Reports survey findings from 693 Hessian secondary teachers on job satisfaction and other work attitudes and their relationships to teaching conditions, classroom practices, and government educational policies. Compares results to U.S. and U.K. findings. Interprets results in light of the 1970s' failed educational reforms and consequent policy…

Summarizes findings from the Saber-Tooth Project related to systemic change and student learning, concluding that vision is everything; workplace conditions must be addressed at multiple levels; strong relationships exist among planning, teaching, and assessment; and improvement in reform may occur due to the cessation of business as usual. This…

Several initiatives hold great promise to reform teaching: redesigning initial teacher preparation; rethinking professional development; and involving teachers in research, collaborative inquiry, and professional standard-setting. U.S. teachers need to emulate their European and Asian counterparts, who are better paid, prepared, and supported and…

In this study, 12 preschool teachers in Queensland, Australia were given opportunities to record and describe their work within their specific teaching context, as well as within the wider contexts of the school campus and the educational and social system. Subjects kept a reflective journal each day over a 2-week period, and entries frequently…

This survey was undertaken to build upon and validate understanding of teacher satisfaction and dissatisfaction, orientation to teaching, teachers' values, and teacher health. The purpose of this endeavor was also to develop an instrument suitable for identifying and quantifying the sources and relative strength of factors contributing to teacher…

The idea that changes in school organization can improve teaching and enhance learning has heavily influenced educational reform over the past decade. With a goal of enabling teachers to promote students' construction of knowledge--so-called "constructivist" teaching--school restructuring has tended to focus on changing: (1) how schools group…

Most recent reform initiatives have begun outside the collective-bargaining process and are unregulated by collective-bargaining agreements. The collective-bargaining process should be used creatively to shape the changes that are now occurring. When public school teachers were granted bargaining rights, the scope of negotiation was limited more…

A study of the conditions and resources of teachers sought to assess, through a national survey of 1,789 elementary and secondary school teachers, the degree to which four factors--job resources, decision making, communication with building-level administrators, and correlates of teacher satisfaction and career commitment--affect the teachers'…

Three scenarios are offered for the future of teaching. The first includes reforms such as requirements for a full liberal arts program for teacher candidates, a fifth year of professional education, a carefully supervised induction, and tests of subject-matter knowledge, professional knowledge, and performance. The second scenario examines the…

In 1983 and 1984, a number of reports were issued that criticized the status of schools, primarily high schools. These reports gave impetus to widespread efforts to improve education. This paper presents an analysis of the content and impact of the reform reports, reviewing earlier reform efforts, assessing the primary ways in which the reports…

This monograph summarizes findings from surveys of teachers' attitudes toward their profession. The attitudes of public school teachers revealed in these surveys are remarkably uniform. Attitudes differ little by school level or location, or teachers' age, sex, or years of experience. Generally, teachers are dedicated to teaching and object most…

The Education Commission of the States has initiated a series of dialogues between teachers and the people responsible for shaping the institutional and political context within which learning takes place. This booklet draws on transcripts of several "Talks With Teachers" to introduce leaders to what teachers are saying. Though the quotations are…

Data collected on teacher, classroom, and school characteristics from 38 schools participating in "A Study of Schooling" were analyzed to determine some of the cultural variables that separate schools that are more renewing from those which are less renewing. The following constructs emerged: (1) authority and decision making structures; (2)…

A working symposium, consisting of 100 persons from many different professions and perspectives, brainstormed for three days about ways in which to make teaching more of a profession. This report presents the symposium participants' vision and action plan for the K-12 teaching profession in California. Reasons why change is needed in the teaching…

This book argues that the redefinition of teaching begins with teachers' developing a positive attitude about themselves as educators. The book offers suggestions to teachers on how to apply positive practices to themselves, move from passive to assertive communication, redefine their approach and build new beliefs, increase student…