Notes how the author helps his eighth graders become more effective writers by acknowledging the role emotions play in their learning and in their ability to make meaning. Describes how he shares his emotions with students to help them open up themselves. (SG)

Explores how to address the perceptual barriers that dissuade student involvement in social and political issues, including feelings of resignation and helplessness, belief that they must be perfect in their knowledge and confidence before tackling such issues, lack of real knowledge about role models, and a disconnection between smaller,…

A Japanese-American teacher's personal experience with diversity helped her second graders value their differences and appreciate their similarities. Teachers of all ethnic backgrounds bring their views, values, dreams, and cultural baggage to the classroom. Teachers should consider what they represent and how they themselves view ethnic…

Explores young people's perceptions of mentoring relationships. Proposes a typology of mentoring forms. Interviewed a sample of 150 adolescents, both in groups and individually. A range of forms of mentoring were perceived as valuable. From these a typology of mentoring forms is devised. (KW)

Focuses on how teachers serve as ethical role models to students and how their day-to-day interactions both inside and outside the classroom communicate their moral values as much as the formal curriculum that they teach. Dramatizes the importance of paying close attention to the way we treat others in a variety of non-classroom settings and…

An African-American education professor describes the positive influences that a favorite elementary-school music teacher, also African-American, had on her development. Miss McGruder played the piano enthusiastically and sang classical, old standards, soul, and rock-and-roll music, urging students to sing along. (MLH)

The Health Habits Inventory was completed at two time intervals by 71 nursing and 83 other students. Nursing students scored higher in health habits and improved significantly over 2 years, especially in such behaviors as eating breakfast, performing self-exams, reading food labels, wearing seatbelts, and exercising. (SK)

Tattooing and body piercing are becoming mainstream, especially among the college population that comprises camp staff. Campers often idolize their counselors and want to be like them. Piercings may present a safety hazard. Camps should develop a policy and communicate it to prospective counselors and campers as early as possible. Several camps'…

Points out the fact that women and minority groups are underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. Investigates the effects of exposure to scientists from different careers with various life styles on students' attitudes toward science. Uses a questionnaire designed to evaluate student attitudes towards biomedical scientists. (YDS)

Comparison of foreign-born Hmong who immigrated as children and second-generation Hmong-American high school students shows that economics, perceptions of family relationships, culture, and educational experiences influence school attitudes and provide more variation than the stereotypes of model minorities and delinquents. Accommodation and…

Most university administrators acknowledge the need to engender social responsibility among students. College mission statements feature this goal front and center, and higher education is trying to address this challenge through both ethics courses (theory) and service programs (practice). The author of this paper contends that many of the…

The percentage of male students who complete an undergraduate degree in the field of special education continues to be much lower than that of female graduates. Low status, low salaries, the perception of teaching as women's work, potential complaints of child abuse and sexual harassment, and a lack of male peer groups factor into this low…

For many science students and teachers, the history of science brings to mind musty portraits of long-ago chemists, physicists, and biologists, birth and death dates, and some brief mention of specific contributions. Frequently lost amid teaching pressures are the lessons that may be found in the history of science. These stories not only teach…

Fostering the motivation to read in children and adolescents is an elusive task for many good teachers. Although there has been a great deal of research on cognitive aspects of reading, little recent research on reading motivation exists. Several strategies are discussed relative to their ability to strengthen reading fluency, which affects…

In this article, the author relates her experience during her interview with Indian poet Simon Ortiz in the summer of 1978. She recalls how she had been amazed at how down-to-earth Ortiz had been despite his achievements. Ortiz was an important writer and has contributed much to native Indian literature with his essays, poetry, and short stories.…