"Partnership between parents and teachers" is a taken-for-granted feature of the philosophy and practice of early childhood education. Yet, the literature suggests this rhetoric belies a more complex and problematic reality for teachers. Making connections with the families and communities they will serve may help teacher education…

Professionals throughout the field of education agree on the importance of teacher-caregiver communication. Yet teacher education programs still do very little to prepare future teachers for these interactions. This exploratory study investigated the use of a standardized caregiver model, with 12 teacher education students involved in a simulated…

In this study we investigated popularity and perceived non-cooperativeness in multiethnic elementary schools. A sample of 94 pupils aged 10-12 years, from five multiethnic elementary schools, were divided into 26 teams and participated in a structured cooperative learning (SCL) curriculum of 11 lessons. Neither teachers nor pupils had prior SCL…

This report utilizes a qualitative methodology to investigate an educational approach designed to promote critical consciousness and multicultural understanding among undergraduate and graduate students in teacher education. The approach, referred to as a "cultural plunge", involves intense exposure to social and cultural settings in which the…

The school-aged population continues to diversify, yet the student body at small liberal arts teacher preparation programs generally does not. To help prepare our socioculturally homogeneous students to teach a more diverse student body, we developed a three-tiered approach that includes a diversity model integrated across the curriculum, an…

Authors offer seven content manipulation techniques teachers can use successfully in leading discussions in almost any classroom situation. (GB)

This paper focuses on three methods that have been and are being used to help teachers become more facilitative: interaction analysis, human relations training, and microcounseling. The application of the Flanders System of Interaction Analysis to the vocational-technical education setting is described. (CT)

Acquiring a repertoire of competencies for creating and maintaining successful parent partnerships is an exceedingly important yet difficult task for pre-service educators. This mixed-methods study compared non-traditional and traditional approaches to transforming undergraduate student dispositions and competencies toward parent/professional…

The author discusses two teaching methods used at the college level: 1) lectures; and 2) encounter group techniques. (Author/RM)

Three new approaches--one from theater, one from humanistic psychology, and one from the art world--promise different ways of handling English teaching. (Author)

Maintains that everyone involved in a specific school can benefit from more effective communication; presents a technique of approaching human relations education. (DM)