Brian Tomlinson is a Visiting Professor at The University of Liverpool and a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Professor at Anaheim University. He has worked as a teacher, teacher trainer, curriculum developer, university academic and soccer coach in Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Vanuatu, UK and Zambia and has…

Ten years ago, in "Kappan," the author published a detailed account of the old-fashioned and unengaging instruction used at his son Max's Chicago elementary school. Now he updates readers with a reflection on Max's high school years, describing a curriculum and teaching practices that desperately need an overhaul. Thanks to its…

This position paper on student engagement is organized in response to major questions on how student engagement aligns with dropout prevention. Through a set of questions and responses, the "Weaving Student Engagement Into the Core Practices of Schools" position paper on student engagement : (1) defines the term "student…

This article describes a teachers reflections on the matter of student expectations. Santini begins with a common understanding of the "Pygmalion effect" from research projects conducted in earlier years that intimated "people's expectations could influence other people in the world around them." In the world of deaf…

Being an educator is not a job. It is a calling. Educators cannot teach children if they cannot reach children. In this reflection, the author, a RAP trainer, describes the transformation that occurs as youth professionals discover the power of connecting with challenging students. (Contains 1 photo.)

How might a tertiary English teacher use Garth Boomer's ideas on "teaching against the grain" to challenge the rules and assumptions that dominate the Academic Language and Learning (ALL) industry in the university sector today? How might such a teacher use Boomer's ideas to enact "emancipatory pedagogies" (or something like…

Dr. Mary Margaret Wood is best known for developing psychoeducational programs that integrate mental health and special education interventions for children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Developmental Therapy (DT) includes comprehensive assessment of student behavior, communication, social, and cognitive development,…

In September 2006, the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education released its final report entitled "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education" postulating that graduates today are lacking important skills such as reading, writing, problem solving, and critical thinking. In the field of…

A fundamental goal of teachers in public schools in British Columbia (BC) is to ensure all students of every age, through the principle of continuous learning, have an equal opportunity to develop their full capacity for artistic, cultural, emotional, intellectual, and physical growth. BC public school teachers believe that the primary purpose of…

Luis J. Rodriguez believes that the spirit of learning is not nurtured or encouraged in schools because the spirit of teaching is absent. Learning is not just about books but it happens in all kind of ways that should be nurtured with spirit.

Traditional education, employing lectures or telecommunicative instruction methods, has been very effective in providing topical facts. However, the development of student skills and thinking ability require higher levels of instruction and more opportunity to practice and apply acquired knowledge. As students progress through a particular…

Stresses importance of making the social studies curriculum challenging for gifted students. Recommends differentiating between content and process, and discusses a variety of approaches and techniques relevant to a variety of classroom situations. Emphasis is placed on developing higher-level thinking skills in the gifted classroom. (BR)

This paper argues that the creation of communities of literacy practice in classrooms can contribute to students' development of learnings of and about language, literacy, and texts. Such development can occur when literacy learning is seen as a social practice shaped by complex and dynamic participants and events. In these communities,…

The author, a teacher of developmental English, details her methods for increasing student ability to process and analyze information. Advocates taking developmental classes on regularly planned alternative class site experiences in order to instill a wonder about learning and a willingness to engage in sophisticated information processing and…

Provides educators with a problem-solving process that can be used in K-12 classrooms. Defines, in particular, a solution-focused problem-solving strategy that emphasizes goal identification and implementation. States that this technique helps make positive behavioral changes in students' lives by focusing on future solutions instead of past…