Principals are well-positioned to cultivate their schools' cultures. They must remain vigilant in rooting out the beginnings of negative culture, including such teacher attitudes and behaviors as not feeling responsible for student learning, preferring to work alone, wanting to protect their territory, and focusing on activity rather than results.…

Examined how the introduction of school-based management (SBM) in Israeli schools and the authority thereby delegated to principals to hire and dismiss supervision instructors (professional development experts) have changed these instructors' role expectations and job conflict. Found that the discrepancy among role expectations increased, as did…

Considers causes for stress and burnout in the reading teacher's profession. Suggests ways for reading teachers to reduce stress. Identifies two categories of problems: (1) work overload, excessive paperwork, and repetitive tasks; and (2) isolation from other teaching which leads to loneliness. (KEH)

Notes that rhetoric has declined from an esteemed academic field to one taught by underpaid, overworked instructors. Traces the decline to larger college populations and the treatment of composition instruction as an apprenticeship to the teaching of literature. Argues that the condition will persist as long as colleges promote literature while…

For the art of teaching to have a future, we must enlarge our understanding of professionalism to include the artistic skills and judgment demanded by good teaching. This task will challenge educators, because teaching artistry is neither well understood nor readily mandated by the central office. Includes nine references. (MLH)

The international school system has unique stressors and a more limited support system than found elsewhere. This article summarizes a 1992 study that explores the nature of stress in the teaching profession, generally, and in one international school in particular. After examining various environmental, organizational, and individual stressors,…

Elementary teachers completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory and identified four school culture variables leading to burnout: drive toward measurable goal-achievement behavior imposed by administrators; inadequate trust in teachers' professional adequacy; circumscribing school culture; and disagreeable physical environment. Age, sex, education…

Contains the English Council of California State University's statement of principles, responding to the 1989 CCCC statement developed in response to the Wyoming Resolution. Discusses (1) teaching, service, and research in rhetoric and composition; (2) the status of teaching assistants; (3) the status of lecturers and part-time faculty in…

South Carolina's Educational Improvement Act may be only one factor responsible for closed decision-making climates in most of the state's elementary schools, because "reforms" also occurred in curriculum development, methodology, teacher education, and evaluation. With the deregulation movement gaining speed, the time is ripe for…

Analysis of data from the Schools and Staffing Survey shows that contradictory views of school control (teacher autonomy versus top-down bureaucracy) stem from differing emphases and assumptions. Analysis of control must consider social functions of schools, teachers' and administrators' reputed influence over decisions, level of analysis, and…

Presents an essay written soon after the author's return to the United States after teaching at a University in China at the time of the Tiananmen Square tragedy. Explores issues of teaching overseas and the reality of Americans being caught in the midst of political turmoil. Remembers sacrifices made by Chinese students and teachers to test the…

Expands the literature of discontent with academic scholarship by showing how malaise is grounded metaphorically in the uncritical celebration of "up" and the vilification of "down." Historicizes these metaphors through classical Greek poetry and philosophy to rediscover how flowing back and forth between Apollonian upness and…

Surveyed 129 K-12 educators teaching in alternative programs concerning their stress and well-being. Respondents experienced moderate to high stress; high stress was negatively related to several domains of well-being. Major stressors included student demands, physical demands of collegial interactions, and inadequate funding. (Contains 35…

Examined teacher morale and job satisfaction using data from interviews, surveys, and observations of teachers at an English primary school. Responses were diverse, with levels being low among some, high among others, and in between for most. Though teachers' perceptions of events and circumstances were similar, responses varied according to…

Argues that commitment to teaching remains strong, even as the conditions for teaching worsen, highlighting a small-scale study of the attitudes of college faculty from two British institutions of higher education. Data from faculty interviews indicated that though both groups had negative responses to many aspects of their jobs, they were firmly…