Contemporary education increasingly involves a blended learning environment, which consists of a combination of offline and online delivery methods. Blended learning environments can motivate students to learn, but designing motivating blended learning environments is challenging and can result in environments that demotivate students. This…

Poverty is a clustered and corrosive disadvantage that affects students throughout their lives. The education system has been positioned as an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. Yet, the education system continues to fail to achieve its potential. We conceptually explore how educational leaders could perceive their responsibility in…

Social issues of today are rooted in history, and the study of contemporary issues would thus benefit from tracing their history. In Tanzania, Nyerere's "ujamaa" philosophy and the accompanying education for self-reliance (ESR) policy offer a criterion relevant today in pedagogical analysis. Tanzania is currently implementing…

All too often in our practice of distance education we overlook the history of the field and our theories as we embrace new technologies or, as in the past year, when we are forced to adapt to a regional or global crisis that necessitates a temporary move to a remote learning scenario. When we set our theories aside, this approach can lead us to…

The growing shift toward online learning has brought new expectations for teachers, including skills needed to combine content knowledge with engaging pedagogical strategies that leverage the affordances of technology. As a result, online pedagogy has become increasingly relevant in modern-day schools. The challenge is understanding the nature of…

Most American classrooms employ a teacher-text-centered model of instruction that is misaligned with the developmental science of how children naturally learn. This article reviews that science and the origins of the common instructional model, including three modifications intended to make it work better (grades, age-graded classrooms, and…

"Gamification", a strategy whereby video game logics are applied to real world tasks, is rapidly gaining traction in education discourses, policies, and practices. Gamification advocates are frequently and prominently declaring the practice "the future of education" or education for the 21st century (Deardorff 2015; Frith 2017;…

Language teacher education programmes can promote autonomy-oriented change when they are based on a transformative rationale regarding learner and teacher development. This involves adopting an experience-based approach whereby dominant ideas and practices are problematized and opportunities are provided for teachers to learn about, experience,…

This piece reports on an early attempt at gamification (reframing post-secondary classrooms drawing on the structure of games). The attempt began in the 2011-2012 academic year and is structured to allow students substantial autonomy in determining which assignments, and how many of them, to complete over the course of the semester. Initial…

Many Korean scholars have praised progressive initiatives in the current Korean National Curriculum (KNC) and Korean National English Curriculum (KNEC), although they also state that the actual teaching practices have changed little. With each new iteration of the KNC it is apparent that the Korean Ministry of Education (MOE) is encouraging a…

In recognition of the evolving learning needs of twenty-first century school students, changes to teaching practices and the incorporation of technology are increasingly accompanied by modifications to the built classroom environment. Typically rows of desk and chairs are replaced with a range of furniture that can be configured in various ways to…

Curricular development is critical for preparing students in a coordinated fashion for life after graduation -- especially when their roles will involve cross-border business decisions. The design of specific courses in any curriculum must be purposeful in terms of what is taught, how it is taught, and how all the course components fit together.…

With a burgeoning international student population, most universities around the world offer English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. Because classes are so diverse, it is challenging to meet the specific needs of EAP students. Keeping this status quo as a departure point, the authors discuss a five-prong strategy for teaching EAP, which…

This paper reviews the literature on Vygotskian theory of Socio-cultural learning and constructivist approach to teaching and learning and attempts to relate the socio-cultural theory to constructivism. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the ways socio-cultural theory helps to develop language pedagogies. Critical analysis of the…

This article explores the theories of Self-Determination, Cognitive Evaluation, and Intrinsic Motivation as it applies to home education. According to Self-Determination Theory, intrinsic motivation is innate. However, the maintenance and enhancement of intrinsic motivation depends upon the social and environmental conditions surrounding the…