Although most teachers are familiar with growth mindsets, many conflate it with other terms or concepts or have difficulties understanding how to best foster growth mindsets in their students. Shelby Clark and Madora Soutter describe how growth mindsets are related to, yet distinct from, intellectual risk-taking and share strategies for fostering…

According to McAuliffe and Lovell (2006), regardless of the training received in skills classes, master's level counseling students continue to be rote in their approach to clients and their use of counseling skills as opposed to understanding how skills fit into the helping process. Students also experience confusion manifested by fear, anxiety,…

This article discusses how teachers in child care and elementary schools learn to work with Reggio-inspired pedagogical documentation. While teachers grasp the value of such documentation theoretically, it is most challenging but exciting to use in practical settings. Documentation illuminates teacher theories about children's understanding:…

This article explores how teachers manage classrooms to facilitate the intellectual engagement of disengaged students. The author proposes that teachers create an environment conducive to intellectual engagement when students perceive: (a) that there are opportunities for them to succeed, (b) that flexible avenues exist through which learning can…

In this article, the author discusses Robert J. Sternberg's theory of "successful intelligence," which theorizes that intelligence consists of three parts: analytic, creative and practical abilities. Sternberg argues that intelligence can be fostered in the right educational environment by encouraging students to develop and exercise their…

According to a recent Washington State survey, middle school educators need more than general training in teaching and administration to meet young adolescent students' needs. Respondents desired more knowledge about young adolescents' emotional, social, and intellectual development, and appropriate teaching and discipline techniques. Includes…

Parents and teachers help children develop their intelligence by mediating their learning experiences. When children seek such mediation by asking questions, parents and teachers can use one of seven responses. The single most helpful response is to take children's questions seriously and turn them into golden thinking and learning opportunities.…

This article discusses William G. Perry's model of intellectual development, which posits that college students move through four phases of understanding their relationship to knowledge: dualism (knowledge as received truth), multiplicity (knowledge as opinion), relativism (knowledge as relativistic), and commitment in relativism. Specific…

This paper reports on observations from teaching an undergraduate information-based organization (IBO) course and builds on past research to explain the findings in student issues, achievement motivation, and small-group effectiveness in information management teaching. The paper has three purposes: (1) to describe the development of a new course…

This book offers an "organic" approach to teaching based on the recognition of the opposing human forces of destructiveness and creativity. The experience of teaching in a Maori school in New Zealand for 24 years provides the background of this personal story. With much of the content presented in anecdotal fashion, the quality and…

Describes using drama to provide constant scaffolding as children learn to write stories. The 5-week process begins with collaboratively setting the stage, proceeds with scaffolding for reviewing the elements of stories (punctuation, the sequence of events, characterization, the plot problem and solution), and concludes with independent projects…

This book was written to fill the gap between educational theory and classroom reality which comes from the spectator learning experience in many teacher education programs. Chapters contain activities and readings to facilitate the action and reflection process. Part 1: "The Students," includes chapters entitled:(1) "Childhood into Adolescence";…

Examines the application of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences at the middle school level. Suggests that planning, teaching and assessment should be based upon learner's individual needs and intelligences, aiming to help develop particular intelligences and strengthen the existing ones. Proposes several learning activities for…