The so-called "soft skills" utilised by teachers--including relationship building, awareness of the pupil's context and background and the demonstration of authority--to develop an appropriate learning culture in their classrooms have long been recognised as being a major contribution to effective promotion of positive behaviour. This…

This paper is based on phenomenological interviews with teachers who worked with underachieving students in South Africa, Russia, and the United States. It focuses on the analysis of meanings that teachers constructed while describing their relationship with underachieving students and how metaphors worked to construct such meanings. The…

Contrasts the author's experiences teaching mathematics in Russia and as an immigrant to the United States. The author is particularly critical of the emphasis on grades and formal records in American higher education. American education is often guilty of confusing good grades or a degree with competence. (SLD)