Much recent discussion about the skills needed to secure Britain's economic recovery has focused on skills for employability. However, too often, these fundamental skills are understood in narrow functional or vocational terms. So-called "soft skills", what Penelope Tobin, in her 2008 paper "Soft Skills: the hard facts", terms "traits and…

Instructional design models describe in detail methodologies for designing effective instruction. Several widely adopted models include suggestions for managing instructional design projects. However, these suggestions focus on how to manage the instructional design steps rather than the instructional design and development team process. The…

The concept of team teaching is attributed to William Alexander, known as the "father of the American middle school," who delivered a presentation at a 1963 conference held at Cornell University. Alexander's main idea was to establish teams of three to five middle school teachers who would be in charge of team teaching content to large groups of…

The reflecting team (RT) is an innovative method used in the training and supervision of family counselors. In this article, I trace the history, development, and current uses of RTs and review current findings on RTs. In my opinion, many users of RTs have diverged from their original theoretical principles and have adopted RTs mainly as a…

Purpose: The purpose of this case study was to investigate how project-based learning (PBL) is being practiced in Columbus Signature Academy (CSA), a high school located in Columbus, Indiana, USA. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used the case study method to provide qualitative details about CSA's use of PBL that is being practiced in a…

This paper examines the collaborative relationship between principals and School Governing Bodies (SGBs), and how this impacts on the management of financial resources in public schools. In South Africa, educational trends such as decentralisation, the shift of responsibility in roles, community involvement, building of partnerships and…

Factors that influence the academic achievement of Malaysian university athletes were investigated using 156 field hockey players from several universities. The relationship between team subculture, parental influence, the learning environment, support systems, financial aid, training factors, academic assistance, socialization, and stress level…

Design-based learning (DBL) is an educational approach grounded in the processes of inquiry and reasoning towards generating innovative artifacts, systems and solutions. The approach is well characterized in the context of learning natural sciences in secondary education. Less is known, however, of its characteristics in the context of higher…

In this article, an educational project is described that was formulated with the aim to give master's students in business communication the opportunity to experience how theory could be applied to shape practice. A 4-week project was developed in which students were urged to use communication theory and linguistic theory to manage the…

This research examines students' reactions to a contemporary simulation infused in the business communication curriculum. Results show that students indicated the experience helped them learn how to work better as a team, how to maintain composure, how the business world works, and how to improve their communication. Students also verified the…

Over the last decade, the emerging field of sport-for-development (SFD) has advanced global efforts of related and applied scholarship and programming. While most of the existing SFD body of knowledge addresses social challenges of the "global south", today's economic global recession spreads challenges beyond these regions.…

This paper investigates the collaboration of Greek secondary school teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) with psychologists and advisers for dyslexia issues. Data were collected through audio recorded observations and interviews with head teachers and teachers. Taking a Vygotskian approach to learning, activity theory is applied to…

Lesson Study is a collaborative, cyclical and continuing professional development process, aiming at improving a lesson through critical reflection. This research is based on three cycles of Lesson Study conducted during a four-week workshop in Japan for 10 South African mathematics and science educators. A sub-group developed and refined a high…

This qualitative case study examines the perceptions of parents of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) towards family/school partnerships. Interviews were conducted with parents of children with autism that belonged to a parent support group in western Pennsylvania. The resulting interviews cast light on the motivators and barriers that…

The success of a Professional Development School (PDS) is dependent upon the PDS principal and her/his ability to negotiate diverse job responsibilities, the most important being an effective instructional leader. Therefore, the issue that was addressed in this study was: What are the exemplary practices of PDS principals in the area of…