This paper explores the perceived benefits of and barriers to, using puppets in early years classrooms and childcare settings. An online survey of 121 early years educators revealed that puppets are widely, but infrequently, used in the early years, and are largely found to be valuable pedagogical tools by those that use them. Puppets were…

Purpose: Gamification is the application of game features, mainly video game elements, into non-game context for the purpose of promoting motivation and engagement in learning. The application of gamification in a pedagogical context provides some remedy for many students who find themselves alienated by traditional methods of instruction. The use…

This paper has two objectives, namely, to map the problems of history learning to promote peace in post-conflict societies and offer applicable solutions. The research questions are (1) How do schools in post-conflict areas experience pedagogical conflict, especially when confronting "difficult history" events that arise in classroom…

This community-based, health promotion intervention for seniors provided a comprehensive review of the effect of body-mind-spirit (BMS) interventions on health behaviors. The 12-week curriculum offered sessions on exercise, nutrition, sexuality, leisure, stress management, cognitive behavioral therapy, forgiveness, and happiness. Gerontological…

Group play interventions are used to meet a broad range of developmental needs in children from various backgrounds. This book is for mental health practitioners working with children aged 5 through 12 to help them learn important social skills and self-control strategies such as making friends, asking for and offering help, controlling hands and…

This article discusses the significance of adult connections for adolescents' sense of school belonging and identifies areas for future research and practice by (a) exploring the influence of adult connections on adolescents' sense of school belonging; (b) reviewing the literature regarding school belonging outcomes; (c) identifying…

We evaluated an enriched teaching program for reducing resistance and indices of unhappiness displayed by 3 individuals with profound multiple disabilities during teaching sessions. The program involved presentation of preferred activities before, during, and after each teaching session, discontinuation of identified nonpreferred activities, and a…

Learned helplessness is an insidious condition involving undeveloped executive functioning, lack of persistence, and an undeveloped sense of connecting new words or concepts into a web of meanings. Remedial teaching in most small-group, diagnostic/prescriptive settings encourages continued learned helplessness because students are dependent on the…

Background: Embedded instruction and discrete-trial training are both recommended for teaching children with autism, but there is little research available comparing the two. The present study compared embedded instruction with discrete-trial training for a 12-year-old boy with autism. Method: An initial functional analysis indicated that the…

This workshop module is designed to train teachers to use fantasy techniques as a means of strengthening their students' nonsexist behaviors. Workshop activities include a discussion on the rationale for using daydreams to modify behavior and attitudes and the exploration of the experience of a guided daydream. Guidelines are provided for teachers…

The increase in the rate and intensity of child maltreatment within the last decade is worrisome. In 1996, 44 out of every 1,000 youths under the age of eighteen were maltreated (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1998). Special educators should consider the possible effects of maltreatment on children with learning disabilities. When…

Successful intervention for severely disruptive children is likely to require effort and collaboration among pediatric mental health specialists, parents, and school staff. Children with severe disruptive behavior disorders usually require follow-up with credentialed pediatric mental health specialists and may need special classrooms, schools, or…

Students exhibiting failure syndrome approach assignments with low expectations of success and tend to give up at early signs of difficulty. This Digest delineates the nature of failure syndrome, suggests strategies for coping with failure syndrome students, and discusses how teachers can help. Some students, especially in the early grades, show…