This case study tells the story of an elementary school staff on the west coast of Canada that decided to address their perceived problem of teacher isolation by transforming the internal organization of their school into a collaborative environment designed to foster collegial practices among themselves. The main guiding question of this study…

A shared understanding of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a coordinated approach to teaching diagnosed students is essential because of the complex learning needs of this cohort. This research examines the ways in which special educators used wiki technology to create a working document and to share and develop their perspectives about…

Two fourth-grade teachers presented the idea of using the author's art class to inspire the students to write creatively. The theme of scary stories needed an art project to match. The author immediately had a favorite lesson in mind. By putting a small twist on one of her standard "Frank Lloyd Wright House" projects, scary plans began to take…

While a growing body of literature advocates the importance of school-based, collaborative action research, less attention has been focused on how these projects are developed and implemented in the early stages. This study, therefore, examines a small Canadian school's initial attempt at promoting a "learning community" approach and…

This article describes an exhibit entitled "Critter Folk" for the Betty Foy Sanders department of art at Georgia Southern University. The theme of the exhibit is folk art "critters"--crocodiles, chickens, cows, snakes, elephants, cats--from the Smith Callaway Banks Southern Folk Art Collection. The organizers invited two…

The purpose of this study was to investigate four research questions concerning the impact of co-teaching on general education students educated within a classroom inclusion model. General education students who received instruction during their 10th-grade year in a co-taught language arts or mathematics class were compared with other 10th-grade…

This paper explores the impact of the "Bridging the Numeracy Gap Project" on the whole-number learning of Prep and Grade 1 students living in a low Socio-Economic Status (SES) community. The findings suggest that an approach that includes a specialist mathematics teacher who provides specialised programs for mathematically vulnerable…

Classroom integration of technology is a complex process that must include thought to the purpose of integration and a plan for the professional development of the teachers. The change in any instructional practice requires an effective professional development plan that best addresses the needs of the teachers. This study investigated the level…

A shift toward shared practice in schools has emerged and teachers are moving from isolation to collaboration (Hindin, Morocco, Mott, & Aguilar, 2007). One of the structures that supports collaboration is the collaborative team. Teams have great potential, however, their failure can impact the organization's progress and the team members'…

This qualitative study examined the collaboration of general and special education teachers as well as the principals' perceptions of their responsibilities in sustaining effective collaboration in ensuring the services for the students with disabilities. The qualitative data were collected through one-on-one interviews from a team of general…

The field of education has highly varied educational practices and facilities needs. Still, much of education continues to be delivered in the recognizable tradition of teachers working alone in isolated classrooms and buildings planned based on rows and rows of those classrooms. But there is no longer one single, universal view of how education…

In this article, we investigate what happened when, contrary to the typical isolation of faculty in higher education, a group of higher educators from various disciplines in a graduate school of education met regularly to discuss issues related to our teaching and social justice. More specifically, we explored the following research question: How…

Monthly meetings and a peer-observation program help novice teachers overcome isolation and practice new skills that support improved student learning. Peer observation is not without its difficulties. Above all else, the point of the program is to make teachers more comfortable observing, sharing instructional ideas, and learning from one…

It has long been known that generalist primary and early childhood teachers struggle with teaching music, due to a lack confidence and skills. This paper discusses some early findings of a phenomenological study which follows a twelve-month collaboration between a music specialist (the researcher) and a small group of early childhood educators in…

Various positions regarding the Second Language Acquisition (SLA)-Language Pedagogy (LP) nexus have been advanced. Taking these as a starting point, this article will examine the nature of the SLA/LP relationship both more generally and more concretely. First, it will place the debates evident in the different positions regarding the relationship…