Practical Bibliotherapy Strategies for the Inclusive Elementary Classroom

This article was developed to assist the regular education elementary classroom teacher in utilizing practical bibliotherapy strategies for the inclusive classroom. Using quality children’s literature for bibliotherapy helps students to grow socio-emotionally by identifying with the main character in the story with a disability which leads to personal insight and growth. Teachers will learn how to use a checklist which was developed by the authors to select appropriate bibliotherapy literature and lead classroom discussions. A top ten list of books on bibliotherapy for the inclusive elementary classroom is provided.     

Contested Latitudes: When is Artwork Scholarship?

"Artwork scholarship" is defined in this context as a forum for inquiry that involves artful expressions, innovative experimentation and critical propositions informed by aesthetic characteristics as well as customary approaches for the advancement of the arts and education. ‘Latitudes’ in turn take into account the adaptations of artful expressions for educational purposes and the contributions of ongoing critique of art as scholarship. If we deliberate on the pedagogic turn to art as research in tandem with a disposition of latitudes, embracing the tensions of ongoing contestations implicated in such evolving conceptual geographies, arts‐based educational research (ABER) becomes a means to negotiate activities that articulate when is artwork scholarship, rather than what is art as research. In this way, latitudes as a proposition – metaphorically, pedagogically and spatially – is a potential mode for the mapping of theoretical, methodological and practical scholarly encounters, embracing the very tension that the arts evoke, and in the course of so doing, makes such work emergent and inclusive of creative possibilities.     

Chafing borderlands: obstacles for science teaching and learning in preschool teacher education

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This study examines preservice preschool teachers’ university science education experience. The empirical data are from a research and intervention...     

Putting the science back into science education through the science education program and leadership (SEPAL) model

Summary None of the SEPAL teachers had undergraduate degrees in science, and most were afraid of science before they became involved with the project. Although gains in content knowledge were modest, progress toward other instructional goals were made, indicating that improved pedagogical content knowledge is not entirely dependent on content knowledge. Currently, funding is being sought for future programs which incorporate the belief in the role of peer interaction, nonthreatening environments for learning, and the importance of ascertaining teachers’ pedagogical beliefs if inservice work is to be transferred to the classroom. Additionally, we will continue to model the Circle of Inquiry which encourages conceptual change and provides teachers with an approach for use in their own classrooms. This material is based upon work supported in part by a grant from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Education funds (Grant No. AC-RGT-UMS-93460). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the granting organization.     

Classroom design and impression formation: A new area for research

Recently, educators and psychologists have begun to discuss the messages conveyed by different classroom designs. Although the arguments presented are persuasive, the basic contention—that classroom design influences impression formation—has not been empirically tested. The purpose of this article is to bring to the attention of educational psychologists the possibilities for research in this area. The paper summarizes the findings of some initial investigations and suggests directions for future study.     

Guided Reading: A Research-Based Response to the Challenges of Early Reading Instruction

The purpose of this article was to illuminate for early childhood teacher practitioners how guided reading, as a research-based approach to reading instruction, could address the challenges of early reading instruction. The early years are the focus for the prevention of reading difficulties and research conducted over the past two decades has produced extensive results demonstrating that children who get off to a poor start in reading rarely catch up (Lentz, 1988; Neuman & Dickinson, 2001; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; Torgesen, 1998; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 2001). One particular research-based strategy, guided reading, is an important “best practice” associated with today’s balanced literacy instruction. The National Reading Panel (2000) argued that balanced approaches are preferable when teaching children to read, based on their review of scientific research-based reading instructional practices used by teachers in classrooms across the country. Additionally, guided reading practices as part of a balanced literacy program conforms to the recommendations on literacy as suggested in position statements by the International Reading Association/The National Association for the Education of Young Children (1998), and the National Council of Teachers of English (2002).     

Protective longitudinal paths linking child competence to behavioral problems among African American siblings

A 4-wave longitudinal design was used to examine protective links from child competence to behavioral problems in first- (M=10.97 years) and second- (M=8.27 years) born rural African American children. At 1-year intervals, teachers assessed child behavioral problems, mothers reported their psychological functioning, and both mothers and children reported parenting practices. Structural equation modeling indicated that child competence was linked with residualized positive changes in mothers' psychological functioning from Wave 1 to Wave 2. Mothers' psychological functioning and child competence at Wave 2 forecast involved-supportive parenting at Wave 3, which was associated negatively with externalizing and internalizing problems at Wave 4. The importance of replicating processes leading to outcomes among children in the same study is discussed.     

Student involvement in learning: Collaboration in science for PreService elementary teachers

Conclusion The present study provided insights regarding the interactions that take place in collaborative science laboratory and regarding the outcome of such interactions. Science laboratory experiences structured by teachers have been criticized for allowing very little, if any, meaningful learning. However, this study showed that even structured laboratory experiments can provide insightful experience for students when conducted in a group setting that demanded interactive participation from all its members. The findings of the present study underscored the synergistic and supportive nature of collaborative groups. Here, students patiently repeated explanations to support the meaning construction on the part of their slower peers and elaborated their own understanding in the process; groups negotiated the meaning of observations and the corresponding theoretical explanations; students developed and practiced a range of social skills necessary in today’s workplace; and off-task behavior was thwarted by the group members motivated to work toward understanding rather than simply generating answers for task completion. The current findings suggest an increased use of collaborative learning environments for the teaching of science to elementary education majors. Some teachers have already made use of such settings in their laboratory teaching. However, collaborative learning should not be limited to the laboratory only, but be extended to more traditionally structured classes. The effects of such a switch in activity structures, increased quality of peer interaction, mastery of subject matter content, and decreased anxiety levels could well lead to better attitudes toward science among preservice elementary school teachers and eventually among their own students.