Erikson Institute Fussy Baby Network® (FBN) leaders from around the country have been considering the importance of building trauma-informed service programs. In this article, they discuss ways that the Facilitating Attuned Interaction (FAN) approach and the core processes used by the FAN can be helpful both when trauma is an unexpected presence…

Courses: Disaster Day (DD) is a single-class activity designed for public speaking classrooms, but could also be applied to courses addressing small group communication. Objectives: DD integrates fundamental skills of the basic speech course, fosters participation through group work, and introduces new concepts and skills. By the end of the…

Research shows that effective teachers are one of the most important in-school contributors to student learning. To improve low-income minority students' access to effective teaching, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching (IP) initiative in the 2009-2010 school year. The program was…

In this exploratory, descriptive study we examined how discussion goals were accomplished during face-to-face and online case-based discussions facilitated by the same co-instructors. An analysis of discussion transcripts suggests that despite different instructor and student participation patterns across contexts, the instructors' goals of…

Trapped by inflexible mechanisms, many institutions are unable to adapt smoothly to the changing expectations and needs of their clients. Our educational system is particularly out-of-sync. Student-centered teaching--participative education--through unstructuring is one method for encouraging a flexible, creative, classroom environment. However,…

During the last two decades, globalization has come to occupy an important position in popular and academic discourses. Globalization has provided opportunities to produce possibilities of global awareness and at the same time crises to perpetuate a culture of fear. This article asks how church and religious education can provide a global…

To stay ahead of competition, a significant factor has now become of significance; student loyalty towards higher learning institutions. Hence, scholarship recipients have the expectation to demonstrate a certain degree of loyalty towards their education sponsor. In addition, they play an important role as opinion leaders and walking advertisement…

Student ratings, a critical component in policy efforts to assess and improve teaching, are often collected using questionnaires, and inferences about teachers are then based on aggregated student survey responses. While considerable attention has been paid to the reliability and validity of these aggregates, much less attention has been paid to…

This article reports on a focus group study of newly qualified early childhood teachers' experiences during their first year of teaching. It argues that focus groups have the potential to invite dialogical engagement in ways that support teachers' exploration of their own identities, and it emphasises the significant role group context plays in…

This systematic review assesses the state of the literature regarding the impacts of outdoor education instructors' behaviors and traits on participant outcomes. Twenty-seven articles are reviewed in detail, and student outcomes in relation to instructor behaviors and traits and to programmatic elements are identified. A range of participant…

Challenge course programs influence a variety of psychological, social, and educational outcomes. Yet, many challenges exist when measuring challenge course outcomes like logistical constraints and a lack of specific assessment tools. This study piloted and tested an assessment tool designed for facilitators to measure participant outcomes in…

Aims: Street-based drug scenes are typically portrayed as lacking in solidarity. Studies frequently cast camaraderie as solely instrumental, highly conditional and temporary. The aim of this article is to explore social dynamics and group solidarity in a seemingly hostile drug scene, and demonstrate the importance of this milieu for a group of…

The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory of how adolescents experience the cohesion process in rural school counseling groups. A total of 20 individual interviews with 7 participants were conducted. Data analysis generated the central category of the cohesion process as "sticking together," which describes a "tight…

Student success and retention continue to be of concern for higher education institutions. Wider participation, combined with lower completion rates for non-traditional students, highlights the need for new ways of understanding the student experience to ground policy and practice. This article provides this insight by drawing together a number of…

This paper uses the concept of stories of peoplehood to examine how the Singapore government has constructed a story of harmony and to consider how this story has influenced two important school subjects focused on civic education: Social Studies and Character and Citizenship Education. Stories of peoplehood, including constitutive, economic and…