Defines "Theme Study" with three essential elements: use of broad, powerful ideas; inquiry-based approaches to curricula; and a community of inquiry of students and teacher. Shares experiences in applying these elements and discusses essential aspects of classroom instruction. (DSK)

Current reform efforts in education emphasize role changes for students and teachers within classrooms and schools. A phenomenological study examined one teacher's internal conflict while negotiating the shifting boundaries of power relations between teacher and students. The goal of this study was to explore the processes and constraints involved…

Chronicles events in a class experimenting with a theme-study approach, examining teachers' and students' conceptions of knowledge. Examines changing relationships to knowledge; defines three approaches to knowledge students could take within classrooms. Explores possible underlying causes for changes in students' approaches to knowledge.…

This paper reports from an observant participant's point of view on a theme study conducted in a fifth-grade classroom at a laboratory elementary school of a small, private liberal arts college in Georgia. The "Theme Study" is a student-centered approach that "emphasizes a coherent and holistic approach to learning through the study…