Attempting discussions about social justice issues in a junior high classroom can be a daunting but critical task. Uncertainty about how to get conversations started, along with fear about where such talk might lead, can make the task easy to dismiss. In this paper, one teacher tells her story of inviting rich discussion about a variety of…

Most histories of the discipline of community psychology attribute its beginning to the Swampscott Conference that occurred in the mid-20th century. The author argues that recognition of the community perspective on human behavior and on its positive as well as pathological characteristics arose far earlier and is reflected in the work of European…

In an attempt to deal with the problem of generating the thinking skills needed for the 21st century, this article discusses how a statewide of 30 teachers developed Grade Level Foundations. The core component of the Grade Level Foundations for Social Studies consists of a set of questions that are designed to stimulate higher level thinking about…

In the past, if a question is asked of a student, and that student needed a few minutes to think, that student's thinking would be interrupted by somebody else who'd be shouting out. Now, teachers at St. Johnsbury School in Vermont are really focusing on think time for students and really working with other students in the classroom to be…

This article describes the primary science practice of one teacher as a picture of exemplary professional practice. The teacher, Suzanne Peterson, was a colleague and friend. Her untimely death earlier this year was regarded by those who knew her as a tragic loss to education. As it happens, we have access to many sources of information about…

This article reflects on the potential benefits of applying systemic theory to the work of educational psychologists (EPs). It reviews developments in systemic thinking over time, and discusses the differences between more directive "first order" versus collaborative "second order" approaches. It considers systemic theories and…

This study examined computer game development as a pedagogical activity to motivate and engage students in curriculum-related literacy activities. We hypothesized that as a consequence, students would improve their traditional reading and writing skills as well as develop new digital literacy skills. Eighteen classes of grade 4 students were…

This text discusses the locus of English in globalisation discourses. Assuming that languages constitute discursive formations informing ways of knowing, discourses of English as a global language (EGL) are positioned in relation to teaching English as a foreign language in the "glocal" scene. We draw on post-colonial theories and…

The focus of this article is on ten 5-year-old children and their teacher visiting a "Way of the water" exhibition (a large scale model showing the flow of water from the mountains to the sea) at a science centre and a later follow up discussion at a circle-time back at pre-school. The aims of the study were to analyse, describe and…

The authors demonstrate how to tailor curriculum to support the varied interests, abilities, and talents of the children in a kindergarten class. Through words and photographs, they describe an in-depth study of rocks and sand, a topic of great interest to the children. The teachers posed open-ended questions that fostered high-level discussions.…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between 8th grade student data and the level of student success at the end of the ninth grade year. The theoretical framework for this study was based on the Meleis (1986) Transition Theory and it was a mixed methodology research study that employed both qualitative and quantitative…

This teacher research studied second graders' small-group, peer-led discussions about three genres of literature--realistic fiction, biography picture books, and science information books--across one school year (during three units in the fall, winter, and spring). It set out to explore how this peer talk, in general, mediated children's responses…

This study investigated the effectiveness of three different levels of enhancement strategies utilized to facilitate students' learning from static and animated visualization when taking the time-on-task into consideration. Participants were randomly assigned to six treatment groups, and then took four criterion measures. The time-on-task was…

This study focuses on the Renaissance Teacher Work Sample's critical sections Assessment Plan and Analysis of Student Learning. Preliminary review of scoring data based on the sample revealed that preservice teachers at a large comprehensive institution teacher program appeared to be most challenged with designing assessments and analyzing student…

The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of in-service Physical Education (PE) teachers when using Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) in teaching sports. Data were gathered from interviews, work group meetings, and participants' diaries. The results show the difficulties PE teachers had in the planning and implementation of…