Students deepen their content knowledge and collaborative skills as they interact with others across the globe. In order to deepen early childhood students' awareness and understanding of the world, teachers worked with their classes to develop and share school-based virtual field trips. The researcher sought to (a) identify the steps to create a…

Research demonstrates a disjuncture between the practices encouraged by teacher education programs and what teachers actually do in the classroom. It also informs us that the cognitive and social characteristics of individual teachers such as their attitudes, beliefs and knowledge contribute to their classroom practices. This qualitative study…

Background/Context: Much progress has been made toward a greater understanding of student engagement and its role in promoting a host of desirable outcomes, including academic outcomes such as higher achievement and reduced dropout, as well as various well-being and life outcomes. Nonetheless, disengagement in our schools is widespread. This may…

The author defines multicultural education and discusses the contexts that surround and affect the multicultural classroom. He calls for development of a model for multicultural education that encompasses social policy concerns. Multiculturalism as a course of study and a course of action is discussed. (CH)

Argues that writing instruction should begin as early as kindergarten. Suggests that learning how to write occurs best not in traditional classrooms but when the classroom is turned into a workshop, where the process of planning, writing, and revising is honored. (KH)

This article, based upon a survey of 3000 teachers in 92 Illinois high schools, presents data on homework use by teachers. Data is provided on the amount, frequency, structure, purposes, and types of homework assigned to students. The level of school and parental support is also assessed. (IAH)

This workshop outlines various approaches of helping teach self-discipline in the classroom. These approaches provide practical suggestions for teachers. If the social environment of the school seems to be less than democratic, perhaps this workshop content, when implemented, will provide for more open, honest communication and cooperation.…

Discusses the dynamics of the language lesson. It is argued that the lesson represents at least four types of events: a curricular event, an implementation of a method, a social event, and an arena of human interaction. (3 references) (GLR)

Explains how teachers can identify and correct sexist classroom practices. Teachers strive for fairness, but even those deeply concerned about gender equality tend to interact differently with boys and girls, with profound effects on children's self-esteem, academic interests, and ability to become independent, assertive thinkers. (SM)

Presents an overview of Montessori versus traditional education programs. Focuses on differences of philosophy, curriculum, study, classroom environment, values, preparation for life, and productivity. Defines the major philosophical points of adaptation and development, and meaning. Addresses the Montessori perspective on elementary and the…

Discusses conceptual clarification of dimensions in the treatment environment of a residential unit for young offenders. Examines ideas of structure, control, contemporaneous, and developmental matching from the Conceptual Level Matching Model. Describes specification of types, quality, and settings of staff-youth interactions. Addresses the…

Proposes confluent education as an effective method for educating the whole student in special education. Describes the process involving changes to the present curriculum, with the most significant variable being the teacher created atmosphere. Concludes that confluent education requires an atmosphere of trust and self-exploration. (JAC)

The authors examined the views of parents and teachers regarding beginning reading instruction using the questionnaire Approaches to Beginning Reading and Reading Instruction (ABRRI). Parents also rated the importance of 9 developmental areas, including literacy, and the extent to which home and school were responsible for each. Two components…

In this year's Distinguished Educator department, we feature six educators whose research has focused on the role of early literacy in early childhood education. Each of the six addresses a vitally important aspect of early childhood literacy teaching and learning. Sections include: "Working with Families as Partners in Early Literacy," by Dorothy…

The use of computers in the writing classroom changes the actual activities used in class, adapting some present activities and creating new paradigm activities, and also changes the arrangement of the classroom, forcing a radical rethinking of spatial design. The computer classroom is not a passive room, one where information goes out from the…