Excerpts

You may not have thought much about the diverse, potentially competing roles you will play out in the classroom. When you work with learners, you will be expected to establish an appropriate balance between Teaching young people to behave appropriately in groups while, at the same time, developing a personal relationship with each member of your class (Cuban, 2001); Promoting the value of individualism while, at the same time, encouraging commitment to the larger community's shared perspectives; Encouraging learners to master long-standing approaches to problems while, simultaneously, nurturing their abilities to engage reality in. creative ways; and Presenting content that you deem to be essential and, at the same time, preparing learners for mandatory assessments that may focus on content that you consider less important. How you navigate among these varying expectations will depend on your teaching situation, your academic background, and your personal values. Your responses may change over the course of your teaching career. Variations in your approaches will be driven by changes in learners, legislation, community expectations, and your store of personal knowledge. Education demands smart, altruistic teachers. If school districts were to post notices to attract the kinds of people they want to hire, the signs might read: "Wanted: Teachers Who Lead." If you seek a career free from the confrontations of contemporary life, choose another line of work. As a teacher, you need to act as a proactive leader. Today teachers are becoming ever more involved in making decisions about budgets, school management, and other areas that go well beyond traditional concerns for instructional planning. In preparing the seventh edition of Teaching Today, we have emphasized topics relevant to the world you will enter as a classroom teacher. In addition to basic information about these topics, you will find material designed to help you analyze, reflect, and decide. You can expand your understanding of these issues by going beyond the text to pursue information at a number of World Wide Web sites that we recommend. You also will find useful the extensive glossary of specialized terms that follows the final chapter. You may live in a state that requires you to take the Praxis II examination as a qualification for a teaching certificate, credential, or license. (You will find detailed information about the Praxis exams in Chapter 1, "Education in an Age of Change.") At the end of each chapter, you will be invited to reflect on what you have learned and to think about how the content might help you prepare for the Praxis II examination. In your effort to make content from this text part of your own professional-knowledge base, consider starting and maintaining a personal initial development portfolio. An initial-development portfolio provides a means to record important new information, highlight key points you wish to remember, and reflect on ways to use this new content as you prepare for your teaching career. At the end of each chapter, you will be prompted to consider how newly introduced content might be incorporated into your initial-development portfolio. (You will find detailed information about initial-development portfolios in Chapter 1.) The end-of-chapter materials related to preparing for Praxis II and your initial-development portfolio are reminders that, to derive maximum benefit from this text, you need to engage new information actively. The more you reflect on the content and integrate it into what you already know, the better the information will serve you. We hope your work with this text and the other experiences you encounter in your preparation program will enhance your ability to think carefully about educational issues and will help you grasp key characteristics of teaching and schooling. ORGANIZATION OP THIS TEXT Earlier editions of Teaching Today have been used both by undergraduate and graduate students. We prepared the book for use in introduction-to-education classes, introduction-to-teaching classes, foundations-of-education classes, school-curriculum classes, issues-in-education classes, and problems-in-education classes. This edition organizes content under four major headings. The title of each provides a context for the chapters it includes. Part 1 is titled "The Profession." Chapter 1 focuses on the changing nature of the profession. To illustrate teachers' many responsibilities, there is a useful description of a teacher's typical day. Chapter 2 emphasizes the phases in a teacher's professional development, the use of teaching portfolios to document performance, and the important support roles that professional organizations play. The chapter also briefly introduces several nonteaching roles in education. Chapter 3 explores the impact of numerous reform initiatives and recent legislation that is changing the nature of what schools and teachers do. Part 2 focuses on "Learners and Their Needs." Chapter 4 provides important descriptive information about characteristics of learners in today's schools. There is an emphasis on how certain learner variables may affect school performance. Chapter 5 explores issues associated with multiculturalism. Specific examples of programs that have served culturally diverse young people are introduced. Chapter 6.describes legal requirements and instructional approaches relevant to appropriately serving learners with special needs and gifted learners. Part 3 centers on "Teaching and Assessing." Chapter 7 introduces curriculum orientations, state curriculum standards, and information related to the influence that standardized tests have on content selection. In addition, basic elementary and secondary curriculum patterns are described. Chapter 8 presents approaches associated with effective instruction. Content includes information related to active teaching, constructivist teaching, ways to achieve clarity of communication, and characteristics of good questions. This chapter also includes descriptions of teacher-learner observation instruments that can be used in the classroom. Chapter 9 focuses on the important issue of classroom management and discipline. Specific suggestions for an escalating series of teacher responses, varied according to the seriousness and frequency of the disruptive behavior, are included. Chapter 10 describes approaches to assessment, measurement, evaluation, and grading. In addition to more traditional approaches, there is extensive treatment of learner portfolios. Part 4 focuses on "Shapers of Today's Educational World." Chapter 11 provides information that illustrates how varying philosophical perspectives affect attitudes toward specific curricula and instructional practices. The chapter also describes how attendance at specific schools, family attitudes, perspectives of certain religious and social organizations, and membership in certain ethnic and cultural groups influence patterns of learner behavior in the classroom. Chapter 12 traces important historical influences that have helped shape practices in today's schools. Information includes descriptions of European and non-European influences and important developments in the evolution of American education. Chapter 13 focuses on the important role technology plays in today's schools. Content includes information related to technology standards, technology's influence on behavior, and promises and challenges associated with the introduction of new technologies in today's schools. Chapter 14 explores learners' rights and responsibilities, and their legal implications for teachers. The chapter discusses several relevant court cases. At the end of the book, you will find a complete glossary. It includes helpful definitions of all terms introduced in the text. NEW TO THIS EDITION Chapter 13: Influences of Technology. This chapter illustrates the impact of technology on teaching today, how teachers can incorporate technology into their classroom practice, and how to make informed decisions about the use of technology in the classroom. Reorganized chapters include: Profiles of Today's Learners (Chapter 4) Responding to Diversity (Chapter 5) Social and Philosophical Perspectives (Chapter 11) Legal Issues Affecting Learners and Teachers (Chapter 14) Several useful and appealing new chapter additions to extend learning include: Preparing for Praxis activities at the end of each chapter motivate students to take notes and organize materials in ways that will help them prepare for the Praxis II examinations. For Your Initial-Development Portfolio encourages students to reflect on chapter content, consider its relevance for their own professional development, and organize materials for a portfolio that is consistent with INTASC standards. Profiling a Teacher anecdotes that appear in several chapters bring students face to face with real-world challenges faced by classroom teachers today. Web Extensions prompt students to learn more about topics by selecting Web sites to search to find engaging supplementary information that will deepen their understanding of newly introduced text content. Extended coverage throughout the book of curriculum standards, standardized testing, accountability, and the No Child Left Behind Act. New content related to violence in schools in Chapter 4. Expanded coverage of portfolios, including initial-development portfolios, teaching portfolios, and learner portfolios featured in Chapter 2 and throughout the book. Increased attention to constructivist teaching in Chapter 8. Greatly expanded coverage of non-European influences on American education featured throughout Chapter 5. Updated content on important legal issues facing learners and teachers, as discussed throughout Chapter 14. Continued broad and updated coverage of management and discipline issues as addressed in Chapter 9. Extensive coverage of issues related to multicultural education in Chapter 5. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THIS TEXT Features of the seventh edition of Teaching Today include the following: Bulleted objectives at the beginning of each chapter draw students' attention to important chapter content. Graphic organizers at the beginning of each chapter provide a convenient visual summary of chapter organization and content. Numerous Web Extensions ( NEW! ) appear in each chapter. The Profiling a Teacher ( NEW! ) features appear in several chapters. Critical Incidents in several chapters present students with opportunities to engage in higher-level thinking as they reflect on situations faced by today's teachers. Boldfaced terms ( NEW! ), each of which is defined in the end-of-text glossary, draw students' attention to the importance of the specialized vocabulary they will be using in their roles as professional educators. Preparing for Praxis ( NEW! ) activities appear at the end of each chapter. For Your Initial-Development Portfolio ( NEW! ) features are located at the end of each chapter and connected with INTASC standards. A Companion Website, located at http://www.prenhall.com/armstrong , provides students with access to a related message board, a chat room, links to additional websites and to other resources tied to the text's content. Cartoons that appear in selected chapters illustrate educational issues and help convey to students that, although education is serious business, it need not be grim. Figures in each chapter enrich content and provide additional opportunities for students to reflect on new information. Video Viewpoints tie chapter content to an accompanying ABC News video library that features important education-related news segments from ABC News programs. Self-Tests provide students with opportunities to check their understanding of newly introduced content by going to a module at the Companion Website ( http://www.prenhall.com/armstrong ). Key Ideas in Summary sections at the end of each chapter facilitate content review by drawing students' attention to important ideas. Reflection materials at the end of each chapter prompt students to engage in critical thinking about various issues that have been raised. Field Experiences, Projects, and Enrichment sections at the conclusion of the chapters provide opportunities for students to extend their understandings by engaging in appropriate application activities. References at the end of each chapter direct students to source materials used by the authors. A glossary at the end of the text helps students to cement their understanding of new terms. USING THE TEXT We believe that schoolteachers should take personal control over the instructional process. They should not feel obliged to follow the numerical order of chapters in their texts. Similarly, we encourage instructors who use this text to follow this logic and to assign students to read chapters in an order that makes sense in light of how they have designed their courses. We have written chapters in this book to be "freestanding." That is, no chapter has content that is prerequisite to that introduced in any other chapter. Excerpted from Teaching Today: An Introduction to Education by David G. Armstrong, Tom V. Savage, Kenneth Henson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.