To a degree unknown in practically any other discipline, the pedagogical space afforded composition is the institutional engine that makes possible all other theoretical and research efforts in the field of rhetoric and writing. But composition has recently come under attack from many within the field as fundamentally misguided. Some of these critics have been labelled "New Abolitionists" for their insistence that compulsory first-year writing should be abandoned. Not limiting itself to first-year writing courses, this book extends and modifies calls for abolition by taking a closer look at current theoretical and empirical understandings of what contributors call "general writing skills instruction" (GWSI): the curriculum which an overwhelming majority of writing instructors is paid to teach, that practically every composition textbook is written to support, and the instruction for which English departments are given resources to deliver.
The vulnerability of GWSI is hardly a secret among writing professionals and its intellectual fragility has been felt for years and manifested in several ways:
* in persistently low status of composition as a study both within and outside of English departments;
* in professional journal articles and conference presentations that are growing both in theoretical sophistication and irrelevance to the composition classroom; and
* in the rhetoric and writing field's ever-increasing attention to nontraditional sites of writing behavior.
But, to date, there has been relatively little concerted discussion within the writing field that focuses specifically on the fundamentally awkward relationship of writing theory and writing instruction.
This volume is the first to explicitly focus on the gap in the theory and practice that has emerged as a result of the field's growing professionalization. The essays anthologized offer critiques of GWSI in light of the discipline's growing understanding of the contexts for writing and their rhetorical nature. Writing from a wide range of cognitivist, critical-theoretical, historical, linguistic and philosophical perspectives, contributors call into serious question basic tenets of contemporary writing instruction and provide a forum for articulating a sort of "zeitgeist" that seems to permeate many writing conferences, but which has, until recently, not found a voice or a name.

This volume explores higher level, critical, and creative thinking, as well as reflective decision making and problem solving -- what teachers should emphasize when teaching literacy across the curriculum. Focusing on how to encourage learners to become independent thinking, learning, and communicating participants in home, school, and community environments, this book is concerned with integrated learning in a curriculum of inclusion. It emphasizes how to provide a curriculum for students where they are socially interactive, personally reflective, and academically informed.
Contributors are authorities on such topics as cognition and learning, classroom climates, knowledge bases of the curriculum, the use of technology, strategic reading and learning, imagery and analogy as a source of creative thinking, the nature of motivation, the affective domain in learning, cognitive apprenticeships, conceptual development across the disciplines, thinking through the use of literature, the impact of the media on thinking, the nature of the new classroom, developing the ability to read words, the bilingual, multicultural learner, crosscultural literacy, and reaching the special learner.
The applications of higher level thought to classroom contexts and materials are provided, so that experienced teacher educators, and psychologists are able to implement some of the abstractions that are frequently dealt with in texts on cognition. Theoretical constructs are grounded in educational experience, giving the volume a practical dimension. Finally, appropriate concerns regarding the new media, hypertext, bilingualism, and multiculturalism as they reflect variation in cognitive experience within the contexts of learning are presented.

The assessment of the National Curriculum has evolved from the first blueprint of the TGAT Report through a series of policy decisions and early experience of implementation. The pace of change, the complexity of the proposed assessment system and the political rhetoric associated with it have served to confuse and so obscure the trends in policy and practice. This book offers an account of that system and explains why it is now emerging in a substantially different form from that envisaged by its originators.

This guide gives an overview of the curriculum arrangements which took effect in August 1995. The book outlines the main changes to the original National Curriculum and gives examples of ways to teach the new curriculum, together with enquiry tasks to take the teacher forward. It also covers each of the subjects of the revised National Curriculum, locating them within a context of whole curriculum planning. Looking at issues of differentiation, the book explores those additional elements of the curriculum, such as cross curricular themes and drama, that primary schools will wish to cover.

This is the first of a two-volume publication which provides an international perspective on how children learn to read. Research studies and classroom experiences from around the world are reported, highlighting implications for the design implementation and evaluation of classroom reading programmes. Contributions and evidence is drawn from over 18 countries and, despite the national differences, there are many common concerns and controversies. From these, three areas are identified: the first is developing an improved understanding of the nature of children's early reading development; the second is the consideration of the ways in which children's reading can be encouraged; and finally issues of assessment in the context of accountability are addressed. This volume deals with the first of these concerns.

Since 1989 initial teacher training courses in England and Wales have included teacher preparation for taking a lead in a school subject area in their first appointment. There is no longer a place for a teacher newly qualified or not in primary schools whose sole responsibility is for his or her own class. A teacher must have specific specialist knowledge and expertise in particular subjects which must be shared with all staff.; This text contains the latest curriculum and assessment changes. It aims to help students and newly qualified teachers to understand the complexities of being a co-ordinator of a National Curriculum subject in Key Stage 2 and reports on best practice.

The Challenge of English in the National Curriculum considers how particular aspects of a national curriculum can be reconciled with the best practice of the English teaching tradition. The authors are all practising teachers who look at the lessons of the past as well as their hopes for the future. Each chapter begins from a question raised by teachers when asked at in-service workshops about the issues which concerned them most. The chapters cover most of the more significant aspects of English within the National Curriculum and vary from John Johnson's survey of practical ways to raise the standard of oracy to Nick Peim's suggestions for coping with Key Stage 4 which leads him to a radical questioning of the whole nature of English as a curriculum subject.

This text examines the National Curriculum Physical Education to Key Stage 1 in the light of recent changes. It identifies six basic principles which provide the foundation for the rationale, curriculum content, the teaching and the planning processes required in providing a balanced programme for children aged 3 to 7 years. Special attention is paid to movement education for children of nursery age, providing as it does a sound foundation for later work in the early years. Games, gymnastics, dance and swimming are covered in detail and sample units of work for each group provide students in initial teacher training and teachers with valuable materials for use in schools. The final chapter looks at the role of the curriculum leader or co-ordinator for physical education at Key Stage 1, offering guidance on how to agree and implement a common school policy.

This volume explores higher level, critical, and creative thinking, as well as reflective decision making and problem solving -- what teachers should emphasize when teaching literacy across the curriculum. Focusing on how to encourage learners to become independent thinking, learning, and communicating participants in home, school, and community environments, this book is concerned with integrated learning in a curriculum of inclusion. It emphasizes how to provide a curriculum for students where they are socially interactive, personally reflective, and academically informed.
Contributors are authorities on such topics as cognition and learning, classroom climates, knowledge bases of the curriculum, the use of technology, strategic reading and learning, imagery and analogy as a source of creative thinking, the nature of motivation, the affective domain in learning, cognitive apprenticeships, conceptual development across the disciplines, thinking through the use of literature, the impact of the media on thinking, the nature of the new classroom, developing the ability to read words, the bilingual, multicultural learner, crosscultural literacy, and reaching the special learner.
The applications of higher level thought to classroom contexts and materials are provided, so that experienced teacher educators, and psychologists are able to implement some of the abstractions that are frequently dealt with in texts on cognition. Theoretical constructs are grounded in educational experience, giving the volume a practical dimension. Finally, appropriate concerns regarding the new media, hypertext, bilingualism, and multiculturalism as they reflect variation in cognitive experience within the contexts of learning are presented.

This engaging text examines issues in education and curriculum theory from multiple critical perspectives. Students are encouraged to look at education from the "inside" (the complex processes, methods and relations that operate within schools) and from the "outside" (the larger social, economic, and political forces that have affected schools over time). Each essay begins with "Guiding Questions" and concludes with "Questions for Discussion," "Teachers as Researchers" activities, and "Suggested Readings."

Using an analysis of learning by a case study comparison of two undergraduate courses at a United States University, Nespor examines the way in which education and power merge in physics and management. Through this study of politics and practices of knowledge, he explains how students, once accepted on these courses, are facilitated on a path to power; physics and management being core disciplines in modern society. Taking strands from constructivist psychology, post-modern geography, actor-network theory and feminist sociology, this book develops a theoretical language for analysing the production and use of knowledge. He puts forward the idea that learning, usually viewed as a process of individual minds and groups in face-to-face interaction, is actually a process of activities organised across space and time and how organisations of space and time are produced in social practice.; Within this context educational courses are viewed as networks of a larger whole, and individual courses are points in the network which link a wider relationship by way of texts, tasks and social practices intersecting with them. The book shows how students enrolled on such courses automatically become part of a network of power and knowledge.

Using an analysis of learning by a case study comparison of two undergraduate courses at a United States University, Nespor examines the way in which education and power merge in physics and management. Through this study of politics and practices of knowledge, he explains how students, once accepted on these courses, are facilitated on a path to power; physics and management being core disciplines in modern society. Taking strands from constructivist psychology, post-modern geography, actor-network theory and feminist sociology, this book develops a theoretical language for analysing the production and use of knowledge. He puts forward the idea that learning, usually viewed as a process of individual minds and groups in face-to-face interaction, is actually a process of activities organised across space and time and how organisations of space and time are produced in social practice.; Within this context educational courses are viewed as networks of a larger whole, and individual courses are points in the network which link a wider relationship by way of texts, tasks and social practices intersecting with them. The book shows how students enrolled on such courses automatically become part of a network of power and knowledge.

The assessment of the National Curriculum has evolved from the first blueprint of the TGAT Report through a series of policy decisions and early experience of implementation. The pace of change, the complexity of the proposed assessment system and the political rhetoric associated with it have served to confuse and so obscure the trends in policy and practice. This book offers an account of that system and explains why it is now emerging in a substantially different form from that envisaged by its originators.

The goal of this text is to help teachers in diverse classrooms understand the importance of students' culture, languages, and schooling experiences to curriculum, assessment, and student achievement. Readers will learn about aspects of specific cultures and languages that are important to their understanding of their students, and they will discover that cultures that are often considered similar may not be so (and why they aren't). Finally, the text focuses on how teachers can integrate languages and cultures into classrooms and how to account for students' backgrounds and funds of knowledge when devising tasks. The text starts with an introduction to language and culture that presents a research?based explanation of why these concepts are important for teachers to understand (Chapter 1). Then, the middle 28 chapters each address one country/culture. Each chapter starts with a school scenario in the US. Part 2 of each chapter includes evidence?based demographic and background data on the country, including historical events that may have an impact on our students and their families. Part 3 includes a look at education, schooling, and culture, including famous people, contributions to the world, personal characteristics, important religious information, focal customs, and other aspects that are important to cultural insiders. Part 4 is about language and literacy traditions and how they relate to the culture, a number of words that teachers can learn (e.g., yes, no, thank you, please, hello), how the language is different from and similar to English, and what those differences and similarities might mean for English language learners from that culture. Part 5 comprises advice, resources, and ideas for teachers (for example, if it is an oral culture, the teacher might consider working with students on oral storytelling before transitioning to written stories, or incorporate both using technology). Each chapter also contains recommended readings and resources and short exercises that extend the chapter information. The final chapter presents parting notes for teachers and additional suggestions for addressing diversity.

The ten modules included in "Science for Curriculum Leaders" cover the two areas of particular concern in the teaching of science--organizing the classroom for investigations and reviewing science coverage on a whole school basis--and the ways in which issues of more general concern in elementary school curriculum (multicultural education, planning for individual progression, assessment) affect the teaching of science.

This book challenges simplified claims of racial, national, and ethnic belonging in music education by presenting diaspora as a new paradigm for teaching music, departing from the standard multicultural guides and offering the idea of unfinished identities for musical creations. While multiculturalism-the term most commonly used in music education-had promised a theoretical framework that puts classical, folk, and popular music around the world on equal footing, it has perpetuated the values of Western aesthetics and their singular historical development. Breaking away from this standard, the book illuminates a diasporic web of music's historical pathways, avoiding the fragmentation of music by categories of presumed origins whether racial, ethnic, or national.

This is the first of a two-volume publication which provides an international perspective on how children learn to read. Research studies and classroom experiences from around the world are reported, highlighting implications for the design implementation and evaluation of classroom reading programmes. Contributions and evidence is drawn from over 18 countries and, despite the national differences, there are many common concerns and controversies. From these, three areas are identified: the first is developing an improved understanding of the nature of children's early reading development; the second is the consideration of the ways in which children's reading can be encouraged; and finally issues of assessment in the context of accountability are addressed. This volume deals with the first of these concerns.

This is the second of a two-volume publication which provides an international perspective on how children learn to read. Research studies and classroom experiences from around the world are reported, highlighting implications for the design implementation and evaluation of classroom reading programmes. Contributions are included from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Jamaica and Israel with evidence drawn from over 18 countries. Despite the contexted differences, there are many common concerns and controversies. From these, three areas are identified: the first is developing an improved understanding of the nature of children's early reading development; the second is the consideration of the ways in which children's reading can be encouraged. This volume addresses the issues of curriculum and assessment in the context of accountability.

With the advent of the National Curriculum, computer based modelling (CBM) is now a compulsory part of the school curriculum. Teachers are increasingly being encouraged to seek out opportunities for CBM in their own subject and across the curriculum. The new demands on the curriculum have left eachers and teacher trainers concerned as to their lack of experience in the area. This book sets out to provide a comprehensive guide to the area through an examination of a number of funded projects on CBM and their application to the school curriculum, setting them in the context of wider theoretical and practical concerns. It is acknowledged that computers bring about change in the classroom, both in teachers' professional development and innovative practices in teaching and learning. In highlighting how CBM can aid in the effective delivery of the curriculum, this book should be essential reading for teachers and researchers in the field.

Like the first reader, this collection examines the grounds which are accepted for inclusion or exclusion of students, and looks at how appropriate support can be guaranteed for people who experience difficulties in learning, who are disabled or who experience social or other kinds of disability. This volume explores national and international contexts for educational practice and research and discusses practical, ethical and political issues which are relevant to undertaking that research. Part one covers issues facing local government and the consumers of educational services in the UK. Part two compares policy and practice in eleven different countries and part 3 discusses research which explores the issues of equality and diversity in education. This volume and her sister, Equality and Diversity in Education 1: Learning, Teaching and Managing in Schools are reraders for the Open University course, "Developing Inclusive Curricula: Equality and Diversity in Education" (E829). The two books in the series will appeal to teachers, non-teaching assistants and other school-based staff,parents,disabled people and those who have experienced difficulties in learning,social and health workers, and those working for voluntary organisations.

The final volume of four, the authors, all specialists in the areas of the curriculum, consider how the concerns of ethnic groups may be addressed within the framework of the National Curriculum. Despite the indecision surrounding the structure, content, pedagogy and assessment of many components of the primary school curriculum, it remains that the multicultural nature of the population and of schools will develop. These developments and their educational implications must be considered if the educational system is to respond adequately.

This edited collection takes as its theme a subject topical not only in Britain, where a spate of laws and regulations has affected the structure and content of education available in this country, but also in developed and developing countries, where the overriding motivation has been to raise economic performance. The first part of the book deals with the way legislation affects education and training both directly and tangently, and how the law, through its influence on such things as participation rates, certification and employer involvement, can affect the level and degree of economic activity. The USA, Japan, Germany, France, Nigeria, Kenya and the UK are examined in detail to illustrate the inter-relationship of the elements involved. The second part is concerned with the concept of curriculum control. Responsibility for what is taught in the classroom is viewed comparatively, this is followed by an analysis of the parts played by the state, headteachers, governors, parents and pupils. The implications of tight legal controls over both content and delivery of the curriculum are examined. Contributors are drawn from various parts of the education system.

This book identifies neglected areas of research and indicates how research results can be integrated in secondary school curricula. It compares research findings and encourages cooperation in a field of particular interest.

This book introduces and explains a series of tools for curriculum renewal and revitalization in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs, based on the experiences of the authors in successfully implementing a new curriculum in a large EAP program in North America. The book focuses on the why and how of introducing curriculum change, while also engaging critically with the realities of day-to-day classroom practice and the important issue of teacher engagement. While maintaining a principles-driven approach, each chapter is also filled with tools, samples and case study examples, grounding the book in practice and making it an essential resource for language teachers, teacher trainers, and students on TESOL and related courses.

The Atlas of African Affairs is divided into five sections dealing with environmental, historical, political and economic issues and with Southern Africa. Throughout, the book presents an interdisciplinary, integrated perspective on African affairs. Most of the chapters deal with continent-wide themes and are illustrated by maps of Africa as a whole drawn to a standardised outline of the same map projection and scale. Other chapters, often by way of example, discuss parts of the continent or individual countries and are illustrated with appropriate maps.
The basic format of integrated text and maps is supplemented by guides to further reading at the end of each section as well as a series of detailed statistical tables at the end of the book.