Describe a program which encourages content area teachers to change their instructional styles during classroom discussions of textbook readings. Presents an associated five-stage model for linking teacher assessment procedures with professional growth. Notes that at each stage the model highlights what teachers experience and understand about…

It is possible to develop an intermediate cultural system much like the interlanguage developed at the intermediate stage by a language learner. Techniques used by one teacher of French are described and discussed. (MSE)

Discusses personal power in young children. Focuses on the balance of power in the classroom, the relation of power to pedagogy, and the nursery school as an enabling environment. Describes a self-enhancement program. (RJC)

Tells a story about a five-year-old boy and discovers through the telling how to be a better teacher. (MG)

Investigates teachers' use of humor in relationship to immediacy and affective learning outcomes. Reports that (1) amount and type of humor influenced learning; (2) students were particularly aware of tendentious humor; (3) an overdependence on tendentious humor diminished affect; (4) male and female students perceive humor differently; and (5)…

Discusses the concept of matching instructional methods to learning styles to improve student performance. Research on learning styles is reviewed, and other benefits of investigating learning styles are suggested, including recognizing the cognitive and affective diversity among students and encouraging more versatile teaching techniques. (15…

Investigates the degree to which 98 elementary teachers were encouraged to use reflective thinking and teaching skills during their student teaching. Makes recommendations for changes in preparation of future teachers. (RJC)

Examined the ways in which the children of two kindergarten classrooms affected the curriculum. Children were active members of both classrooms, although their influence was more indirect than direct. Boys engaged in more verbal behavior than girls. (RJC)

Recent developmental studies have focused on children's learning strategies and on the socio-instructional dynamics that foster strategic learning. Discusses Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development in the context of traditional cognitive strategies research and in terms of its practical applications. (Author/BJV)

Reviews the literature for empirical support of the use of humor in classroom teaching. Concludes that the judicious use of humor by a teacher can facilitate student learning, and offers guidelines for its use. (FMW)

Exploration and comparison of the teaching and learning themes and strategies found in learning-oriented and work-oriented classrooms found that the former classrooms displayed a learning purpose, peer helping, self-evaluation, supportiveness of errors, endogenous lesson-introduction, fewer negative management situations, and teachers' beliefs in…

Argues that it is possible and desirable for writing tutors, acting out their role in classroom tutoring programs rather than in writing center programs, to play the dual role of teacher and tutor. Maintains that classroom tutoring projects have the potential to help educators practice the art of translating different philosophies, practices, and…

Addresses the importance of reevaluation of teaching practices at the classroom and teacher education levels. Reviews the term "reflection," as defined by Dewey, and its process. Discusses whether preservice teachers are capable of reflecting and how a climate of critical inquiry can be fostered. Suggests strategies that promote reflective…

Contrasts the instructional process for canoeing (explanation of the skill, demonstration, imitation by trainees, correction of errors by the instructor, and trials for further practice) with the coaching process (observation by the coach, analysis of technique by coach, goal setting, trials of modified behavior by trainee, observation and…

Reported are the results of a questionnaire administered to 135 teachers in Alabama to determine the effects of encouragement on their use of hands-on science activities. The effect of personal success on teaching style is also discussed. A copy of the questionnaire is included. (CW)