Assesses the hazards of models of cognitive development and the positivist views of language that support them. Considers how alternative views of language and learning can help develop a method of teaching that views reading and writing as interpretation and the making of meaning. (RBW)

Educators can improve children's thinking skills through the following five steps: (1) identifying and defining the desirable thinking skills, (2) identifying the components of these skills, (3) providing systematic skills instruction, (4) integrating the teaching of thinking skills with various content areas, and (5) improving skills testing.…

New knowledge is made meaningful by relating it to prior knowledge. Although meaningfulness usually relates new knowledge to prior superordinate knowledge, arbitrarily meaningful knowledge, coordinate, subordinate, and analogic ideas, experiential knowledge, and cognitive strategy also facilitate learning. Optimization of prior knowledge is done…

The renewed interest in teaching thinking skills results from concern about the failings of the current system. Some thinking skills programs emphasize cognitive processes, while others are concerned with heuristics, development of formal operations, language and symbols, or thinking as subject matter. (TE)

This article discusses how parents and teachers view the importance of homework. Study findings indicate that family environment influences successful homework completion. Homework procedures of two families were observed. In the successful situation, the family linked homework with family life, while the other family arranged special time that…

The first of two articles, featuring innovations and research on programs for learning disabled students in middle and high schools, reports expected goals and actual outcomes on intervention programs, identifies seven components for inclusion in a comprehensive intervention model, and focuses on the motivation, acquisition (of information), and…

Argues that schools are alien to human juveniles'"normal" ways of learning. Sees return to more "normal ways" because of near 100 percent literacy in West (so children can "pick up" necessary skills), counterproductivity of current social segregation of the young, and rejection of docility as an appropriate educational goal. (CMG)

Two studies investigated whether instructing students to organize recall would differentially facilitate performance of "fast" and "slow" learners (defined from pretest recall performance). Instructions to employ alphabetic organization facilated performance of both groups to the same extent, whereas categorical organization facilitated slow…

Describes a teacher inservice project intended to develop a language policy for using writing as a learning tool. Argues that the inservice context for teachers as learners is similar to that of the classroom and that the opportunity for talking should likewise be used for learning in the classroom. (HTH)

Herman Epstein's theory correlating children's learning capacity with periodic spurts and plateaus in brain growth is predicated on inadequate data and questionable interpretations thereof, and it is discredited by highly respected scholars, including those he cites. Applying this theory to classroom practice is therefore irresponsible and…

Because of expanded social responsibilities and the increasing "rights" of disruptive students, the effectiveness of schools is being sabotaged, believes the author. He suggests that the disruption of a classroom be considered a serious infringement on the rights of students who wish to be educated. (Editor)

Indicates what the non-verbal elements in education are, some ways in which these new perspectives have been developed, and suggests some ways in which a coherent program of study, practice and research could be developed. (Author/RK)

It is maintained that the distinction between "phonics" and "look and say" methods of teaching is irrelevant for learning to read, and it is suggested that there is a specific sequence of steps which are essential if children are to learn to read an alphabetic script. (Author/RK)

The present study explored the feasibility of teaching self-disclosure skills in an undergraduate program in teacher education. The experimental group who had received self-disclosure training, were significantly more willing to be self-disclosing than were the control groups. There were no sex differences. (NG)