When children develop a theoretical understanding of inquiry as a way of perceiving the world, their personal and meaningful inquiries drive learning and the curriculum, as this study of a multiage classroom demonstrates. Though teachers have a strong belief in the theory, this study indicates that they have difficulty translating that belief into practice. Their teaching methods often are not as student-centered as they believe. This report features a study of a project in the fine arts. This study examines academic achievement of students in a pilot year-round schooling sequence and finds that YRE students did not perform at a higher level than their peers in a traditional schedule.
Implications are explored.
Because education is a moral enterprise, teachers conceptions and practices of social justice are critical. How we educate our teachers can foster or impede social justice. They must develop awareness and concern for social justice, serve the needs of the poor, and learn to teach democracy and democratically. An esteemed educator addresses connections between psychology and education, the failures of the charter schools movement, teaching as performance, ongoing professional development, and our inability to predict the course of reform. The current debate over privatization of U.S. education has neglected to focus on the content of students learning.