English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing group of K-12 students in the United States. Most ELLS spend the entire school day in mainstream classrooms where instruction is in English. It is therefore important for all teachers to have the knowledge and skills needed to facilitate these students' academic language development and content area achievement. However, efforts to include ELLs in general education reforms are often based on misunderstandings about effective instruction for linguistically and culturally diverse learners. These misunderstandings stem from two basic assumptions that guide much current teacher preparation for diversity: (a) the needs of ELLs do not differ significantly from those of other diverse learners, and (b) effective instruction for ELLs is primarily a menu of pedagogical adaptations. This article examines the problematic nature of four popular misconceptions about teaching ELLs and discusses the implications for effective instruction in truly inclusive mainstream classrooms.

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Misconceptions about Teaching English-Language Learners.

Developing and maintaining reflection in clinical journals.

Sickness absence is a great public health problem and there is a lack of knowledge concerning the hows and whys of success or failure in promoting return to work of sick-listed persons. Discussions of and research into social and psychological aspects of this problem area are in need of theoretical contextualisation. In this paper it is suggested that theories of social emotions may be useful, and that the concept of empowerment can be applied provided that it is reasonably well defined. The notions of pride/shame and empowerment are elucidated and discussed, and it is shown that they can be related in the context of research into emotional dimensions of sickness absentees' experiences of the rehabilitation process in a way that may help to guide empirical studies. A simple model of hypothetical relations between pride/shame, empowerment/disempowerment, work ability, health, and return to work is sketched.

Pride, empowerment, and return to work: On the significance of promoting positive social emotions among sickness absentees

Although keeping some type of journal is a common requirement in many education courses, little research has been conducted on how journals are actually used to promote student learning. This study investigated the use of dialogue journals as a tool for promoting the learning of prospective teachers in a multicultural teacher education course. In this article I define dialogue journals and briefly discuss the events leading to my decision to introduce them into a course on diversity. Next, I provide a rationale for the use of dialogue journals. I then explain how I used dialogue journals as a tool for promoting student learning in the course. Finally, I discuss limitations of this study and present implications for future research.

Using Dialogue Journals to Promote Student Learning in a Multicultural Teacher Education Course

Journals, in one form or another, are mainstays in many teacher education programs across the country, being commonly employed as a means of promoting reflection among prospective teachers, especially during their field experiences and during their student (or intern) teaching. Despite the widespread use of journals, Ducharme and Ducharme (1996) have pointed out that little research has been done on how journaling is beneficial to prospective teachers or what the advantages and disadvantages of journaling are.

Barbara A. Bode

Papers

Dialogue Journal Writing.