The guide integrates social studies content with English language instruction for limited-English-speaking secondary school students. It is intended for new arrivals to Arlington County (Virginia), and provides survival vocabulary and information about the community, while building on students' prior knowledge. An introductory section provides…

Observing children's use of space and utilizing materials gathered from the community are discussed as ways of reflecting community in the classroom environment. (RH)

This publication is part of a series of monographs on the art of teaching. Each volume, focusing on a specific discipline, explores theory in the context of teaching strategies connected to evaluation of both teachers' and students' learning. Three techniques are offered for use of the guide: dialogues (as self-evaluation and in study groups),…

This paper examines the lack of familiarity that teachers and administrators have with the communities in which low-income students live and stresses the need to create linkages between the school and the outside world to help at-risk students succeed academically. There is a serious flaw in most community-oriented approaches and many contemporary…

Through the use of newspapers in a micro-society classroom, students begin to understand: (1) the forces which shape communities; (2) the contributions of newspapers in recording community experiences; and (3) the role students can play in shaping their communities. Activities for each section of the newspaper are suggested. (CS)

Analyzes how schools and social studies teachers can best teach citizenship education to help student involvement. Contends that programs which empower students through participation in classroom and school decision making and through involvement in local government affairs should replace passive seatwork. Describes a Florida State University…

Twenty suggestions for building community and empowering students stress the role of community in facilitating inclusion, influence, and openness. Suggestions include mapping the community, finding common threads, conducting community interviews, matching compelling literature with student characteristics, conducting classroom meetings, providing…

Reviews research on effective teaching methods for teachers of American Indian and Metis students. Outlines factors inhibiting school success. Discusses learning style theories and language and cultural barriers. Summarizes effective methods, processes, context, structures, resources in four categories: classroom organization,…

Discusses the question, "how do learners best learn." Urges teachers to strive to create a community atmosphere within the classroom. Suggests things teachers can do which will assist in the process of creating this community atmosphere. Lists organizations and their addresses from which information can be obtained. (KO)

This study developed a quantitative methodology to ascertain lead indicators of student sense of community whilst undertaking a course of study. Study participants (N = 464) were drawn from students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate Education units within a large Australian metropolitan university. Through juxtaposing student online…

This paper explores the possibility of achieving democratic communities that are rational and caring, that make room for personal, unique voices, as well as a consensus of voices, that accord respect and equality, in essence, allow for diversity and celebrate differences. After laying the theoretical groundwork, the study examined this question…

The concern for literacy dominates the elementary classroom as instructional theories mesh with the realities of practice. Reviews of research literature, such as "Becoming a Nation of Readers," have given considerable support to meaning-centered, active language learning curricula. Questioning whether today's children will be literate…

A teacher describes his personal experience in working with black students in a community college classroom and how he responded to and dealt with his own uncomfortable feelings about a learning mode which differed from any he had previously encountered. (Editor/RK)

During the brief time students come together for a group tour, museum educators have the opportunity to create a culture of thinking: a place where the group's collective as well as individual thinking is valued, made visible, and actively promoted as part of the ongoing experience of all group members. Creating such a culture is facilitated by…

M. S. Peck (1987) identifies six characteristics of a "true community": (1) inclusiveness (no "in group" or "out group"); (2) commitment; (3) consensus (differences are acknowledged and processed); (4) contemplation; (5) vulnerability; and (6) "graceful" fighting (conflict should not be avoided, minimized,…