Traces the development of the discipline-centered approach to curriculum planning and emphasizes need for greater integration between what is taught and what secondary students need to know and understand to meet the problems of their real world. (JK)

A fourth-grade science teacher turns a classroom incident of flatulence into a wide-ranging science discussion. He advocates spontaneous, almost random, free-flowing lessons; exploitation of charged subjects (including death, sex, disease); and nonlinear, yet organically organized, purposeful connections of various subjects leading to satisfying…

Describes a seminar for experienced classroom teachers in which participants schedule weekly conversations with other teachers to explore deeply one teacher's teaching practices and theories. Goals are to appreciate the art of teaching, to gain release from isolation, and to attain more congruence between theories and practice. (Author/JM)

Tod Hodgdon, a former math teacher, has no background in computer science yet manages to teach a popular programing course to first-time computer users. This article describes his teaching style and presents his views on computers in the schools. (Author/SJL)

The author advocates the expression of wonder and excitement in biology teaching in order to convey the fresh joy of discovery to young students. (SA)

This study considers the educational and social effects of different classroom settings on 99 primary-age children. Results show children in open-plan units are similar to those in the classroom unit in terms of intelligence, reading recognition, and vocabulary, but differ in their informal social interactions. (KC)

By keeping a diary of her class activities, the author was able to analyze her teaching behaviors and judge if they helped or hindered her goal of developing her students as independent learners. Extracts from the diary are included. (SJL)

Cultural context is examined to explain teacher response to attempts to socialize them to a new primary curriculum in recent years. It is recommended that future research on educational innovation concern itself with such issues in addition to the usual concern for academic consequences of change. (MSE)

Results of a research project investigating students' ratings of classroom resources and faculty teaching under two classroom environmental conditions are presented. (JMF)

Sixty-three mother-child dyads, selected from middle- and working-class English backgrounds, were observed in semi-structured teaching activities. Results indicated that middle-class mothers used significantly fewer negative statements and imperatives, and significantly more questions. They were also less intrusive. (Author/KC)

The author draws an analogy between today's school system and an assembly line, deploring the notion that all children are taught the same thing at the same time, ending in humiliation, disgrace, and failure for some, and nonchallenging academic activities for others. (KC)

Three basic evaluation styles are discussed: (1) Process approach--organization, comportment and presentation; (2) Presage--qualifications, personal qualities, physical appearance; (3) Product--learning outcomes. The pros and cons of these evaluation styles are presented, and suggestions are made to make evaluation more useful in determining…

Results of a study of the relationship between students' feelings about themselves as learners and teaching styles (teacher-directed v self-directed) indicates that students exposed to a self-directed model feel more successful as learners, more autonomous with respect to decisions about learning, and more cooperative with peers. The survey…

Twelve fifth- and sixth-grade field-dependent and field-independent teachers were observed for 96 hours in regular elementary classrooms. Statistically significant differences were obtained from 8 out of 10 instructional behaviors observed between field-dependent and field-independent teachers. (Author/SJL)