This article explores the material culture of kindergarten in the United States in relation to the production and consumption of materials and kindergarten theory and pedagogy. The focus is on Friedrich Froebel's building gifts as they were manufactured and sold by the Milton Bradley Company from 1869 to 1939. A review of trade catalogues over the…

On the point that, in practices of critical thinking, we respond spontaneously in concrete situations, this paper presents an account on behalf of Wittgenstein. I argue that the "seeing-things-aright" model of Luntley's Wittgenstein is not adequate, since it pays insufficient attention to radically new circumstances, in which the content of norms…

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) was first created in 1980. This article charts its historical origins and growth. It offers a critical overview of the operation of the MYP revealing both its geographical distribution disparities and the current picture in terms of external moderation of student work. There are…

This manuscript draws from a 2-year multiple-case ethnography on the educational experiences of Mexican immigrant families with California middle schools. The article explores the influence of the political landscape and raciolinguistic ideologies surrounding the nature and implementation of a middle school dual language bilingual program, and it…

This article presents the transcript of Peter Webster's 2014 Senior Researcher Award Acceptance Address. Webster comments on several big ideas in music education: (1) The consideration of teaching as a blend of constructivist approaches and direct instruction that values student-centered work primarily as evidence of learning; (2) The…

Scholarly discourse has emphasized the need for culturally competent practices. Additionally, multicultural self-efficacy has been found to be critical in working with clients from diverse backgrounds, however, there is a relative paucity of literature on how to teach counselor trainees to be culturally competent and self-efficacious (Kim &…

The African proverb, "Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter," is used to metaphorically describe how dominant groups inscribe power through historical narrative. In this article the author discusses how African-American educators between the years of 1890-1940 conceptualized citizenship…

Arguments about the content and structure of the curriculum for 14- to 18-year-old students in England continue apace, not least as a consequence of the National Curriculum review and proposed changes to qualifications. However, the majority of initiatives aimed at providing high-quality and rigorous technical pathways from age 14 onwards have…

This paper presents a flexible framework of principles for teaching critical thinking and reflective practice skills at the postgraduate level. It reports on a collaborative project between four UK institutions providing postgraduate programmes in deaf education. Through a critical review of current theories of critical thinking and reflective…

This paper explores the methodology and application of an assessment philosophy known as standards-based grading, via a critical comparison of standards-based grading to other assessment philosophies commonly employed at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels of education. Evidenced by examples of increased student engagement and…

The positioning of physical education in the school curriculum continues to reflect external discourses circulating in political and social milieu. As increasing austerity measures influence and restrict educational priorities, we consider that there is an urgent need for physical educationalists to articulate a rationale for an educational…

The aim of this study is to analyze the core values embedded in the philosophy of Basic Education in Oman. Those values are used to develop a standard to guide the administrative work and performance related to teaching and learning in secondary schools in Oman. 449 school administrators (principals, their assistants, educational supervisors and…

Even though the tradition of kindergartens in Croatia is a long one, it is only since the last decade that kindergartens in the Republic of Croatia have been regarded as communities that learn. For many years, the function of traditional kindergartens was determined by the philosophy and the beliefs of a totalitarian socialistic social order…

This essay raises questions about how language educators might construct and further develop their epistemology of practice in and through the situations in which they work from day to day. The occasion for this paper is our work as guest editors of a special issue of "L-1: Educational Studies in Language and Literature," when we invited…

The continuing instability of Education as a discipline is examined against renewed arguments for its "disciplinary" status. Teacher education in particular is seen as Marjorie Garber's concept of "discipline envy" to propose a more positive relationship between disciplines that might work for the good of teacher education.