The first identity new graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) must adopt is the "instructor" persona, which must be carried out with confidence and competence if their freshmen students are to accept them as qualified instructors. For those GTAs who are uncomfortable with this persona, the faculty supervisor can provide them with a detailed teaching…

This report presents the results of classroom interaction research to determine if elementary and secondary school teachers in a North Carolina school district treated males and females differently, and to find out if an intervention strategy would foster more equitable treatment. An experimental group of teachers participated in workshops that…

Teacher absenteeism is the topic of the 12 ERIC abstracts contained in this leaflet. Research on the topic discusses the causes of the problem, including, among others, job dissatisfaction, the organizational structure of the school, school size, weather conditions, and relaxed teacher responsibility. Strategies for improving teacher attendance…

Four classroom-based experiments in which teachers were trained to use a direct instruction model were analyzed to compare the results of intensive and minimal training methods. The direct instruction model involves extensive coverage of content, student time allocated to instructional tasks, and teacher time allocated to the encouragement of…

Focusing on the use of category systems in classroom observation, this report summarizes factors that may significantly affect the validity of cross-national and cross-cultural comparisons of classroom behaviors. Category systems measure well-defined behaviors by recording events observed at specific intervals or as they begin and end. Areas of…

The multiple use of several classroom observation instruments was investigated to determine its influence upon the way an observer records behavior, since such an influence may cause discrepancies in findings between studies. Twenty-four volunteer students were divided into three groups and trained to use one or more of three classroom observation…

This study reviewed journal literature on aspects of teacher stress and burnout, the causes of these problems, and what coping or preventive measures could be used to alleviate them. The annotated bibliography is organized into three sections. In section one, symptoms of teacher stress and burnout are explored. Section two covers causes of stress…

Using behavioral rating forms, college professors were covertly rated each day by pairs of students ostensibly enrolled in their classes. On specified days pairs of faculty observers introduced themselves to the instructor and rated him using the same forms. The purpose was to determine whether changes occurred in the instructor's behavior as a…

Based on the assumption that behavioral aspects of faculty productivity are often not considered in development efforts, it is proposed that data collection to support the enhancement of faculty productivity should account for the behavioral dimension. Research concerning faculty productivity is reviewed, and it is concluded that the entire work…

This essay outlines the skills and qualities that an alternative, open, elementary school teacher should possess. These criteria are based on the PACER model of 30 students, age 4 to 12, learning in an ungraded, unstructured environment. (The PACER model adheres to the idea that all experiences and all learning situations are of equal importance.)…

The use of discourse analysis in examining the classroom language interactions between English teachers and their students builds on the basic concepts of language function and language sequence. The four language functions are eliciting, informing, directing, and boundary marking (marking the divisions of discourse units). The three language…

Two research papers focusing on approaches and methods for discovering cues used by teachers in making judgments in the classroom are presented here. The approaches described in the first paper are: review of empirical and theoretical literature concerning the objects to be judged and the behavior of judges; interview of judges to determine what…

Focusing primarily on the humanistic components of the educator's role, this document was developed as a resource to assist educators with the process of self-evaluation for use as a basis when planning professional development goals. The three major categories included are interpersonal relations, intrapersonal relations, and management. The…

Using a specific teaching model as the criterion, three groups of elementary school teachers with differing levels of teaching experience were observed with a microcomputer recorder while teaching in their classroom settings. A step-wise discriminant analysis isolated specific motivational and instructional techniques from the model which produced…