Citizenship education is one of the most common curriculum elements in the nation, thus clarifying the nature of citizenship education would partially qualify a common purpose in public schools. A supposition of this research is that public schools are the best way to advance democracy in a pluralistic United States. R. Freeman Butts, an advocated…

This paper introduces four categories of knowledge: "the folkways of teaching,""local mores,""private views," and "teaching expertise." The folkways of teaching describe "teaching as usual," learned and practiced in the half-conscious way in which people go about their everyday lives. Local mores…

Students must learn to respond to the task demands imposed by their teachers, and their ability to do so is influenced by certain task related beliefs. The study described the nature of classroom task environments and their relationship to students' task-related beliefs. Students in 19 third- and fourth-grade classrooms completed questionnaires…

This monograph discusses the relationship between theory and practice in teaching, suggesting that the two concepts are falsely and erroneously separated and exploring what an alternative conceptualization might look like in teaching. The first section considers the critical notion of teaching and includes discussion of the concepts of conception…

A review is provided of recent literature on learning styles and teaching styles, and the relationship between the two. First, a discussion of learning styles is presented, focusing on the cognitive, affective, and physiological aspects of the learning process and situation. Next, the paper addresses the issue of the development of individual…

Research is presented on attention problems in children with learning disabilities, and suggestions for remediating the problems are offered. Variables involved are analyzed according to the setting (teacher-child ratio and lesson type); task (nature, props, and the rules); and teacher communication (number of teacher solicitations or questions,…

A study was conducted to determine if training to increase teachers' observable level of enthusiasm had a subsequent effect on student achievement and attitudes toward the teacher and curriculum. Seventeen first-year elementary teachers were randomly assigned to either an enthusiasm training treatment or a no training treatment. Following the…

To provide diagnostic feedback for college faculty, a faculty evaluation rating scale was developed and used by college students. The instrument consisted of 2 global items--rate the instructor, rate the course; 5 questions on general teaching characteristic--presentation, enthusiasm, discussion, organization, and personal attention; and 42 low…

This study examined (1) teachers' ability to describe their own learning style and (2) whether teachers of differing conceptual levels view their own materials as primary or supportive instructional aids. The Paragraph Completion Test was administered to 34 teachers to measure conceptual level. These teachers were also asked to describe their own…

This paper approaches the task of defining basic teaching skills by identifying essential preactive skills. Piaget's model of cognitive development was used to determine the general goal of teacher training in preactive skills, to identify the three basic kinds of preactive skills necessary for teachers to learn, and to suggest the kinds of…

Two aspects of preschool teaching, teacher role and teacher style, are discussed in this paper. Teacher role refers to a teacher's behavior concerning the duties, responsibilities, and functions expected of the teacher by her clients and herself. Teacher style refers to the way in which individual teachers perform their roles. Teachers have had…

This booklet discuss five methods of handling disruptive behavior, including: (a) the teacher-dominant approach, (b) the analytic approach, (c) the behavioristic approach, (d) the student-centered approach, and (e) the teacher-student interaction approach. Application of the approaches is illustrated using an example of a classroom conflict that…

This 53-item test bibliography lists a variety of currently available measures which may be used to assess teachers. Among the devices described are: instruments which are completed by teachers and which provide an indication of their proficiency in or knowledge of both general and specific areas in education; self report attitudinal measures for…

Reported is a variety of studies associated with the development of new elementary science programs in the Boulder Valley School District. Three approaches to elementary science were given field trials, one using textbooks based on a conceptual schemes approach, one based on the Elementary Science Study materials, and the other based on the…

A system to identify strategies of justification used by teachers in the classroom was developed and used to classify secondary school mathematics teacher discourse. Justification of assertion and action were labeled "validation" and "vindication," respectively. Eight strategies were identified - six of validation and two of vindication. The most…