This paper explores an expanded vision of teacher education as it relates to the concept of personal and marginalized identity. A study conducted in an all-male correctional facility tells the cultural stories of marginalized people who have had an implicit influence on teachers' experiences and development. Teacher development is defined as a…

This book explores ways to design courses and units to emphasize understanding and uncoverage rather than coverage, offering practical solutions for teacher-designers. It focuses on a different use for performance assessment, concluding that performance is the key to assessing understanding. The book analyzes the logic of backward design as an…

A need exists in schools for conflict resolution programs to help young people deal with differences. This booklet describes the Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR) conflict resolution program. The program follows nine key concepts: (1) conflict is a part of life; (2) many conflict situations can achieve "win-win" solutions; (3)…

Designed for educators of children in kindergarten through grade six, this resource guide provides activities related to the concepts of peace and conflict. The activities are not, for the most part, sequenced and can be used singly to introduce concepts or to supplement other lessons. The activities also can be grouped into a unit of study, and…

This book digs into the tensions, contradictions, and uncertainties of teaching. The book explores how to "read" teaching, which involves the application to practice and research of "simple if neglected things" like noticing, wondering, reflecting, and holding an impression in the grip of an idea. The first chapter discusses the productive…

Teacher educators have acknowledged the importance of preservice teachers' biographies but remained largely inarticulate about how shared knowledge of personal histories helps shape preservice teachers' thinking and ultimate practice. This document provides a detailed description of how preservice teachers use their personal histories to generate…

Role play (a dramatic technique in which individuals improvise behaviors that illustrate acts expected of persons involved in defined situations) has several advantages for the classroom. Role play: (1) involves little or no additional instructional costs; (2) allows students to practice behaviors and skills; (3) closes the gap between training…

Designed to be used as a self-study guide or as a tool in courses and workshops, this manual includes study questions for foster parents to use in working out their role with the biological parents of the children in their care. The first section describes the prime reason for involvement with the biological parent: to enable the child to love…

Among the variables contributing to the therapeutic relationship between counselor and client, empathy has received much attention in counseling process research. Most of this research has relied on brief segments as a sampling unit; seldom have these segments been compared with entire counseling sessions. Segments of sessions and entire sessions…

The relationship between empathic role-taking abilities and empathic behaviors observed in both naturalistic and experimental settings was examined in 14 children between the ages of 53 and 65 months. Children were observed at the McGill Daycare Centre twice a week for 8 weeks, totalling approximately 30 hours. Event sampling was used to record…

This study compared the developmental levels of spatial concepts in children from three different environments in the United States. Matched groups of twenty 10-year-olds were selected from a rural Appalachian community, a middle-class suburban community, and a lower-middle-class urban community, and administered a Piaget-based map drawing task.…

This study investigates cooperation in conversation among group members at five educational levels. In groups of six (three males and three females) second-, fifth-, ninth-, and twelfth-graders and college students met for 10 meetings of 20 minutes to an hour's duration. Members decided discussion topics and procedures. These meetings were tape…

When English as a second language teachers reversed traditional roles and became learners of a foreign language (Chinese), analysis of their diary entries revealed that the role reversal made the teachers reconsider the roles of praise, grammar, repetition, revision, and communicative teaching. (CB)

Critical thinking is seldom effective at encouraging students to challenge and examine preconceived positions. There is a tendency to use the rigorous questioning methods to defend preconceived positions and deflect the serious consideration of alternatives. An exercise that focused on the Cuban missile crisis is described. (MLW)

One of the primary ways in which young people acquire civic knowledge and skills is through social studies courses. The public school system traditionally has a purpose in the development of citizens However, the major responsibility for providing explicit civics instruction and experiences rests with the social studies curricula. How do social…