Reconceptualizing Teaching Practice: Developing Competence Through Self-Study

Over the past ten years there has been increased interest in research on various aspects of teacher education, ranging from the preparation of teachers to continuing professional development. The increase of interest in how teachers become competent in very complex social settings is a result of a general recognition by researchers and policy makers alike that teachers are the key to any serious efforts at educational reform. This book addresses a variety of issues surrounding the field of inquiry into teaching practice that has become known as 'self-study', equivalent in many ways to the 'action research' movement, but at tertiary level.

Stephen Sweet is Associate Professor of Sociology at Ithaca College, USA, and is a visiting scholar at the Center on Aging and Work at Boston College, USA. He has published widely on work-family concerns in a wide range of journals including Work & Occupations, Marriage and Family, Family Relations, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Generations, and Community, Work & Family. Recent publications include Changing Contours of Work (2008, with Peter Meiksins) and The Work and Family Handbook (2006, with Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes and Ellen Ernst Kossek). His current research focuses on the intersecting concerns of job security, talent retention, and the aging of the workforce.