Teachers dread the 'out-of-control', socially maladjusted, delinquent children who wind up in their classes. Identifying them is easy; getting changes is more difficult; but not impossible.

Californian experience and research bears on the problems of teaching children with diverse languages and diverse cultural attitudes to education. Solutions appear, and are relevant to us.

Research in Norway and Britain has revealed that bullying is more common than we care to admit. Doing something about it is recommended, and how to successfully intervene is spelt out.

This review of research looks not only at the effects of class size on children's academic success but also at children's behaviour, teacher stress, cost effectiveness and the unique characteristics of small classes.

A very carefully run experiment in Ballarat High School shows definite benefits for schools like Ballarat H.S. These benefits, and critical comments, are detailed.

Adolescents delight in 'Low Culture' Films such as Police Academy. They may be the sort of films adults carefully avoid but they are full of lessons and are ideal teaching material.

Children should learn how to learn. Nowadays we hope that school will teach that, above all else. Here is a case study of successful teaching for meta-learning. A second will appear in set No. 2.

We often 'cheat' by giving marks higher than the quality of the work requires. Our motives are good – often it is to avoid discouraging the 'trier'. But does it pay off?

Marks interfere with each other – your brilliantly fair assessments may be 'put-crook' by other equally just marks. Technical, but as readable as Le Carré, and much more important.

Applying for a new teaching job in New Zealand and Australia used to be pretty cut and dried - the best qualified was selected and appointed by the Education Department. Times change. In New Zealand all appointments are now in the hands of Boards of Trustees. In Victoria the community ...