How does environmental knowledge move from an expert's books into the life and learning of a small community? Diana Beresford-Kroeger, a renowned author of "The Global Forest and Arboretum America, A Philosophy of the Forest," kindly agreed to an interview with Simon Heath, organiser of a rural literary festival. In working with the…

Background: Teaching games for understanding (TGfU) has stimulated so much attention, research and debate since the 1980s that it is easy for its origins to become refracted and misunderstood. For example, in a recent edition of the "Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy" journal there was paper arguing a constraints-led approach (CLA)…

Discovery learning continues to be a topic of heated debate. It has been called a zombie, and this special issue raises the question whether it may be a phoenix arising from the ashes to which the topic was burnt. However, in this commentary I propose it is more like an elephant--a huge topic approached by many people who address different…

In this interview, digital consultant and author Dean Shareski talks about the fundamental aspects of authentic learning: joy, wonder, play, and community. He believes that technology can bring a sense of fun and curiosity to the classroom by allowing students to do things they couldn't do before, like editing photographs or meeting a scientist…

A characteristic of the modern mind is a disdain for tradition. Polanyi argues that neglecting the role of tradition leads to philosophical incoherence as well as moral and political chaos. Polanyi's postcritical philosophy represents an attempt to show how tradition plays a vital role in the process of discovery. Ultimately, a coherent account of…

The author argues that the excessive desire for a teacher's or mentor's feedback is not exclusive to the current "iGeneration." She suggests that one of the responsibilities of educators is teaching students to be less hesitant to make their own judgments. She then calls upon current teachers and administrators to model reasonable…

The author always turns to children to be her teachers when she comes up against new ideas and challenges. She believes that observing closely and reflecting on how children engage in exploration and discovery reinforced the notion that children, in fact, do more with less! Supporting children in developing self-regulation is not an easy task in…

In this response to Hewson and Ogunniyi's paper on indigenous knowledge (IK) and science teaching in South Africa, I seek to broaden the debate by setting the enterprise of integrating IK into science education in its cultural and socio-political context. I begin by exploring the multiple meanings of indigenous knowledge in Africa, next consider…

In a decade when brain research has helped people understand learning difficulties in children, and people have seen increased media attention on the use of medications to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adults, Dr. Edward (Ned) Hallowell has worked tirelessly to educate the medical profession, parents,…

In this brief retrospective essay, the value of a particular kind of classroom talk is extolled--not the kind of talk that simply feeds back information, but rather talk that has the power to shape knowledge through participant engagement with a range of processes: hypothesising, exploration, debate and synthesis. This kind of talk is the…

In this Research Connections column, Editor David Moore interviews Cynthia Greenleaf, Gayle Cribb, and Heather Howlett. Greenleaf codirects the Strategic Literacy Initiative and leads professional development projects in its Reading Apprenticeship instructional framework. Her approach to disciplinary literacy instruction is based on her findings…

John Holt was a revolutionary educational, published theorist of the 1970s and dared to report candidly his observations of public school classrooms. He found classrooms far too rigid, impersonal, and teacher-controlled. Children's thinking did not reach higher levels of critical thinking. Curiosity and creativity was stifled and stamped out. He…

In this essay, Susan Engel argues that curiosity is both intrinsic to children's development and unfolds through social interactions. Thus, it should be cultivated in schools, even though it is often almost completely absent from classrooms. Calling on well-established research and more recent studies, Engel argues that interactions between…

In this article, the author talks about "Developing Early Literacy," the report of the National Early Literacy Panel. The panel, which consisted of nine experts, was convened by the National Institute for Literacy to synthesize the research on the development of literacy from birth through age 5. Over the eight years of their work, only 190…

Encouraging students to make independent discoveries is an effective way to get them excited about mathematics, and sharing their triumphant moments (their light bulb moments) helps to spread this excitement to their peers. A Mathematics for the Liberal Arts course is a perfect venue for the sharing of light bulb moments, as it helps to correct…