Safe space, used in educational settings as a metaphor, stresses the importance of the classroom being a learning environment characterised by respect and safety. Based on examples from Swedish and Norwegian classroom research, this article problematises and discusses the complexity in the discourse on safe space by asking the critical questions:…

This study examined emotional climate in relation to the teaching and learning of grade 7 science. A multi-method and multi-theoretic approach used sociocultural frameworks as a foundation for interpretive research, conversation analysis, prosody analysis, and studies of nonverbal conduct. Emotional climate varied continuously throughout a lesson.…

Challenging classrooms can overwhelm a teacher. However, by using effective classroom management and behavior modification techniques, teachers can change challenging classrooms into productive ones. Classroom management techniques include using a relevant curriculum, establishing nonnegotiable rules, ensuring that students know what behavior is…

This article describes an action research project conducted by the first author that examined the influence of class meetings on student-to-student as well as student-to-teacher relationships. Her action research project addressed the following overarching question: What influence do class meetings have on relationships in a first-grade classroom?…

In recent years, it has become fashionable to demand of research that it produces "evidence" that can be turned into easily generalisable findings. Ever more elaborate sets of managerial standards and pre-defined learning outcomes have been imposed, and English teachers are encouraged to see their practice as merely an implementation of…

The blackboard, a useful teaching tool in nineteenth-century England, was transformed into a teaching necessity in the decades following 1870, when the Education Acts made school free and mandatory for all children. The resulting huge population of schoolchildren inspired the development of teaching techniques appropriate for large-group learning.…

Initially, the author began her teacher inquiry project by focusing on the superhero play she had been observing in her classroom and on her concerns about how it might be impacting the classroom community. Through an ongoing process of self-reflection and reading research, she was able to open herself up to interacting and engaging with the…

This article examines preservice teachers' conceptions of classroom management and organization in light of their training and beliefs about good teaching. Students in their final year of a 5-year program discussed their definitions and conceptions of classroom management, organization, and rule systems through an open-ended questionnaire.…

Using the story of a fight between an African American male student and a white male student in a high school classroom, I trace not only the raced and classed actors involved, but also the story of my sense making as a practicing teacher and researcher. Drawing on the concept of intersectionality, I show how a story that seems as simple as a…

Incidents of bias still occur in college classrooms, but no research has specifically explored this topic. To address this gap in the literature, professors (N = 333) completed anonymous surveys assessing types of bias they perceived in their classroom, their responses to the bias, and the perceived success of their responses. Results indicated…

The classroom assessment process can have encouraging results when it begins with "early assessment" that addresses student learning, as well as the social and emotional needs of student(s) in the classroom. This paper presents a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis for classroom assessment. It will review literature…

The study investigated the nature of conflicts that are generated in the science classroom. Twenty video-recorded lessons taught by 10 randomly selected pre-service science teachers in teaching practice in a few Nigerian secondary schools were analyzed. Beside the expected goal attainment of the lessons a number of negative conflicts were…

Public opinion trends over the last five decades show that lack of discipline continues to be one of America's top public educational concerns. This trend suggests that alternatives to the traditional model are urgently needed. In this traditional model of classroom management, based on behaviorism and still common in some areas, discipline is…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe the variability of principals' classroom observations across schools and to relate classroom observations to the schools' instructional climate. This helps identify the conditions under which classroom observations effectively improve instruction in some schools and not in other schools.…

Samir Dukmak is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education in the Faculty of Education at the United Arab Emirates University. The research reported in this article investigated the frequency, types of and reasons for student-initiated interactions in both regular and special education classrooms in the United Arab Emirates…