This book is a practical guide for teachers at the postsecondary level to improve their teaching by utilizing the principles of adult learning and becoming critically reflective teachers. Chapter 1 lays out the concept of reflection in general terms and then focuses on explaining what is distinctive about critical reflection. Chapter 2 explains…

Middle school educators face many challenges in today's education and political environment due to the focus on excellence as measured by achievement tests. This book discusses how middle schools can provide a strong standards-based academic program while, at the same time, remaining focused on the student-centered principles upon which the middle…

This book is intended to facilitate the development of reflective problem solving in preservice and novice special educators through the presentation of cases illustrating issues commonly experienced in student teaching and beginning employment experiences in special education settings. Each of the eight chapters begins with a brief introduction…

This book offers educators an instructional tool for teaching essential research skills to middle school students. Moving beyond the typical theoretical approach, the book provides a broad range of strategies and learning activities that teach young learners how to master the process. The 14 chapters are as follows: (1) "Teaching Research in a…

This book examines the nature of teacher professionalism, the continuing professional development of teachers, and the contexts in which this occurs. Using a range of international research and development work, the book discusses how personal and professional contexts promote and inhibit improvement in teaching. It examines the effects of school…

This collection of papers examines how the changing social and academic context of language education in the United States impact the future of the discipline. After "Introduction" (Terry A. Osborn), the 10 papers include the following: (1) "'Our Patriotic Duty': Insights from Professional History, 1890-1920" (Deborah M. Herman); (2) "The…

This book offers a variety of forms to help the college instructor obtain feedback concerning instructional quality and improve instructional effectiveness. Two preliminary charts match specific forms to specific instructor concerns and compare the forms for sources of input, value, and limitations. Each form is introduced by a discussion of the…

In this book, an experienced elementary school teacher recounts how she and three other teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6 decided to relax the compartmentalization of learning into subject areas and shuffle subject matter into new patterns to offer students a voice in their education. The book describes how the teachers created a multiage…

Intended primarily for preservice elementary classroom teachers, this book focuses on preparing teachers for literacy education as it is practiced today, giving them the background knowledge, will, and wisdom to find other and better ways. The book is based on three assumptions: teachers must participate in examining and defining their philosophy…

This collection of readings is intended to provide a source book on best practices in staff development in higher education within a British context. The 13 papers are grouped into three parts: part 1 presents the educational development tradition which has focused on development of staff as teachers; part 2 considers development of staff in…

Teaching for understanding is a concept that portrays teachers as guides, coaches, and facilitators of student learning. This book, which provides concrete illustrations of what teaching for understanding entails, is divided into chapters as follows: (1) "Introduction: New Visions of Teaching" (Milbrey W. McLaughlin, Joan E. Talbert);…

The purpose of this book is to help teacher education students and experienced teachers to develop not only an understanding of the nature of "reflective practice" but also the attitudes and skills that such an approach to teaching requires. Case studies illustrate many difficult experiences teachers encounter; each chapter begins with…

This book, written as an extended letter to teachers, addresses the concerns teachers have for their work with students and reflects on the art of teaching. The letter is developed around 12 chapters: (1) "Toward Large Purposes" places teachers' work in a philosophical as well as a pedagogical and curricular perspective; (2)…

This book presents, in journal form, the teaching philosophy of Louis Schmier, a university history professor. Through a series of brief essays that were originally published as electronic mail on the Internet, he challenges teachers to reach out to their students. He suggests that unless the teacher values, respects, likes, and accepts himself,…

Emphasizing that language arts and reading are "binding agents" for all kinds of learning and should be integrated throughout the elementary curriculum, the guiding philosophy of this book is that the best teachers are those who continue to learn along with their students. Each chapter in the book ends with a "Teacher as…