Innovative learning environments are increasingly built and implemented in schools, but are not necessarily being used according to designers' intentions. The goal of this study was to examine teacher perceptions of the innovative learning spaces they were charged with using and to determine if they were being used effectively and as designed. The…

This book analyses discourses of the use of motivation theories in schools globally. It focuses on the overall impact of motivation theories on teachers, students' engagement, well-being, academic excellence, standards, equity and global competitiveness. It examines the role of motivation theories impacting on teachers and students in the…

Certain environments are 'outside of all places, even though it may be possible to indicate their location in reality' (Foucault, Diacritics 16, 22-27, 1986, p. 24). Foucault calls such places 'heterotopias' and offers six principles to help define them. Here, we propose that Chinese adult higher education is a heterotopic space. Chinese adult…

The architecture of secondary school buildings implemented according to typified and customised design projects in Soviet Lithuania has been analysed as a manifestation of certain timeframe conditions and possibilities. The research has revealed architects' creativity, represented values, and ideas under the conditions of a strictly regulated and…

This article aims to propose a theoretical framework, based on the literature, that supports the growth of students' physical literacy in physical education. The framework features a trained educator who seeks to establish a positive climate for learning based on the creation of a positive culture of movement. It features meaningful student…

Executive functions (EFs) embrace a range of cognitive control processes that allow us to control and direct our own behavior, thoughts, and emotions and to develop complex responses to difficulties. Standardized tasks commonly used to investigate EFs are reviewed. Here, a study is reported of the first challenges that children set for themselves…

One of the most impactful and transformative practices early childhood teachers can engage in is the practice of inquiry. Inquiry requires educators to be both fully present and fully engaged in professional practice while adopting the mindset that the cycle of inquiry is never complete. In inquiry-based learning, the learner is at the center of…

Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) are distinguishable by their inclusion of dedicated media technologies, shared tables and wheeled chairs, organised to promote small-group interaction in larger classes. While discursively presented as a panacea to presumed problems of 'effective' pedagogy, a multimodal discourse analysis of the ALC highlights…

Over the last two decades, researchers have portrayed quality professional development for mathematics teachers as collaborative and situated in teachers' instructional realities. However, empirical findings also point out various impediments to transforming teacher conversations into consequential learning. These findings illuminate the need to…

In "Creating a Reggio-Inspired STEM Environment for Young Children," the newest addition in the Redleaf Press Quick Guide series, award-winning educator Vicki Carper Bartolini offers practical suggestions and resources for rethinking your early learning environment with a focus on STEM, using the Reggio Emilia approach lens honoring a…

This study quantified teacher perceptions and their observations of school community interactive attachments. Observed attachments through teacher perceptions classified school communities as caring. Elementary school teachers in the southern United States districts volunteered, in order to determine the significance of school-based taught or…

The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore how elementary principals describe, plan for, measure, interpret, and use perception data to make decisions to build a positive school climate within the school improvement process. Five participants were selected based on the criterion of being an elementary principal within the school…

Since 2000, school-based mentoring programs have become a popular intervention for students who are struggling in school. The goals of school-based mentoring programs target the reduction of office visits and tardiness, while working to increase grades and social development. Past research includes recommendations for more qualitative examinations…

School climate reform has been recognized as a positive school improvement strategy. Even though a positive school climate has been shown to increase student achievement and school performance, little research has been done to provide school principals with strategies and practices they can implement in order to create and maintain a positive…

Every institution has crime that occurs on campus. How this crime affects the student experience has been rarely explored, especially in relation to student retention. Not having this information makes it difficult for administrators to understand what relationship on-campus crime could have with student retention. This examination aims to yield…