This paper provides an approach for social studies education that includes investigative research into an old school building that has traditionally served predominantly African American children, along with a narrative inquiry into the experiences of one of that school's former students. We offer a unique approach to experiential global…

Teachers are an important influence on students' learning, and therefore the opportunity for teachers to learn and develop is something of interest to educators internationally. This article reports on a research project involving six primary school teachers who participated in one-on-one and small group interviews to explore the opportunities for…

This case study reports on an arts-based project called "Tree-Mappa," one that sought to engage primary-school children in learning about their local environment through significant trees. Pedagogical approaches featured the use of arts-based strategies as the means for activating cognitive and affective responses and learning. The frame…

Technology and a variety of resources play an important role in students' educational lives. Vygotsky's (1987) theory of tool mediation suggests that cultural tools, such as computer software influence individuals' thinking and action. However, it is not completely understood how technology and other resources influence student action. Middle…

The present study followed four prospective teachers through the process of learning to interview during an undergraduate research project experience. Participants conducted and video recorded a series of interviews with children. They also carried out guided analyses of the videos and written artefacts from the interviews to formulate conjectures…

This study examines physical education (PE) curriculum development in an elementary school. Our goal was to understand the daily construction of a curriculum. We sought to analyse the theoretical and methodological framework and documents that a PE teacher uses each day while putting a curriculum into practice (lived curriculum). The data…

In this article, we tell the story of inquiring about, designing, implementing and studying our enactment of non-traditional assessment practices in our elementary education university methods course. We organized this article using a theater playbill metaphor, starting with a prologue, followed by three acts and an intermission, and concluding…

Purpose: This paper aims to present the process evaluation for a two-year (2008-2010) participatory action research project focusing on home-school partnership in health learning, undertaken within the Schools for Health in Europe (SHE) in Eastern Finland. Design/methodology/approach: Two intervention schools and two control schools (grade 5…

This paper evolved from my perception of an "unpleasant attitude" shown by primary school teachers towards research in general and my inquiry in particular during a study conducted in selected schools in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Teachers' negative attitudes led to their refusal to participate in a survey and the…

TPACK (technological pedagogical content knowledge) has emerged as a clear and useful construct for researchers working to understand technology integration in learning and teaching. Whereas first generation TPACK work focused upon explaining and interpreting the construct, TPACK has now entered a second generation where the focus is upon using…

The purpose of this research is to seek the connection between professional development and an MA thesis research project, which is conducted as part of initial teacher education in Finland. This article examines the experiences of teachers with work experience, but without an official qualification, who recently completed their MA thesis. The…

Some methodological issues are discussed that arise from our comparative research conducted since the early 1990s into primary schooling in Finland and England. This research has been identified as part of a "new" comparative education that uses qualitative research strategies and which prioritises sensitivity to cultural context in data…