With the constant theme of the mysterious process of creativity running through its essays, this book discusses the work of some much admired 20th-century writers--Graham Greene, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Henry Green, Kingsley Amis, Vladimir Nabokov, and Anthony Burgess. The book addresses the situation of the contemporary novelist, both…

This practicum developed a multimodal approach for remediation of "main idea" reading comprehension deficits with secondary school students having behavior disorders. The six target students (ages 12 to 18) attended a school within a psychiatric hospital and residential treatment center and were reading significantly below grade level.…

This work explores theoretical and methodological issues related to the study of children and families in general, and to stress-coping phenomena from the child's perspective in particular. It challenges traditional deference to adult assessment by drawing data from both parents and children, revealing significant contrasts between the two.…

Based on Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reader response, the studies collected in this book present findings and recommendations that contribute to the understanding of how children create meaning from stories, how they acquire literacy skills to express that meaning, and what role educators play in these literary processes. The book…

This book presents a collection of essays by educational practitioners who reflect on the tensions of teaching and show that ongoing critical reflection is a powerful means through which teachers can transform their beliefs and practices. The essays are the culmination of these educators' inquiries into their own practice. Part 1,…

This study investigated the usefulness of reflective journals and ethnographic data collection methods in studying the learning experience of business English students. Subjects were two students, one Japanese and one German, observed in both business English and general English classes. The researchers were two collaborating teachers. Problems…

A study determined whether using reader response logs in an introductory college literature class would prove to be an effective method of helping students learn to apply the critical methodology important to increasing understanding of literature. Subjects, 33 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory literature course, wrote response…

A study examined whether the integration of whole language with the basal reader would increase the use of language and comprehension of literature. Twenty students and one teacher in a split third/fourth grade classroom in a predominantly white, lower socioeconomic school in Ottumwa, Iowa, participated in the study. For 16 weeks, students wrote…

A study examined the outcomes of dialogue journal writing from the perspectives of undergraduate teacher education students. Eighteen undergraduate students in a language arts methods course corresponded with 28 fifth-graders. Data included whole class discussions with the teacher education students, formal interviews, and written self-reports.…

An action research study examined a teacher's developing collaborative practices in her secondary curriculum development and instructional methods class. The class was composed of 14 women ranging in age from 21 to approximately 50 in a medium sized southwestern university. Data were collected through a reflective journal and from certain student…

One format for the student written journal in an interpersonal communication theory course uses three components--classroom journals, reading journals, and listening journals--to develop students' skills as competent communicators. Student journals can provide a format for learned skills and awareness which may be applied creatively, critically,…

The classroom setting is a source for daily and creative writing material for teachers as well as students. Teacher and student writing samples help to illustrate classrooms as cultures-in-the-making in which new rules are invented every day and suggest that stories of classroom life must of necessity end in question marks and untied threads.…

The literature on journal writing to learn supports journal writing as a means of enabling students to understand and modify their own academic habits and attitudes. Dialogue journal writing adds another component in which the academically skilled adult offers support, insight, and feedback through written interaction. A study was conducted in…

Describing one teacher's experiences with journal writing as personal habit and as a requirement for the students in his geography classes, this paper discusses the teacher's increasing reliance on student logs, which counted initially for less than 10 percent of the course grade and ended by counting for 30-40 percent of the grade. Writing helps…

A study examined the attitudes of pre-service secondary teachers toward "writing-to-learn" before and after a compulsory course on language across the curriculum. Subjects, 90 graduates of arts, sciences, social studies, music, business, and physical education programs, recorded their attitudes and understanding of writing to learn at…