Discusses the parental responsibility of giving guidance to young children to provide them with a safe world, set reasonable standards of civilized behavior, and provide a model of responsible action. Describes difficulties in establishing and maintaining firm guidance for children. Maintains that parents need to make demands reflecting children's…

Discusses the role of power in effective teaching. Describes how power is used on, for, and with children. Explores how the use of teacher power can support family involvement, contribute to professional development, communicate the importance high expectations for all students, contribute to the profession of teaching, and convey excellence to…

Describes the "parent panel," an approach to building appropriate communication, resolving conflicts, and creating mutual respect between teachers and parents of children with disabilities. Delineates benefits to parents and teachers, describes how to organize the parent panel, provides content guidelines, and provides an example of a panel…

Discusses the effects of child abuse and neglect on young children. Focuses on possible neurological effects; psychological effects, such as disregulation of affect and avoidance of intimacy; and cognitive consequences throughout childhood and adolescence. Describes interventions that can promote resiliency in children, such as providing alternate…

Discusses how teachers can use the process of deciding what students should put in their assessment portfolio to help students develop reasonable goals and criteria for their work, and make critical self-reflection a positive process. Describes young children's understanding of evaluation processes and provides suggestions for helping children…

Discusses how teachers can support students in primary grades by establishing an environment that is conducive to inquiry and by helping children develop basic research skills. Highlights procedures for teaching students how to write informational reports, and describes how the procedures were applied in a third-grade and a first-grade class. (KB)

Discusses factors identified by graduate students in elementary education as impairing their mathematics learning or contributing to a negative attitude toward mathematics. Presents key questions to provide insight into a math instructor's focus on teaching style. Provides an example of mathematics instruction in a meaningful context, and tips for…

Discusses the ambivalence felt by early-childhood teachers about young children's sexual behaviors. Focuses on the importance of context in understanding normal sexual development in young children and specific behaviors that might signal an underlying problem. Presents a continuum of young children's sexual behaviors, ranging from normal to…

Summarizes recent ERIC documents and journal articles discussing teachers' problems, such as stress and burnout, that are related to factors such as work overload and expanded, ambiguous, or conflicted teaching roles. (KB)

Introduces this annual theme issue on the expanding role of the teacher. Maintains that an increasingly recurrent theme in conversations about education is scaling down and refocusing on what is central to teaching and learning. Asserts that the biggest challenge lies in how to actually do this. Concludes that teachers' basic contract with the…

University of Illinois early-childhood-education professor discusses trends in teachers' roles in the United States and internationally, and reasons for the lack of change in ways teachers function and the manner in which schools are organized. Also explores reasonable and unreasonable roles expected of teachers, society's expectations of…

University of Washington educator discusses school reform, and offers reasons why school change will not be as fundamental as many think. Asserts that education occurs within the schools' primary function of day care. Discusses how teachers' roles have changed in the last 20 years and what those roles should be. Discusses universities' role in…

Discusses four leadership roles for school superintendents to help teachers respond to increasing and often conflicting demands. These roles are (1) future interpreter and meaning maker to build an educational vision; (2) capacity builder to ensure student success; (3) collaboration builder both within and outside the district; and (4)…

Maintains that assigning schools responsibility for solving societal problems results in mission clutter, the root cause of failure in public schools. Discusses how mission clutter occurred and its dangers, focusing on the loss of critical educational focus, impediment to teacher recruitment and retention, occupational stress, and unfair…

Discusses how working with 10- and 11-year olds in a tutoring program revealed the tension between classroom routines and the repertoire teachers use to facilitate learning. Argues that developing a repertoire of educational approaches is necessary for creating meaningful learning experiences. Examines the implications of considering teaching as…