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Full-Text Articles in Education
The Road To Ambitious Teaching:Creating Big Idea Units In History Classes, S.G. Grant, Jill Gradwell
The Road To Ambitious Teaching:Creating Big Idea Units In History Classes, S.G. Grant, Jill Gradwell
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
Although the literature base is replete with ideas about how to develop and support rich social studies teaching, advocates have been unable to show a consistently positive effect. Good history teachers take no single shape. Grant (2003, 2005) suggests that it is the interplay of teachers’ deep subject matter knowledge, knowledge of their students, and the challenging contexts they teach in which makes them ambitious teachers. In this article, based on Grant’s framework, we describe four cases of ambitious history teaching using big ideas. The principal question driving the project was: How are ambitious teachers making use of big ideas …
Reflection And Resistance: Challenges Of Rationale-Based Teacher Education, Todd Dinkelman
Reflection And Resistance: Challenges Of Rationale-Based Teacher Education, Todd Dinkelman
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
The author draws on the voices of beginning teachers in a particular teacher education program and his own experiences as a teacher educator in several different settings to account for preservice teacher reflection and resistance to rationale-based social studies teacher education. Twelve categories represent the perspectives of beginning social studies student teachers. Some are directly related to larger explanatory frameworks offered by teacher education research. Others reflect commonplace tensions in the university classroom. These twelve categories of reflection and resistance in rationale-based teacher education may serve as starting points for thinking about more effective approaches to helping beginning teachers answer …
Big Expectations: Big Ideas In Honors And Inclusion Classes, Sarah Foels
Big Expectations: Big Ideas In Honors And Inclusion Classes, Sarah Foels
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
“Big Expectations” discusses the benefits of developing and using big ideas for a diverse set of learners in social studies. Experimenting with both honors and inclusion classrooms at the middle school level, I found that all students are capable of relating to and thinking deeply about the content through the use of big ideas. Although the challenges of standardize testing and differentiated learning initially made me hesitant to try out big ideas in my transition from teaching an honors class to teaching an inclusion class, I came to recognize the importance of showing every student how to form their own …
A Tale Of Two Towns: The Significance Of A School To A Rural Community, Edward Mills
A Tale Of Two Towns: The Significance Of A School To A Rural Community, Edward Mills
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
This manuscript examines the current health and vitality of two rural communities with similar beginnings but contrasting present day circumstances. The two towns have existed alongside one another, only 5 miles apart, for well over 100 years. The writer explores a variety of circumstances for each community that appear to have been set in place by a series of events over a span of several decades. The decisions and occurances, and respective outcome,may have become 'tipping points' that impacted, or more so, determined a set of identifiable contemporary outcomes.
3 Strikes And You’Re Out: Reasons To Eliminate Sports In School, Craig Vivian
3 Strikes And You’Re Out: Reasons To Eliminate Sports In School, Craig Vivian
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
The overgrowth of sports in our society and has resulted in a host of potential problems for the young people who associate with the sports culture found in schools. Although the positive elements of sports are routinely touted, the negatives are far more insidious to youth. Most of the positive aspects of sports are unproven, overstated, or subverted by the culture of sports as it exists today. The sports culture creates understandings of the world and self that are at odds with the public mission of schools in a democratic society. The essay proposes that sports be taken out of …
Developing Literacy Through Play, Alissa Mielonen, Wendy Paterson
Developing Literacy Through Play, Alissa Mielonen, Wendy Paterson
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
Researchers agree that language and literacy derive from the first days of a child’s life. Children become literate members in society by listening and interacting with the people that surround them. This study examines how children develop literacy through play by looking closely at the benefits of uninterrupted play and how it encourages language development. The development of language skills, including reading and writing competence, through social interaction was observed to see how literacy development occurs within a home environment. This study also offers successful strategies to use during play that will enhance reading and writing skills within young children.
Cognitive Transfer Of A Reading Strategy From Oral Participation To Silent Reading, Myrtle Welch
Cognitive Transfer Of A Reading Strategy From Oral Participation To Silent Reading, Myrtle Welch
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
This article explains a viable, researched, teaching activity that I call Treasure Hunt. Treasure Hunt is an oral participation, vocabulary lesson that facilitates the transfer of reading comprehension to silent reading. I designed and used this activity with adolescent, challenged readers. The readers had scored below the 70th percentile on a state exam. This activity became a research project for the purpose of testing its reliability. Students actually thought of the activity as a vocabulary game; however, their ability to comprehend texts was enhanced after they participated. Comprehension was fostered through locating words in texts, reading orally, listening to themselves …
Tackling Low-Level Cognitive Task Teaching In Secondary Mathematics: One Pproach To Mold Pre-Service Teachers’ Pre-Conceived Beliefs Into Best Practice, Jeremy Zelkowski
Tackling Low-Level Cognitive Task Teaching In Secondary Mathematics: One Pproach To Mold Pre-Service Teachers’ Pre-Conceived Beliefs Into Best Practice, Jeremy Zelkowski
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
This article focuses on a secondary mathematics teacher education program where traditional field placements are prevalent in grades 9-12. Traditional, for this article, is defined as and comprised of: (a) straight-rowed desks in classrooms, (b) explicitly direct instruction (teacher-centered classrooms), (c) predominantly repetition of low-level cognitive tasks, and (d) consistent absence of technology use by students to explore mathematics concepts and problem solving. This article aims to inform readers of how one secondary mathematics teacher education program is addressing the challenges many programs currently experience in producing new teachers of best practice through advanced mathematical tasks and advanced technology use …
The Evolution Of A Big Idea: Why Don’T We Know Anything About Africa?, Michael James Meyer
The Evolution Of A Big Idea: Why Don’T We Know Anything About Africa?, Michael James Meyer
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
This article is about my experiences as a ninth grade history teacher trying to implement a “big idea” unit on ancient African history. My experiences as a first year teacher and also my experience in seeing this unit develop over three years are chronicled. I conclude that implementing a big idea strategy of instruction is possible in a “real” classroom, that this implementation is more of a journey than a destination, and that big ideas do help students to learn.
Defining Success With Big Ideas: A New Teacher’S Growth And Challenges, Meg Sampson
Defining Success With Big Ideas: A New Teacher’S Growth And Challenges, Meg Sampson
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
This article is a compellation of my work with big ideas and my findings based on that work for the second semester of the 2006-2007 school year. I worked with three 11th grade students that have in the past struggled to pass the Global Studies Regents exam. The class was created as a RCT (Regents Competency Test) preparation course. The purpose of this class, as it was told to me in January, was to give these students the skills and motivation they needed to pass the Global Studies RCT in June. I encountered many obstacles along the way, attendance issues, …
The Holocaust To Darfur: A Recipe For Genocide, Joseph Karb, Andrew Beiter
The Holocaust To Darfur: A Recipe For Genocide, Joseph Karb, Andrew Beiter
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
All too often, social studies teachers present the cruelty of the Holocaust as an isolated event. These units focus on Hitler, gas chambers, and war crimes and end with a defiant and honorable “Never Again!” While covering mass murder in this way is laudable, it ultimately might not go as far as it could. For as teaches if we really want to empower our students to prevent genocide, we must look beyond the facts alone to the larger lessons these horrific events can teach us. It is with this background in mind that we wrote this chapter; that in order …
Deconstructing The Nclb Impact On The Instructional Goals And Practices Of Urban School Teachers: A Case Study, Pierre W. Orelus
Deconstructing The Nclb Impact On The Instructional Goals And Practices Of Urban School Teachers: A Case Study, Pierre W. Orelus
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
With the enactment of the NCLB mandates, emphasis on high-stakes testing became more prevalent than ever. Some argue that high-stakes tests can be a driving force behind fundamental change in schools. Whether or not this type of test-driven change leads to school improvement is an empirical question. What we do know is that high-stake testing can affect teachers’ disposition of and their dedication to the teaching profession if what they accomplish at school is measured only in test scores. Drawing on data collected over the course of three academic years, this case study examines the extent to which the institutional …
Human Relations: Assessing The Affect Of Cultural Awareness Curriculum On Preservice Teachers, Seth D. Olson, Kristine M. Reed Ph.D., Amy Schweinle
Human Relations: Assessing The Affect Of Cultural Awareness Curriculum On Preservice Teachers, Seth D. Olson, Kristine M. Reed Ph.D., Amy Schweinle
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
Human relations training is intended to prepare teachers to be more culturally sensitive to an increasingly diverse population. There is a growing trend in teacher education to train preservice teachers more effectively to meet the demands of multicultural society. However, limited research is available to guide the future design of human relations training courses. This research was conducted to address the gap in the literature, by investigating the effectiveness of human relations training course on preservice teachers. Results indicated that the course made a significant difference on improving knowledge and skills categories for participants, but there was no significant improvement …
Homeless Education: Analyzing The Problematic Legal Remedies Available To Homeless School Children, Clifton S. Tanabe
Homeless Education: Analyzing The Problematic Legal Remedies Available To Homeless School Children, Clifton S. Tanabe
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
Given the extent to which our society values education, it is perplexing to learn that we continue to struggle to provide all children, especially homeless children, an adequate education. This troubling issue is the focus of this paper. Specifically, this paper will center around two basic questions; 1) what has the legal system done to ensure that homeless children receive an adequate education, and 2) what might be done, legally, to advocate for the educational well-being of such children? In addressing these two questions, this paper will begin by problematizing the definition of homelessness and by analyzing some national statistics …
Motivating The Generations, Wade Herley
Motivating The Generations, Wade Herley
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
This paper examines the various generations that include the greatest generation, the baby-boomers, generation X, and generation Y. The research encompasses many motivational elements that each generation covets, rejects, or shares. These generations are at different stages in life and each plays a vital role within our society. The workforce has become a melting pot of generational influences that produce a unique and complex dynamic that economic entities must decipher.
Does Substitute Teaching Before Graduation Improve First Year Teacher Quality?, Timothy Sharer
Does Substitute Teaching Before Graduation Improve First Year Teacher Quality?, Timothy Sharer
Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education
Several problems exert force on teachers just entering the profession including mandated testing, public reporting, and the loss of the flexible contexts teacher preparation institutions had for developing undergraduate teacher candidates. Teacher training institutions are scrambling to implement more effective ways to prepare teachers without losing richness and thoroughness. The problems of entry level teacher quality and the opportunity to gain experience through substitute teaching are related. Enhancing the development of pre-service teacher quality is directly influenced by “real” teaching experience. The Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy is a palpable response undertaken by a Midwestern public college to provide these types …