Advocates demonstrating writing as a teaching method and compares it to teaching skiing and pottery. (EL)

Refers to articles within this issue of the Quarterly on the correlates of sociometric status, especially the views of Blyth. Agrees that maps of the child's social network need to be expanded to include nonschool contexts but argues that this effort should be guided by the potential contributions of these systems to social development. (CB)

Describes four types of play training that teachers can use to help children incorporate into their play the elements of role playing, make-believe transformations, social interaction, verbal communication, and persistence. Types of play training include modeling, verbal guidance, thematic-fantasy training, and imaginative play training. Using…

Describes and evaluates four approaches to helping Catholic adolescents in their moral growth: using case studies to build knowledge of values and morality; providing moral models with whom young people can identify; presenting a positive ideology; and helping students recognize and respond to God's presence in their lives. (AYC)

Notes that observational learning of a motor skill involves both observation of the model and self-observation. Examines observation of the modeled performance, including three moderators of observational learning: the properties of the model, the nature of the task, and observer determinants. Observer determinants are examined at length,…

Due to the deviance in language and the ideational fusion characteristic of poetry, the reader is engaged in a specialized form of information processing differing markedly from the reading of prose. Understanding occurs when the reader restructures his concept of reality to conform to that of the poem. (Author/SJL)

Suggests that violent activities occur not because of reduced self-control, but because cognitive skills and self-control are used through moral justifications and self-exonerative devices in the service of destructive causes. Threats to human welfare are generally brought about by deliberate acts of principle rather than by unrestrained acts of…

This paper describes a university research program, the Teacher Model Group, which developed a theory of teaching in context, examining how and why teachers make specific decisions and take specific actions as they teach. The teacher model includes descriptions of teacher beliefs, goals, and knowledge. Two core assumptions underlying the model are…

This report presents information concerning a model of instruction that was designed to mediate student motivation. The text's purpose is five-fold: to explain what it means to mediate student motivation; to convince the reader that changes in instructional design can motivate both students and teachers; to demonstrate how to make changes to…

Presents three aspects of the school environment which influence child development: physical and material space, human relationships, and activities. (Author/DB)

Raises concerns about whether literacy-enriched play in early childhood settings is really play. Presents a vignette to illustrate how a teacher can model literacy unobtrusively, thereby enhancing literacy, but unwittingly draw children away from meaningful play activities. Differentiates the cognitive processes involved in play and literacy…

Suggests modeling of thought processes with expository text structure as one method of promoting strategic reading with students. Explains that modeling involves explaining the kinds of strategies used and the reasoning involved in the process of making sense of text. (MG)

Described is the need for the development of innovative continuous programs that reach minority students at an early age. The importance of mentors for minority students is stressed at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Reasons for the underrepresentation of minorities in the sciences and engineering are discussed. (KR)

Considers the effectiveness of using prose modeling in the composition classroom. Studies the differences in response between expert and novice writers who were asked to write essays in an unfamiliar form based on a prose model. Indicates that use of a prose model affects student response. (HB)

Examines the relationship between male teachers and male students in light of issues relating to manhood. Considers what it means to be a man in a culture in which being a man is poorly defined and rites of passage have been phased out. Asks whether male teachers feel comfortable assuming the role of mentor to male students. (TB)