Written documentation helps teachers highlight all of the extras they do that make a difference in education. The documentation includes a professional vita and written commentary, which are usually placed within professional portfolios. This paper examines essential features of the vita and written commentary, explaining how to collect necessary…

Studied attitudes of Scottish university students preparing to be preschool teachers regarding their preschool placement experiences and how those experiences relate to competency guidelines used to assess their learning. Found that students believe that preschool experience will make them better primary teachers, and appreciate teamwork, the…

Examined Greek kindergarten teachers' beliefs and practices relative to the National Association of the Education of Young Children's position on developmentally appropriate and inappropriate practices. Administered questionnaire to 67 teachers, and used checklist as an observation measure to check validity of reported beliefs. Found various…

Presents three brief articles recalling US teachers' experiences conducting civic education workshops in Bosnia. Pat Feichter writes "Would I Return? In a Heartbeat." Gail Huschle examines "Beauty in the Midst of Devastation." Mary Bristol considers "Making Connections between Cultures." (MJP)

Anxiety can impede language learning. By using the Community Language Learning method, a teacher helped young Spanish-language learners in Puerto Rico break through almost impenetrable social and psycholinguistic barriers that threatened their capability of learning a new language. This method focuses on strategies that reduce anxiety as the…

Summarizes a study that utilized path analysis to examine the effects of tutor-tutee intimacy, tutoring conditions, and background variables on overall tutor satisfaction. Reveals higher satisfaction among tutors reporting greater intimacy with tutees. Discusses those variables affecting intimacy including ethnicity, same-sex pairing, and ease of…

The role of methods courses to help prospective elementary teachers learn to teach mathematics was investigated. The influence of past experience on preservice teachers, their lack of subject knowledge, and the lack of time set aside for a methods course are discussed. (KR)

A study, involving 80 Israeli junior high mathematics classrooms, sought to establish some of the variables related to the classroom learning environment, with emphasis on teacher credentials. Results indicate that observed teaching effectiveness was the most powerful and most consistent predictor of the mathematics classroom learning environment.…

Using field studies methodology, a study of one woman's student teaching experiences reveals the ways she cares for and nurtures children through curriculum modification and teaching. A number of dilemmas of caring which women teachers may experience are discussed. (IAH)

Teachers in rural West Virginia who had completed a Foxfire training course reported that they involved students to a greater extent in the design and participation of learning activities, especially in the use of discussions, peer teaching, and planning units of instruction. Teachers also reported incorporation of the community in the learning…

Seven men, beginning careers as elementary school teachers, describe their experiences as men working with young children. Issues they confront in their workplaces and assumptions and stereotypes about men in nontraditional occupations are discussed. The call for more men in elementary school oversimplifies complex issues. (SLD)

Analyzes the experiences of a student teacher in a small, rural elementary school in northeastern Ohio. Discusses student teaching and stages of professional developmental growth: uncertainty/nervousness, acceptance/confirmation, autonomy, and affirmation. Addresses implications related to supervision and teacher training programs, specifically in…

A study of research university faculty in first (n=52) and third (n=47) years of appointment investigated relationships among work and nonwork satisfaction, interdomain conflict, and life satisfaction. Findings indicated that balance and conflict explained variance in life satisfaction beyond that explained by job and nonwork satisfaction. Changes…

Reports on a project commissioned by the National Council for Educational Technology designed to investigate the potential for interactive video in school-based initial teacher training; results are derived from an empirical study in 26 schools. Training needs; interactive video in distance learning and staff development; and the potential for…

Reports a study that examined the responses of education students to a case study in diversity. Three cohorts of students with different amounts of experience wrote responses to a teaching case. Researchers analyzed differences among groups' responses. Constructs from multicultural education were infrequently used by students in all groups.…