This study examined the quality of verbal exchanges between teachers and children in 4 primary classrooms and the 4-year-old groups in 4 child care centers in Australia. Data were collected during small group activities for a minimum of 4 hours. Interactions were audiotaped, transcribed, and divided into messages which are equivalent to clauses…

This study analyzed personal and collaborative reflective activities and their effect on the development of a graduate student as both a learner and a teacher. As a learner, the graduate student kept a reflective journal for 5 consecutive quarters (15 months). Collaboration with colleagues took place in both formal and informal settings and…

The challenge facing the nonnative instructor is make his or her cultural uniqueness an asset instead of a liability. If nonnative speakers can never be fully accepted by American students because of their accent and different communication styles, they can employ teaching styles and methods that showcase their strong points. One teaching method…

In this study, teacher language was described at the beginning and end of a school year. A third-grade teacher's language directed toward the entire class of 20 students as well as toward a group of 5 language-impaired children within that class was examined separately. The teacher's language content, form and usage were analyzed separately from…

The role of block building in children's learning was studied by a student teacher who observed a teacher's block building curriculum in a combined first and second grade class. The purpose was to clarify the linkage between thinking and doing, spoken intention and actual consequences, and planning and spontaneity in the curriculum. The cycle of…

A series of taped interviews with undergraduates at Indiana University of Pennsylvania enrolled in a writing class yielded a number of findings about their responses to their instructor's marginal and terminal comments on their papers: (1) the comments least understood were the "blanket comments," those comments that the instructor used…

A study examined sex differences among peer writing tutors concerning the use of discipline-specific terms and the suggestion of revision strategies. Subjects, four male tutors, four female tutors, four male students, and four female students, were tape recorded for 11 minutes during one-on-one same-sex and opposite-sex peer conferences.…

Designed to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of effective teaching methods, ideas, and experiences of the the faculty at Broome Community College (BCC) in New York, the first volume of "Center Stage" includes the following articles: (1) "Teaching Resources Center Update"; (2) "Self-Reflectiveness in Teaching"; (3) "New Faculty…

Metaphors and metaphor usage infuse everyday classroom life, and student learning becomes affected and structured by the metaphoric constructs that teachers wittingly or unwittingly employ. This study is an initial inquiry into the nature of teacher use of metaphors in the classroom. The study attempts to identify some specific teaching/learning…

A study examined whether teachers in different personality type groups respond to student writing in different, possibly predictable ways. Nine teaching assistants at Florida State University responded to student essays and took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which measures several personality preferences. Using the MBTI scores, the…

Efforts by a writing specialist at the University of Maine at Presque Isle to implement a learning center there were based on methodologies adapted from Paulo Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed." In keeping with Freire's call and decoding stages, the specialist began meeting with the necessary personnel to create guidelines and split…

Designed to differentiate preservice and inservice teachers according to their theoretical orientation to reading, the TORP consists of 28 items reflecting practices and beliefs about reading instruction. The items, which require a Likert-type response, fall into three categories: phonics (smaller than word emphasis), skills (whole words with…

Models for structuring professional collaboration among teachers and special education staff in delivering services to mainstreamed secondary school students are described: (1) "Traditional Model"--special educators provide instruction in content areas so that students meet graduation requirements, and the students' enrollment in elective courses…

College students read a description of a male or female teacher of engineering or nursing who used an active, masculine or a passive, feminine teaching style. Ratings were made of variables reflecting the teacher's ability and performance, his or her masculinity, and his or her status. (Author/BJG)

Reports an experimental study of six Child Psychology classes that compared the effects of two types of leadership, Initiation Structure (teacher centered) and Consideration Leadership (personalized), on the educational growth of students in six areas (e.g. subject matter, attitudes toward children). Concludes that a combination of the two…