Tensions arising in the college classroom when a teacher attempts to change instructional practice and meets resistance are examined. It is suggested that the common response is for both teacher and students to struggle to overcome tensions entirely, which tends to reproduce the original instructional problems. Alternative approaches that can…

This section contains six articles on the following topics: (1) friendship and love in the early childhood curriculum; (2) creating a stimulating classroom environment; (3) encouraging children's sense of joy; (4) learning from nature and people outside the classroom; (5) language experiences for young children; and (6) what children need to feel…

Examines arguments commonly used to support the practice of young children coloring-in drawings. Justifications are examined and found to be seriously deficient. Describes three alternatives that involve teaching-learning strategies to facilitate the production of spontaneous drawings: verbal, conversational, and perceptual, each concerned with…

Reviews factors contributing to the low participation and negative attitudes of girls toward science and contends that science and math teachers play a major role. The author provides a sexism quiz and discussion that enables teachers to assess their classroom behaviors and attitudes toward girls. An extensive bibliography follows the article.…

Reports on a three-year ethnographic study of the visual arts curriculum in three elementary schools. Finds three distinct orientations: (1) the rote, teacher-centered orientation; (2) the open-ended, student-centered orientation; and (3) the higher order, cognitive orientation. (CFR)

Suggests how teachers can address the complexities of promoting literacy in children with vastly different social, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. Recommends that the physical environment, language, and literature of the classroom should reflect the various children's cultures and interests in order to add meaning to their learning and enrich…

Teaching conformity through coercion limits students' willingness to take risks and make decisions regarding their learning. In contrast, a Foxfire classroom environment that meets psychological needs empowers students to make choices about their learning, eliminates fear of failure, allows students to establish their own standards of achievement,…

This study describes the participation of English-as-a-Second-Language (L2) students in the daily classroom events of a mainstream first-grade classroom. It discusses how, through socially significant interactional routines, classroom members jointly constructed the L2 students' identities, social relations, and ideologies, as well as their…

College students need to experience high expectations, through internal motivation or external encouragement, to be successful learners, and a healthy college or university community expects student participation in and sharing of leadership tasks. Goals for such expectations should be defined and communicated clearly through campus policy and…

The effects of disability, age grouping, and adult involvement on interactions of preschool children with disabilities (n=16) and children without disabilities (n=32) were studied in sessions of free play or adult involvement. Children with disabilities spent more time passively nonengaged. Even when controlling for developmental age, intergroup…

Reports on a study of the social construction of gender differences in classroom interactions during the first five years of a former women's college's transition to coeducation. Finds that the classroom interaction patterns of male and female professors and students were altered considerably by the transition. (CFR)

Explores misconceptions about the place of the arts in early childhood education. Notes that children's creativity usually flourishes in a play-like atmosphere where children have the time, materials, opportunity, and social support to experiment. Suggests three ways to facilitate children's artistic growth and creative expression, and includes a…

Reports results of research on the effects of open education on student outcomes, using classroom authority structure analysis. Maintains that student outcomes are contingent on the congruence between formal and informal authority structure. Concludes that more congruent authority structure was related to higher reading comprehension and…

Teacher educator discusses challenges in preparing teachers for diverse student populations. She remembers being the only African American in one seventh grade class. It was the only public school experience in which she forgot her differences because the teacher taught to benefit all students, forever influencing her educational beliefs. (SM)

Summarizes and reviews six studies published in this issue. Emphasizes the teaching methods recommended by each study and the ways in which the studies affirm several assumptions that guide early childhood teaching practices. (MM)