal. Most importantly, this study differentiated how principals and superintendents viewed incompetency issues. Some major findings include school leaders’ beliefs that classroom management problems were an indicator of incompetence, counseling to leave the profession was a strategy used with incompetent teachers, and teacher unions were a barrier to their dismissal.
This study explored the outcomes of a voluntary visitation program at a Canadian penitentiary, focusing on benefits to male inmates, volunteers, and the institution. Inmates valued having a safe place to talk and observed that the visits helped them cope with life in the penitentiary and build relationships. Visitors felt they had become more empathic and tolerant and more appreciative of their own quality of life. Staff members indicated that the institute benefited from having a group of offenders with a more optimistic outlook and who were more in touch with the outside world. Last, opening doors to regular members of society provided a form of accountability in which the institute gained credibility in the community.
While opportunities for online learning are increasing in K-12 education, few teacher education programs include courses on online teaching and learning. Using Garrison and Anderson's (2003) Community of Inquiry framework, this qualitative study explored the educational experiences of pre-service teachers in an experiential online course designed to teach about online teaching. Students explored aspects of online education and created a multi-media teaching module. The study highlighted the need for pre-service teacher education programs to design learning experiences that equip the next generation of teachers with the skills required to teach 21st century students in a variety of media that accommodate a diversity of learning styles.
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