Notes on contributors
Introduction
Case 1: To Teach or Not to Teach Shakespeare?
Choice of curriculum content: a perennial problem for teachers. Who should choose, and what should be the criteria?
Case 2: Rosie’s Snacks
What should we do when we see unhealthy snacks in a child’s lunch box? In what circumstances might it be permissible to remove these?
Case 3: When Silence is Golden
When silence is golden ... yet the supervising teacher insists that a whistle is the best way to achieve this.
Case 4: Hope for Henry
After a two-week break, Henry, who was previously working well, has ‘gone downhill’. Why are successful strategies now being ignored by the mentor?
Case 5: Crossing Unspoken Boundaries
On the importance of being positive in a negative environment. Anh is a talented student, yet she has been labelled a ‘no-hoper’.
Case 6: The Photo Puzzle: Encouraging Parent Involvement
Asking for family photos to be brought into the classroom seemed like such a good idea at the time...
Case 7: Locked In
What are the implications when a pre-service teacher is placed in a physically compromising position by a reckless student?
Case 8: Best Laid Plans
Who should accept responsibility when a teaching folder containing detailed notes for the lesson is tampered with before the lesson could begin?
Case 9: The Curious Incident of the Injured Student
When should we take seriously the claim that a student is injured?
Case 10: Chair swinging
Confessions of a self-acknowledged chair swinger who is asked to discipline a child for refusing a request to stop swinging on the chair.
Case 11: An ‘ill’-conceived Choice?
The task was to teach the phonics concept of ‘ill’ words, yet all of these students spoke Pitjantjatjara as their first language. How to proceed?
