Connecting Instruction and Management in a Student-Centered Classroom
Ms. Thompson's seventh grade stu dents have been studying the solar system and are busily working in cooperative learning groups. Each group has been assigned one planet and their objective is to create a description of a being that could live on "their" planet. Because Ms. Thompson has done a good job of orches trating positive interdependence, students are relying on their groups to achieve their objective while the teacher serves as a facilitator (Johnson, Johnson, Holubec, & Roy, 1988). The noise level here is slightly higher than in the typical classroom as students interact with each other and fulfill their assigned roles. The teacher explained the rules for behavior to the students prior to beginning the project: "Keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself," "Let others have a chance to speak," and "Contribute to your group." She has predetermined consequences for both appropriate and inappropriate behavior and shared those with the class. Ray and Bill have been having trouble getting along together and today does not seem to be an exception as they continue to "pick on" each other. Even though a warning has been issued to both students, there is yet another altercation between them. Ms. Thompson explains, "Boys, this means detention for both of you." Ray turns pale and looks upset. Bill continues poking Ray with his pencil and says, "Detention's no big deal. I don't care." Ms. Thompson explains to Bill that a call to his par ents will be made. The classroom environment promoted by this teacher is typical of many middle school teachers. The instruction was creative and student centered, but the classroom management techniques were expedient and teacher centered. There can be little doubt that an inter
Classroom management as method and manner
We describe two case studies of experienced teachers whose classroom-management approaches, whilst quite different, appear seamless and in agreement with classroom manner and with the goals and desires they have for their students. We examine classroom management, manner, beliefs about classroom life and moral and intellectual goals for students, and classroom behaviour that directly informs students of expectations for virtuous conduct. The data include classroom observation and videotapes, and interviews with teachers. In developing these case studies, we join with the recent trend toward a more holistic view of the teacher and his or her conduct. The case studies focus on who a teacher is, what a teacher believes and how these beliefs are manifest in the teacher's conduct.
Psychometricians’ Beliefs About Learning
The author contends that disputes within the measurement community about what constitutes legitimate test preparation and whether “teaching to the test” is good or bad for student learning can be explained by differences in measurement specialists beliefs about learning. Qualitative analysis of interview data from a nationally representative sample of 50 district testing directors revealed that approximately half of the measurement specialists operate from implicit learning theories that advocate, first, close alignment of tests with curriculum and, second, judicious teaching of tested content. Historical quotations are used to show that these beliefs, associated with criterion-referenced testing, derive from behaviorist learning theory, which requires sequential mastery of constituent skills and explicit testing of each learning step. The sequential, facts-before-thinking model of learning is contradicted, however, by a substantial body of evidence from cognitive psychology. Implicit beliefs should be made explicit because an understanding of learning theory assumptions is fundamental to evaluating evidence of testing effects and therfore to framing validity investigations.