Education Commons^™

Preparing Teacher Candidates For Success In Diverse Settings, Cynthia Benator, Tina Butcher

Perspectives In Learning

Field experiences and clinical practice are essential elements in the preparation of teacher candidates. The College of Education (COE) at Columbus State University (CSU) understands the important role these components play in the development of successful teachers. Field experiences and clinical practice must adhere to the guidelines set forth by the governing bodies that accredit educator preparation programs. They must also reflect the philosophy of the individual institution.

Teaching Culture In The Foreign Language Classroom, Jose' Villavicencio

Perspectives In Learning

The United States is going through great demographic changes in the diversity of its population that does not only include ethnic and racial diversity but, also, linguistic diversity. People with limited English proficiency are entering schools in greater numbers. (Gollnick & Chinn, 2002). These demographic changes require that the schools prepare citizens who are knowledgeable of other cultures, who are more accepting of cultural differences, and who can communicate with people of different backgrounds (Cushner, McClelland, & Safford, 2003). In agreement with the above proposition, the foreign language national standards suggest the need to develop citizens with cultural understanding and …

Addressing Diversity Through The Utilization Of Team-Teaching In Teacher Education Field Experiences, Rita Mitchell, Bonita Williams, Paulina Kuforiji

Perspectives In Learning

The inclusion model for the delivery of special education services, the services of support personnel, reading, media, and technology specialists for example, and the use of paraprofessionals and volunteers in the classroom are common structures in place in elementary and middle schools today. Pre-service teachers should be prepared to work in such increasingly more collaborative settings. The growing diversity of the student population in public schools also sets the stage for team-teaching and other collaborative models if indeed we achieve the educational goal of “no child left behind”. In an age of specialization and individualization, some form of teacher collaboration …

Constructivist Versus Traditional Methods In Language Education, Emma Agola

Perspectives In Learning

My experience as a teacher in a British oriented system of education equipped me with the skills needed to approach teaching from what is called the traditional classroom curriculum. I was introduced to constructivism as an alternate method of teaching through a course in Improved Teaching of Secondary School Language arts. At first I thought this was a great idea and felt that we ought to toss all traces of the traditional approach out the window and fully adopt the constructivist approach. However, this was before I was faced with the practicality of applying all that I had learned in …

The "Huggy Bear" Program: An Effective Means Of Educating Teacher Education Candidates For Diversity, Doyin Coker-Kolo, Paulina Kuforiji

Perspectives In Learning

The “Huggy Bear” program uses a triad approach that links university professors with supervising teachers and teacher candidates to develop effective strategies for mentoring atrisk students. The program is carried out at the primary school level with pupils who have been identified by their teachers as having some deficiencies in social and academic skills. Additionally, the program has a multicultural component. It offers college students the opportunity to work with pupils of different cultural and social economic backgrounds. The “Huggy Bear” program seeks to change how teacher candidates think about working with atrisk students and to provide them with the …

Traditional Versus High-Performance Cooperative Learning, Todd Applegate

Perspectives In Learning

Through the years, millions of students have participated in some version of cooperative learning. As evidenced by the numbers of published papers, several educators have reassessed and revised their cooperative learning techniques, but perhaps very few have done more for the refinement of this form of teaching than Roger and David Johnson, professors at the University of Minnesota and founders of the Collaborative Learning Center. These two educators have been training teachers to use small groups for instructional purposes since 1966 and seem to have the most productive approach to collaborative learning. Cooperative learning has been misused or undervalued, a …

Discipline Based Art Education: One Classroom Approach, Ashley Byrd Kittrell

Perspectives In Learning

In many school districts across the country, the arts are no longer confined to a room in the far wing where students draw, paint, and, if they are lucky, make some pottery or jewelry. Instead, art is front and center in every subject taught in the classroom thanks to the teachings and research of Dwaine W. Greer, director of the Getty Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts. Known as Discipline Based Art Education (DBAE), this concept is being developed and implemented in schools all across the nation. DBAE treats art as an actual subject for study, rather than as …

Re-Engineering Public Education: Developing New Technologies In Teaching And Assessment, Paul Hackett

Perspectives In Learning

In the nineteen-nineties, I was principal of a middle school when the accountability issue burst into prominence in the state of Alabama in the form of norm-referenced testing as the main tool to evaluate school performance. Designed by well-meaning educators to meet the requirements of Alabama legislation, the accountability program in Alabama was developed to put some teeth into the curriculum. Schools and systems that performed poorly faced state takeover. The Alabama accountability issue was one face of a national movement predicated on the idea that the public schools in the United States have failed egregiously and that more stringent …

Building Successful On-Line Learning Communities Across International Boundaries: A Case Study, Pat Jefferies, Frances Grodzinsky, Joe Griffin

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

The development of on-line learning communities across international boundaries is now a viable proposition using available asynchronous technologies. As has been reported in previous papers (Grodzinsky, Griffin & Jefferies, 2002; Griffin, Grodzinsky & Jefferies, 2002) such use has proved to be extremely valuable for supporting the teaching of computing and ethics. For example, not only does asynchronous computer conferencing offer new opportunities for students to gain valuable first-hand experience in using such technology to communicate with peers in other countries but it also facilitates them gaining a more direct appreciation of the cultural, legal and ethical differences that abound. However, …

Reviews, W. Keith Duffy, Elizabeth Vander Lei, Marian Maccurdy

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Reviews

W. Keith Duffy. Memoirs of Soul: Writing your Spiritual Autobiography. (Nan Phifer, 2002).

Elizabeth Vander Lei. A Communion of Friendship: Literacy, Spiritual Practice, and Women in Recovery. (Beth Daniel, 2003).

Marian MacCurdy. Writing To Save Your Life. (Michele Weldon, 2001).

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

The Seven Deadly Virtues, Lynn Z. Bloom

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

The university stifles most creative writers except the most intrepid—even reckless, the good along with the bad—in the process of teaching them to write according to the conventions of the academy in general, and their specific disciplines in particular.

Shallow Literacy, Timid Teaching, And Cultural Impotence, David L. Wallace

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Any attempt to move to a deeper notion of literacy in our theory and pedagogy must—among other things—involve us facing our own self interest and expecting disruption in our own classrooms, departments, and universities.