Background: Over recent decades, teacher aides (TAs) have had an increasing presence in mainstream classrooms internationally, providing vital support to students and teachers on a daily basis. Although the evolution of the role has given rise to many implicit and explicit shifts in TAs' responsibilities, opportunities for TAs to develop and shape…

This paper engages with the central theme of this special issue, "From the Margins to the Centre," as a particular kind of narrative that occupies the imagination of literacy educators in the academy, particularly those who are located in the "centre," but whose experience ironically finds them "pinned to the margins"…

Across the United States, school districts have adopted various methods to capture what effective teachers do to facilitate student learning. Some of these methods include peer lesson studies where teachers co-plan and co-evaluate their work, examining student standardized tests scores to align teachers with student learning outcomes, and using a…

Public education in the United States acts as a governmental tool of neoliberalism, through which state power and sovereignty are deployed and transformed in daily life. Here, I examine how the divergence of sovereignty is exerted over refugee students and their families in US public education. Drawing on 42 months of ethnographic data collected…

This essay presents an English teacher's inquiry into her professional practice in an institutional setting that is heavily regulated by standards-based reforms. Rather than something external to her, she sees those reforms as part of an internal conflict that affects her capacity to be fully responsive to her students. In dialogue with a…

Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia are similar in many ways. Both were colonised by English-speaking British settlers, and English is a national language in each country. In recent years, both countries have become destinations for immigrants speaking languages other than English and international fee-paying students. Both have a chequered history…

Heterotopias are complex spaces characterized by the collision of the real (i.e., physical realm--who and what materials are present) and unreal (i.e., abstract realm--socially created meanings and understandings of the "real"; Foucault, 1986; Topinka, 2010). The early childhood classroom is a heterotopia in that it is a knowledge…

As the number of English language learners in mainstream classrooms increases, so too does the need for teachers skilled in classroom-based language assessment (CBLA). All teachers must be able to monitor, evaluate, and support the English language development of their students. With a paucity of research on how to prepare teachers to enact…

This paper considers how teachers, psychologists and policymakers can respect the rights of all school students, through methods that are principled, humane, cost-effective and democratic. It examines how special educational needs and disability (SEND) services affect all school students and teachers, and their rights. The paper considers the…

Learning to value difference and diversity is a central goal of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) professional practice programmes in New Zealand. Yet the authors have continued to struggle to work with their ITE students to move them as a group towards such valuing in both theory and practice. In this article events that lead up to the changes…

There is limited research available in the area of science education for deaf children. In the twenty-first century, the importance of science and specifically scientific argumentation cannot be overlooked as a vital aspect of the curriculum. Current science teaching presents a range of difficulties for deaf students particularly when abstract…

Inclusive education focuses on addressing marginalisation, segregation and exclusion within policy and practice. The purpose of this article is to use critical discourse analysis to examine how inclusion is represented in the education policy and professional documents of two countries, Australia and China. In particular, teacher professional…

A review of the literature on academic learning in general education settings for students with moderate and severe intellectual disability was conducted. A total of 17 experimental studies was identified and evaluated using quality indicators for single-case design research. Studies that met or met with reservation the criteria established for…

Across OECD countries, there are various and diverse policy approaches in place to promote inclusive education systems for students with special education needs (SEN), understood as learning disabilities, physical impairments and disorders related to mental health. Analysing current policies in place across OECD countries and investigating…

The school population in England is linguistically diverse; according to official data, over one million pupils do not speak English as their first language. All teachers are expected to support English as an additional language (EAL) development as part of their professional responsibility. At the same time, there has been little specific…