Previous research into listening has tended to focus on individual processing rather than on how sociocultural contexts mediate the nature and quality of listening. This article draws on a study involving observations of listening lessons conducted by ten English teachers regarded as skilled practitioners, interviews with these teachers and with…

This case study focuses on a teacher who discloses a learning disability to her Principal. Given the teacher's challenges in retention of her content material, the district is faced with how to handle the personnel situation of an employee with a disability. This case raises questions of how to balance the needs and interests of students with the…

The study investigated how to facilitate teachers in developing their work in improving the teaching and learning of children with visual impairment (CVI) accommodated in ordinary classrooms. The study takes the form of collaborative action research where the researcher works in collaboration with the teachers. The project is being conducted in…

Background/Context: A common perspective found in the literature on classroom activity structures hypothesizes that a whole-class mode of instruction is linked with increased problems of achievement motivation for low-achieving students. If whole-class methods of instruction (e.g., recitation-style question-and-answer sessions) are rich in…

Under the Israeli language education policy, the mother tongue is learned first for several years, followed by a second language (English for Jews, Hebrew for Arabs) and then a third language (English for Arabs, Arabic/French for Jews). This type of limited bilingualism seems to suit the Israeli reality in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict,…

This paper is an instrumental case study of an alternative assessment method, using a tool called ELM (Eye Light Monitor). ELM proposes a way to keep a finger on the pulse of every child, being attentive to emerging transitions in various parameters of his/her well-being that might affect his/her classroom behaviour and work, and might assist in…

While China has certainly taken a great stride in English teaching and learning since its opening up policy about 30 years ago, there's no denying the fact that a lot of concomitant problems occur during its development. This paper explores into two of the hot issues nowadays and presents the author's own experiences in two strikingly different…

Educational listening research in the last 80 years covers a broad spectrum. Early research investigated the amount of time spent listening. Later studies identified students' comprehension of oral material. Aspects most often researched fall into the following categories: listening elicitation, listening benefits, and listening instruction.…

The most significant problem with education today is the problem of significance itself. Students are struggling to find meaning and significance in their education. To see the significance problem first hand, visit a classroom and pay attention to the types of questions asked by students. Good questions are the driving force of critical and…

We begin by drawing upon the available literature to identify four characteristics of teacher talk likely to support student learning about the epistemology of science: making appropriate statements about the epistemology of science in the classroom, linking the epistemology of science with specific science concepts, stating and justifying…

Many scholars agree that students should be regularly engaged in dialogues that require them to question texts, values, or issues. We observed social studies classrooms in secondary schools serving urban, rural, and suburban students of different socioeconomic backgrounds in New York to learn what kinds of questioning strategies teachers were…

Whole class discussions are a key feature of daily life in many classrooms yet evidence suggests there is much variation in the quality of talk which takes place in terms of facilitating children's learning. This paper examines children's understanding of the role and purpose of whole class discussions in supporting learning and also considers…

The thrust of the multicultural movement has been aimed at teaching students to become culturally responsive in their interactions with peers. Less attention has been focused on information needed by educators who attempt to promote positive intercultural exchanges in the classroom. This article describes a faculty supported pilot seminar aimed at…

Electronic classroom response systems (CRSs) have been in use in large college lectures for over three decades. Such systems are designed to provide instructors and students with immediate statistical analyses of student electronic responses to multiple-choice questions posed to the class by the instructor. The technique known as peer instruction…

The focus of this chapter is the provision of teacher professional development as needed--just in time. The specific context is the application of peer mentoring in teaching and learning with interactive whiteboards. Data were gathered from two research projects that investigated aspects of teachers mentoring colleagues in Australia. In both…