Teaching the teachers: emotional intelligence training for teachers

A growing body of research in recent years has supported the value of emotional intelligence in both effective teaching and student achievement. This paper presents a pre–post, quasi-experimental design study conducted to evaluate the contributions of a 56-h “Emotional Intelligence” training model. The model has been developed and studied in an attempt to address educators’ growing needs to practice and implement “emotionally intelligent” learning environments. One hundred eighty-six teachers from ten elementary schools in Israel participated in this study. Findings indicated an increase in emotional intelligence and empathic concern from the beginning to the end of the course. Further regression indicated that both expression and regulation of emotions predicted empathy at the end of the course. Participants’ reflective assignments indicated an increase in self introspection, emotional awareness, emotional regulation and understanding others.     

New material for teachers

Battlefields, in Teacher Education. Sam P. Wiggins. (Nashville: George Peabody College for Teachers, 1964. Pp. 109. $3.00.)

Compensatory Education for Cultural Deprivation. Benjamin S. Bloom, Allison Davis, and Robert Hess. (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1965. Pp. 179. $1.75, paper.)

Chinese Communist Education: Records of the First Decade. Stewart Fraser, editor and compiler. (Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt University Press, 1965. Pp. xvi and 542. $10.00.)

Development in Early Children. D. Bruce Gardner. (New York: Harper and Row, 1964. Pp. 358. $5.75.)

The Predominantly Negro Colleges and Universities in Transition. Earl J. McGrath. (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1965. Pp. 204. $2.75.)

Schools for Youth: Change and Challenge in Secondary Education. Daniel Tanner. (New York: Macmillan, 1965. Pp. 536. $6.95.)

Sigmund Freud: A New Appraisal. Maryse Choisey. (New York: Philosophical Library, 1963. Pp. 141. $4.75.)

They Closed Their Schools: Prince Edward County, Virginia, 1951–1964. Bob Smith. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1965. Pp.281. $5.95.)     

Preparing teachers for multicultural classrooms

This article examines issues involved in teaching culturally diverse students and questions current practice in multicultural teacher education. An alternative approach to preparing teachers for multicultural classrooms, illustrated by the Teachers for Alaska program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, focuses prospective teachers on (a) attending to multicultural classroom and community contexts, (b) designing instruction to make connections between academic subject matter and diverse students' backgrounds, and (c) learning how to learn from students, communities, and practical experience. The authors argue that radical departures from traditional teacher education are possible and that breaks from standard practice are both desirable and effective in preparing teachers for multicultural classrooms.     

Preparing future teachers for diversity

This program for teacher education is built on the assumption that the effectiveness of public schooling will improve in relation to the diversity of ideas and experiences of teachers. The program speaks to the linkage between better teacher preparation, improved schooling for students of color, and the recruitment of teachers of color. The program has three main components: (1) early involvement in teacher education programs with ongoing internships in schools and the community; (2) active participation by arts and science faculty, including ethnic studies; and (3) seminars in the teacher education program which connect theory with practice.     

Knowledge management support for teachers

Business organizations worldwide are implementing techniques and technologies to better manage their knowledge. Their objective is to improve the quality of the contributions people make to their organizations by helping them to make sense of the context within which the organization exists; to take responsibility, cooperate, and share what they know and learn; and to effectively challenge, negotiate, and learn from others. We consider how the concepts, tools, and techniques of organizational knowledge management can be applied to the professional practices and development of teachers. We describe a framework for knowledge management support for teachers where the sharing of concrete knowledge scaffolds the attainment of more abstract levels of knowledge sharing. We describe the development of a knowledge management support system emphasizing long-term participatory design relationships between technologists and teachers, regional cooperation among teachers in adjacent school divisions, the integration of communication and practice, synchronous and asynchronous interactions, and multiple metaphors for organizing knowledge resources and activities. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, REC-0106552.     

Preparing teachers for inclusive classrooms

Effective teaching skills consist of high levels of student engagement based on good classroom and time management skills; the ability to scaffold learning that is adapted to students' current levels of understanding; cognitively engaging students in higher-order thinking; and encouraging and supporting success. The research reported here suggests that in elementary classrooms, effective teaching skills are effective for all students, both with and without special education needs.