In late 1990s, teacher cognition has emerged as an important field of inquiry as more and more research studies have demonstrated that teachers' cognitions influence their instructional decisions and activities (Borg, 2003). In the case of pre-service teachers, their beliefs are mainly influenced by their prior experience as learners while these…

This paper explores the value of writing journals for both students and teachers beyond English lessons and without insistence on evidencing writing progress. Keeping a journal or undertaking regular reflective writing is an unfamiliar experience for some students, and schools may offer limited privacy for writing. Used in a comprehensive school…

Former President Barack Obama has touched hearts by sharing his inspiring book, "Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters," with the children of the world. Together, with the breathtaking illustrations of Loren Long, Obama presents 13 historical figures that have each had a profound impact on America. In a very different book,…

In this essay, David Meens examines the viability of John Dewey's democratic educational project, as presented in "Democracy and Education," under present economic and political conditions. He begins by considering "Democracy and Education's" central themes in historical context, arguing that Dewey's proposal for democratic…

Transformations associated with the increasing speed, scale, and complexity of mobilities, together with the information technology revolution, have changed the demography of most countries of the world and brought about accompanying social, cultural, and economic shifts (Heugh, 2013). This complex diversity has changed the very nature of…

This paper explores students' non-economic motives for attending university. Drawing on the results of a tri-national survey involving online questionnaires and email interviews with education students at English, German and Portuguese universities, it compares and discusses the extent to which the participants are motivated by a number of…

UNESCO's new emphasis on vocational education and training as transformative, and concerns in particular with equity and sustainable human development, has been strongly influenced by a recent literature on VET and human development that has a particular focus on the most marginalised, especially young women, and is concerned with how their…

Transformative learning has usually been defined as transformations of meaning perspectives, frames of reference, and habits of mind--as proposed initially by Jack Mezirow. However, several authors have found this definition too narrow and too cognitively oriented, and Mezirow has later emphasized that emotional and social conditions are also…

In February 2012, Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission released an interim report that detailed its findings based on extensive testimony by former students of the nation's residential school system, a system designed to forcibly assimilate aboriginal peoples. The report concludes that the state must play an active role in the restoration…

Understanding of numerical development is growing rapidly, but the volume and diversity of findings can make it difficult to perceive any coherence in the process. The integrative theory of numerical development posits that a coherent theme is present, however--progressive broadening of the set of numbers whose magnitudes can be accurately…

Although a general understanding of the phenomenon of giftedness is evident in the literature, missing is a body of information on the thoughts and actions of gifted persons in those situations that we suspect influence the emergence of extraordinary accomplishment. In this article I propose a change in direction for the study of the advanced…

In this essay, the authors reflect on the ongoing teacher effectiveness debate. W. David Hibler is an experienced language arts teacher, who has taught in public high schools and middle schools in Alaska, North Carolina, and New York City. Jeffrey Aaron Snyder is a historian of education who writes about schooling in the twentieth-century United…

How can higher education educate graduates who know more than "just knowledge"? Such an education includes developing in students an awareness of the limits of their knowledge, an ability to discern what kinds of knowledge are appropriate in a given situation and a sensitivity to different forms of knowing. When is scientific rigour…

One key objective of life span research is to examine how individual development is shaped by the historical time people live in. Secular trends favoring later-born cohorts on fluid cognitive abilities have been widely documented, but findings are mixed for well-being. It remains an open question whether secular increases in well-being seen in…

Trevarthen's theory of innate intersubjectivity is relevant to understanding communication problems in children with sensory disabilities. Trevarthen and Aitken used the term "intersubjectivity" to describe "the ability of humans to detect and change each other's minds and behavior". When children lack auditory and/or visual…