In the present paper, I explore some of the concrete manifestation of autonomy support in natural childcare and early childhood education settings, under the organising framework of self-determination theory. More specifically, I present the ways in which early childhood educators shape the space of natural settings and use the affordances of the…

This research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of blended learning on academic achievements, motivation and learner autonomy. The scope of this research is the teaching of English through short stories. A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 116 upper secondary students and two different teaching pedagogies were utilised; a…

This paper is part of a wider research project, exploring the possibilities to protect and extend Froebelian principles in practice and analyses interview data from thirty-three early years practitioners to investigate their understanding and enactment of learning through play in relation to the theories of Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852). Analysis…

To understand patterns of co-option and tension between discourses of creativity on the one hand, and discourses of school management and administration on the other, it is important to bring these discourses into contact with each other. This paper considers ideas of risk-taking, autonomy, novelty and flexibility, all of which are frequently…

The research field of (young people's) political socialisation faces methodological challenges in (1) handling individual agency and political culture as simultaneous and mutual, (2) handling the relation between continuity and change and (3) observing the process of meaning-making in political socialisation. The aim of the article is to…

Digital education, now common in higher education, is particularly evident in the expansion of blended and fully online offerings at universities. Central to this expansion are educational developers, staff who support teaching and learning improvement in courses they do not themselves teach. Working closely with staff, students, and the…

Background: According to self-determination theory, teachers can support their students' engagement in learning by providing autonomy support and structure. Within classes, however, there appears to be great diversity in the extent to which students experience autonomy and structure. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the degree to which…

This paper first introduces self-determination theory (SDT) to retention researchers and higher education professionals. Highlighted are the three basic psychological needs, that when met, are theorized to give rise to intrinsic motivation, which is associated with high levels of human performance. These are the needs for autonomy, competence, and…

This qualitative case study explored the agency of three veteran bilingual teachers who advocated for themselves and their students through the rise and fall of bilingual programming in their district. Acknowledging the complexity of bilingual teacher advocacy uncovered by previous scholars (Dubetz & de Jong, 2011; Menken & Garcia, 2010),…

Children's motivation to read decreases as they advance in grade level to upper elementary school. Only 35% of America's fourth-grade students achieved reading proficiency. There is a need for increased reading motivation; teachers can influence students' motivation to read with certain instructional practices. This qualitative interpretive case…

While colleges and universities have historically emphasized holistic education, employers continue to be concerned that students are missing core elements of the non-technical skills which are necessary to be successful in the workplace. Organizations such as the National Association of Colleges and Employers as well as the Association of…

The nuanced and complex cognitive and social-emotional needs of high school gifted learners are not sufficiently met through accelerated coursework like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate alone. Addressing their needs requires the design, implementation, and leadership of programming that maximizes their agency, curiosity, and…

This study, an in-depth qualitative case study (Stake, 1995), framed with the theoretical tenets of situated learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991) focused on fourth-grade students' experiences in literacy instruction that emphasized agency as a reform tool in response to narrowed, standardized reform efforts that left students disengaged (Au, 2007;…

In early childhood education, there is a movement towards nature preschools as an alternative model by which to combat the readiness gap. Although educators recognize - and researchers demonstrate - the value of nature-based early childhood education, dissonance exists between the belief in the value of nature-based early childhood education and…

Alternative education teachers (AETs) have the unique challenge of educating alternative education students who often have experienced suspensions, expulsions, extensive truancy issues, pregnancy, poor behavioral conduct, or involvement with the juvenile justice system (Atkins & Bartuska, 2010; Cable et al., 2009; Greer & Dunlap, 2020).…