In 1973, there were 56 one- and two-room elementary schools in Prince Edward Island (Canada). As part of a descriptive survey of these schools, now closed by consolidation, researchers visited each school in 1973 and recorded details of the buildings, facilities, and school organizations. Teachers from 47 schools and their 737 students in grades…

Reported are findings from the first phase of a longitudinal study concerning the impact of the first year of school on the development of young children's social gender identities. Ethnographic research in two primary schools in the south of England identified six aspects of settings which can be used to mark gender: social categories, group…

When federally funded categorical programs for educational equity converge at the school level, difficulties such as resource competition tend to arise. This study addresses interference (categorical and core local program conflicts) and cross-subsidy (categorical fund misuse) problems at district, school, and classroom levels in terms of…

Recognizing that the teacher is the key to improving any mathematics program, this volume examines the responsibility of primary school teachers for the mathematics component of the curriculum and the implications thereof for teacher education. The first two chapters focus on the responsibilities of teachers of primary mathematics and contemporary…

Videotape recordings and transcriptions of sequences of drama sessions in 10 elementary classrooms were analyzed to explore the utility of an anthropological perspective in assessing the nature of children's participation in improvisational drama project activities. Approximately 270 children and their teachers received seven and one half hours of…

Intended primarily for preservice and beginning teachers, this handbook can also be used by inservice teachers, school administrators, and college professors as an aid in helping new teachers meet the challenges of the opening days of the school year. The handbook begins with instructions for getting acquainted with available instructional…

During 1974, materials developed by the Australian Science Education Projects (ASEP) became available in final published form. The publication of these materials was an especially important undertaking since ASEP was the first national curriculum project, in any subject area, to be developed in Australia. This report presents research into four…

The three chapters included in this paper establish a basis for organizing future implementations of Project Follow Through. Specifically, chapter 1 identifies four planning objectives for coordinating such programs. Emphasis is given to the need to focus on one fundamental, pervasive variable possibly accounting for program success: time…

This study was designed to add to the knowledge bases of teaching and professional development. It is a phenomenological study of the classroom teacher and a group of seven elementary school teachers who reflected upon, wrote about, and discussed their lives as classroom teachers over a one-year period. Teachers kept written diaries which…

The problem-solving mode of teaching science implies change for teachers, administrators, state education departments, and other individuals charged with implementing educational innovation. This study provides a descriptive record and interpretation of the words and actions of an elementary school teacher beginning to learn about teaching science…

The procedures used in an ethnographic study of a classroom language learning community are described. The research was undertaken to gain insights into adult language learning taking place among students who were not foreign language majors in an elementary French class at Michigan Technological University during the 1986-87 academic year. The…

A prerequisite for learning is admitting simply that one "does not know." In order to discover and truly "know," one must have an open mind, suspend all preconceptions and assumptions, and be able to tolerate the ambiguity experienced when the line between formal subject matter and those assumptions begins to blur. Many community college students…

Teachers who are specialists in motoric skill-building need to think about ways in which they can help the whole child develop. This paper discusses: (1) fine and gross motor development in infancy; (2) baby cuddling for optimal motoric development; (3) cross-cultural studies and infant body holding; (4) floor freedom for babies; (5) body language…

A study investigated one way in which teachers can focus on more than children's products and writing processes by examining their social processes as well, specifically the health of the classroom communities and the individual children's comfort within those communities. Under the supervision of the same teacher, "journal time" in…

A practical reference guide for educators who teach large classes is presented, based on a workshop on improving teaching and learning in large classes. The workshop involved weekly meetings for a year at Colorado State University. The following problems of teaching and learning in large classes were identified: social and physical control, class…