This research study explored reasons why girls consistently outperform boys in the classroom, examining professional development teachers may have received, strategies teachers are implementing, and teacher's self-efficacy in teaching boys. This was a qualitative study centered on the idea that boys do not perform as well in school as girls…

This article examines the shared experiences and understandings teachers draw on to teach children with an awareness of linguistic diversity. To do so, we analyzed interviews from Turkey and the United States and drew on philosophical hermeneutics as a way to develop a disruptive understanding of teachers' views regarding the role of languages in…

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of reflective practice by English language teachers in providing effective English language teaching in primary school classrooms. This qualitative case study involving six inservice English language teachers who were selected based on purposive sampling. The data in this study were collected using…

Background: South African schooling is caught in a vicious cycle, characterised by weak initial teacher education (ITE) and weaker-than-average learning outcomes, resulting in low teacher status and attempts to reform schooling by means of continuous professional development (CPD). Aim: The paper attempts to understand the reasons for poor…

This contribution presents the preliminary findings from the TEPS study ("Teaching English in Primary Schools"). The study is situated in Germany where primary foreign language (FL) education has been compulsory since 2004, with pupils beginning FL education -- mostly English as a FL (EFL) -- in either year 1 or 3. Generally, this…

This paper examines how policy pressure for increased performance on standardised measures of student achievement influenced the teacher learning practices that arose in a school setting in Queensland, Australia. Drawing upon research and theorising of governing by numbers, and applications to the governance of education, and particularly…

Knowledge about students' conceptions is one of the requisite components of pedagogical content knowledge. A keen awareness of students' alternative conceptions provides teachers with information about prospective difficulties students may incur as they make attempts to learn more accurate scientific representations of critical concepts. In this…

The study sought to establish and compare the views of rural and urban primary school pupils on homework in Zimbabwe, using six purposively sampled Masvingo rural and urban primary schools. The inquiry employed a qualitative methodology in which data were gathered through semi-structured personal interviews and document analysis. A sample of…

We take an innovative approach to estimating student mathematics learning in the sixth grade of three African countries. The study reinforces the notion that beyond the quality of the teaching process in classrooms, national contextual factors are important in understanding the contribution that schooling makes to student performance. Our approach…

This study attempts to discover relationships between teacher classroom behaviors and pupil achievement. Observers rated thirty-two fifth-level teachers on the Global Rating Scales (GRS) and the Teacher Practices Observation Record (TPOR). The data were analyzed using a linear model in which classroom mean posttest math score was the criterion and…

Investigated seven-year-old children's understanding of certain geographical terms. Found that children this age have considerable difficulty with some concepts and that even vernacular terms are often misunderstood. Results support the idea of children's alternative conceptions and suggest that, for teaching to be more effective, children's prior…

Discusses how teachers can learn to capitalize on the moment of understanding in students. Suggests the opening into young minds is ephemeral, and once the opportunity to answer or confirm or pursue a topic is lost, the opportunity is difficult or impossible to recapture. (ET)

Investigates teachers' perceptions in two studies regarding extent to which various teaching methods are differentially appropriate for various types of students. Results of both studies indicate teachers do differentiate among appropriateness of various methods for different students, and their decisions tend to agree with existing research on…

Used an ecobehavioral analysis system in studying a regular and English-as-a-Second-Language classroom to determine the opportunities afforded at-risk language-minority students to acquire and negotiate a second language and academic content. Found a pattern of minimal teacher attention to language development, low student academic engagement, and…

We examine the role of culture--anthropology's essential concept--in teaching and learning. After providing a brief overview of the application of anthropology to research on teaching and learning, we examine various studies that demonstrate how culture can be understood and used as a resource for teaching and learning. In particular, we focus on…