As social and emotional learning (SEL) initiatives gain traction in primary and secondary schools worldwide, research is needed to understand how schools can implement SEL in culturally responsive, strengths-based ways with children experiencing poverty. This study emerged from a university-non-profit partnership between the University of…

During the past three decades, growing attention has been paid to the idea of mind/brain-based teaching and learning--an exciting approach, rooted in neuroscience research, that proves the interrelatedness of the mind, brain, and body. The purpose of this report is multifold: (a) to explain why mind/brain-based teaching and learning is relevant to…

Drawing on a study of children's musical games in urban South Africa, this article employs two theoretical frames: that of multimodality and the multiliteracies pedagogy. These are applied to a contextual analysis of the forms of musicality that musical games embody and to ways of incorporating children's play into pedagogy. Based on ethnographic…

"Just as every child is human, every child, no matter the circumstances, deserves an education that promotes his or her development to the fullest human potential." Using Cornerstone Montessori, a public Montessori school, as a case study, Liesl Taylor sets out to show the importance and impact that the Montessori approach can have on…

The number of refugees who have fled across international borders due to conflict and persecution is at the highest level in recorded history. The vast majority of these refugees find exile in low-income countries neighboring their countries of origin. The refugee children who are resettled to North America, Europe, and Australia arrive with…

It appears--and this is apparent from school documentation--that every school considers its duty to support career orientation. At the same time, it is obvious that guiding the process of making career choices exists only on the level of references. As we did not question teachers, we have only tiny fragments what is done for the sake of career…

Transformative experiences can happen at unexpected times, in unexpected ways. This paper tells the story of how a gift of a goat can lead to the transformation of a life. Many organisations globally are engaged in a struggle to overcome poverty and injustice by providing livestock as a means for transformation. The animals in themselves are not…

The preparation of students for global citizenship represents a central challenge to social studies educators in the twenty-first century. Two-thirds of the world's poor are steeped in abject poverty and its grim consequences. The world refugee problem has reached staggering proportions. There is an international epidemic of human trafficking, and…

Poverty and economic hardship remain a reality for many of America's children. Although the causes of poverty are varied, Americans strongly endorse individual responsibility as a primary cause. Because beliefs about poverty originate in childhood and adolescence, intervention efforts targeting young people may be particularly effective in…

If we are going to make progress in helping teachers develop awareness and pedagogies that are sensitive to children who live in poverty, we need to challenge the widespread misinformation that is being disseminated in this area and then set a new course. The work of Ruby Payne merely furthers negative stereotypes of the poor.

Current efforts to ensure that every child completes a full cycle of primary education are hampered by chronic poverty and prolonged conflict in the South. It is estimated that 75 million children of primary age are out of school and that one-third are disabled. This paper contrasts the exclusionary impact of the global digital and communication…

Service learning is often used in teacher education as a way to challenge social bias and provide teacher candidates with skills needed to work in partnership with diverse families. Although some literature suggests that service learning could reinforce cultural bias, there is little documentation. In a study of 21 early childhood teacher…

Hidalgo County, Texas, is one of the poorest in the country. The population in the Lower Rio Grande Valley is 85% Mexican-American. Underprepared for college and juggling full time jobs, their own children, and sometimes dysfunctional extended families, students often do not expect to succeed. I recently taught a Creative Writing course which…

This paper analyzes how variation in participant take-up rates affected the impacts of the New Hope project, a random-assignment, anti-poverty program. New Hope offered experimental members four benefits--child care subsidies, wage subsidies, health insurance, and, if needed, a temporary community service job--that were available to families…

This paper describes the effects of poverty on the children of the Lower Mississippi Delta area and summarizes the literature on the relationships between childhood poverty and children's education. Topics covered in the literature review include: (1) the effects of child poverty on educational achievement; (2) the effect of early education…