When he looks back to the 1960s, the author feels sentimental about the New Social Studies movement that began very strong and then suddenly disintegrated. At the time of the genesis of the movement, there was a group of professionals, representing both the social sciences and education, who felt they had a vision of what was needed to revitalize…

Stories have long been used in various cultures and settings to help make meaning and enhance awareness. The authors describe how reflection on and discussion of myths and fairy tales in supervision may help transcend cultural boundaries and increase multicultural understanding.

The past four decades have seen dramatic developments in the study and teaching of writing. The result is a body of knowledge about writing that has profound practical and pedagogical implications for teaching, thinking, and learning across the curriculum. This article discusses five things about writing that can have an effect across the…

Participants reporting high versus low levels of experiential avoidance as assessed by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (Hayes et al., 2004) were compared in their responsivity to a mood induction procedure and in their subjective reactions to resulting changes in dysphoric mood. Both groups showed equivalent changes in levels of dysphoric…

What kinds of ethical dilemmas do people who are new to the profession of evaluation face? Are they different from the challenges faced by more experienced evaluators? What strategies do they use to resolve them? These questions were the starting point for the essays included in this issue of the Ethical Challenges section. The essays were written…

In this article the authors discuss the impact of research on a neophyte researcher and the research supervisor. The methodology which is applied throughout this article is autoethnographic narrative. It represents retrospective reflection on the part of the authors and thus to some extent is about retrospective meaning making. It centres upon the…

In this article, the author presents an excerpt from his speech delivered at the Foundation for Technology Education (FTE) Spirit of Excellence Breakfast in Louisville, Kentucky, in Marcy 2009. The author focuses on people whose work reflect excellence and social responsibility. He uses this frame of excellence and social responsibility to reflect…

New learning environments with communication and information tools are increasingly accessible with technology playing a crucial role in expanding and reconceptualizing student learning experiences. This paper reviews the outcome of an innovative course offered by four universities in three countries: Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Course…

This study sought to answer the question: "To what extent do prior beliefs about and experiences of teaching and learning influence the instructional practices of new independent school teachers," who are generally not required to have any formal pedagogical training or hold teacher certification prior to beginning full-time employment.…

A leader doesn't have to solve every problem personally to be effective. In fact, helping others learn to resolve issues and implement their own solutions is the key to sustainable leadership and an empowered staff. This companion and follow-up book to "Coaching Conversations" brings the coaching style of leadership to life with stories from the…

Elementary students' math achievement in the United States is mediocre in comparison to that of students in other countries. Students in California perform below the national average on standardized tests. Reform efforts in mathematics education aim at proficiency in fact fluency, procedural knowledge, conceptual knowledge, and application of…

A challenge that professional development coordinators and instructional leaders face is designing and implementing professional development that is the most effective for improving teaching and learning in their school. To determine what is the perceptions and beliefs of elementary teachers' value of and responses to their professional…

The purpose of these case studies was to examine the ways technology and professional development supported the use of the SimScientists assessment systems. Qualitative research methodology was used to provide narrative descriptions of six classes implementing simulation-based assessments for either the topic of Ecosystems or Atoms and Molecules.…

This study examined preservice teachers' reactions to and reflections on a set of five animations as representations of algebra instruction. The results showed that most comments in the preservice teachers' reflections were related to: (a) student learning and motivation, or (b) the classroom and instructional environment. Few comments in the…

Members of staff joining a school of education often have extensive experience in practice but not in academia and the university setting may present a complex diversity of roles, ways of working, values and goals. Colleagues may face issues of understanding the organisational structure and culture, changing identities, and concerns about their…