When "The Myth of Sisyphus" describes those who live in the "rarefied air of the absurd" (p. 86), Camus uses the word fidelity. This signals a recognition of both defeat and the demand for struggle. This suggests a humility. Education can be said to have this characteristic; it is constantly in service to the new and yet…

This article offers brief commentary on the development of "Te Marautanga o Aotearoa", which is the official statement of Mäori-medium school curriculum policy. From our perspective as three Mäori educators who have been involved in its development for over 20 years, we combine our experiences to tell the story of this unique indigenous…

Career agency is a vaguely defined concept that is usually explained in terms of cultivating self-reliance, while it is at the same time being critiqued as a difficult to reach goal as a result of societal pressures. Instead of viewing agency through the lens of these opposing viewpoints, focused on people either being self-reliant or determined…

This paper applied a social semiotic lens toward investigating the metonymic representations repeatedly displayed on the Instagram official account and the Instagram blog. The main source of data were 90 photos gathered from ten "Weekend Hashtag Projects" (WHPs), a weekly photo challenge organized by the Instagram team. The multimodal…

The present study aimed to evaluate the use of metaphors by preservice science teachers on the subject of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In the study, a phenomenology method was employed in the scope of a qualitative research model. The study group was composed of 189 preservice teachers who were employed in various science fields (e.g.,…

An older woman seeking a sexual relationship with a younger man has often in the past been described as a "paramour" or "illicit inamorata" but in today's lexicon, we are increasingly utilizing the term "Cougar." The usual mental image of the cougar is commonly of an animal ready to pounce, seeking its prey, on the…

Purpose: Teaching social science might benefit from using students' metaphorical understanding. Metaphors help people to better understand abstract concepts by breaking them down into more familiar ones. This essay attempts to approximate students' metaphors of politics to improve social science education's efforts in shaping politically mature…

Picture books, as both sophisticated aesthetic objects and literary texts, provide the ideal site for critically examining how values and ideology are transmitted to children. How the child reader might be affected by the process of reading a picture book--that is, how he or she might be moved emotionally and potentially gain new insights about…

The field of education is rich with metaphors that reveal one's perspective on the nature of teaching and learning--ideas are "covered," students "absorb" information, teachers offer writing "clinics." Each of these metaphors indicate nuanced ideas about what schooling is and is for--to be checked off? Taken in…

Recent research indicates that using multimodal learning experiences can be effective in teaching mathematics. Using a social semiotic lens within a participationist framework, this paper reports on a professional learning collaboration with a primary school teacher designed to explore the use of metaphors and modalities in mathematics…

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the education system around the world. This article examines the perceptions of teachers who are members of the Jewish majority and the Arab minority in Israel, particularly on their e-learning role during the pandemic. Based on analysis of metaphors chosen by 20 Jewish and 14 Arab teachers, results of the study…

Stories are used for diverse pedagogical purposes. Storytelling is a culturally inclusive and widely used pedagogical technique. However, the success of storytelling interventions in education can be dependent upon how teachers engage students to analyse experiences, and events to gain deeper insights to influence change in their thinking and…

The design of solar power plants and the operating principles are learned by engineering students during the last academic year. Typically, this subject is taught using the traditional methodology based on lectures where students are not considered as an active player of the class. The aim of this experience was to implement innovative…

Behaviors such as gaze aversion and repetitive movements are commonly believed to be signs of deception and low credibility; however, they may also be characteristic of individuals with developmental or mental health conditions. We examined the effect of five behaviors that are common among autistic individuals--gaze aversion, repetitive…

This article develops an emergentist theory of children's agency. To make this claim, it first identifies the following two predicaments that scholars have faced in children's agency research: (1) social ambiguity in distinguishing children's learning from adults' guidance; and (2) causal uncertainty between children's cognitive development and…