This article argues that provisional language is important for creating a dialogic space between speakers, where ideas are open for discussion; where participants respect each other's viewpoints; and where the goal is to encourage and explore multiple perspectives. Whilst much of the research on children's talk in the classroom focuses on the…

While patterning was commonly seen as evidence of mathematical thinking, interdisciplinary interest has recently increased due to pattern-recognition applications in artificial intelligence. Within two empirical studies, we analyze the analogical-transfer capability of primary school students when completing three types of bi-dimensional patterns,…

In company with other leading jurisdictions around the world, Hong Kong is taking important steps to mainstream computational thinking education (CTE) into the primary grades curriculum. At the vanguard of this movement in Hong Kong, CoolThink@JC is a 3-year course sequence for upper primary students designed to develop computational thinking…

This article considers how intergenerational arts can help support the resilience of people living with dementia. Theorising a moment of process from Magic Me's "Reflections of Stepney," it analyses how art facilitators help a child and care home resident to overcome the challenge of relating and create a performance together. It…

In evaluating some of Heaney's prose writings about the art of poetry -- what I have called his 'Poetics' -- the paper explores how those ideas could enhance the teaching of poetry in the upper post-primary schools. The paper is divided into four closely interconnected sections. The first section evaluates Heaney's thoughts about the potential…

This report sets out findings and lessons learned from an ambitious and innovative programme of work funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Arts Council England (ACE) and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF). At the core of the ?'Learning About Culture' programme are five school-based randomised controlled…

Introduction: Further inquiry into constructs such as creativity, intelligence and scholastic abilities, and understanding how they relate to each other, can promote better understanding of the variables involved in academic achievement. Consequently, the objective of the present study was to examine the predictive value of creativity and multiple…

In the spring of 2011, a teacher allowed his fourth and fifth grade students to draw and write on their classroom tables. What began as a few names eventually turned into a series of frenetic marks that completely covered the tabletops. Over the course of two years, new groups of students brought with them another cycle of marking that evolved in…

This paper presents an ongoing project to develop a freeware resource for music composition in the primary classroom. The national curriculum for music at Key Stages 1 and 2 calls for students to "compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music", a challenging aim that demands significant guidance,…

Approaches to teaching music notation and instrumental technique have been standardized and codified in the United States with great success in beginning instrumental programs. While these skills are important, we do a disservice to students if we do not equally develop comprehensive musicianship and creative thinking at a young age. Creating…

Within education, the importance of creativity is recognized as an essential 21st-century skill. Based on this premise, the first aim of this article is to provide a theoretical integration through the development of a framework based on the principles of complex dynamic systems theory, which describes and explains children's creativity. This…

Can design education have a positive impact on primary school education beyond merely preparing designers? As designers, we know almost intuitively that design education is "good education", and most designers would affirm that it would be beneficial to expose children to design education, because of the benefits of the signature…

This article compares and evaluates the music components of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the NSW Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus. To guide the analysis, this article employs Bernstein's (1971) concepts of classification and frame, and the two levels of 'best practice' in primary music education proposed by…

Disparities in school discipline data indicate that children of color, particularly boys, receive more frequent and harsher disciplinary actions than their white peers, and this begins in early schooling. Within today's print-centered, bodily restricted school curricula, literacy instruction is often reduced to highly controlled, leveled readers…

With the goal of supporting students' writing and content area learning using play as a pedagogical model, teachers' action research projects involved kindergarten and grade 1 students collaborating to create texts for a range of purposes. The authors analyzed the project activities for their starting points or motivators, student and teacher…