Describes an English instructor's experiences teaching at a private, English-language university in Bangkok, Thailand. Illustrates the difficulties the author faced in dealing with differences in cultures and learning styles and indicates the generative potential of such difficulties. Notes that the instructor's solution was to use a combination…

Practicum experiences and feelings of preparedness to teach were compared for 88 Ontario student teachers in either the fourth year of a "concurrent" undergraduate preservice program or a 1-year "consecutive" graduate preservice program. The two groups did not differ in teaching self-efficacy or the number of classroom…

A seventh-grade teacher describes how her students gradually became engaged in a year-long project on Thoreau. Although initially resistant and unenthusiastic, the students became interested after two field trips involving living-history experiences, and went on to write a play involving Thoreau, his contemporary and 20th-century…

Author, consultant, and teacher educator Grant Wiggins recalls his own and his students' memorable learning experiences and discusses the impact of those experiences on his evolution as a teacher, the importance of the teacher/student relationship to student learning, and the likelihood that the student understands less of what the teacher says…

Examined the impact on Dutch mentors and institute teachers of the new requirement that student teachers nearing completion of coursework must teach without immediate supervision for several months. Surveys investigated how this change affected the content and process of mentoring. Mentors and institute teachers acted as supportive counselors and…

Faced with an applicant pool deficient in credentials and classroom skills, savvy administrators can spot applicants' potential, discerning those individuals likely to blossom into effective teachers. Important qualities include a strong work ethic, people and communication skills, and enthusiasm for teaching. Deciphering hidden meanings behind…

Investigated classroom management techniques of K-12 teachers whose classrooms included children with Down Syndrome. Teachers, all selected by parents as successful, reported that praise was the best motivator for the Down Syndrome children, and the most effective learning methods were individual and small-group instruction, hands-on activities,…

Proposes a role for experiential learning in the training of political-science doctoral students. Argues that most political science programs assume that students have mastered liberal democratic norms and do not need training for non-academic employment. Bases its arguments for experiential learning on the Maryland Graduate Public Service…

Describes an exchange program for early childhood teachers established by the University of British Columbia and Soong Ching Ling Kindergarten in Shanghai. Briefly discusses how the cooperative program was initiated, the importance of recognizing cultural considerations in the program, and expected outcomes of the program. (TJQ)

Examined success in first-year teaching, using observations and interviews conducted over a school year, to describe a new physical education teacher's experiences. Results revealed several factors which impacted success, some related to preservice preparation, others to school context, and others to the new teacher taking an active role in the…

An English-as-second-language (ESL) teacher could not interest her students in their work until she changed her perception of education by reading books on unschooling and meaningful learning by Holt, Dewey, and Freire. By combining solid language acquisition research with holistic learning theory, she was able to transform the experience of…

Explores the process of implementing the Nebraska Foreign Language Frameworks in an urban, Midwestern school district. Participants were two elementary, two middle school, and two high school teachers; the languages taught were French and Spanish. Findings show that the six teachers implemented the frameworks differently, depending mainly on…

This paper relates the story of two professors that have made a bridge between the two cultures, science and humanities. They teach a humanities course together in which they explore the nature of the two cultures, their differences and their commonalities. The processes of team-building and planning produced five heuristic questions for the…

This study considered curricular and instructional influences on early Chinese literacy attainment in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore. The participants included 198 pre-school children, their teachers and parents. Children were administered the Pre-school and Primary Chinese Literacy Scale at the age of either two or three years, and again one…

This study was prompted by the current availability of newly designed mathematics curriculum materials for elementary teachers. Seeking to understand the role that reform-oriented curricula might play in supporting teacher learning, we studied the ways in which 8 teachers in the same school used one such curriculum, Investigations in Number, Data,…