The 2021 release of Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization was a reaction to a number of serious problems discovered in worldwide educational reforms. It sought to establish a new social compact for education to fulfill its unmet promise in the…

This paper explores the value of cooperative games in enhancing knowledge and generating pro-environmental engagement in students. For this, an educational board game related to global change was developed, validated, and subsequently evaluated using future primary school teachers. The board game was validated and evaluated in two phases. Phase I…

The authors aim to identify characteristics of democratic schools. The Delphi technique used in this study is based on attaining a consensus among a group of experts over 3 rounds with 22 experts from 9 countries participating in the first round. By the end of the third round, 339 items referring to democratic school characteristics were…

These proceedings contain the papers of the 18th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2021), held virtually, due to an exceptional situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from October 13-15, 2021, and organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society…

A new science program for elementary schools (developed by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) emphasizes concrete experiences, providing students with opportunities to observe phenomena, record their observations, and discuss them with other students. Cooperative learning is a primary program component because it enhances children's ability…

Profiles Art Turner, head of an interdisciplinary team of four curriculum specialists in the Oxford Hills (Maine) Schools. Originally hired to ensure elementary students' readiness for junior high school, the specialists are continuing as agents of curriculum improvement in science, mathematics, social studies, and language arts. Cooperative and…

This book provides guidelines and suggested activities for collaborative learning for elementary grade students with a variety of abilities and disabilities. It is based on experiences at the Developmental Studies Center (Oakland, California). Activities are presented as blueprint formats that provide a comprehensive set of structures which can be…

Reports findings, based on a two-year study, of a collaborative effort to develop a learning-centered curriculum which would result in an inviting learning-centered classroom community. Supports the tenet that effective programs feature knowledgeable teachers who have the expertise and inclination to encourage all children to succeed. (RJM)

Describes science curriculum for elementary children which incorporated Vygotskian approach to development of students' ability to engage in persistent, systematic inquiry. Discusses three factors: (1) instruction began by introducing ideas that are central and general to the discipline; (2) students invented and adapted cultural tools for…

This CD-ROM presents four videos that feature veteran elementary and middle school teachers in action in their classrooms. Each video offers links to supplemental education resources, including innovative lesson plans. The four videos are: "Cinderella: A New Teacher's Tale" (Tracey Stober), which introduces the Teachers Network's Online Survival…

This paper describes the Accelerated Schools Project, which was begun at Stanford University in 1986 to improve schools for children caught in at-risk situations. The first sections describe the present deficiencies of schools serving at-risk students and the limitations of general reform proposals for educating at-risk youth. The Accelerated…

Examined the instructional reform process in 17 middle schools. Reforms included heterogeneous grouping, cooperative learning, active learning, and interdisciplinary instruction. All reforms relied on teachers' willingness to change daily instructional content or strategies. Heterogenous grouping and interdisciplinary instruction posed the…

Noting that since the 1970s cooperative learning has been widely investigated regarding its implementation and efficacy, this booklet is designed to introduce the teaching strategy of cooperative learning to classroom teachers. The booklet first provides an overview and supplies a context for cooperative learning and then defines cooperative…

Describes a staff development program used by the Cambridge (Massachusetts) elementary schools in conjunction with the implementation of multicultural curriculum components. Includes a lesson plan in which staff developers model multicultural literature and cooperative learning strategies. (FMW)

Presents key questions reflecting research in first/second language acquisition and whole language principles: is curriculum organized around "big" questions?; are students involved in authentic reading and writing?; are students given choices?; is content meaningful?; do students work collaboratively?; do students read, write, speak, and listen…