The author believes that very young children are able to understand the abstract concept of peace. In her primary classroom she introduces the concept of peace to the children in a low energy environment with low lights, and soft music. When children feel at peace in their hearts, they relate peacefully to those around them. She begins with the…

A major responsibility of teacher development should be to make teachers wiser, to help them develop good habits of thought, and to provide them with valid learning situations that initiate and provoke reflection. Impediments to providing such preparation are enumerated and alternative activities to encourage reflection are listed. (MT)

An increasing number of administrators are being asked to return to the classroom to better understand the demands of classroom teachers and to enhance their own credibility. This article offers suggestions for making the transition more easily. (Author/WD)

Discusses an attempt to work both narratively and critically, recognizing that the narratives of experience first constructed (spoken and written) represent a necessary convergence of history, tradition, politics, and interpretation, which represents sites of contest and conflict. Discusses the willingness to allow expression of cultural attitudes…

In this article, the author relates some of the bitter realizations he encountered during his student-teaching years when he realized that not all teachers were willing to help novice teachers. Some of them seemed to believe that teaching is as instinctive to a teacher as flight is to a bird. Despite these obstacles, the author states that he…

The journal summarizes practical teaching experiences shared by all science teachers. It contains useful approaches for teaching chemistry with fun and enjoyment in mind.

This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of native and nonnative English teachers in Polish schools in light of the researchers' personal language teaching experience and language teacher research and training. It is argued that the NS/NNS controversy is oversimplified and ignores the complexities of teacher training, language learning,…

What can Montessorians learn from teaching in a war-torn country, and what can they hope to share with others in the process? These questions were much on the author's mind when she went to Sri Lanka in the summer of 2003. This article contains excerpts from e-mails the author sent home, chronicling her experience teaching two high school English…

Many young men and women who have just received the degree Doctor of Philosophy and are looking forward to a career in college teaching do not know very much about their future career. A political science professor shares some tips that he has picked up during 37 years of teaching. (RM)

This article uses three vignettes to illustrate the pitfalls that must be overcome if classroom experience during teacher preparation is to serve the broad purposes of learning to teach. These pitfalls mislead prospective teachers into believing that central aspects of teaching have been mastered and understood. (MT)

Elizabeth Eiselen is interviewed concerning her career as a college geography teacher. She has also been an active member of the National Council for Geographic Education. Ms. Eiselen believes geography should answer the who, what, where, why, and so what of humans in relation to their environment. (CS)

An author of books for young adults traces his experiences from a beginning teacher going through several changes in jobs to his emergence as a writer. Discusses the ways in which those experiences have shaped his works. (FL)

Discusses the "arid direction of education," particularly under the conditions of "performativity," such as the constraints of quality assurance and demands of academic research. Constructs a counter discourse about educational practices, calling them unpredictable, and discusses the importance of student-student and teacher-student relationships.…

Using personal experience as peer coordinators, discusses the advantages and challenges of this administrative structure, in which more-experienced teaching assistants serve as peer coordinators to faculty supervisors and aid in the administrative tasks of supervision, including observations and evaluations of teaching assistants. (EV)

Argues that theater instructors must also be artistic directors. Relates one instructor's experiences in taking over the acting and directing program at the Los Angeles High School of the Performing Arts and how his changing attitudes were reflected in his restructuring of the program. (PA)