Section archive - Instruction in Teacher Training

The moral judgment of sanction in teaching and disciplinary practices was studied in a group of 222 teachers to determine the factors that affect sanction in the classroom. Factors studied included pupils' intent, consequences, recidivism, pupils' academic level, and family stability in two contexts: discipline and schoolwork. Results showed the significant effects of these factors for each context. Age of teachers, gender and teaching level (primary or secondary school) were also investigated in the judgment of sanction. Results showed a significant main effect of age, and specific differences in the moral algebra of teachers according to gender and teaching level.

Existing research suggests that one of the challenges for teachers in persisting with innovative inquiry curricula is their difficulty scaffolding students’ transitions into technology-supported and open-ended activities.This article addresses the nature and role of students’ collaborations in learning through design, a technology-rich science inquiry curriculum. The authors paid particular attention to how students with varying degrees of previous experience in this curricular approach collaborated with one another. The authors found that experienced fifth graders took on many socializing functions, effectively apprenticing younger students into the practices of learning through design.

The current administration strongly supports the belief that good schools can be created and has funded the Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program to support these beliefs. This article provides information about recent school reform research and conditions of schooling. The article then reviews the research findings (drawing on all the preceding articles in the special issue) and considers implications for policy makers, principals, teachers, teacher educators, and researchers.

This study draws from literature on student motivation and learning to understand how students who attend Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) schools think about motivation and learning.Results suggest that students in these CSR schools held positive beliefs about their teachers and classroom learning. Story content analyses indicated that students’ perceptions of student-teacher interaction reflect a concern with achievement rather than affiliation.