set 1987: no. 2

Computer programs are not a magic remedy for dyslexia. But they can be a very worthwhile teaching aid when you need many ways of reinforcing each teaching point. In this way the computer can add a new dimension to dyslexia teaching, not by replacing carefully structured tuition, but by complementing the basic lesson. For instance, the microcomputer is unbelievably motivating. Pupils work hard in order to have time for the computer, and are often reluctant to go when time is up. And the micro… Read more

Mid-year exams are looming, and Mr Davey has a paper to set for his senior maths class. Going to his classroom store cupboard he drags down a battered manilla folder labelled 'Exams', bulging with dog-eared and yellowing papers. He flicks through the top few copies looking for last year's senior mid-year exam and the ones for the three years previous. On a sheet of lined paper he copies out those questions with double ticks or SSFG (sorted sheep from goats) written in the margin. He… Read more

Developmental Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterised by difficulty in learning to read. Some dyslexics also may have difficulty in learning to write, to spell and, sometimes, to speak or to work with numbers. The exact cause of dyslexia is not known, but we do know that it affects children who are academically capable, physically and emotionally healthy and who come from good home environments. In fact, many children with dyslexia have the advantages of excellent schools,… Read more

In Australia, women are 60 percent of all teachers, but that is an average figure and disguises the fact that they are 85 percent of primary teachers in some States, and less than half of secondary teachers in others.
In the past, this profession attracted a disproportionate number of well-educated women when other professions such as medicine and the law were largely not open to them. It would still be true that a competent young male with the wide selection of matriculation studies… Read more

D o you agree with the following statements about poor farmers in India and Africa?
• They are poor through their own fault.
• They are poor because of the climate.
• They are poor because their countries were colonies belonging to European nations.
• They are poor because a few rich people in their own countries control all the wealth.
• They are poor because the people of rich nations control the world's resources.
There are of course many more possible… Read more

For over a year I went to classes with two groups of I5-year-old girls, wagged with them, had lunch with them and generally hung around with them at school. I recorded interviews and conversations, wrote down what I saw happening in the classroom, and got them to write to me.

In a day and age when the credibility of schools and the teachers in them are being questioned, it seems important to analyse carefully some of the factors which seem to promote effective schooling. Our study involved an examination of eight schools in the Southern Auckland region, matched in pairs. The matching was for (1) socioeconomic status (seventy percent of children had parents who were manual working class); (2) the ethnic composition of the school (75 percent of the pupils were of… Read more

Infant Teachers try to ensure that all young people in their classrooms have access to the necessary tools of trade. In some classrooms books, pencils, rubbers, rulers, sharpeners, etc. are kept in the students' desks. In other classrooms they are kept on, or near, the teacher's desk, or at some other location in the room. Crayons, paints, paper, scissors, etc. all have special places. Where these are, and the rules for use of each item, are quickly learnt by children when they become… Read more

The ancient Greeks urged the student: 'Know thyself At the beginning of this century, John Dewey talked of 'reflective self-awareness'; today, we invoke metacognition. All refer to a concept that has been known by good teachers for centuries, and that has very powerful implications for education. What is it?
One of the interesting characteristics of people is that they not only behave, but can watch themselves behaving, and believe that they can exert a certain amount of… Read more