Connecting religion and teacher identity: The unexplored relationship between teachers and religion in public schools

It is increasingly acknowledged that for individuals to participate in a pluralistic and democratic society, they must understand religious conviction and difference. In educational literature, the discussion surrounding education and religion focuses on the implications for students. It is important to consider what this may mean to the teachers, as teachers directly influence student learning. This article uses literature on religion, multiculturalism, teacher identity, and popular culture to connect teachers' private religious identifications to their professional identities in public school classrooms. It supports future research in this area and provides a theoretical framework for subsequent studies.     

Conflict, Social Competence, and Gender: Maternal and Peer Contexts

The current study was designed to address two major purposes. The first goal was to investigate the joint influence of children's sociometric status and sex on their conflict behavior, and the second goal was to explore the similarities and differences in children's conflict behavior across two contexts, specifically conflicts arising during interactions with mothers and with peers. Forty-two first-graders were videotaped playing with their mothers and then with an unfamiliar peer partner. Conflict behavior occurring in the mother-child context was quite different from that occurring between children, reflecting the contrast between the vertical and horizontal nature of these relationships. Most striking were the large number of sociometric status and sex differences in conflict behavior found across both contexts. Further, it appears that effective conflict behavior may differ for boys and girls. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Drunk and Alone in a K‐Mart Parking Lot: The Pedagogy of Simulations and Contemporary Attitudes Toward Drinking and Driving

This article introduces readers to the philosophy and design of team-based learning (TBL), a method developed by Dr. Larry Michaelsen that was influenced by literature in organizational psychology and pedagogy documenting what actually motivates adults to learn and how they master higher order learning skills. We describe how TBL was implemented in several criminal justice courses and illustrate how this method has drastically reduced student apathy, increased attendance, improved performance, and eliminated frustration for both instructors and students. Additionally, we reflect on how this method has reshaped our roles as educators.     

MEASUREMENT OF CHANGE IN THE MEANING OF WRITING IN FRESHMAN ENGLISH

This study had a two‐fold purpose: first, to determine whether a measurable change in the meaning of the word writing could occur during a writing course; and second, to measure meaning rather than merely student attitudes toward writing. To satisfy these purposes, a semantic differential was administered to students in both regular and developmental classes in a two‐year campus at the beginning and the end of the 10‐week term. The scale measured the meaning of the term writing according to three dimensions: evaluation, activity, and potency. Scores were compared for each student and for each class of students. A significant increase occurred in the activity dimension for students in the regular classes by the end of the term; however, their evaluative rating decreased. Developmental students showed no change. Correlations with other measures of student performance were performed: final grades in the writing course, high school G.P.A., and verbal SAT scores. Regular students’ final grades correlated positively with the evaluation dimension of writing, and their verbal SAT scores correlated positively with the activity and potency dimensions. An inverse correlation was obtained between the developmental students’ verbal SAT scores and their evaluative rating. All correlations were stronger by the end of the term. Implications for writing teachers are discussed. Use of this instrument for measuring change in students’ perceptions of writing is recommended.