This study explored the relationship between professional development and improving teaching practices in the classroom. It tested the assumption that, when teachers become empowered through their selection of the forms of their professional development, deeper learning and reflection can become a natural part of their daily practices. In this…

This qualitative study compared the perceptions of self-identified victims and school authority figures in regards to adolescent relational aggression among female middle school students. Six significant aspects of this issue were explored, including causal conditions; contextual factors; definitions and descriptions of relationally aggressive…

The purpose of this study was to propose a grounded theory that contributed to the understanding of the professional school counselor's role at the secondary school level in working with students in gangs. The study explored the role of the professional school counselor from the first person perspective of the professional school counselor and…

Using an interdisciplinary approach, this paper explores the ways in which colleges become sites that socialise African American men as gendered beings. Twenty-four African American men enrolled in 12 colleges and universities across the 19 southern and border states of America participated in this study. The purpose is to illustrate how…

This study illustrates the parenting experiences of a random sample of members of "Mocha Moms, Inc.", a national organization dedicated to supporting women of color who predominantly have elected not to work full-time outside of the home "(www.mochamoms.org)". Using modified grounded theory methods on 25 telephone interviews, we summarized the…

Purpose: We examined rural primary care providers' (PCPs) self-reported practices of screening, brief interventions, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) on adolescent alcohol use and examined PCPs', adolescents', and parents' attitudes regarding SBIRT on adolescent alcohol use in rural clinic settings. Methods: In 2007, we mailed surveys that…

This study focuses on the use of the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education and Training information literacy model in a primary school as the basis for the possible establishment of a culture of transfer of information literacy skills. The study used constructivist grounded analysis to interpret data gathered from teachers and principals.…

Playful learning environments (PLEs) have been constructed in schoolyards in Finland with the aim of increasing learning through play in curriculum-based education. In order to better understand and inform this development, the Hyvonen sets out to ascertain how teachers view and use play in kindergarten and elementary education. Fourteen teachers…

This study investigates what beginning learners of Chinese perceive as helpful in learning to recognize characters. Thirteen English-speaking participants in a beginning Chinese class answered journal questions and completed a survey over one semester at a large Midwestern university. Findings suggest that participants perceived the usefulness of…

A large body of cross-sectional and longitudinal research demonstrates the important contribution of informal social networks to the well-being and safety of female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Most survivors turn to family and friends before, during, and after their involvement with formal services; and many rely solely on…

This study investigated how siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) describe and define their quality of life. Using a qualitative research design, the authors collected data through a 4-stage process which included in-depth interviews of 17 children ages 6 to 14 and focus groups. All of the children with ASD were male and between…

This preliminary study describes the transformation of students' racial attitudes and multicultural skills. A grounded theory approach was conducted to identify common themes from reflections of 19 students enrolled in a semester-long diversity service-learning course. The results indicate that students reformulate attitudes about racism and…

Hispanics are a rapidly growing population that has sought resettlement in nontraditional locations across the United States. Movement in and out of cultural homogeneous communities has implications for an individual's perceived expectations for cultural change. Hispanics (N = 10) in two Southern states were asked questions using semi-structured…

This article analyzes the work of a long-term network of teachers, the Philadelphia Teachers Learning Cooperative, with a focus on their descriptive practices. Drawing on three years of ethnographic documentation of weekly meetings and a historical archive of meetings over 30 years, I characterize the teachers' knowledge about teaching and…

This article describes the contradictions reported by student-teachers in Barcelona who engaged in telecollaboration with transatlantic peers via Second Life, during their initial training in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. The data analysis draws upon Grounded Theory and is theoretically informed by Activity Theory and the notion of…