"The current school landscape sucks," writes educator and hip-hop artist Gabriel "Asheru" Benn. At least that would be the opinion of most teenagers when you ask them. The problem isn't that our schools aren't good or that our teachers aren't knowledgeable or even likeable. Rather, it's the "rote, transactional" ways…

Mayfield poses a parable that sheds light on educators' reluctance to openly broach race-based inequalities in schools: A tale of a land whose "mountain" farmers for benefited from policies that plundered land, resources, and rights from the land's (struggling) "valley" farmers, but where farming conditions couldn't be openly…

The authors summarize findings of two major meta-analyses that examined the influence of universal, school-based SEL (social-emotional learning) programs on student outcomes in six domains related to social-emotional skills and behavior and academic achievement. Major findings indicated that participating in SEL programs had positive effects on…

Reading and analyzing texts with elementary students are perfect ways to introduce larger questions about the ways in which we interact with one another and the larger world. Boyles discusses how teaching social-emotional learning through literature can easily be incorporated into reading routines already in place. She includes three sample…

In this interview, David Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, explains why so many people overeat. Changing lifestyles promote the constant availability of food and around-the-clock eating. In today's highly processed foods, food companies are able to dial in the exact amount of fat, sugar, and salt that will make…

Blind teachers can function effectively if there is a feeling of mutual respect between them and their students. (CK)

Young people need to rebel and to progress from childish gullibility, through disillusionment and doubt, to adult discernment. To do this they need standards to rebel against and adult judgments to test, accept, or reject. But educated adults no longer provide such standards and judgments. (Author/JG)

Teachers must give adequate attention to teaching social skills and monitoring for total team involvement if they are to introduce cooperative learning successfully. Interpersonal skills are more important than positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual accountability, or group processing skills. Includes five references. (MLH)

Society must create--in connection with schools or apart from them--new ways to help young people learn about "becoming adult." (Author)

A bullying incident provided a consultant/substitute teacher with an opportunity to use conflict as a teachable moment for social learning. Victimized students acknowledged aggressive behavior, allowed it to emerge, and through the group's efforts, modified a potentially destructive situation into socially productive endeavors. Offenders were…

The structural approach to cooperative learning is based on the creation, analysis, and systematic application of content-free ways to organize classroom interactions. Structures (outlined in a table) have differing uses in the academic, cognitive, and social domains, such as team building, communication building, mastery, and concept development.…

This article discusses the "back to basics" movement and points out both its advantages and disadvantages. (CD)

A facilitator of workshops and assemblies on social skills recounts revealing dialogs with elementary and middle-level students. Discussion, often accompanied by singing and guitar music, focuses on the issues of belonging, fitting in, making friends, offering support, and practicing empathy. The music is the vehicle for helping students express…