ABSTRACT
In this section we present three papers, all based on empirical research about what problems teachers face in their classrooms. First, Simon Veen-man provides an international perspective on what concerns teachers about teaching. From a review of ninety-five surveys of the classroom worries of novice teachers, he confirms that classroom discipline and motivation are their most common concerns. Of course, many of the issues that worry beginning teachers give difficulty even to experienced teachers. Nevertheless Veenman suggests that as teachers gain experience the concern with discipline and motivation is supplanted by an emphasis upon relating to children as individuals. That is, teacher priorities move from simply surviving as, and being seen to be, a teacher to being an educator in a more traditional and liberal sense of the word.
