Breaking down gender barriers in composition and literature classrooms suggests that teachers rethink the forms of writing they demand of their students (e.g., argumentation and exposition) and that they encourage a wide range of approaches which account for gender-specific modes of writing and interpreting texts. Various writing assignments such…

Metaphors and metaphor usage infuse everyday classroom life, and student learning becomes affected and structured by the metaphoric constructs that teachers wittingly or unwittingly employ. This study is an initial inquiry into the nature of teacher use of metaphors in the classroom. The study attempts to identify some specific teaching/learning…

Perhaps responding to a new awareness of the problems of American Indians, South Dakota Governor George Mickelson issued an executive proclamation declaring 1990 the "Year of Reconciliation." Dakota Wesleyan University responded to this proclamation by participating with the Mitchell Area Vocational-Technical in establishing a…

This paper is designed to extend a dialogue on the nature of explanations to include instructional explanations. The paper explores the distinctions between specific types of explanations, (common, disciplinary, self, and instructional) with respect to specific features (problem type, initiation, evidence, form, and audience). Given this context…

Children's emotional responses to films are the focus of the four articles in this issue designed for media specialists and educators. Following an editorial discussing the responsibilities of media as put forth by Bruno Bettleheim, the first article presents a methodology and rationale for using story films to encourage children's exploration of…

The use of protocols--oral verbalizations of the problem solving process--in a critical thinking and problem solving class offers a number of advantages to students and teachers alike. Protocols help students (1) learn to read problems carefully; (2) focus on the important characteristics of specific problems; (3) slow down their problem-solving…

Issues regarding the development of student's speaking skills and English as a second language (ESL) techniques designed to improve the teaching of conversation are described. Ten true and false assumptions about the teaching of conversation are considered: (1) everyone enjoys talking and participating in class discussion; (2) discussion topics in…

A study was conducted to determine the frequency of three types of prosocial interactions--empathy, helping, and altruism--which nonhandicapped preschool children could exhibit toward their handicapped peers. Subjects were 32 nonhandicapped 4- to 5-year-olds and 13 developmentally disabled 3- to 5-year-olds attending a mainstreamed preschool…

The function that a specific environment is said to fulfill depends critically on who is in control within the environment. The paper develops this argument and suggests how its implications might be tested empirically. (Author/AM)

A workshop leader and consultant makes an impassioned plea for more and better movement education. Provides ideas for focused movement explorations and discusses the overall goals and advantages of this new breed of physical education. (ED)

Mary M. Juzwik draws on a grounded study to propose a hybrid theory of classroom genres that builds on Bauman's conceptualization of the "dialogization of genres." This perspective foregrounds Bakhtin's earlier and more literary work, while backgrounding Bakhtin's later, more social scientific perspectives on genre. In particular, Juzwik…

A large undergraduate course in persuasion which is taught to multiple sections of 70 students (and has in the past been taught to sections with as many as 200 students) at Northern Illinois University required several innovations to handle the large numbers of students and to enliven such large classes. Innovations include: (1) the creative use…

Difficulty in comprehending mathematical concepts is a consequence of the system of knowledge acquisition prevailing in schools, and more specifically, of the typical pattern of classroom interaction. In the common task-setting/task-solving pattern, the teacher divides the subject matter into segments. Students are involved interactively in…

The necessity for maintaining and extending the public space within which argumentation may appear, whether or not represented in the classroom, stems largely from pressures which have increasingly restricted that space. To function as public spaces, classrooms must enable students as citizens to confer in an unrestricted fashion about matters of…

A study examined the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and academic achievement among elementary school students and whether that relationship was different for males and females. Subjects were 144 (74 females, 70 males) students enrolled in grades 2-5 at a laboratory school on the campus of a midwestern university. Academic…