"Understanding the Montessori Approach" is a much needed source of information for those wishing to extend and consolidate their understanding of the Montessori Approach and how it is used in the teaching and learning of young children. It will enable the reader to analyse the essential elements of this Approach to early childhood and and its…

"The Adventurous School" tells the uplifting stories of three primary schools who took charge of renewing their vision, their place in the community and their curriculum to become environments where children, teachers, parents and partners thrived. The book takes the reader through each school's five year journey and gives real-life…

The identification and utilization of community funds of knowledge has been essential in understanding and assisting cultural groups to bridge the achievement gap. The purpose of this study was to examine the community funds of knowledge, the role of the parent, and the partnerships of a rural school in southeastern "Appalachia," United…

Based on a request for information (RFI) submitted to The University Community Next Generation Innovation Project (Gig.U), the paper describes a model for universities to develop next generation broadband infrastructure in their communities. In the our view universities can play a critical role in spurring next generation networks into their…

An ethics project is described that challenged students to collaborate with disability rights authorities to co-write a code of ethics for a Center of Independent Living. Experiential and reflective assignments analyzed how the construction of knowledge and language is never value-neutral, and people with disabilities need to have a voice in…

Laura Dannon, an educator with experience as teacher, assistant principal, and principal, enjoys her profession. Faculty camaraderie and student/teacher busyness at her school have led her to think all is well. A sudden outburst by a new teacher causes her to reflect on what is really happening. What has changed? Have media criticism, movements…

In the first part of this article the authors consider the policies that apply to Uruguayan Sign Language (Lengua de Senas Uruguaya; hereafter LSU) and the Uruguayan Deaf community within the general framework of language policies in Uruguay. By analyzing them succinctly and as a whole, the authors then explain twenty-first-century innovations.…

For the better part of the past 100 years, John Dewey, Ernest Boyer, and other higher education reform advocates have challenged universities to hold true to their civic roots and responsibilities by promoting teaching and scholarship in the context of the real world. In response, service-learning has evolved into a viable pedagogy to encourage…

University-community engagement (UCE) represents a hybrid discourse and a set of practices within contemporary higher education. As a modality of research and teaching, "engagement" denotes the process of universities forming partnerships with external communities for the promised generation of mutually beneficial and socially responsive…

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a synchronistic set of events and relationships generated a new kind of experiential learning in communities across Mississippi. Educators based at the University of Mississippi, community-based educators, social justice advocates, and funders collaborated to provide the resources and opportunities for…

School reform initiatives designed to improve school quality require strong leadership, strategic planning, data analysis, and systemized performance accountability. Utilizing school reforms includes rethinking curriculum and instruction to improve quality and promote equality, restructuring school operations with a focus on both the students and…

Participatory citizenship education has been highlighted as a strategy to promote social cohesion in divided societies whereby collaborations with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and inter-school links have been proposed as tools to improve social networks between schools and communities. This article explores the role and meaning of…

Where dominant models of urban school reform often regard immigrant communities as obstacles that must be managed or reduced, the two projects analyzed in this study ("Alianza" and the Project) regard the community as a powerful source of knowledge and as partners working towards educational improvement (Nygreen, 2009). This paper…

School program evaluation researchers face a set of overlapping questions concerning our roles in the field: For the sake of "the data" and in quest of "the truth," am I a shrewd researcher before all else? For the sake of community-building and establishing respectful, reciprocal relationships with my school partners, am I first a gracious school…

Teaching Practice is presumed to be key to professionalization of teachers, although very little research has been done on its effectiveness. This article seeks to show the views of stakeholders on the effectiveness of Teaching Practice in Zimbabwean primary schools. A case study which is largely qualitative was found appropriate. A sample of 84…