Argues that teacher researchers are reflective practitioners searching for insights to improve their teaching practice, which does not exclude them from "proving" generalizable truths. Argues that different interpretations of the term "teacher researcher" enrich the debate. (RS)

Suggests that the dangers and risks in whole language are real and irremedial, and educators' only recourse is to take responsibility for its shadow side and attempt to learn the lessons that even "monstrous examples" portend. (RS)

Argues that social interaction with peers is a necessary part of children's internal structuring of spelling. Describes briefly two classroom experiments in which children responded to each other's invented spellings. (HTH)

Defines the value of classroom research in terms of three paradoxes: (1) it steps back by taking an intimate look; (2) it yields a holistic view but also reveals the dynamics of its parts; and (3) it is a unique whole and a part of inquiry into language and learning. (RS)

Examines progressively more competent writing samples from a third grader's journal to illustrate the possibilities for using journals "across the curriculum." (HTH)

Describes a collaborative professional development project designed to bring whole language knowledge to more classroom teachers. Discusses one staff developer's work with a second grade teacher. Argues that staff developers must (1) know and respect teachers; (2) provide ongoing support; and (3) link theory and practice. Concludes that staff…

Describes literature discussion groups and the role of talk in them. Examines the stories of three teachers who ran into roadblocks in literature discussion groups and turned their roadblocks into questions and inquiries. Discusses the important insights they discovered about talk, literacy, students, and themselves as they inquired. (SR)

Suggests that teaching multiculturally must begin with self-inquiry--teachers must first examine the relationships among their fundamental values, attitudes, dispositions, belief systems, their teaching, and their students' diverse literacy learning. Describes a summer course designed to allow such self-reflection, and explores the course's impact…

Discusses thematic centers in which teachers select a theme and design of several classroom stations on the topic. Describes application of the technique in one Canadian class of six-, seven-, and eight-year olds, many of whom were English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. Identifies characteristics of the technique. (SG)

Describes the reading and writing progress of one second-grade student. He moved from writing impersonal narratives to personal tales in which he created a role/self image, and he learned to see himself in literature. Eventually he learned to write to a specific audience as well. (SKC)

Shares examples from Florida elementary schools that show what happens when librarians and teachers collaborate in language arts curriculum and instruction. Outlines practices that enhance the development of selecting books and using libraries. (MG)

Searches for some precision in the discourse of whole language with respect to the role of the teacher as expressed in words such as empowerment, control, predictability, and authenticity. Observes and interprets the practice of two successful whole language teachers to refine understandings of these concepts as they are enacted in classrooms. (MG)

Describes an American fourth grade classroom from the perspective of a doctoral student from the People's Republic of China. Notes greater equality among student, teacher, and textbook in the American classroom than in the hierarchical Chinese educational system. Observes that, in their writing efforts, the American students display both…

Presents five pictures of fifth grade low-achieving students involved in reading-writing activities. Presents two alternatives to current classroom practices for nonmainstream students: prize the culture of nonmainstream students; and view storytelling as another literacy. (MG)