One of the most striking characteristics of classrooms since the Industrial Revolution to the present has been ~he large number of pupils within them. At no other 'stage in their lives will young people occupy such socially intimate settings for such extended periods of time. Buses, football pavilions, and cinemas ...

'Who are you?' said the caterpillar. Alice replied rather shyly, 'I -- 1 hardly know, sir, just at present -- at least 1 know who 1 was when 1 got up this morning, but 1 must have changed several times since then. '
(Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland)

Alice's reply ...

Despite hard times the information explosion continues. As a result, professional people who aim to be well informed and abreast of current developments find that the task becomes more burdensome with each passing day. An educator uses many resources - conferences and workshops, membership of professional associations, tertiary studies, advisory ...

In 1975 and again in 1977, Anne Bray and Bruce McMillan carried out a family survey as a class exercise in Stage I Education at Otago University. Students were asked to provide descriptive data about their family of origin and to say a little about their 'ideal family'. The data ...

For the past five years or more, there has been a growing amount of publicity generated about the use of the microcomputer - the so-called 'personal' computer - in the classrooms of America. Thanks primarily to the highpowered marketing techniques of manufacturers of these computers, this technology has come to ...

In 1979 I arranged with Robin Haberfield who was teaching a class of 8 and 9 year olds to have three observers watch three of his pupils continuously for about an hour and a quarter every day for seven weeks during a series of lessons on conservation .I wanted to ...

In the United Kingdom, classroom seating with desks or tables arranged in rows is the norm in secondary schools. This was also the case in most primary schools until the sixties when a less formal approach to primary education came into vogue with a preference for table desks or tables ...

Among the most serious obstacles to the growth of participatory methods of teaching are columns of desks in classrooms. While pupils are forced to sit looking at the backs of their fellows, with the teacher as a sort of perpetual commander in front of them, little participation is feasible. The ...

Even in the very first year at school a few pupils are disruptive. They are called 'disruptive', 'immature', 'aggressive', 'lacking in concentration' and 'hyperactive' and in moments of stress a lot of worse names! I prefer to call them 'difficult to teach'. A week or more was spent in each ...

Teachers who understand that spelling is a complex developmental process can help students acquire spelling competency. Initially, the teacher must recognize five stages of spelling development. Once the stages are identified, the teacher can provide opportunities for children to develop cognitive strategies for dealing with English orthography, and assess the ...