This paper estimates the effect of the childhood environment on a large array of social and economic outcomes lasting almost 60 years, for both the affected cohorts and for their children. To do this, we exploit a natural experiment provided by the 1949 Magic Carpet operation, where over 50,000 Yemenite immigrants were airlifted to Israel. The…

This article investigates the development of agency in science among low-income urban youth aged 10 to 14 as they participated in a voluntary year-round program on green energy technologies conducted at a local community club in a midwestern city. Focusing on how youth engaged a summer unit on understanding and modeling the relationship between…

This article examines the relationships among the literacy practices engaged in by first-grade children and parents at home and the ways in which these practices are communicated, shaped, and fostered by teachers and administrators in two different sociocultural environments in urban Mexico. The differences observed between the home literacy…

Preservice educators engaged in experiential, place-based learning through a semester-long assignment in which they observed a specific place in Central Park in Manhattan, New York, and kept a nature journal. The assignment was organized around two pivotal elements: direct, sensory experience and time in place. Both elements added vital dimensions…

This study assessed the efficiency of a model of a familiar urban area for enhancing knowledge of the spatial environment by adults with visual impairments. It found a significant improvement in knowledge of spatial configuration after exposure to the model, suggesting that models are powerful means of developing cognitive mapping in people who…

People live, unarguably, in a violent world: in hard times, of dark days and nights. In this essay, the author asks the questions, what does it mean to live in an age of perpetual war? How do people make sense of everyday violence? How is it symbolically enacted? How is it sublimated and transcended? This essay also looks broadly at the meaning of…

In what ways do students understand and document literacies within out-of-school communities in their school-sponsored writings? How can community literacy sites and public perceptions of community disrepair stimulate students to create written responses on the politics of place? These questions are at the heart of this article's investigation…

Under the umbrella terms of "humanitarian design," "social design" and "social responsibility," educational institutions and specifically design programs are more and more searching for opportunities to engage their students in critical and hands-on learning via collaborations between students, faculty, communities in…

This article presents an overview of a community-based teaching and learning project linking sustainability, working family housing, neighborhood social capital, and urban design research and development. The article foregrounds principles and protocols that can be used to measure community effectiveness and it highlights a basis for further…

This paper examines the links between language, social difference and political domination in the practices of parental school choice at the heart of a global city, Vancouver. Vancouver is a highly diverse city, especially in terms of language. Its inner city is replete with multiple languages whose exchange values are not equal. In this context,…

Studies on urban quality of life (QoL) have been attracting lots of attention from various countries due to the deterioration of urban environment and decrease of the urban QoL. These studies that have been supported by international organizations such as United Nations, World Bank, OECD, European Commission and EUROSTAT (European Statistics)…

The purpose of the study was for the researcher to develop and have evaluated the content, organization and ease of use of a computer-training program "Emergency Response Quick Start" book based on Information and Communication Technology environmental designs. This book was most notably based on underutilized women social networking…

The purpose of this article is to show how the rappers' talk about hip-hop and its connection to pedagogy and social activism parallel the Scandinavian tradition of folkbildning. Scandinavian folkbildning can be seen as a movement to provide voluntary education for the general population. It can also be the name of the process of learning in which…

Background/Context: The sustainability of change efforts continues to be an important and challenging question in educational research. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: By examining 13 programs aimed at increasing student voice in school reform, this article examines conditions that enable and constrain the sustainability of…

Three studies examine the effects of exposure to nature on positive affect and ability to reflect on a life problem. Participants spent 15 min walking in a natural setting (Studies 1, 2, & 3), an urban setting (Study 1), or watching videos of natural and urban settings (Studies 2 & 3). In all three studies, exposure to nature increased…