In this article, we utilize national survey data to assess the professional status of full-time sociology faculty in community colleges. Traditionally, sociologists have argued that for a particular type of work to be conceptualized as a profession, it must meet certain criteria, such as: esoteric knowledge and skills, high levels of workplace…

Just as the classroom guide must prepare for observation in the classroom, so too should parents prepare themselves for classroom observation. What is the purpose of their observation? What is the procedure? What should they note? What points of awareness should they keep in mind? Using the format of a letter to parents preparing to observe in a…

Debates surrounding the teaching of playwriting are heavily influenced by theories of creativity. This article reports on research in Australian secondary schools that explored the student and teacher experiences of playwriting pedagogy. The findings of the research revealed that teaching was based on a belief in intrinsic creativity: that…

As a dance teacher in public elementary schools for the last 25 years, Janet Adams has always recognized the creative link between dance and writing, and offered her students structured opportunities to combine the two. She has also honed her management skills and kept a pretty tight ship. Creative expression, though, be it through dancing or…

This article articulates a framework suitable for use when making decisions about education policy. Decision makers should establish what the feasible options are and evaluate them in terms of their contribution to the development, and distribution, of educational goods in children, balanced against the negative effect of policies on important…

Coinciding with the 2016 Annual Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Learning Forward commissioned and supported a study of professional learning across the nation of Canada entitled "The State of Educators' Professional Learning in Canada." A research team led by Carol Campbell, Associate Professor of Leadership and Educational…

This article shares our experience designing and deploying writing assessment in English Composition I: Achieving Expertise, the first-ever first-year writing Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). We argue that writing assessment can be effectively adapted to the MOOC environment, and that doing so reaffirms the importance of mixed-methods approaches…

Higher education students and employers in the creative industries dismiss the prevailing skills-focused concept of "employability" as inadequate. Entry into the creative world and subsequent survival require access to contact networks, confidence and the adaptability to cope with uncertainty and with changing contexts for business,…

This study critically addresses the assumptions made by educators and providers in the field of Dutch second language (L2) acquisition about the online learning of Dutch L2. These include assumptions about advantages and disadvantages of online language learning, such as flexibility, learner autonomy, enhanced opportunities for remediation and…

Silent reading and book discussion about books read for pleasure can increase reading frequency and support the strengthening of student engagement in the beneficial practice of recreational reading. However, little is known about children's attitudes toward and experiences of these pedagogical activities. Qualitative findings from 47 children…

Drawing on empirical data, this article makes a contribution to knowledge through bringing together the apparently disparate elements of contemporary education policy, religion, civic virtue and values teaching, in particular, the teaching of 'fundamental British values'. I illustrate, through a discussion of the linkages between these elements,…

Drawing on respective ideas from within both liberal political philosophy and Frankfurt School critical theory, this paper seeks to examine claims about autonomy and empowerment made on behalf of educational policies such as teacher-led codeswitching; a policy that seeks to empower students from racially marginalised groups by facilitating their…

The present study investigates whether productive classroom discourse in the form of instructional and motivational classroom discourse (Turner et al., "Journal of Educational Psychology" 94: 88-106, 2002) provides a supportive social context for students that fosters the fulfilment of the basic psychological needs of autonomy and…

This article describes outcomes from a subpopulation of a larger study (The Alumni Study) of early college entrance alumni through the lens of self-determination theory. The Alumni Study used mixed methods, was implemented in two sequential phases, and included alumni from two different early college entrance programs (Early Entrance Program and…

Evaluating a school system requires benchmarks of success. In order to know whether it is successful we need to know not only what is happening, but what should be happening. This paper interprets, and comments on, the aims California has for its public school system, and offers ways of thinking about the evidence in the light of those aims, and…