It is widely accepted that within certain biological limits, a child's development emerges out of a continuous and increasingly complex interaction with significant people in his or her environment. Mothers and other significant adults, as experienced members of the culture, may be viewed as mediators and tutors who transmit cultural knowledge and…

Three chapters discuss language usage in the classroom: "Language in the Classroom" (Jack Thomson); "Directions for Research into Classroom Communication" (Douglas Barnes); and "Teachers' Attitudes to Usage" (Ken Watson). The first article discusses how students view their classroom, with actual examples from a newspaper survey. Various teaching…

This paper discusses changes at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and suggests changes in the role of the school librarian, by way of a shift from a traditional helping role to a leadership role. Because librarians have knowledge of the whole curriculum, they are in a unique position to lead the way for teachers and to help them…

This publication relates the experiences of the five McAuliffe Educators in 1994. The projects are profiled in terms of the school and the students, the teacher's philosophy, the Christa McAuliffe Institute (CMI) project, and the project impact and results. The project titles are: (1) "Integrating Multimedia Production and Multicultural…

A case study examined how one elementary school teacher negotiated her response to VAP (Vermont Assessment Program), Vermont's requirement for a portfolio assessment. Two questions guided the study: (1) how does one fifth-grade teacher use portfolios in classroom writing assessment and instruction? and (2) to what extent do portfolios, as mandated…

This book focuses on music as a subject relating to all other disciplines. "On the Teaching of Music," the first of 12 chapters, sets the theoretical and philosophical basis for a child-centered, subject-integrated teaching approach through autobiographical narrative. Chapter 2, "A Music Playground," advocates the presentation of materials and…

Classroom observations and in-depth interviews were used to study nine first-grade teachers who were nominated by language arts coordinators as being either outstanding or typical in their ability to help students develop the skills of beginning literacy. Based on observational measures of year-end student reading and writing achievement and on…

This study compared a measure of theoretical orientation and a measure of style orientation administered to 107 classroom teachers in graduate and undergraduate language arts methods courses, examined their responses to holistic curriculum structures, and examined the types of support that students/teachers needed to modify traditional beliefs.…

In spring 1990, a study was conducted of students in six Psychology classes taught by three instructors at Rancho Santiago College (RSC) to assess the impact of reading ability on exam performance. Students who volunteered for the study were administered the Nelson-Denny reading test. Those scoring below the 10th grade level were designated as…

The Associate Program for Adjunct Faculty (APAF) at College of the Canyons (CC) in Santa Clarita, California, includes instructional skills workshops and advanced teaching workshops designed to promote good teaching practices among part-time faculty. In March 1993, CC conducted a survey of teaching practices among the college's 160 part-time…

This study investigated the effects of college students' actual, rather than manipulated, perception of control along with expressive instruction, as they relate to cognitive and emotional aspects of academic achievement. In a simulated college classroom study, 228 male and female introductory psychology students at the University of Manitoba…

This report contains case studies of two teachers who attempt to go beyond traditional mathematics curriculum and instruction. There are important differences in the contexts of teaching and in the approaches to studying teaching and learning in these two classrooms. Case study 1 describes a teacher who draws upon professional experiences to…

A two-part study examined the use of communication strategies by two types of international teaching assistants (ITA) in the classroom, and cultural perceptions of teaching and teachers. Two representative kinds of ITAs were hypothesized to exist: (1) a type "X" ITA who has tight control of discussion in class, calls on students instead…

Learning styles are the mental processes and instructional settings a student uses most effectively while learning. Five dimensions of learning style related to cognitive processes are global-analytic, verbal-imaginal, concrete-abstract, trial and error plus feedback versus reflective, and modality (preferred sense for input). In addition, there…

Originally designed as a vehicle for presenting all arguments regarding the creation of a community college system in Utah, "Focus" currently seeks to promote originality, innovation, and needed changes in the state's two-year colleges. The 1991 issue of this annual journal includes the following articles: (1) "Access, Quality and…