Paper explores the idea of biography writing as a medium for teacher development and reflection, focusing on the ethnographic biography to provide student teachers with context in preservice education and describing a one-semester course in Switzerland in which student teachers were paired with experienced teachers to complete ethnographic…

Paper describes an experimental summer course in which teachers read the fiction of ethnic cultures, learned factual material about the cultures, and wrote about their responses in order to gain an understanding of minority/ethnic group issues. Teachers responded very positively to this consciousness raising effort. (SM)

Paper describes one approach to preservice teacher education that considers the experiences of other nations and cultures in meeting the educational needs of students, arguing for the merits of closely analyzing particular examples of English elementary school practice in the context of an advanced undergraduate course in elementary teacher…

This paper describes activities, content, and basic conceptions used in a multicultural education course designed for preservice teachers at Montana State University in a homogeneous region, discussing such specific needs as basic awareness of and positive attitudes about diversity in general. (SM)

Paper describes the experiences of a Lithuanian-American teacher who traveled to Lithuania to conduct summer seminars for early childhood educators. Through the seminars, she not only taught the teachers about whole language, integrated curriculum, and cooperative learning, but she learned about the politics involved in educational reform in…

Two college professors used peer observation to learn specific instructional techniques and content from each other's classrooms. Pre- and postobservation conferences, surveys of colleagues and other colleges and universities about peer observation and coaching, and reflective journals indicated the experience required great trust but was well…

This article places the teaching internship experience in an analytical context, suggesting that the process by which interns become teachers is best understood as a rite of passage into the culture of teaching. Following three interns through the process, the paper examines rites of separation, of transition, and of incorporation. (SM)

One teacher educator returned to a secondary classroom to test her mature understanding of teaching and learning with real students and gain insights to influence her teaching of preservice teachers. The experience highlighted the need for teachers to analyze students' learning or lack of learning and respond to that analysis. (SM)

A community college professor recounts how he took a risk and left the security of his job when it began to feel stale in order to push his creativity as an educator to the limits. Moving to a university, he took risks in the classroom and pushed his students to their creative limits. (SM)

The article examines the role of educational leaders in implementing the use of computers in education. After discussing whether leadership for the integration of information technology is desirable, the paper suggests a versatile, continuous, well-organized approach to bringing about lasting, substantial change. (SM)

Recommends emphasizing the accuracy and integrity of what is being taught as well as the mechanics of information delivery, noting that minority groups have historically been underrepresented in the curriculum. Curriculum revision on all levels requires incorporation of achievements of all members of the diverse U. S. society. (SM)

Several issues must be resolved to help teacher education become a truly multicultural experience. The paper discusses whether values can be taught in universities and suggests screening teacher candidates for prejudice prior to accepting them into programs. Universities need faculty who can model appropriate behaviors and teach about such issues.…

Examines how teachers' pedagogical practices shape them as educators and alter their belief systems about students. A teacher describes her own pedagogy, noting how she made her practices consonant with her beliefs and discussing the changes in her attitudes when she changed her course from pass-fail to letter grading. (SM)

Examines discontent over standards of education and its relationship to current debates about multicultural education. The paper discusses the views of critics and advocates of multicultural education as well as of those who must implement it no matter what their stance. It also notes the effects of discontent on students. (SM)

Proposes two approaches for nurturing teachers' and students' ability to develop caring attitudes and to experience others' lives vicariously: critical reading of literature and writing narratives. The article suggests that intimate, confrontive engagement with texts read and/or written by students might inform teachers of previously unrecognized…