Teaching is a trade that hasn't yet discovered the power of self-transformation and self-rejuvenation. To become empowered, teachers must stop seeing themselves as victims of bureaucrats, citizens, and recalcitrant children. Only by restructuring their jobs from the ground up (by determining to serve children better) can teachers emerge as…

This article shares the results of a study that explored the need, and consequential birth, of a new teacher support group for newly graduated elementary education majors. Constructed of a university supervisor and five newly graduated novice teacher's, this study examines their first semester as classroom teachers. Research related to the…

Recent national and international studies carried out in a number of countries have drawn attention to the degree of job satisfaction among teachers. In general, it has been found that context seems to be the most powerful predictor of overall satisfaction. However, given that most of the international studies on teacher satisfaction have been…

Emerging research from across the nation demonstrates that school working conditions--time, teacher empowerment, school leadership, professional development, and facilities and resources--are critical to increasing student achievement and retaining teachers. The existing national data regarding working conditions impact on student achievement and…

Based on a review of recent research on school effects and workplace psychology, this paper hypothesizes that three core concepts comprise teacher organizational commitment: (1) belief in school goals and student learning ability; (2) intention to remain an active member of the school; and (3) willingness to exert extra effort on the school's…

The benefits of a collaborative work setting--including such practices as mutual help, exchange of ideas, joint planning, and participative decision-making--have been consistently confirmed by studies of effective schools and successful businesses. However, teacher isolation remains the norm. Drawing on recent research and educators' firsthand…

Despite the recognized importance of school-level leadership, little attention has been given to principals' influence over teachers' daily work lives. This study tries to identify what principals do, through their actions and decisions, to affect teachers' working conditions. Since teacher engagement in their work affects student learning, the…

This article critically examines the nature of teacher isolation. Two common research orientations are first characterized--isolation as a condition of teachers' work and isolation as a psychological state--and then an alternative perspective, isolation as an adaptive strategy, is proposed. (TE)

Results of an American Association of School Administrators study indicate that professional autonomy, daily recognition, and involvement in decision making help build teacher morale. Suggestions for strengthening morale in the school environment and improving productivity are offerend. (DF)

Metaphors such as "gypsy academics,""freeway flyers," and "contingent laborers," ascribed by compositionists to their work and its conditions, comment on the low status of composition specialists and teachers in academic hierarchies. Work is the activity around which a profession forms, and, as such, it produces…

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether a similar a line of reasoning holds true for special educators. Though critical teacher shortages in the area of special education remain an ongoing problem in the United States (Billingsley & McLeskey, 2004; McLeskey, Tyler & Saunders Flippin, 2004), little work has been done on the teaching…

A Learning Consortium formed by 4 school districts and 2 higher education institutions in the Toronto area brings together teachers, administrators, and professors in a collegial partnership that focuses on educators' sustained professional development. In a "living laboratory" environment, the group works to link classroom and school…

The nation's teachers are dissatisfied with school reform impacts. To improve schooling, we must begin with the children--not dry abstractions such as students, cohorts, and classes. Teachers recommend that well-paid, literate older people help in classrooms, since children are arriving at school with fewer skills and less readiness. (MLH)

Devolution is rapidly becoming a tangled web of misunderstandings, distortions, and lies. It is time to unravel some of the complex issues, undisclosed interests, and manipulation masquerading under the devolution rubric. Most current redefinitions of schooling are probusiness and serve "big-town" interests. Schools should not reorganize…

Professionals must teach and operate schools in the best interests of students, using their knowledge to guide their efforts. This article summarizes what educators know about teaching and learning, teachers and work conditions, and school improvement. Decentralization, deregulation, and empowerment will prevail only by creating "elite"…