This forum paper offers alternative insights into Pei-Ling Hsu's "'It's a magic circle'! Using cogenerative dialogues to create a safe environment to address emotional conflicts in a project-based learning science internship." In her paper, she presented how cogenerative dialogues can be used to create an emotionally safe environment for…

In his discussion of safety on campus, Eamonn Callan (2016) suggests a way to distinguish between two sorts of safety: "dignity safety" and "intellectual safety." As much as this author has some concerns that student activists should think more about pedagogy, she is not sure that "dignity" is the best approach to…

Nel Noddings claims that there is an important normative element in happiness. For support, she points to the Aristotelian idea of the "eudaimonic" life, a concept that is often translated into English as "the happy life". However, in light of the wide divergence between the Aristotelian view of "eudaimonia" as a life…

This essay describes a vision of social class-sensitive pedagogy aimed at disrupting endemic classism in schools. We argue persistent upward mobility discourses construct classist hierarchies in schools and classroom practice and are founded on misunderstandings of work, lived experiences of social class, and the broader social and economic…

Loneliness is a phenomenon that has been recorded in literature throughout the ages. It is now being recognized as problem not only in adults but in children and adolescents as well. Loneliness is an emotional state that can be a barrier to a student's social development and affect their physical and mental health. Various contributing factors and…

There is an increasing interest in the role of emotions in education. The concept of "emotional intelligence" is an example. There are various discourses being developed in education about the importance of emotions. One such emerging discourse builds on the argument that greater emphasis on emotions under some circumstances and control over…

Describes the characteristics of humor, its psychological and physiological benefits, effect on learning, applications in adult education and training, and recommendations for research. (SK)

In this article, we argue that policymakers in America should reference a coherent, comprehensive, and child-centered framework for children. That is, based on an extensive review of the empirical literature on the first two decades of life, we conclude that policies should address the needs of young people throughout the first two decades of…

This article represents our current reflections on our approach to inquiry on emotions in education. Our views reflect an eclectic blend of, educational, psychological, and social historical approaches to inquiry on emotion and emotional regulation. In an effort to explicate our approach, we address our working definitions of emotion and emotional…

This article argues that we need richer conceptions of students as affective and embodied selves and a clearer theorisation of the role of emotion in educational encounters. These areas are currently under-researched and under-theorised in higher education. The first part of the article explores the literature on emotion. The second reports on a…

The dramatic ups and downs so often witnessed in adolescents are the result of changes in their brain activity. It is vital that the emotional and psychological needs that arise from such intense brain development are acknowledged and addressed so that middle school becomes a safe environment for the budding adults.

Critiquing Skinner's and Kohlberg's moral development theories as inadequate, the author asserts that affective development (compassion, empathy, caring) is necessary to moral action. While saying that schools are limited in their ability to provide moral education, he outlines qualities of an educational environment which could facilitate moral…

Defines learning environment as the physical surroundings, psychological or emotional conditions, and sociocultural influences affecting the growth and development of an adult engaged in learning. Suggests that ingrained views of learning environments can be changed by perspective transformation, paradigm shift, and personal philosophy. (SK)

In this essay I offer a series of autobiographical ruminations and poems for inviting readers to reflect on poetic possibilities for conceiving and fostering the well-being of teachers. As an educator, I am confronted daily with challenges. In order to sustain my spirit and energy, I turn to poetry, both reading and writing poetry, and I find in…

Describes the cultural contradictions between traditional American Indian child-rearing practices and "mainstream" Anglo expectations. Discusses the psychological consequences of growing up with such culture conflict, and condemns educational and social policies which ignore the American Indians' traditions and exacerbate their alienation. (GC)