Teaching transformed: achieving excellence, fairness, inclusion, and harmony

* List of Tables and Figures * Acknowledgments * 1. Introduction and Overview * The Goals of Activity and Teaching * The Goals of Educational Reform: Excellence, Fairness, Inclusion, and Harmony * Can Schools Actually Provide Excellence, Fairness, Inclusion, and Harmony? * Unified Reform * Plan of the Book * 2. Transformed Classrooms: Description, Principles, and Criteria * Quality Criteria for Instructional Activity in Classrooms * Generic Principles for Effective Pedagogy * The Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy * Necessary Conditions for the Effective Organization of Instructional Activity * Common Values, Diverse Cultures * Conclusion * 3. Activity in Theory and Classroom * The Social Construction of Mind * The Organization of Social Relationships * Social Relationships: The Dynamics of Formation and Change * Changing Patterns of Relationship for Improved Teaching and Learning * Conclusion * 4. Patterns of Instructional Activity and Relationships * Propinquity: Affecting Fairness, Inclusion, and Harmony in Peer Relationships * Instructional Activity: Affecting Fairness, Inclusion, and Harmony in Peer Relationships * Peer Relationships, Friendship, and Social and Academic Excellence * Propinquity and Activity: Affecting Fairness, Inclusion, and Harmony in Teacher-Student Relationships * Propinquity, Activity, and the Quality of Teacher-Student Relationships * Teacher-Student Relationships and Social and Academic Excellence * Conclusion * 5. Culture and Instructional Activity * Culture and Expectations * Individualism and Collectivism * Role Expectations in the Classroom * Power * Language Genres and Codes in the Classroom * Conclusion * 6. Designing the Organization of Instructional Activity * Grade Level, Diversity, and Content Area * A Developmental Model * Activity Settings * The Instructional Frame * Classroom Management * Phase 1: One to Four Weeks: Building an Academic Learning Community Using Activity Settings and Instructional Frame * Phase 2: Two to Three Weeks: Grouping for Independent and Simultaneous Activity * Phase 3: One to Two Weeks: Teaching and Learning in Activity Settings * Phase 4: Two to Three Weeks: Teaching Through Activity Settings * Phase 5: Routine for the Rest of the Year: Teaching Through Instructional Conversation with Multiple, Simultaneous Activity Settings * Conclusion * 7. Classrooms of Phase 5: Evidence, Vision, and Future * The Organizational System for Instructional Activity * Theory and Dynamics * Do Phase 5 Classrooms Achieve Excellence, Fairness, Inclusion, and Harmony? * Supporting Evidence * Shall We Improve Our Schools? * The Image of Schools in the Eyes of Educators and the Public * Preparing Teachers for Phase 5 * Appendices * Index