This paper uses the story of the Wizard of Oz to help explain and understand the vital characteristics and capabilities of a holistic teacher: knowledge, caring and courage. It explores the process of human development as an outcome of developing these faculties and explains their interrelationship so that educators and their students might better…

This theme issue of the "Virginia English Bulletin" focuses on "Literature and Its Teaching." The 15 major articles are: "Response to Literature" (Robert C. Small and Ruth Fisher); "The Power of a Good Book" (Gayle Sterrett); "Some Plain Truths about Teaching English" (Coalition of English Associations); "Introducing High School Students to…

The authors proffer practical critical-reading strategies for teaching "Mississippi Trial, 1955" to increase students' vocabulary, comprehension, and background knowledge of historical eras. They use nonfiction, a PBS documentary, the Web, folklore, and picture books among other tools for inciting thoughtful discussion and writing.

Through the use of some purposeful anachronisms, Tom Stoppard uses his 1993 play "Arcadia" to explore the effects on man's psyche of the transition from Newton's Laws to the laws of thermodynamics and from thermodynamics to chaos theory. However, remarkably similar reactions to these changes are also reflected in works from the actual time periods…

As with many science fiction works, the "Star Trek" franchise uses allegory to address contemporary social issues. Taking a liberal humanistic stance, it addresses race and racism using aliens as allegorical stand-ins for humanity. However, the producers of the "Star Trek" franchise were inadvertently perpetuating the racism they were advocating…

The Reading, Engaging, and Learning project (REAL) investigated whether a classroom intervention that enhanced young children's experience with informational books would increase reading achievement and engagement. Participants attended schools serving low income neighborhoods with 86% African American enrollment. The longitudinal study spanned…

As multicultural education is becoming integral to the core curriculum, teachers often implement this aspect into their courses through literature. However, standards and criteria to teach and promote active discussion about this literature are sparse. This book introduces pre-service and experienced teachers to the use of literature to promote…

The Swedish educational system states that work in schools should depict and mediate equality. One way of achieving this is through fiction, which according to the syllabus provides students with knowledge about the living conditions of women and men during different epochs and places. The present paper examines gender in a Swedish school,…

The following fictional account of a seminar on complexity science and its relevance for education makes use of several real events. The first is an actual seminar that took place during the spring of 2005, in the Department of Secondary Education at the University of Alberta. The second is the collective creation of the Complexity and Education…

This document, which discusses the image of librarians in 20th century murder mysteries, suggests that the image initially evolved from an elitist spirit that was the result of the missionary zeal and cultural superiority of early librarians, and that the image of the old maid librarian was probably based on the reality that early women college…

Realistic spoken discourse, as it actually is used in real-life situations, would not be acceptable in the written medium: the established conventions of the written medium are not adequately equipped to convey the phonological subtleties and undertones of speech. Novelists use dialogue to imitate or mirror reality, but writing carries with it…

This document contains a short fictional story about a young boy who is angry when his mother decides to remarry. The theme of the story is handling family changes. Readers discover how the boy learns that a bigger family, with a stepfather and new stepsiblings, can be fun. (NB)

This document contains a short fictional story about a girl who is overwhelmed by mathematics homework, a book report that is due, and family chores that she must complete. The story describes the girl's trip to the zoo with her father and the ways she learned to handle stress by observing the animals. Readers learn about healthy, effective ways…

This document contains two short fictional stories about teenagers who sometimes feel awkward, confused, or lonely. In the first story, a Latino boy is insecure about how he appears to other people. In the second story, an African American girl feels sad and lonely sometimes in spite of her popularity and good looks. In both stories, talking to…

This paper offers 9 teaching questions to be used with Stephen Manes', "The Obnoxious Jerks," a humorous novel in which students challenge school rules in high school. The paper also provides a brief description of the novel, a biographical sketch of the author, and a selected bibliography of 21 related works. (PRA)