Using data for school reform is like painting a series of pictures--pictures that are subtle and capture the nuances of the subject. This is a far cry from drawing stick figures or paint-by-numbers. Imagine the experiences of the French painter Claude Monet as he wandered through his garden at Giverny at different times of the day and year,…

This article explores the two events that took place at the University of California, Irvine campus on February 27 and 28 as part of the Difficult Dialogues Initiative of the campus. The first discussion was between the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Manuel Hassassian, and Edward Kaufman, former executive director of the Harry S.…

Performing inquiry should enhance the intellectual development of students on numerous levels. We evaluate whether inquiry-based activities elicit inquiry behaviors by comparing these activities with traditional review sessions. We find that both inquiry-learning and teaching behaviors increase during inquiry-based activities, but that teachers…

This article illustrates how the transformation of a classroom into an interactive museum devoted to historical inquiry, not only satisfies the need to meet history standards, but more importantly, results in rich and rewarding learning opportunities for students. Here, the authors present three purposes of writing this article, and these are: (1)…

The article describes how one Educational Psychology Service in the UK developed a service delivery based on self-organised learning (SOL). This model is linked to the paradigms and discourses within which educational psychology and special educational needs work. The work described here is dedicated to the memory of Brian Roberts, academic, close…

A mixed method approach to educational and social inquiry is presented as an important counterpoint to the contemporary debate about what constitutes valid, rigorous, and "scientific" research. By welcoming all legitimate methodological traditions, mixed method inquiry meaningfully engages with difference and thus offers some generative potential…

This paper explores the similarities and differences between complexity science's and cultural-historical activity theory's understandings of human learning. Notable similarities include their emphasis on the importance of social systems or collectives in understanding human knowledge and practices, as well as their characterization of systems'…

This paper sets out Peter Winch's central ideas about the nature of the social sciences, and reappraises their potential for educational research. It is argued that the dichotomy between "reasons" and "causes" has done much harm, and that the important matter of understanding "what is real for us" has recently been neglected. Winch's philosophy…

This article describes our experiences as six faculty members at a mid-sized state college whose collaboration grew into a substantive endeavor to improve writing pedagogy and practice across our disciplines of English, Educational Studies, Instructional Technology, Educational Psychology and Counseling. Within our practice, we approach writing in…

As we strive to help pre-service teachers understand both why and how to teach for social justice, we face the challenge of making whole language teaching less abstract and intangible. Frequently pre-service teachers understand the principles of teaching for social justice but have no sense of how to infuse them into their teaching. They accept…

We reviewed eight studies that described learning differences between students with learning disabilities (LD) and students with mild mental retardation (MMR). A total of 639 students, 6-20 years old, participated in these studies. Study authors examined students' inductive reasoning and their performance during guided inquiry and more lengthy…

As university professors we sought to disrupt the practice of giving our students the actions we felt they should imitate in their teaching practice. Instead, we sought to actively engage teachers in the creation of workable solutions to real-life problems. We accomplished this by conducting a participatory action research project. This paper…

In this article, the author shares her experience in successfully teaching elementary students how to create a tornado using a guided-inquiry approach. The guided-inquiry approach is a form of teaching in which the teacher poses the question, but lets the students decide how to answer the question. Students were so excited about the process they…

Science classes are full of abstract or challenging concepts that are easier to understand if an analogy is used to illustrate the points. Effective analogies motivate students, clarify students' thinking, help students overcome misconceptions, and give students ways to visualize abstract concepts. When they are used appropriately, analogies can…

The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers who participated in a professional development program continued to learn about inquiry and inquiry teaching as they implemented inquiry in their classrooms. A qualitative design utilizing inductive analysis was used to investigate teachers' understanding and classroom implementation of…