The Whole Language Movement may be the most widespread and fastest growing grassroots curriculum trend in U.S. education. Although a few Teachers Applying Whole Language (TAWL) groups are affiliated with school systems, the majority are supported entirely by teachers from different school districts meeting together voluntarily to advance their own…

If whole language classes are to be student-centered and teacher responsive, teachers must relinquish several commonly held assumptions regarding student performance levels and abilities, testing practices, lesson planning, and classroom control. In the process, they will gain the freedom to achieve their own potential and enhance their students'…

To gain appreciation for each others' perspectives, a Mississippi language arts consultant and a third-grade teacher from Iowa traded jobs for a year. As a consultant, the teacher found that classroom teachers were more interested in whole-language instruction practicalities than in theory. As a teacher, the consultant learned that classroom…

Faculty members of the University of Illinois' College of Education and teachers in the Urbana School District are collaborating to improve elementary teacher education. Key elements of the program's Language and Literacy block are its integrated, holistic approach to language instruction and reliance on classroom videotapings to improve student…