Temperament type is a key to understanding the classroom behavior of social studies teachers. Current criticisms of strategies employed, dependence on the textbook, fact oriented testing, and the dearth of problem solving in lesson planning are grounded in professional decisions based on temperament preferences. Employing four types of temperament…

This study examined teachers' beliefs about how reading takes place and how reading processes develop. Subjects, 25 first-, fourth-, and sixth-grade teachers in five different Venezuelan schools, were administered protocols that consisted of a researcher/teacher conference, classroom observation, and an inventory designed to identify beliefs about…

Revolving around the theme of questioning in the classroom, the three articles in this newsletter are based on talks and workshop material drawn from the 1986 Summer Institute of the College Board's Educational EQuality Project. In the first article, "The Art of Questioning," Dennie Palmer Wolf points out that although most teachers feel…

Recent studies have used the notion of "empowerment" to describe individuals who assume a more critical and personally active approach toward the teaching profession. "Empowered" teachers are committed to providing thoughtful and challenging educational experiences for children and encouraging their pupils to develop personal…

This study examines the interaction of mother-son dyads as a function of mothers' and sons' locus of control and the demand characteristics of specific tasks. The subjects were 32 third grade boys from parochial schools in the District of Columbia area and their mothers. They were assigned to internal or external locus of control groups based on a…

This study examined the relationships among reading activities, rules for pupil participation, student engagement, and subsequent student achievement in reading lessons taught by student teachers (ST) and experienced teachers (ET). Two ST/ET dyads were observed and interviewed while they instructed third and fourth grade pupils in reading. The…

Academic freedom, at institutions of higher education, is discussed in terms of questions raised about the ability of an institution to dismiss an instructor. In the first case, "Martin v. Parrish," the instructor was dismissed for using profanity in the class. The second case, "Carley v. Arizona Board of Regents," centered on the importance of…

Using tools from ethonography, this study constructed a model of reflective practice drawn from the words and actions of a small group of field-based educators identified as being exemplary practitioners. The model portrayed a purposeful and dynamic process in which acute attention to context and factors was weighed against consciously evaluated…

Characteristics of the foreign language teacher, student, and classroom are compared with corresponding characteristics of the music teacher, student, and classroom to suggest parallels between the two disciplines. It is suggested that second language learning would be enhanced by adopting some techniques of music instruction, such as warming up…

Reports the results of a study of the relationship between cognitive style and achievement in a modern elementary science program. (JR)

This curriculum guide describes the instructional program at the Ada H. H. Lewis Middle School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In brief, the goals of the program are to provide the schools' fifth-grade through eighth-grade students with educational opportunities based on an eclectic team-teaching approach. Four separate "houses" accommodate…

This study presents a dramatistic analysis of the language used by four teachers, all of whom were considered excellent by their department directors, by their students, and by the parents of their students. Regular freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior literature classes were videotaped. Dialogue was then transcribed, and nonverbal activity,…

Investigates the effect of faculty sex, student sex, and teacher rapport as measured by students and the teacher on student evaluation of teaching effectiveness. (Author)

Based on an interview with John Holt.