Many students in Australia from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds have historically been alienated from learning and education because of the narrow definition of literacy and of what counts as legitimate texts. Consequently, traditional pedagogy, curriculum and assessment practices disengage many students. To address this issue, we…

This report describes the effect of cooperative learning in low-track and regular classrooms, using the dimensions of student alienation, academic self-esteem, willingness to cooperate, and academic supportiveness. The investigators examined the influence of student agency in choosing peers for the cooperative groups in a high school science…

Studies on the effect of cooperative learning have demonstrated its efficacy in improving the cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes of schooling. However, it remains unclear what forms of cooperation are especially effective in multilingual contexts. This research examines the connection between positive goal interdependence and positive resource…

Identifies and defines the notions of caring, community, and transcendence as antidotes to alienation, isolation, and fear--the three common experiences of students that tend to distort rather than nourish true learning. Describes the teaching styles of three college teachers working against alienation by caring for their students, forming…

Describes the workable strategies a student teacher found to deal with student apathy and disinterest. Discusses the use of script writing; balancing "old" literature with writing hot off the presses; using writing about real subjects which captivate student interest to work on writing arguments; and exploring cultural incongruities through…

Describes an experimental, team-taught, low level ninth grade English class which emphasized writing. Discusses students, their writing, the use of journal writing, ability grouping, and what the classroom environment was like. Notes that students improved in all their other classes during the semester they spent in this class. (SR)

This study was designed to pursue the question of the relationship between enablement, alienation, and attitude toward science in the seventh and eighth grades. Subjects are 2,159 students taught by 19 teachers in 4 middle schools. There are strong relationships between student perceptions of classroom structure and their attitude toward science.…

This document consists of a selection of the best articles previously published in the "Harvard Education Letter." It contains the following articles (without citing the issue in which they originally appeared): (1) "School-Parent Relationships that Work: An Interview with James Comer"; (2) "Unpopular Children"; (3)…