Suggests ways that transactional learning can be reflected in staff development practices. Addresses issues raised during attempts to implement a whole-language staff development program. Contends that what unites whole-language teachers is a unique but common orientation toward instruction and curriculum and that this orientation can be reflected…

Describes the Efficiency-Based Change Model, which takes into account the complexity of the change process for individual teachers. Notes that the model is being tested and refined within a variety of settings, including a staff development project designed to support a group of teachers as they explore ways to provide whole-language services to…

Describes a weekly meeting of a collaborative elementary school teacher support group in Ohio. Triangular conferencing, which involves parent-teacher-student and is student-led, is the subject of the meeting. Also describes visits to elementary classrooms where new ways to teach reading and writing are implemented with input from Regie Routman,…

An elementary school located in a predominantly black neighborhood on the south side of Chicago decided it was time to restructure the curriculum (scores lagged behind the national average and interest in reading and writing had waned). The principal, parents, and teachers were given extra encouragement to use the process of team building, shared…

Explores the essence of whole language and the change process in moving toward a whole-language orientation. Discusses oversimplifying complexities, moving beyond a focus on practice, whole-language staff development, and concerns for the future in the context of a school district's move toward whole language. (SR)

With the introduction of the "whole language" approach to literacy and an emphasis on "across the curriculum" learning, the effective instruction of writing has taken on an added importance during the past two decades in California. Recent public demands for a "back to basics" school curriculum where the mastering of…

New roles for teachers in curriculum development conflict with traditional expectations. Constructing curriculum involves teachers' individual flexibility and collective uniformity. This article presents a curriculum-inquiry model that integrates elements of educational practice often dealt with in isolation (instruction, curriculum, assessment,…

Explains the whole language program and lists the roles of learning resources centers and teacher-librarians. Topics include flexible scheduling; collection development; teaching students the use of information; multidisciplinary approaches; cooperation between teachers and teacher-librarians for selecting materials, planning activities, and…