Research on learning communities has developed as a perspective radically different from teacher-led instruction. This might be a main reason for why scaffolding is rarely foregrounded in work on learning communities. This contribution analyzes how four recent approaches to learning communities address scaffolding and identifies three different…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] This paper discusses the theoretical framework and curriculum materials that form the basis of the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach to learning and teaching physics. ISLE, as a philosophical approach to learning, has two core…

The paper examines the transformative potential unveiled by the integration of indigenous epistemology into an experimental learning community program in Hawai'i. Through contextual analysis of the author's direct participation in classroom interactions, cultural and service learning activities, the final project, and the culminating event, the…

Educators working to achieve changes in classroom teaching practices that lead to improvement in student learning need to gain clarity in where they are going--what they want to accomplish. Teachers in a professional learning community need a road map as they begin learning and applying a new practice to ensure they reach their intended goal…

During a recent visiting professorship at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), it became clear that language faculty--both military and civilians--stated that they included leadership while teaching foreign languages and cultures. However, many of the same educators could not explicitly spell out their approach to doing so. This gap…

This brief summarizes successful strategies for creating a strong and stable teaching force. These strategies are drawn from "positive outlier" districts in California that have excelled at helping African American, Latino/a, and White students achieve at high levels on assessments of academic standards in English language arts and…

In this article, we demonstrate ways in which teachers, working within the context of rapidly changing demographics in our country, can create inclusive classroom environments that promote the development of engineering literacies and identities, particularly among bilingual students. We draw on our experience working with two projects funded by…

On April 11 and 12, 2014, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) held "Causality: School Libraries and Student Success" (CLASS), an IMLS-funded national forum. Dr. Thomas Cook, one of the most influential methodologists in education research, and a five member panel of expert scholars and practitioners led 50 established…

An evolving relational dynamic approach to psychotherapy and counselling education is described. Key themes integrated within the approach are the learning community and transformational relationships. Learning is a reciprocal change process involving students, teachers, supervisors and therapists in overlapping learning communities. Drawing on…